davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
The Court Martial System.

This brings up the much discussed question of the army court martial sys- tenn. The prisoners we had at this stock
 ade were American soldiers who were known as "A. w. O. L.'S. mat Is they were picked up at some place while db- sent from their regiments without leave and were given a trial with sentences of from 1 month up to several years. talk
 ed with great many of the prisoners during the long hours of night guard duty and found many cases or unjust punish
 ment. One man who was a Swede and graduate of a Swedish university. told me that he had been on the line for sev- eral weeks and the next thing he knew he was doing time in the stockade with no. idea of what had happened in the meantime. He had evidently been suf- fering from shell shock and temporarily lost his mind, he said. during which time he had been given a fair trial and was serving six months. Another man had been wounded and was discharged from the hospital before his wound was prop erly healed and was ordered back to his regiment with no information as to where
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Smiths Trlal a Joke.

At Lieutenant Smiths trial in Tours
 this April there were any number of witnesses who testified of similar treat ment and three or the instances I was a witness to and know them to be facts.
 On my return from Germany to Bor- deaux T. stopped off at St. Pierre de Corps, the railroad station for Tours. and at the depot I met some of the members of Company K who were there as wit witnesses 1n the case and I asked them how the trial was progressing. They said it was a regular joke as some one else higher up was trying to withhold the real evidence to save themselves. but of course they couldn't prove who it was but had a very good idea of who the higher up was. They stated then that they didn't believe that Smith would get anything. There is no question but that the commanding officer of the regiment sanctioned the hard boiled methods. One day I was just going on guard when the officer in charge of the stockade at Noisel came up to me and sSid that the commanding officer had just been out there and was dissatisfied with the disci pline among the prisoners and the off, ficer told me to see that the prisoners did what they were told to do and If they didn't do it to take a rifle and knock them down. also to instruct the guards to that effect and 1t would be sanctioned as something had to be done to discipline the prisoners. l could not see that the army regulations provided for knocking an American prisoner doWn with a rifle and I couldn't see my way clear to obey such instructions even in time of war. I never had any trouble with any of the prisoners and never had one escape all the time was doing guard duty there. yet there was never a day hardly that one or two did not 's- cape from Farm No. 2.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Got PAS Wounds.

The News-Courier of Saginaw. Mich. of April 13. furnishes the most interesting item have ever seen.
 It says: "G. L. Hunter of Oakley, a returned soldier. who in his two years at the front. saw an imemnse amount of fighting and on one occasion got 246 wounds on his body" Spoke briefly of his experiences and proved highly en- tertaining.
 Of course I wasn't present at this en- tertainment and these wounds might have been cootie bites.
 English Drive Out Americans.
 In the April issue of the Telephone Review a lot of space is given to the exploits of John Olweiller. returned sol dier who said among other things that "Coblenz is now being held by the Brit ish.'
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27

armistice was signed you couldn't find a SOth Marine who would admit that he belOned to that o,Igtfit as he was afraid of the consequences and he had just req sons for being afraid.
 One of them was picked up in Paris later and brought to Farm No. ? with other prisoners. After being put in the brig he denied that he belonged to the 3Oth. but after some treatment finally admitted that he was one of them and he received some more treatment at the hands of the prisoners.
 If the investigation committee in con- gress should look into the record of af- fairs at the St. Anne hotel in Paris they would find that the status of affairs there in September. October and November of last year were far worse than Farm No. ever was.'
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
St. Anne Hotel in Paris.

In November of last year when was in
 Paris, I came in contact with the 3Oth
 Marines M. P. force on duty there and
 got an insight into the methods in use by
 these men. was walking down boule-
 ward in the afternoon when two of the
 30th Marines came up to me and asked
 for my pass. They took it and said
 would have to go to headquarters to have it verified. But I told them they couldn't pull any of that stuff around me. Just about that time an officer whom l was acquainted with came along and went to headquarters in the St. Anne hotel with me. The pass was perfectly good and the NJ. P. officer ordered me released. But while was there waiting noticed that officers of all ranks were being brought in to be subjected to ques- tioning and in some cases where they had secured an extension to their time limit in the pass this extension was not recognized and they were thrown in the brig. Also I noticed a number of men and officers being taken out of the brig for trial and several of them had some awful looking faces. I asked one of them who he had bumped up against and he said the M. P.'s had started to take his money away from him and he put up an objection with the result that he was promptly knocked down by half dozen marines and lost his money anyway so it wasn't much use to holler about any thing there. After being in Paris for several days I heard a great many stor- les of affairs at the St. Anne brig and it got so bad the marines were relieved from duty there. that Is those that wer4 left. For the men quite often hested the marines and large number of them were missing from time to time. After the
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
MIsrepresented Service.

