Newspaper Page Text
U Uncle Sam lnèends Tb Protect Your Soldier Goy from 6002e and the // KST the American army of democracy, the 500.000 chosen crusaders, suffer more __ casualties from moral disorders than WHIH from the shells of the enemy, there Is to he a military departure In prophylaxis \V II against vi®- and Intemperance. The wastage of the Spanlsh-American war was from bad beef in stead of bullets, from mosquitoes in place of mis siles, from flies and disease rather than from the destructive force of the Spaniards. Science and sanitation triumphed over the mosquito. Now it remains for American army moral sanitation to triumph over the ruthless ene mies, booze and disease. One can Tear! in the draft law, in the regula ttions and in the express actions of Secretary of AVar Baker that he means this army of 500.000 IHer.n young Americans to be the first army that •ever took the field and stayed in the field and re turned from the field untainted by the dual war viêes. Secretary Baker is determined that the wounds Inflicted upon our army of liberation shall be those Inflicted by the central powers, and not those so habitually inflicted by the army upon itself. Recreation is to take the place of Idleness and Indulgence. Adjoining miasmatic swamps of bcioze and vice are to be drained. Resort will be had lu garrison to healthful exercise, to whole some amusement, to off-hour activities, to ath letics, to play and to the devices that healthy men indulge in at home. Says Surgeon Major D. C. Howard in a recent war department bulletin: "Recreation will be of great value. Idleness is said to be the mother of lechery. Wholesome amusements and athletics will make the garrison so attractive that the soldier will be inclined to spend his spare time In garrison. No present-day problem in military preventive medicine Is of «renter Importance In relation to the physical efficiency of the army than that of effectual con trol of venereal disease." Thus boldly is the Issue stated, because thus boldly does the secretary of war propose to meet man's worst enemy, which Surgeon Major Maus describes as "The Great Red Plague." Here Is the common foe of embattled mankind. Aid and comfort have been given this enemy by the ill-advised and prudish censorship of social science. "We want no damaged goods in the American army of democracy," C'apt. E. R. Vedder of the United States Medical corps, declares. And, to show how strictly does General Gorgas propose to make the American expedition as clean as he made Havana and Panama, the Wassermann test, and not mere height and eyesight, is the supreme standard of fitness for this war. This 500,000 army of select men, possessing youth, physique and health, the war department proposes to return to their homes, if they survive mere shot and shell, as fit fathers of a future race. The distressful (many returned men and officers say the disgraceful) social conditions that ob tained on the Mexican border will not be repeated at Plattsburg, at Niagara, at Fort Sheridan or in Europe. The El Paso vice barracks, the hideous drves—this nightmare will not be lived through again. It belongs to the typhoid-malnria age. The great American game of baseball will form a vital part in the training of the soldiers of the anny of democracy. When young America in civil life Is not at work it is at the ball game or at the motion picture show or at play in some form. The American expeditionary soldier will play ns fast as he will train for service. This Is the dictum of a recreation expert who knows the value of recreation, moral and educa tional, and who also knows the philosophy of Messrs. Baker and Gorgas. My authoritative in formant continues with an enthusiasm that Is in fectious : "VJood athletes take such pride In their physical fitness (and good soldiers are necessarily good athletes) that they will not abuse their health by indulgences. But, aside from personal pride in fitness, play is in Itself the great prophylaxis agaiAst immoral abuses. "Work is a prophylactic agent against disease, but play is its counterpart, if not its peer. Play means health. The play spirit alone is strictly normal. Play is the preventive against physical and mental and moral breakdown." The rediscovery of play as a social agent is one of the most vital discoveries of modern times. Recreation is its organized application. It has been applied educationally. It has been delib erately applied to redeem the city youth from crime and degeneracy. But it lent itself natural ly. unconsciously, -to the adults, needs in the marvelous development of recreations other than booze and vice. Secretary of War Baker is sensitive to modern sociological developments. It went without saying that, whatever might be his merits or demerits in practical military organization, he of all men would bring to the American army of democracy an appreciation of the sociological factors. A system