New-York tribune., 1919-04-01
Division Expected to Sail
Late This Month; Will Be
Completely Reoutfitted
Upon Arrival in Camp
$5,OOO,OOO Club Urged
Memorial to Americanism
Considered by Committee
Financed by Members

general comm ttee of officers of the
77th was organized yesterday by Lieu
tenant Colonel Douglas Campbell, COM
mander of the advance party at the
Blltmore. The work of planning an un-
rivalled welcome for the men of the
Metropolitan division, which was the
first drafted contingent to 60 to France,
Will begin to-day.
One of the first big tasks in connec-
tion with the Homecoming will fall to
the quartermaster's department.. The
great army storehouses near here will
be called upon to outfit nearly 10000
men Immediately upon their arrival
The time of arrival is still uncertain
Dispatches yesterday said that instead
of the artillery embarking first the
headquarters troop and the 3O5th and
306th Infantry regiments would be the
advance units, and that these would
sail April "a instead of on a date be-
tween April 10 and 15
No member of the official advance
party had any corroborative informa-
tion, and Colonel Campbell and his aids
will proceed with preparations on the
presumption that the great Fifth Ave-
nue. review will occur the first or sec
ond week in May
New Outfits for Men
Meanwhile, according to instructions
from the divisional commander, Ma ior
General Alexander, acquisitions will be
made for new uniforms, new shoes, new
underclothing, new hats, and new leg
gins or spiral puttees with which to
outfit the men SO that on parade day
they may again prove claim to the trib-
ute first conferred by General Perish
ing that it was the "cleanest division
in the A. E. F."
Further than that, these will be the
outfits in which the men will be dis
charged. Hence, they will return
home spick and span instead of in the
battered garments and heavy hob
nailed, steel jacketed shoes they wore
in the field in more or less close asso-
iation with French mud and the ubiq-
uitous cootie
At the meeting yesterday at which
We're many officers disabled during the
hghting and sent home prior to imme-
dlately following the armistice, it was
stated that the grave markers for the
divisions dead, approximately 1900
had been delivered by the manufac-
turer and would be sent at once to
France. These markers are miniature
StQtnno i rlo l., IL.
and four inches wide.
Graves from Lorraine to Sedan
They will surmount the crosses over
the graves of the men who lie buried
on battlcfields scattered from Lorraine
to point near Sedan, with the largest
number in the fiercely contested forest
of Argonne.
1t was also decided at the meeting YES
terday to incorporate the 77th Division
Assoc iation, and Major Archibald
Thatcher was detailed to prepare the
papers. This corporation is chiefly
the result of plans to erect a monu-
mental clubhouse for the veterans of
the division.
AS designed, this clubhouse will cost
Sb,0O0,O00, and according to present
plans, said to have been approved by
the officers and men in France, it will
be financed entirely by them.
The financing, which must include
not only the first cost of $5,0O0,OOO but
the upkeep, is expected to be com
paratively easy matter. The 77th in
many ways was probably the most re-
markable division America sent to
France. 1t included men of forty two
races and nationalties, professors of
every known religion
The main purpose of this project is
Amerlcanlsm," said Lieutenant Arthur
Mckeough, an officer of the famous
Lost Battalion" yesterday. "This
great structure, heroic in design, is to
be at once memorial to those who
died and source of pride to those
who fought and still live for American
ideals"
Library Temporary Clubhouse
Lieutenant McKeough said that the
Astor Library, which is to serve tenn
porarlly as a clubhouse, is now being
iltted to contain restaurant, sleeping
accommo odatlons for 500 men and an
auditorium with capacity of 1000. In
addition there will be two assembly
rooms designed for regimental meet
| lngs or rallies.
Ihlrty officers were promoted after
the armistice, including Lieutenant
Colonel Campbell, commander of the
advance party, who was a National
Guard cavalry private on the Mexican
border three years ago; Major Lucien
Breckinridge, d. S. c., former as
sstant District Attorney of New
York; Major George r. McMurtry, who
won the Congressional Medal OF Honor
with Colonel Whittlesey of the ''Lost
Battalion" and Major Snowden Fahnc-
stock, who was wounded by gas shell
on the Vesle in August and was out of
action until October
In civil life Colonel Campbell is a
Pennsylvania oil man, Major McMurty
member of the banking irm of Ben
jamin, Ferguson e. McMurty and Ma
Jor Fahenstock a partner of Bertram
Griscom & Co., also bankers.
Others Advanced
Other officers promoted included:
Walter W. Mctcalf major to lieu
tenant colonel, 306th Infantry; Weston
Jenkins, captain to major, 307th lnfan-
try; William Mack, captain to major,
306th Infantry; Arthur NJ Wolff, cap
tain to major, 308th Infantry; Ernest
5. Halle, captain to major 307th In
fantry; William II. Bennett, captain to
major, 30sth Infantry; Robert H..
Wilton, lieutenant to captain, 306th
Infantry; william j. Berry, lieutenant
to captain, 306th Infantry; Howard
Crosse, lieutenant to captain, 3O6th In
fantry; Philip NJ. Gray. lieutenant to
captain, 305th Infantry; Sidney M