A couple of weeks ago man by the name of Hinton was taken into custody at Douglas for misrepresenting his serv- ice in the army and posing as a hero of the marines in France when he had not even been overseas. This brings to mind the gross misrepresentation of facts by many returned men. some of which have come to my attention Iately.a
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Service Difficulties.

At the outset the new postal depart ment encountered many almost impas- sable difficulties in doing business in France. Thousands of miles from home 1t was required to serve a long line of communications from the base ports to armies scattered over a wide area. Move ments on a gigantic scale were being con- ducted quickly and secretly. It was not uncommon for ten divisions to move over night. A less difficult situation would confront the postal authorities back home if some night the entire population of Washington. D. C., were to leave for parts unknown without telling the post man. War time postal problems are with out contrast in the civil establishment during normal years.
 The postal problems of the A. F. F. were more difficult and more intricate than those of our allies. France. at home. operated her postal service upon long established lines. England. near her home base. had short hauls and easy communications. The postal problems of the Canadians and the Australians alone paralleled ours. But our monthly in crease alone was greater than the entire Canadian force.
 Great difficulty was experienced at first in having the malls properly sorted in before being loaded aboard ship This was due to the fact that the postal people In America were unfamiliar with the organization of the A. F.. F.. and on account of the difficulties of communica- tion and the secrecy attached to troop movements. Eventually it became neces- sary to send liaison officers to the postal terminals in America to direct this work
 The submarine menace delayed the mails on the water and the chaotic con 1ition of the inadequate and worn-out French railways delayed the mails on and. Equipment was lacE'Lg a1i so were he necessary records of troop move nents and the movements of individuals People hack home with no knowIcdge of matters military or postal were illegibIy addressing letters to John Smith, France" But the undermanned. mex Postal Express Service remem- ,ercd the fellow who delivered the mes- age marked Garcia, Rush" and got | ,uSy.
 Getting Established.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
MANY WEIRD TALES CIRCULATED RY MEN POSING AS HEROES FROM THF
 BATTLE FRONT IN ALL PARTS l, {.

one Hero Wounded 246 Tmes Episode in Douglas Calls
 To Mind Numerous Instances of Bogus War Veterans Who
 Got Away With It. for Time Papers Give Publicity to Countless Stories of Incidents Which Never Happened
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
A. w. o. LIS Numerous.

I went down to little town in central France one day by the name of Nerondes and found about 90 of such men who were camping alongside of the railroad track where an American weight car of provisions had been side tracked and lost They were men of this kind who were still hunting their regiments but had giv- en up the hunt and were living there off the contents of this car and mad been there q week or ten days then with no Idea of what to do or where to go and afraid to report anywhere because they knew what to expect.
 O. course on the other hand there were many men who Intentionally went absent without leave who never really tried to get back and were just "bumming'' around the country keeping out of sight And it was a hard proposition to tell this kind from the unintentional deserter through no fault of his own. Discipline had to be maintained during the war and so the general plan of giving all A. w O. LIS a sentence of some kind was put into operation with much injustice to the un- deserving.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Took Auto Over the Top.

A clipping from another paper says: "A letter from Tracy Harrington says he expects to he in American. He has never been frightened but once when he was called upon to take his automobile and go over the top with the supplies
 2s Wounds, Years In France.
 We also read in some of the leading magazines and periodicals that Private Chas. A. Petit. who lives in Tanning. Texas, is entitled to wear 2S wound stripes and spent 40 odd months in France" His photograph shows a num- Der of decorations which he did not have the authority to wear at the time this story was written.
 It is instances of this kind which cause a doubt in the minds of most people as to the authority any returned soldier has for wearing any decoration and those who are really entitled to wear them are sometimes constrained not to wear them for fear some one might think they did not have the authority for doing so.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Lieutenant Smith at Naco.

Being recruits we were given two weeks of hard boiled treatment by Lieu tenant Smith just to show us who was the boss. but I can't say that at that time he did anything out of the way further than to scare the life out Of those not initiated into the details Of army life. He was a buffer pure and simple and those who called his bluff got away with it.
 My Eext experience with him was when one day he came down to the company street with a guard of officers and men and placed the entire company under ar rest. by order of the commanding of- ficer. and started search for the much sought after liquid refreshments. which he believed was being distributed by Company I. including the company com mander. Capt. E. NJ. Robinson. Every tent in the company street and the com pany officers tents were searched but nothing could be found and ever after he had it in for Company I. There was plenty of the thirst quencher there and he knew 1t but the best he could find was two empty bottles.
 After we moved to Camp Kearny some of us were sent to schools under Lieuten- ant smith and when he would call the
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Getting Established.