of recreation for the enlisted man that »ill supplant booze and vice will undoubtedly take shape from the earliest mobilization, and will con tinue to be a safety device for this uniquely pro tected army on the battle front. One observes with keen Interest that the war department has engaged a number of recreation experts for the supervision of recreation at the large training camps. There is here no mere theoretic attention to play, no paper application of recreation philosophy, no mere philanthropic interest in the soldier's idle hour similar to the interest which a churltable gentleman would take in supplying tracts to a hospital, or books to an old ladies' home, or a bat and ball to a nephew. The problem before ns is scarcely of a part with sewing society work. However, to avoid any gesture of sensationalism, it is well to follow the plain, serious words of the war department bulle tins to illustrate the vice side of the problem. Capt. E. B. Vedder of the United States Medical corps, in War Department Bulletin No. 8, writes substantially as follows: "Our sick report has been a reproach in that we £ave had more men on the sick report because of A. A ' a aaa ^ A Aa & A A & venereal diseases than any other army in the world. Tests show that 1G per cent of the recruits are infected on enlistment. Venereal prophylaxis is the order of the day." Statistics are available ho those who will not give them specific publicity showing that these social diseases unfitted hun dreds of thousands of soldiers at the front from duty on the firing line. More terrible than the bullets of the combatants ulike to the invaders and to the Invaded were the ravages of these diseases at Badajoz, in the Peninsular campaign, ns to Rome and Naples in the Spanish invasion. More terrible than an army with banners are the camp followers in its wake. These disquieting truths should be kept hidden, lest the patriotic spirit be discouraged, provided the United States proposed to take part in the war on this basis, provided the propagation of disease were one of "our objects" in the war. and provided there were no way of protecting our 500,000 chosen soldiers and thereafter the nation from the ravages of a plague. But the war department knows this enemy to be vulnerable, and it proposes to fight It in the open field with social prophylaxis, and to crush it, both In the training camp and in its present so-frultful lair, the trench zones of Europe. But before these preventive recreation plans can be made effective there must be positive exclusion of the unfit. "Weed out the infected" is the new watchword of the recruiting authorities. Infected recruits, If not detected, will prove a« impediment to the army, filling first the hospitals and finally the pension lists. The draft law contains no provision more vital to the security of the nation than section 13. which authorizes Secretary of War Baker to draw a dead line nbout our mllitnry camps for infection. The Canadian military camps became excursion points for thousands of wives, mothers, sisters and, under this cloak, of others who had no par ticular qualification except enthusiasm for the soldier and a pronounced reaction toward the uni form. Driven from the mile or more limit, these latter Use of Wireless In the Great War Wireless has proved a great boon in war. A scout airplane today if up to the, minute has a wireless set aboard. This provides it with the only means of communication with its base, or with the battery of heavy guns, when engaged upon the direction of artillery fire. The wireless is the voice of the oceans. It links up ship with ship, however distant from the land or from the recognized routes of trade. Without it modern naval warfare would be Impossible. The SOS signal is the most urgent and sacred call in the wireless world, a call few operators will ignore. And yet the enemy has made false use of this signal. There was one case of an American skip per somewhere off Bantry bay, who, picking up an S O S some 50 miles distant, made thither at top speed, to find on arrival, not a vessel in dis tress, but a German submarine, the commander of which not only made no apology, but was so annoyed to find that It was an American instead of a British boat that he had snared that he threatened to sink it there and then ; and prob ably he would have put his threat into force had not n British destroyer showed up on the horizon. Another case was that of the cargo steamer Anglo-Callfomlnn. homeward bound from Amer ica. She sighted a German submarine in mid ocean. and made off as fast as her engine would permit, the enemy in hot pursuit; her wireless operator sending out the 8 O S signal as fast as he knew how. Meanwhile the shell fire grew fiercer, the ship was raked from end to end. They had not a single weapota of their own with which to retaliate, but they stuck to it as only British sailors can. Then there came an answer