Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1919-08-22
COTTON PLAYED
IMPORTANT PART
IN WINNING WAR
George w. Rogers Tells Wisc0n-
sin Bankers of Many Uses of
SOuth's Crop.

The important part cotton had in
winning the war, and something OF
it's many uses, was told by George
w. Rogers of Little Rock, president
Of the Arkansas Bankers association,
to Wisconsin bankers, where he adj
dressed the Wisconsin association re-
Gently. Mr.. Rogers declared 1T was
not food that won the war. 1t was
cotton that won the war;"
"You will remember" he continued
that when your son or your brother
went to the colors, the first thing
they did was to strip him naked, send
him before the Medical department,
and when o. KID what did they do
to him? They gave him pair OF
cotton socks, cotton undershlrt, a
top shirt made of cotton, as were his
collar and neck ties, they put him
into cotton uniform, with a cotton
hat. And then he drilled, and drill
ed, and drilled.
"All the boys were not fortunate
enough to get across. Some heard
the last call of taps before their
brothers went to the front line, and
some were accorded the great honor
of funeral with full military hon
ors. l don't know whether most of
yor ever saw a military funeral or
not, but it is very sad sight.
happen to live in a military city and
have seen more than one.
First you hear the muffled drum,
and everybody stops to listen. Then
comes in sight the advance guard,
then the band playing the funeral
dirge that brings a lump to ones
throat. Then come the gun carriage
on which a plain pine box is placed,
with a guard of three on each side,
and the company marching behind
without arms.
"On this plain pine box is just a
pitiful little bunch Of flowers, but
draped over the box is a piece of cot
ton cloth. 1t is not all Of one color.
There is a strip of red and strip of
white, then more red and more
white, and over in the corner is just
little patch Of blue with white
stars on it. But it is enough to stop
all traffic, all business of every kind.
in his hand, every woman wipes her
Every man will stand with his hat
off and even the mother husband the
little baby with, Hush, don't cry,
baby. Look at the flag
"Then comes the march to the hill,
the volley, and then the bugle sounds
taps.
Explosives of Cotton.
"But the rest of the boys 90 over.
when our boy gets across, what do
they do to him? They give him a
gun and some cartridges. The ex-
plosives in the cartridges are made
Of cotton. Then the order comes to-
go over the top and they go with a
rush. They go to accomplish their
purpose, as American boys always
do.
"Some of them were not SO for
tunate, and it is our boy that has
only his left arm shot off. What do
they do then In the confusion some
friend at his side takes out his en-
Urgency kit, gets some absorbent cot
ton and wraps it arounds the wound,
binds it tight with cotton bandage,
and then they leave him alone until
night while they go natter the enc
my. Then later some friends of his
take stretcher made of two sticks
and piece of cotton duck, carrying
the boy to an ambulance, and he is
taken to the hospital.
"He is met there by very pretty
girl, dressed in white cotton dress,
with little red cross made Of cot
ton. on her arm. He is given bath,
is laid on soft bed with the clean
est of white cotton sheets and the
cleanest Of white cotton pillow slips,
and he says, "My! but this is soft!
And the nurse says, Yes. This is a
brand new cotton tick, stuffed with
clean, soft cotton
"Then comes the time when good
nursing and good care have shown
their results, and some day he says
to the chief surgeon. Say, doc, arn't
you ever going to let me eat any
more?' The surgeon smiles, and says
Nurse, feed him. And the nurse
says, 'All right, boy. What do you
want to cat?' The boy says he wants
nice salad and good piece of cake.
Cotton Furnished Food.
$50 she brings him salad, but
before handing it to him she says
wait a minute. / am going to fix
you up nice and clean before you
eat She takes some cold water and
a piece of cotton cloth, and piece
of fine white toilet soap made of
cotton seed oil and washes his face.
Then she gives him his salad and
asked is it good?' Yes, indeed The
nurse says, 4 am so glad you like it,
for | made the dressing myself, out
of cotton seed OIL Then she gives
him his cake. But before he could
eat it she said, Wait minute, boy,
wait minute And she gets him a
nice glass of milk and tells him to
drink that. When the glass is drained
he gives a sigh of pleasure and says,
My! but that tastes better than it
ever did before. How do you ac-
count for it, The nurse said, we are
feeding the cows now on cottonseed
meal. The cake saw made myself,
and they used cotton seed oil for the
shortening.
"She asked him if he ever had
tasted anything that was any nicer,
and he said, Yes, once. Now the