Conferences were held with the French railway officials and with tho French
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27

catchy the music. or how 'beacoup' look ed the madamoiseles? It's not always the program.
 No. be it early or late. when revielle finds him in line. or at taps when he lays there and ponders whether he win get it or not? He is always thinking of his MALL
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
TREATMENT OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS LN PRISON CAMPS

It was and no means of getting there. He had heard that the American head. quarters were in Paris and so went there to try and find out where his regiment was, he said, but he was picked up by the M. P.'s there and thrown in the St. Anne brig and after fair trial was doing six months time in the stockade
 There were a number of cases where men had been discharged from the hos- pital and ordered back to their regi- ment with no money and no transporta- ton or directions as to where to find their outfits. The natural thing was to hunt up some headquarters and try and find out where their outfits were. but this generally resulted in being picked up by the M. P.'s as they had no passes and no orders to show why they were absent from their outfits
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
Lieut.. Smith Known in HIsbee.

Lieutenant "Hardboiled" Smith refer red to in the above was formerly an of- ficer of the old First Arizona Infantry which later became the 15Sth Infantry in the 10th Division. and he was for sev- eral months the provost marshal for this regiment. being on duty here in Bisbee.
 Most all the business people of Bisbee who were here in 1917 are we'll acquaint- ed with Lieutenant Smith. He was a warm personal friend of Adjutant Gen eral c. W. Harris and was at one time with the street department of Phoenix until General Harris placed him in charge of the armory at Phoenix as a sergeant. Later through the influence of Harris he was given a commission in the First Arizona Infantry and was with that regi- ment until his arrest last December in Chelles. France. while in charge of Farm No. 2 Prison Camp. near Paris. His fath- er Joseph Smith. was private secretary to President Mckinley when he was gov ernor of Ohio.
 Probably the two most notorious cases of inefficient and brutal treatment of the men of the A. E. F. were the St. Anne Brigg in the St. Anne hotel of Paris under the administration of the 30th Marines and what was known as Farm No. under the administration of Lieutenant Smith of the 15sth Infantry at Champs. little town about 20 miles east of Paris.
 These places became notorious even before the signing of the armistice and on November 9, 10 and II 1 became ac- quainted with the working of the St. Anne hotel brigg and during November and December visited Farm No. 2 many times and witnessed things there that would make any red blooded man wonder what the American army was coming to.
 Lieutenant Smith incurred the dis pleasure of the peace officers in this country during his stay here provost marshal and was transferred back to duty with the regiment at Naco in command Of the recruit detachment there and 1t was while he was in command of this detachment that l first made his ac- quaintance in July. 1917. having just enlisted and being sent to Naco for duty I was placed in this detachment for two weeks under quarantine.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27

| andria. La, to bring to light the oratori- cal ability of one of our former medical majors or else he so swayed the reporter for the AleXandris Town Talk that we have in the issue of May of that paper very glowing account of how the army was fed during the war
 You can imagine the city park of Alex andria, the flaming Victory loan banners. the red, white and blue bunting, and the outburst of music from the local band and then the speaker of the day intro duced as Major Cappel of the Second di- vision and then the reporters story of that memorable address contains the fol- lowing statements:
 Major Cappel gave a full measure of praise to the Red Cross, which he said furnished the men with food, clothing and everything else they needed.
 Major Cappel said that he had often heard the statement made that five Americans could whip 100 men of any other nation, and this had been fully demonstrated in the fighting which the Americans had done in the war.
 We were rushed to Chateau Thierry and Belleau woods, the French army was in absolute retreat, and the civilian population in a stampede. When we met the French army in retreat, they advised us to retreat and dig in. France was absolutely whipped as well as England also. Our enemy came marching along the road, not expecting to meet any re- sistance. The road was open to Paris
 When We reached Paris we paraded the streets and passed in review before the king of France and other French dignitaries. When the American boys in the old tin hats passed our feet were not allowed to touch the pavement on account of the bouquets which were showered upon us.
 When the American soldier goes over the top he forgets his orders and goes on his own initiative"
 No comment is necessary on this great address but we are constrained to say Good for Major Cappel and long live the king of France"
 Utah Football Champions.
 It is not only the gallantry and heroism that creeps into print at home but in the | Salt Lake Tribune of April Is there ap- pears four coIumn cut of football | team with the following comment:
 "The championship of the American ! army was won by the Utah boys. and | that honor alone is one which any state | in the Union would be justly proud. l Four games were played while the boys i were in France"
 The commanding officer of the A. F. F. | athletic program says they probably did | play four games within the division but can lay no claim to the championship as that had not been determined till long after the 18th Field Artillery had re- turned home.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
The Postal Express Service.

