Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1921-03-31

8odies Of Sergts. Hall and Battles
Brought From France. and Z
~ Infarre6 in Fort Mill.

Z r8<kAOD O4 SOx b3s 3A0A esA4N ASsA&AVo
Brought From France and
Inferred in Fort Mill.
- AZ crowd estimated ! at. from.
j 2,O00s to. 2, 500 gathered in Fort
mill Sunday afternoon to attend
the funeral exercises ..,of. sSergt
'TomHH Hall and sSergtr Eli Bales,
Fort Mill soldiers who lost their
lives in the World war and whose,
! bodies arrived !, Friday { evening,
from, Hoboken, N. j., after lying
in the soil of France since Octo-
,ber 9, 1915: Hundreds came to-
Fort, Mill from Rock Hill, York
and across the line in North Car
! olina to join the home folk in
honoring the. memory Y of. the
two young soldiers whose. gallant
conduct, overseas shed luster upon
the record of the company, .regi-.
ment,. and division to which they
belonged
Both Sergt. Hall and Sergt.
Bales were members Of the Fort
Mill company (G), 118th regi-
ment, 30th division, both were
mortally wounded on October 8,
1918,. in the engagement. near
Montbrehain, France, and both
succumbed to their wounds the
! following day. Now their bodies
lie side by side. for all time in
plot in New Unity cemetery pre-,
sented to the Fort Mill post,
American Legion, by the town
authorities.
Sergt. Hall had the distinction
of being one of the fifty of the
hundreds of thousands of Ameri-
can soldiers composing the, ,expeF
dictionary forces to whom the con-
gressionaI medal 4 Of honor was
awarded for gallant conduct out
side the line of duty. Some time
after. the. death of, Sergt. Hall
the medal was presented to- his
father, w. Il. Hall of Fort Mill.
The funeral, services were held.
in Confederate park Sunday af-
!. ,ternoon at 8 o'clock. after the
bodies had Jain in state 4, in, Il the
armoryr Of the Tom Hail. Guards
from Friday evening until the
hour for the exercises, during
which hundreds {. visited the ar
mory as tribute of respect to
the memory Of the. two. heroes.
Throughout the entire, time. the
bodies lay in the armory militia
ry guard of honor, members of
thet Tom. Hail. Guards. named, in
honor of Sergt. Hall, was sta
toned at the foot of the caskets,
almost hidden from view by the
American flags in e, which they
were wrapped and the floral .trib7
utes of the Fort Mill Legion post
and friends. of. the young men
and their families.
The services were, under, the
auspices,,pf, Fort Mill post, No,
43, American Legion, and were
begun. by an announcement of
Arthur &c. Lytle, posts,adjutapt,
to be followed, ,tby prayer y,,the
I Rev. J. B. Black, pastor of the
Fort Mill Presbyterian church,
after whcih Thomas B. Spratt,
former Lieutenant colonel of the
118th infantry, paid. a tribute to
Sergt..Han and Sergt- Bales. in
the course of which he spoke of
the gallantry sof, .thei two young
soldiers and described, aas only
one who knew the facts firsthand
could describe, the glorious rec
ord OF, their company, theh 118th
regiment. and, the e30thl division
The Fort Mill company, said
Col. Spratt, lost more men in kill,
ed and wounded than any other
company in,rthe 118th regiment
whieh,i likewise. lost more. men
than any, other regiment,iin the
3Qth. division, to which, must GO
the@ credit for, .breskingp the Hin
denburg line. Col. Spratt said
he knew of his personal knowl
edge of the courage and patriot
ism shown sbyesi iSeret. ii Hall and
Sergt. Bales in that memorable
attack. He said that following the
death of the two Fort Mill sold,
iers theyregimaptals chaplain, eams
to him and expressed his sorrow
that they should have gone dowr
in. 1.-The maelstrom. "That Incl
dent" said Col. Spratt, "proved
thas soldiorly,. worth ,eof the two