The Mena weekly star., 1920-09-16
LARGE CROWD
IN MFNA FRIDAY
Day Gathering Was
the Largest Ever in the City--The
Program Was Delayed in Starting
and Was Not Complete.

Americanization day in Mena
brought.more people than program. 1t
was one of the greatest gatherings
known in the history of the city and it
is to be regretted that the big crowd
did not get more entertainment.
1t was not the fault of the members
of Frank Fried Post Of the American
Legion that Americanization Day was
as one sided as it was. The former
service men worked hard to get big
turnout of people to Mena and in this
they succeeded. 1t was not their fault
that the exhibition on behalf of the
Arkansas National Guard was de-
layed and failed to come up to expec-
tations.
1t was long after the noon hour that
the "Flying Squadron" arrived in
Mena. The sfyers" consisted of two
army trucks, carrying Is members of
the A. N. g., and miscellaneous as
sortment of military equipment.
The crowd had gathered in accord
ance with arrangements at the ball
ground, and such was the interest the
big new grandstand was filled to ca
pacity before the hour set for the pro-
gram to begin. The crowd overflowed
onto the playing field and many did
not leave the shade in court square.
The "Flying Squadron" was not
only late in reaching Mena, but was
late in getting it's part of the days
entertainment started. The big crowd
waited and sweated and when the pro-
gram did finally start, gave it close
attention.
The trucks were driven into the
grounds and to a point in front of the
grandstand. Three of the command
ing officers of the Squadron, Majors
Andrews, Sisney and Rogers, gave
short talks, explaining the nature of
the campaign the A. N. G. was max
ing over the state.
, An exhibition of different imple-
ments of modern warfare, consisting
chiefly of trophies brought back from
overseas was had. Commander Forgy
of Frank Fried post held each article
up and explained its use and purpose.
The Argonne fife and drum corps
gave few selections. but had to cut
their program because of the bursting
of drum at Wombla
Probably the most interesting part
of the military features Of the day
was the showing of the machine gun.
The weapon was trained on Sugar
Loaf mountain and round of shots,
real ones, were fired into the big
mound. The machine gun was
Browning, the kind used by the A. E.
F. overseas. 1t is water-cooled and
can fire at the rate of 500 shots min
ute. During the exhibition the gun
was fired until all the ammunition was
exhausted. When the last shot was
fired there was wild scramble among
the Juveniles in the crowd for the
empty shells, the priced souvenirs of
the day.
There was general regret that the
free movies could not be given. The
expected roll of films failed to reach
the squadron in time to be brought to
Mena, and this part of the program
was omitted.
The ball game between Union Grove
and Rocky teams, for the champion
ship of Polk county, proved the big
drawing card of the day. The Union
Grove boys won by score of IS to 10,
in hotly contested game. The
Union Grove ...... ZOO 312 04S-13
Rocky ........ ..011 010 OSLO
: The teams lined up as follows:
Union-M. Cox, center; j. Ward,
left; Beck, right; Bailey, second;
Reed, short; Swiger, pitcher; Cham
bers, third; Embry, first; M. Ward,
catcher.
Rocky-Manley, center; Reed, short;
Scott, first; Campbell, second; P. Wal
lis, pitcher; Earnest, catcher; j. Wal
lis, right; Winton, left; Strawn. third.
Dale Cunningham and Jim Tweedy
served as umpires. The Union Grove
Boys were given the $25 purse offered
by the Legion to the winning team.
The Flying Squadron" came to
Mena from Mt. Ida, stopping at Wom-
BILE enroute. The flyers" have trav-
eled to date about 1900 miles in their
tour of the state, and Mena has, to
date, given them the biggest crowd of
any place visited. The Squadron
spent the night at The Antlers, and
left Saturday morning for Waldron.
The Squadron is composed of fifteen
men. all of whom are residents of Ar
kansas, and former service men, most
of them getting overseas during the
big war. The personnel is as follows:
Major r. B. Andrews sof Beebe:
Major r. e. Sisney of Hot Springs;
Major L. III. Rogers of Paris; Capt. j.
II. Steward of Arkadelphia; Lieut..
Pat Briscoe of Arkadelphia; Lieut..
II. Fredeman of Little Rock, and the
following privates: w. Appel, G. Will
son, Percy Stephens, H. l.. Bogart, C.
Meyers, L. Williamson, Jess Pugesley,
II. Conrad and Emmett Thompson.
------------------D D-------------
Heartburn after a hearty meal