The Tulsa star. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1913-1921, 1919-05-24
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKlN.



Nashville, Tenn.-He began his mill
itary career as religious conscien-
tlous objector. lie was convinced OF
the need for killing Germans by nrgu-
ments drawn from the Bible. And he
acted on this conviction by killing "a
Germans In a machine gun nest. with
his rifle. and capturing, with five as
slstnntS 132 OF the enemy. including
four officers.
This achievement Of Corporal York.
which has been called by General Per
shlng the greatest single exploit OF
the war. has become famous, but the
man himself remains unknown. And
surely such a man deserves to be ex-
plalncd. You want TO know what sort
OF a chap he is, and what environment
fostered such a combination OF moral
courage and physical skill.
The answer TO these questions is
FOUND here In the section that pro-
ducod Corporal York. II may be stated
in q sentence by saying that York be-
longs to the vanishing race OF old
Americans Men who were just like
him In their faith In God. their courage
and their straight shooting won the
Revolution and several subsequent
wars.
OF Pure American Breed.
Such men have become scarce In
America now. New breeds have come
In and the old breed has been changed
by changing conditions. But there is
one section OF America in which the
old American race still breeds true TO
type, and more than that still lives
almost as II lived when the Boones-
boro men threw down their axes, took
their rifles and went out to exterml-
nate General Ferguson's command at
Kings mountain.
The section referred TO Is the south
ern Allegheny mountain region. The
place where Corporal York was born
and lived all his life until he was called
TO war. is typical bit Of II. His
home post ofice is Pail Mall, Fentress
county. Tennessee. about 100 miles
east of this city. There is nothing at
Pail Mall except the post office, and
the three forks OF the Wolf river
which come together there. On all
sides are the wooded ridges Of the Al
legheny mountains. Until two years
ago It was 35 miles to the nearest rail
road. Many men who went to wal
from this section saw railroad train
for the first time when they answered
the call to arms. To all intents and
purposes they stepped out Of the eight
eenth century and into the twentieth
That is what Corporal York did.
Region Where Clemens Was Born.
All tho people In this region are OF
Scotch. English, Welsh and Irish stock
Their ancestors came down through
the mountains from Virginia and Nortf
Carolina in colonial days, and th'
lands have been held by the same fam
lilies ever since. One OF these familie!
Is the Clemens family, which produced
Mark Twais. He was born at James
town, the county seat OF Fentress coun
~. His father owned large areas o.
land near there, which he sold anC
traded about in such way as to i'm
mortaiize his name. for they are still
trying to straighten out the titles e
the Clemens lands, and the old man.
dealings promise to furnish occupation
for many more generations OF law
yers.
York 10 the third from the top,
as they say down here, in n family o
nine children. and Is twenty-seveI
years old. his father having died
and his two older brothers married. h
became the head OF the family AM
took care Of his mother and the fam
lily homestead. He once described him
self as being "a kind OF mommer'
boy"
He ls not. however, given to descrih
Ing himself at length. In this countr,
where people never talk much unles
they are running for office. the York
had a reputation for silence. His IA
ther IL said often to have gone througl
whole day In the company Of frien'