Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-15
WAR HERO IN TEARS
At home SWEET HOME"
All Wilkes-Barrc Stops Work to
Welcome Co, Miner Who
Lost Leg in Battle.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa, Jan. 15.-Fifty
thousand people, perhaps more, dehcd
the rain to give Colonel Asher Miner,
commander of the Tooth Field Artillery,
n welcome home that would have done
honor to king.
In the Joy of this homecoming all
! business was Mt standstill The wheels
of industry were silcnced, schools
dismissed and public offices closed.
| Thousands formed about the Ichigh
Valley station and along the principal
streets of the city Flags hung from
every window. Bunting was draped
| wherever possible and the city was In
its gaycst attire.
At l47, rs the train pulled into the
station, Colonel Miner, from the draw
ing-room Of Pullman car, looked out
on a great sea of faces. Az he reached
| the platform with the aid OF crutches,
n band struck up Hail, the Conauerlng
| Hero Comes" and thousands oi voices
| made the hills ring welcome. Bells
and whistles everywhere throughout the
Wyoming Valley added to the tumult,
| and for five minutes the valley let loose
| ITS Joy.
As Colonel Miner was helped into an
automobile. which had backed to the
train. women and children almost buried
him under bouquets of flowers. So nu-
merous were the flowers that they made
a path over which his automobile moved
for n short distance. A parade WINS
quickly formed Led by the city police,
squad Of State troopers and band,
Colonel Miners automobile turned into
the first city street, and another great
welcome awaited him. Following came
two companies of State militia and sol
diers and sailors home from the ser
vice and three-score employees of the
Miner-Iiillard Company, Of which he Is
head
HomE. SWEET HOME BRINGS TEARS.
Following were city and county off
clals and members Of the receiving COM
mittoe.
For about three miles there was one
ovation after another for Colonel Miner
AT Memorial Hall his car was stopped
In the archway stood score of griz-
lied veterans Of the civil war. They
were at attention. Colonel Miner stood
and salutcd, and they returned the
salute
At the Miner home littlc girls brought
flowers Boy Scouts formed an arch
with American flags. and Just as he
reached the doorway the band struck
up Home, Sweet Home Colonel
Miner broke down lie sat on the edge
Of the porch and wept like child With
the crowd cheering, he entered the door,
waved his overseas cap, and was again nj
his own fireside
Colonel Miner lost part of one leg,
shot away Zach hand was wounded,
and shrapnel tore great cash IN one
check He viii be home for 30 days,
then he goes TO Washington for another
operation.
REGIMENTS PROUD SERVICE RECORD.
Speaking of the regiment and what il
had done since leaving Nllkcs-Barre,
Colonel Miner said
"On Nav 10 we left New York for
overseas We went on the transport
Iiisticia. landing at Liverpool on May
so We were not DELAYED much on the
way across until We struck the Irish
Sea, where the submarines got busy and
We had 70 zig-zag our way into the
harbor We went to a rest camp at
knottv Ash. near Libcrpool, where we
remained for a few days Our reception
1T Liverpool was a royal one, the whole
populaCe turning out to greet us.
After staying here we went TO Van
ness and were IS hours on the road. We
miles away, and there we remained until
August s. Here we were re-equipped,
even with horses and harness, the
French giving US their rs caissons.
Everything was different and We had To
learn how to handle the new equipment
We trained at McZy-Sur-Ma and il
was here that the big Chateau-Th Thierry
drive began The fight had started and
the Americans had advanced Is miles by
the time we arrived. We marched TO
the front on March 10 and IL and re-
joined the 2Sth Division, having been
detached while at the rest camps. We
participated in the battle of Fismes and
the fighting continued for a month
in the months fighting in this sector
we lost 25 IN killed and l2.5 were wound
ed, while 400 horses Were either killed
or becan so exhausted that they were
Of no further use 10 US While behind
the infantry fighting along the Vesle
River we were about 5000 metres behind
the. infantry and after we crossed we
got 10 within 400 and 500 metres.
BIGGEST BARRA GE OF WAR
'The big Argonne drive began on
September 26. The l09th began bar
rage at 80 a. IN. and kept this up for
FIVE hours 1t was by far the biggest
barrage OF the war. One battalion of
artillery stood above the other firing
overcach Others heads and all aiming
at the German guns in the distnce The
noise of these guns was terrific. They
never ceased firing a minute. At $50 a.
m, the time for the infantry to go over
the top, they did so, while the artillery
kept guns on firing. The Tooth made
the barrage for the l09th and 10th
Infantry, composed of men of Lacka-
wanna county and Philadelphia The
suffered heavy losses. After
$50 we kept up our barrage and adj
vanced about seven kilometres"
Colonel Miner is in excellent physical
condition, hut will have to return to the
Walter Reed Hospital, at Washington,
for further operation on his leg, after
being permitted to spend 30 days with
his family.