to their signals, "Coming to your help. Hang on." It was from a British man-of-war, somewhere across L \ 7 7 set up at whatever distance and expressed thelt patriotism in indulgences for which the war made a tolerant conscience. And Canadians are afnong the strictest puritans in the world. By devious pretexts, hundreds of these soldier-smitten wom en followed the units to Europe. Wo may quite as well ignore the experiences of the allies in Europe, for our own experiences are rich enough. The government has issued no bul letin showing the number of soldiers incapacitated by disease during the Mexican expedition, but the only available authorities, the individual militia men and officers, recite a distressing naitntive of debauchery on the border. In more than one instance dives were set up In full view of the officers' camp, though, of course, outside of the authority of the war department. And to such wretched dens the soldiers resorted because of the utter vacuity of border soldiering nnd the lack of adequate recreation facilities. It is these experiences which now determine the war department to achieve a new triumph for sanitation by inaugurating a system of thorough prophylaxis, substituting recreation for stupidity, idleness and vice indulgence. The American army of democracy Is not to be a disease-infested, booze inflicted army. It is to triumph over mankind's worst enemies before it leaves our soil, and it is to carry its triumphs to Europe, there to advertise to the whole world the new American idea in social prophylaxis. To such an anny every American mother will be proud to lend her son.—William J. Black, in New York Tribune Magazine. the horizon, far out of sight. By this time the firing had grown so fierce that the operator was forced to manipulate his key lying on his back in his cabin. At last the welcome news, "Can see your smoke. Hang on." "For God's sake, hurry up ; they're shelling us like h-," replied the Californian operator. This the German op erator intercepted, and had his guns trained full on rlielr aerial, their last hope of salvation. Lucki ly the German shooting was wild, and eventually the British warship hove in sight. Immediately the submarine dived, and they were ordered to report her trail. Yet earlier in the war occurred the unhappy Breslau and Goeben affair. When surrounded by British craft, these two powerful men-of-war succeeded in effecting an escape, sighted only by one of our light cruisers. Immediately she wire lessed for help. In the year 1915, 26 vessels were reported by the radio inspectors of the United States to have sent out the call for assistance. The calls in cluded accidents of all kinds, Including collision, running ashore, broken-down machinery, storm, cargo shifting and torpedoes. In one case, that of a Greek vessel which caught fire in mid ocean, she was abandoned by the passengers and crew, aggregating 470. Within two and a half hours two other vessels had taken on board. In one case 341 survivors and in the other the re maining 129. The original vessel was entirely destroyed. On another occasion a vessel with 1.700 Italians aboard caught fire at sen. The S O S signal im mediatey brought up another vessel, which took off 600 survivors, then conveyed the disabled boat into port without the loss of a single life, j JURY REFUSES TÛ CONVICT WUHAN Sollt on Verdict Where Unwritten Law is Invoked in Defense. KILLED SISTER'S BEAU Second Trial Is Ordered by Judge, V/ho Insists Accused Shall Be Found Guilty in First Degree or Acquitted. Topeka. Kan.—Tli? jury in the trial of Miss Lena Kinderknecht of Topeka, Kau., charged with the murder of Frederick I'. Richardson, lier sister's wooer, failed to reach a verdict after deliberating three days, and a mistrial resulted. The case was one of the ■most unusual ever placed before u Kansas jury and involved the question of whether a woman had the right to invoke the unwritten law to protect the honor of her sister. Eleven members of the jury said she had. One was op posed to this novel application of the law. As a result of the mistrial Miss Kin derknecht will have to stand trial again, because of the ruling made by Judge Rupenthnl that she must either be convicted of murder in the first de gree or acquitted. He allowed no al ternative degree for the jury to con sider. Unusual Features of Tragedy. The circumstances preceding the Kinderknerht tragedy, as adduced by the evidence, indicate that Miss Mary Kinderknecht, aged twenty-three years and strikingly pretty, was interested in Frederick I*. Richardson, a traveling insurance agent. He was good look ing. dressed well, had plenty of money and a motorcar and called often to take her riding. The members of the Kinderknecht family did not like him. The father, a brother and Miss Lena, a sister of Mary, suspected the man's intentions as not being of the best. Early last winter tlie Kinderknecht family decided to