Until July l. 1918. all A. E. F. mail was handled by civilian agents of the United States postoffice department. They did their work well. but the difficulties of coordination and liaison and the need of military knowledge soon made it ap- parent that the postal organization should he au integral part of the army.
 The Postal Express Service was there fore established and took over the work in July. 1918. Its officers and personnel, taken from the ranks. were with rare exceptions ao. olutely unfamiliar with th,. highly specialized business Of handing mail. Furthermore. the A. E. F. be- came its own postmaster at just that period when the army grew from one mi.- lion men 70 two million men almost over night. The new postmaster real ized he was III. against fl as he saw tha: stream of mail suddenly turn into flood. But he rolled up his sleeves aid sta. e6 iip nights and gradually got his affairs in order.
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
The A. E. F. Mall Man.

And the mail proposition was one of the hardest business, problems the A. F.. F. had to contend with. It was the big gest undertaking in the history of letter writing.
 When America decided to take a hand in the war and send troops to France, one of the things that was overlooked in the rush was the establishment of an adequate military postal system. It didn't seem to occur to anybody that the Yank would ever find time to lay aside his gun and take up his pen. He soon showed that he could write as we'll as he could fight and do both at the same time.
 The American soldier is undoubtedly the worlds champion letter writer He would "jot a line" or "drop a post card" on the slightest provocation and the folks back home were always prompt and gen erous with their replies.
 There's an interesting story in connec- tion with the handling of the American military mails. which someone has called the biggest undertaking in the history of letter wfitr- g."
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27

Conunued on Page ax)
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
|. Lonesomeness From No Mail.

Probably the greatest cause of trouble among the men in the A. E. F. was lone- someness. Ard most of this was caused from not hearing from home as often as they thought they should hear. About the oniv thing that held the men to their memory of home was aE occasional letter from some one at home. This fact Is at tested to by the theme of the follow ing lines which I received last week from a friend of mine still in Germany:
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
What the Soldier Thinks.

Do you know what soldier thinks about most? As hour after hour he does squads east and west, when the 'Looie' gives rest. It's not always the I. D. R.
 ''Or when he is K. r. scrubbing pots and pans pealing spuds. cutting punk. or slinging slum? It's not always the mess.
 "Or after he has been out playing ball. having a real old regular time. the crack of the ball on the bat knocking clear out of his head the fact that he's in Ger many? It's not always the score.
 "or. when he is on guard. walking post. halting friend. waiting relief. watching dawn or shivering wet perhaps? It's not always the general orders.
 "Or. after he has been to a show, no matter how good were the acts, nor how
Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-27
The King of France

It took a Victory loan rally at Alex
The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-09-08
Famous Lion Of BeIfort.

On guard at the French frontier
stands the Lion of Belfort. Now cut
out OF enduring stone, it was once
modelled from snow.
In the Franco Prussian war the siege
Of Belfort lasted from November, 1870.
to February, 1871. Among the garrison
we're thousands of reserve troops.
artists and other professional men,.
From time to time during the winter
the men, to amuse themselves, made
statues In the snow. Then the sun
would shine and there would be no
more statues.
Among the garrison was the man who
gave to America her heroic figure of
liberty, Bartholdi, the sculptor One
day he modelled a lion from snow. and
the halffrozen soldiers, as they looked
with pride and delight on what the
sculptor had wrought. with renewed
courage cried: Now the Germans can
never enter France from this direction,
for here stands the Lion of Belfort"
And the Germans never did.
When an armistice was declared by
order of the French government. the
garrison capitulated with all honors of
war. Under the terms of peace France
retained Belfort.
Once again Bartholdi modelled the
lion. On the rock in front of the
citadel rearing himself on his forelegs,
stands this noble figure. IT is thirty
six feet high and seventy-two long.
In Paris there is a replica in ham
mered copper. also by Bartholdi And
the square or place on which the replica
looks down is called the Place Denfert-
Rochereau, in honor of the brave lieu
tenant-colonel of that name VINO co'--
manded the garrison of Belfort In 1870.