South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-01-30
WILL ALEX" THE
GREAT COME BACK
Former Cub Star Now Over
seas, and Anxious to Get
Back on Diamond.

CHICAGO, Jan. 3O.-Somewhere
in Germany, Grover Cleveland Alex
ander the $50. 900 pitcher with the
Chicago Nationals. and three other
major league players attached to the
American Army of Occupation are
impatiently counting the days when
they will board a homeward- bound
transport
'Whal grand and glorious feel
ing that will be for the gang: we
all have said it will be the happiest
days of our lives" writes Sergt.
Charles Ward. of the 342nd field
artillery, part of the S9th division
now stationed in Germany. With
Ward, who formerly was a member
of Brooklyn Nationals. are Pitch
er Alexander, Otis Lambeth. of the
Cleveland Americans. Johnny Noyes.
of the Philadelphia Nationals. and
Lloyd Waite, of the Pittsburgh Ma
tionals
The players are members of the
same detachment doing patrol duty
in one of the German towns on the
Rhine.
Wards letter relating his expert
ences while en- route to the German
border was dated Dec 10. II follows
! i'm part:
I'VE are well on our way into
Germany and are now resting in
German village called Spang for a
! few days. We started on this jour
ney from a town called Beney in
France. being mounted on horse
| back. I experienced a little hard
| luck with my mount when his back
| became sore from the saddle after
riding for three days steady. 1 had
| 10 walk for the remainder OF the
eight days of the journey. making
| eleven days i'm all that we were on
/ the road, and believe me. we were
all in when we reached this town.
Can you imagine Alexander, Noyes
| Lambeth, Lieut. Waite and myself
travelling for miles on horseback pull
| ling big batteries behind US and GO
ing into big shell holes large enough
to bury a whole detachment?
"As soon as we put foot on Ger
man soil we really thought our
treatment from the Germans we had
| fought would be altogether different
! from what we experienced in the
| allied country, and above all, we
would not receive any more good
! eats But TO the contrary, we feast
ed fine and only last night we were
dished out a grand German meal
with excellent apple butter thrown
in. 1 had some German homemade
| bread, and it was like mother used
1 q. wv
marks when we are leaving with the
people that give us some feed, and
you would think they were being
! handed $1,000 the way they rave
over il. A mark is about 20 cents
in our money.
Our infantry is two days ahea d
OF US and we viii lall be happy when
we get to our destination. Alexan-
der, Moves and Lambeth and myself
| sat down in one of the towns of
| Luxembourg for over two hours re-
lating SON of the great times we
had while playing hall and wishing
that we were again in the real cOun-
try, the good old L. s. A. getting
ready for the spring training trip
TO the southern climate instead of
trying to make these people under
stand us. We can hardly wait for
the time to come when we will again
board a ship that will take US across
the Atlantic to our dear old home.
the land of the Stars and Stripes.
We have all said that it will be the
!happiest day of our lives when we
hear our commander say get ready
to sail for home. What a grand and
glorious feeling that will be for the
gang"