The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-02-14
MANY CLAIMS
IN NITRO CASE
Claim Agent Here Adjusting
Losses of Men Who Lost
on Deal.
foUc' s. %sSS41H CLAIMS FROM HERE
Glasgow Los. ;r Men by Sickness
During Mkt. <Ier Nitro La
bor Situation Nv Claims
Impossible to 1t.

After spending two days here ad-
justing claims of the Montana labor
recruits who went from Glasgow to
Nitro, West Virginia, and then return
ed home, R. G. Smith, special claim
agent representing the war depart
ment, left Glasgow for Malta on
Thursday morning. While he was here
Mr.. Smith adjusted the claims of up
wards Of 20 of the men who went to
Nitro from here. There are a num-
ber of others whose claims have not
been adjusted, and he requests that
these men write to him at the office
of the United States employment SER
vice, Great Falls, at once, that their
claims may be presented for payment.
There was more sickness among the
men who went from this part of the
state than any other, Mr.. Smith stat
ed while he was here. More than half
of the men he talked with had, spent
at least two days in the hospital at
Nitro following their arrival at the
big powder plant, which is now gov
ernment arsenal and entirely under
the control of the war department.
Among the claims presented here
for adjustment Were four claims re-
sulting from the death of as many
recruits going from this city. One
of these died at Columbus, Ohio, one
at Nitro and one at Clifton, Virginia.
One of these men lived at Vandalia,
one at Hinsdale and the other, Hiram
B. Gage, was we'll known resident
of this city. The fourth was c. T.
Yeats, whose family resides at Beav-
erton. .....
The claim presented by the widow
of Hiram B. Gage disclosed
the fact that through the confusion
existing at Nitro at the time these
men arrived there and for some time
thereafter valuables belonging to Mr..
Gage had been either misplaced or en-
tirely lost. Claim was made for the
recovery Of watch and ring which
Mr.. Gage wore when he arrived at
Nitro. The ring, Mrs. Gage declared,
had been removed from his finger,
and when claim was made in writing
to Nitro following his burial word
was received back that all trace of
these articles had been lost. Mrs
Gage also presented a claim for cloth
ing worn by her husband which has
not been returned to her.
Because he had left the government
reservation at Nitro before he was
taken ill, little can be done for the
relatives of Alexander Silver, son of
Carl Silver, of Vandalia, who died at
Clifton Forge, Virginia, but Mr.
Smith stated that he will make an
effort to recover the boys personal
effects and have them sent to Mr.
Silver at Vandala.
Claim for funeral expenses for
Fred Clemence, presented by John G.
McColly, of Hinsdale, was the largest
presented in Glasgow It consisted OF
the undertaker's bill at Columbus and
the express charges on the body from
that place to Hinsdale, in all about
$500.
Some of the personal effects of c.
T. Yeats, another Glasgow recruit
who died at Nitro and was buried at
Stuart, Virginia, were enormously
shipped to Kalispell and will be found
and forwarded to the family at Beav-
erton by Mr.. Smith.
Another claimant here in Glasgow
presented a claim for pair of gold
cuff links set with chip diamonds
which, he declares, were removed from
his shirt while he was a patient in
the base hospital. He also has claim
for a revolver which was taken from
him when he arrived at Nitro, and
which was contraband. This revolver
is in the possession of the chief Of
police at Nitro, and may be returned
to the owner here.
According to the information giver
to Mr.. Smith by L. E. Jones of the
chamber of commerce and superin'
tendent of the United States employ
ment service here, the method of re-
cruiting the men for Nitro here was
vastly different from any other place
in Montana. In most of the places
the recruiting officers appealed tt
the mems patriotism, and no coercion
was used. They were not told tha'
If they didn't go they would be draft
ed for work at Nitro anywhere bu
at Glasgow. This method was uset
here at the instance of B. S. Via O.
Big Sandy, attache of the staff of tn
Hercules Powder company who CAM
to Montana to obtain labor.
When the men returned home ant