Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-13

enjoyed the finest moments of the day.
Here had assembled to greet them the
relatives of as many of the soldiers as
could come up for the parade. When
the marching men passed the court
house as the parade first travcrsed its
route the cheers and full hearted cries
of greeting from the old fathers and
mothers, the young wives and sweet
hearts and the many children thronged
at the courthouse were more affecting
than any other incident of the wei
come.
But the joy of this first glimpse Of
the bronzed faces under their old "tin
hats was a small things compared to
the hundreds of intimate though in
formal reunions that took place when
the men came back to the armory for
lunch, and overfowed the square while
waiting for the march back to the
trains.
For brief but very happy half hour
the soldiers and their home folks
mingled in little groups in the square.
Smiles and kisses were the order of the
day.
ht Duth W ll' thuSA lNuult
trainshed was another triumph. Thou
sands of men and women waited for
another glimpse of the soldiers as they
made their way back to the train.
Until the last man was aboard. and the
three sections moved off toward Dix
and rehabilitation, Camden kept up its
holiday.
Committee Personnel
Camden officials who met the men of
the Hath Regiment at the station in
cluded Mayor Charles II. Ellis Sheriff
w. Penn Corson, County Clerk F. +.
Patterson, City Clerk w. ID. Brown.
James II. Long, chief engineer of the
water bureau; former United States
Senator David Baird, County Collector
J. Wesley Sell. Surrogate Reeves,
Charles Curry. chairman of the Vic
tory Jubilee committee and David Jcs
ter. president of the City Council.
Sheriff Corson acted as chairman of
the reception committee, which included
Charles +. Wise, Frank S. Van Hart.
William ID. Sayres, Orlando Watts.
Harvey Bennett and John Prcntiss.
president of the Camden County Board
of Freeholders.
Chief Long, of the water bureau.
headed the parade committee and
whipped the plans into shape. At mid
night last night he Iearned the exact
location of the homeward bound troops
and got all the last minute details into
readiness.
Executives of numerous New Jersey
cities and towns were Camden's guests,
including the mayors of Paterson, Io-
boken, Newark, Jersey City, Trenton,
Atlantic City, Millville, BridgetOn,
Mount Holly, Salem, Cape May and
Wildwood. The visiting mayors We're
entertained at the Hotel Ridgway, where
they viewed the line of heroes.
Enormous losses were sustained by
the 114th Regiment. When the regi
ment left Camp Mcclellan to ship over
seas it numbered 21S0 men, and of that
number 1I6O became casualties, .105
were missing in action and about 500
were killed and wounded. On a single
night. in the Alsace sector. in Scptem-
ber, 45O men were gasscd, including the
medical unit. The regiment was in
eight battles from July 25 to September
% on the Alsace front in the defense of
Haute. The hard fighting, however,
did not begin until September 30, when
they were sent in north of Verdun.
Lost Heavily October IL
This sector was known as the Ar
gonne- Meuse front. Their heaviest
losses were suffered October 10, when
they went into battle without artillery
support The Germans put out of com
mission the batteries sent to support the
regiment. The north Verdun drive was
from October 8 to October 90, and the
battles engaged in on that sector were
at Malbrock Hill, Melville Farm, Bois
d'Ormont. Grand Montague, Etraye
Ridge and Bois Belieau.
The old Third Regiment of Camden
had shout 1000 men in lis ranks. This