Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-10-01


gers of the parade have done all that
they could 10 arouse the citizens to
sense of their cheering duty"
Fine Record of the First.
There is a reason for specially hon
orlng the First division. 1t was the
first large contingent of American
troops to be dispatched to France,
where it went in June, 1917, under the
command of Maj. Gen. William L.
Sibert, who trained the division for
six months in France, prepared it for
the front line offensive and took it
into its first fight. Later General ST.
bert was recalled TO the United States
to become the chief of the chemical
warfare service.
Other major generals who at vari-
Gus times either commanded or served
with the First division are: Robert L.
Billiard, W. S. McNair, E. E. Ely, f.
w Coe, ]. W. McAndrews. Charles p.
Summerall, Frank Parker and E. f.
McGlachlin. All of these major gen.
erals will have part in the parade.
1t was part of the First division
which engaged in the first warfare on
behalf of America, as an American
fighting unit under American COM
mand. The first American blood Of the
war was spilled at Seichprey, and it
came from the veins of soldiers of the
First division. Seichprey always will
be name and place memorable in
American history.
The First division fought all through
the war; and it occupies place in the
hearts of the French people from
which it never can be dislodged. The
sentiment of the French for the First
regulars is felt not only because it was
the first American fighting unit to ar
rive in France, but because also of its
sterling fighting qualities displayed on
many fields.
Mental Unrest in America.
Members of the administration, and
members of congress with them, evil
IDENTIFY are disturbed over the mental
unrest of large numbers of the Amer
lean people, an unrest which they de
clare is hurtful and which they also
declare is the result of wartime con-
ditions. Business and labor stability,
some of these cabinet officials and leg
iSlatOrS think, cannot be secured until
mental stability has been restored.
From the viewpoint of men here,
there are two or three sharp manifes-
tations of this unrest. One of them
shows itself in the inability at present
of a great many of the returned sol
diers to "stay put" AS it has been
put by somebody, many of these sol
diers want to be where they amt" 1t
is the restlesSneSS which has grown
out of their life in France; life of
constant excitement and movement, OF
black nights under afraid conditions
and of the daily expectation of being
ordered here, there or elsewhere--a
condition of change which unsettled
men ordinarily stable.
Another manifestation seems to be
the desire among men and women, who
are not soldiers, to let up in their work
and to be temporarily, at least, I'M
willing to work as concentratedly and
as long as they did prior to the break
ing out of the war. This condition is
noticeable among the hitherto steady
workers of the land, and it probably
will take some time, so men here seem
to think, to change this condition.
In part, this sort of thing is held
here to be the result of the hard, driv-
ing work during the war, when nearly
everybody was on his mettle Washing
ton, however, looks with something
like concern on the evident disposition
of a part of the American world of
workers to look for a life of semi
ease. 1t is recognized that only COM
paratively small part of the men and
women of the country are affected in
this way, but, as the legislators and
others view it, the part is large enough
to give concern.
Affected by Unrest in Europe.
This latter condition of things is at
tributed by many to the unrest in GER
tain parts of Europe, where bolshevism
seems to have affected the minds of
the people and to have made them be-
lieve that happiness comes from doing
the least vi WOIh pDSOIOASp anu
this naturally leads, so it is said, to
that further condition or state Of mind
which makes shirkers of men and
women.
1t is recognized by the men here who
have given consideration to this condi-
ton of things that when world matters
finally settle down into something like
normal there may be readjustment
of mental conditions and change in
the viewpoint of those who seem to
think just now that work, as work, Is
not worth while.
There are men in different parts of
the United States who are engaged in
preaching a doctrine of do nothing"
or, at least, "do very little" and telling
their hearers that true happiness lies