The sun., 1919-06-11
Roland Phillips Of Evansville,
Ind, Returns, Scattering
\ Hope in Two Homes.
NOT DIR. MacLEOD'S son
Mother Of Flushing Boy of
Same Name Also Meets Bit
ter Disappointment.

CRAVING hair stood At q window OF Gen.
McManus's office, hand pressed to her
heart. her eyes wet. Pacing back and
forth and apparently unable to bring
was an elderly minister Of the gospel
who paused occasionally to speak q COM
PORTING word or.two to a young girl. his
daughter. who sat by the Generals desk
and wept softly.
The General and his officers. who have
witnessed many heart wringing episodes
In the months that the troops have been
pouring back from France. tried valiant
ly to ease the strain of waiting for these
three. but none knew so we'll how use-
less was the effort. The next few min
utes would determine whether the mother
at the window, Mrs. Roland Phillips Of
l20 South Parsons street, Flushing, l.. l.,
and the father and daughter, the Rev.
DR.. James Malcolm Macleod. pastor of
the Collegiate Reformed Church of st.
Nicholas at Fifth avenue and Forty
eighth street, and Miss Jean Macleod,
were to experience the greatest Joy or
the greatest disappointment Of their
lives; whether a youth they had mourned
as dead was to be restored to mother or
to father and sister, or whether they
must again accept their grief, all the
more bitter because Of temporary hope.
- wv NY my
The minutes dragged by as the great
troop ship was secured to the pier and
the tremendous hustle Of debarkation be-
gan. Mrs. Phillips remained at the
window. DR.. Macleod continued to walk
backward and forward. Then the door
OF the Generals Office swung open and
Major II. e. Craig of the staff stepped
brtskly into the room at the head of
file Of soldiers who guarded a tall,
good looking young man whose blue
eyes. as they fell upon the persons who
were gazing at him so intently, seemed
curiously vague, dull. A service SLOUGH
head and the collar of his army over
coat was turned above his chin.
Remove your hat and coat" Gen.
McManus ordered sharply.
The youth hesitated a moment as his
oddly vacant glance wandered around
the office, then obeyed. The woman at
the window walked slowly toward him.
her eyes fairly burning into his. She
threw up her hands with a gesture Of
despair. burst into sobbing and cried In
a tone that made the young officers
turn their backs:
1T Is not my boy. My God, It is
not my boy"
Miss Macleod. who had also sprung
to her feet when the guard entered with
the prisoner. was standing by her father,
whose level gaze revealed bis growing
indignation and anger.
He isn't Blakely, father" she said :.
sit isn't Blakely"
DR.. Macleod walked straight up to
the young man. who seemed utterly I'M
moved or even uninterested in the agi-
tation and grief that had been caused
by his appearance, and said looking
the youth straight in the eye:
Aren't you ashamed OF yourself? Do
you realize what you have done? What
did you mean by raising our hopes?
Why did you cause us all so much tor
ture and suspense when you knew that
you were neither this lady's son nor
mine? Why, 1 say?"
The soldier, whose name was Roland
Phillips. but Roland Phillips OF Evans
Vile, lnd.-totally unrelated to Mrs. Ro-
land Phillips Of Flushing, and whose
identityAhad been confused with that of
Mrs. Phillipss dead son as we'll as with
the identity of DR.. MacLeods missing
son. Henry Blakely MacLeod-gazed at
the minister quite unembarrassed. at no
loss for words.
ut was not my fault at ALL" he said.
Blame 1t on the officers on the other
side. 1 never said was your son.
never pretended to be this lady,s son."
But you told officers abroad that you
were my son, Blakely," said Dr. Mac
Leod
NO I didn't" said Phillips calmly.
"A nurse signed my name to a letter
YOU must have got had nothing to
do with it, I couldn't remember who
was and they kept getting me mixed
up with other people"
DIR. MacLeon checked a retort that
seemed about to spring from his anger
and turned away
Take him out :" ordered the Gem
sral. nodding to the impassive Phillips.
The Lieutenant commanding the guard
saluted with a snap, wheeled his file
and swept the young man out into the
corridor. They marched him back TO
the ship and replaced him in the cage
where he is under medical observation
which will determine whether he is
really mentally incompetent from apha-
STA or whether other measures must be
taken in his case.
The painful scene in the once OF the
General commanding the Port OF Debar-
kation was the sequel of series of ex-
traordinary incidents. For nearly a year
Mrs Roland Phillips of Flushing has
mourned her son Roland. killed by ma
shine gun fire. It was reported by his
sergeant and comrades OF Company L,
l65th Infantry. in the Battle OF the
Ourcq on July 20, 1918 The evidence
Of his death was so complete that Mrs.
Phillips, who is the wife of Major
Roland Phillips of the Red Cross, could
not bring herself to believe that he was
still alive, but a cablegram from Paris
which reported that a young man in a
military hospital in France, who seemed
10 be suffering from aphasia, had indi-
.ated that his name was Roland Phillips
aroused her hopes. The news that the
Young man was returning aboard the
Mount Vernon took her yesterday, torn
between hope and fear, to Gen. Nc
Manuss ONCE.
DIR. Macleod Charges Deception.
DR.. Macleod had until recently
more substantial reason for hoping that
the youth was his son. Henry Blakely
Macleod. who disappeared more than a
year ago from Camp Merritt and who
has never been heard of since The min
lister had received several letters from
France signed "BlAkeiy," letters written
by the young man he confronted yester-
day. he asserts. and he had had from
Gen. Pershing a cablegram which stated
merely that the soldier known as Roland
Philips was being returned to America.
unwilling to hope too much, DR.. Mac
Leod could not help but feel that the
mysterious Roland Phillips referred 10
IN Gen. Pershings cabesram might
really be his own son. although an in
suiry made In France suggested other
wise His indignation burst all bounds
Yesterday when he decided that he had
been imposed on
m