break up ttie rela 5 A_ Miss Lena Fired Two Shots. tions of the younger sister and Richard son and succeeded for a time. Then ■several clandestine meetings followed, ; and on February 5 Mary disappeared from home. Miss Lena Kinderknecht and her brother located and followed 'the couple as they alighted from Rich* .unison's car, they began an argument. Fired Two Shots. Miss Lena fired two shots and when she, lier sister and brother started for home, Richardson was standing by his car. Later Richardson found that ho had been shot in the abdomen. He died two days later. Miss Kinderknecht insists that she did not know she had shot her sister's sweetheart, as there had been no out cry and she saw no blood. Miss Mary explained to the authorities that she liked Richardson because he had giv en her flowers and candy and had 0 "nice automobile." _ •** <rCrtrCrtrbüirCr£rtrCrirù'CrùrtrCr£r-t: -CrtrCrirîrb ,? GIRLS WHO LOST ARE & I MOURNERS AT WEDDING Cleveland, O. — Wedding mourners are the latest addition to indoor sports among the so eial elite of this city. They jy made their appearance at the wedding of Dorothy Kreps and Arthur McArthur, society fuvor £ ites. i> The plan calls for each girl who has ever been courted by jy the groom, even though he did It half-heartedly, to drive to the iy wedding dressed in black and carrying a black handkerchief. Rejected male suitors haven't followed suit as yet. ______tinWrtrtr* Firemen Called to Soak Deserter. London.—An army deserter In Lon don was captured after a five-hour bat tle with police, when firemen turned two streams of water on him. He had climbed to the roof of a house and kept the policemen away with bricks, ripped from the chimney. Kills Chills Good for Malaria, constipation jj biliousness —a fine tonic Guaranteed or money bach Ash your dealer Behrens Drug Co..Waco.Tcx Its Play. •T see the hand of fate in Europe--" "Yes, the deuce is taking the kings.' TJ:* occasional vac of Homan Kve ttalsaro at r ;k- 1 1 upon retiring pi.*v»-nt a: ' r ^* 11, V,- ured <JCS. watery eyes, and e>e strata Adv. Marine Life. According to C. It. Shoemaker ot the United States National museum, the Danish West Indies offer an interest ing field fur study in marine life. In one of his expeditions to St. 1 bornas he found among other specimens, great numbers of a beautiful dark purpli-h red crab and many species of small, vividly colored fish swimming about the coral. These were In shade* of red and blue % and through the clear waters were beautiful objects. COVETED BY ALL but possessed by few—a beautiful head of hair. If yours is streaked with gray, or is harsh und stiff, you can re store it to its former beauty and lus ter by using "La Creole" Hair Dress ing. Price $1.00.—Adv. He Was Cured. Once there was a little boy who stole sugar.' So strong was bis craving lor sugar that half bis mother's time was taken up watching the sugar bowl. One morninî, however, she filled a big tumbler full of sugar awl gave it to the little boy and told him to eat it all. The boy took a s;...... and started In. lie ate about a third of it before be got enough. His mother insisted that he eat some more—It was all bis to eat. and she'd box his ears If he didn't oat it. She -did box bis ears, and lie ate a little more, but presently be slipped the tumbler under his chair and slipped out to play. hen he came back, though, the tumbler was there waiting for him. He ate a little, but it wasn't good. He said It "was too sweet." Every day for a month that tumbler was by his plat*' at the table, on a chair by his bedside, in the closet with his playthings—every where he found that tumbler. The flies swarmed about it, and the ants came, but still it was "too sweet." That tumbler never was finished up. The boy is an old man now. nnd takes his coffee straight. Gooosebcry pie is the only kind he likes. All other kinds are "too sweet."—Kansas City Star. Rastus as Detective. Rapid disappearance of coal from his bin alarmed Major Higgins and he determined to trace it. lie ques tioned the man who tended bis gar den. "George," he asked, "where do yon reckon my coal has disappeared to?" George scratched his head thought fully. "Well, sir," he replied. "All ah—ah reckon them squirrels done took it. Yes, squirrels, Major Higgins, That was nut coal, sir." In Bed. John—I'm going to kill that mosqui to. Wife—Don't bother, John. John—You think I wont to he bit ten just as I doze off? Wife—But they always buzz first. They buzz like a telephone. John—Yes, and like a telephone buzz, they don't buzz till the connec tion's been made."—Chaparral. Life is but a dream to the nverngo young man until experience kicks his shins and wakes him up. Instant Postum A table drink that has taken the place of coffee in thousands of American homes. "There's a Reason" Instant Postun * j C*fMl Csmft 5 m t « 55 * Bi Delightful flavor Rich aroma Healthful Economical Sold by grocers everywhere.