The Nenana daily news., 1919-07-24
G|BBON OFFICER
 REFUSES AID ID
 RECOVER FARES

HIS uHpOpuldTlCy ldLely, dmoHS the
 draft boys stationed at the army
 post during the winter, by refusing
 request to help the boys secure from the government the money
 they expended in travelling expenses
 in excess of the mileage allowance
 which they received at the time of
 their discharge. In reply to the request for aid, the autocrat of the post is reported to have informed the boys that they were not entitled
 to more than five cents per mile, notwithstanding the fact that the government has made provision for the allowance of claims for addi- tional mileage sufficient to cover the actual cost of transportation. There lis supposed to be a regular form of application for this money, and while the operation requires more red tape than seems warranted un-
 der the circumstances, it is quite generally understood that the gov ernment stands ready to reimburse discharged soldiers whose travelling
 costs exceed the regular army al- lowace of five cents per mile.
 Chairman Ed Cronin, of the local
 exemption board, is at loss to understand the action, or lack of action, of the commanding officer at Gibbon, and his advice to the boys of Nenana is to try a concerted attack on the war department, over the head of the Gibbon officer, who does not appear to have a clear understanding of the situation. Chairman Cronin says that he will render what assistance he can, his suggestion being that the claims be pooled so as to make one transac- tion with the war department. This will prcve less troublesome to the boys concerned and should expedite action at WaShinpton
 All of the Fort Gibbon boys who were discharged from the army this summer were required to pay ap- Iproximately S11 more in fares than they received in mileage, and the commanding officer at the army post evidently believes that the discharg- ed soldiers should stand that loss. notwithstanding the fact that they already had suffered greatly at the hands of the war department through being retained at the post for much longer period than ap- [peared necessary.
 According to reports brought to Nenana by some of the draft boys who had made an effort to get out of the army early this year, in- structions were received by the commanding officer to release such of the soldiers as could be spared from the post. He is said to have replied that he did not have any more men than he needed, yet some time afterward admitted to one of the boys that he could run the post easily with much less number than were then there. Why he persisted in keeping them, long after the working season opened in Interior Alaska, the boys have not yet been able to figure out, and their re-  sentiment against the officer is very great in consquence.
 A story is told of one of the boys, who tried to break even on his mileage by working his way up river on the government transport Jacobs, but was told, when he offered his services, that he could not be taken on board because he was no longer in the service of the government.
 Another one of the boys, it is said,
 was promised an opportunity to earn
 his passage up river, but was turned down. shortly before the transport sailed, no explanation being given