The Nezperce herald., February 06, 1919, Image 1

About The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957

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THE NEZPERCE HERALD
Subscription, $1.50
Vbl. 21 , No. 36
NEZPERCE, IDAHO, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 , 1919
Circulation, 1,400
Official Paper Lewis County
LETTERS FROM WHERE '
GRIM DEATH REIGNED.
company
the
SgL Fred Jones, 2nd Engineers,
and N. H. Klaus, 91st Div
ision, Give Glimpses of
Big Experiences.
Sgt. Fred Jones Writes a Good
One.
Sergeant Fred P. Jones, son of
Air. and Mrs. Clayton Jones of
this community, was one of the
Nezperce boys who volunteered
with the old Orangeville Nation
al Guard company just before
the IT. S. entered the war, and he
was in the thick of America's big
fighting from Chateau Thierry
to the end in the Argonne. He
is one of the real heroes of the
war, and his old home commun
ity is very proud of him.
His letter follows :
( 'hatillion-Sur Seine, Franco,
January 14, 1919.
Dear Mr. Conger:
Thought I would write some of
my experiences since the armis
tice was signed Nov. 11. We were
on the front at the time and had
lost about half of our
the night of the 10th in
throwing of a bridge across the
Aleuse river to let the Marines
across.
No doubt you have read a
with
our
us
go
years
was
were
great about the work of the
morines. Well the 2nd Engineers
were always right along
them, as we are all in the same
division.
Well, after the signing of tho
armistice we had a few days rest
and on Nov. 17 started on
glorious march to the Rhine.
AVe crossed the Belgian border
the 18th and then on the 22nd
crossed over into Luxemburg.
The Belgian people treated
fine, but the people of Luxem
burg are just like the French
They took the notion to try and
get rich off of the Americans.
Well, when we got to Reisdarf,
Luxemburg, we had to stay there
till Dec. 1st before we could
into Germany.
Dee. 1st came
land w r e started again and about
|3:30 p. m. we crossed the border.
[From there on we had pretty
[hard hiking, as it xvas very hilly'.
[We saw many old castl.es that
Iwere built hundreds of
|ago. AVe had to do guard duty
lalong the railroads for about
Ravo -weeks and the detail I
pn charge of did not get to the
Blhiiie till Dec. 24th.
German people
Ifraid of us and of course they
■rented us pretty good. Ï got
Io T could talk pretty fair Ger
■an, and the old felloAv avc stay
id with when avc Avere on rail
load guard thot a quite a lot of
Is and the night before avc left
Be came rolling a 51-quart keg
If beer into our room and told
Is iti was for us. During the
■veiling I asked him Avhat the
leg cost him and he said 300
■arks (.about. $27).
■ Well I didn't get to stay on
■e Rhine long. On the 26th they
■ipned a lieutenant and myself
I) Coblenz, and avc caught a
lain there for this town for "a
lecial course of instruction in
The
■hgineering," the order read.
■ There are engineers here from
p-ery fighting unit in France—
lie non-commissioned
loin each company.
I We sure ha\ r e a good bunch of
Ively felloAvs'and avc are argu
ing almost the Avhole time as to
iho did the most work and
■ghting on the lines. Occasion
lly some felloAv will say a word
P' two purposely in favor of the
I. M. C. A..and then you can
fear some of the awfulest rav
Ig one ever heard. The Y. M. C.
I. did great work for the S. O.S.
toys, but the boys on the front
fever got any help from it, con
fcquently we nei'er ha\ r e ,a good
rord for them.
f Until I came here it had been
pur or five months since I had
bught or been able to buy any
liing from the "Y.
[ The Red Cross surely gets the
raise and every man in the A.
I. F- will always contribute to
le Salvation Army.
[I do not, know hoAV long it will
p before avc start home. I sup
bse it will be about June or \
dIa'. tho. We are
fexious to see the old'Statue of
Iberty again.
[Must close noAv.
i . Very respectfully,
Sgt. Fred F. Jones,
jCo. B. 2nd U. S.'Engineers,
officer
all getting
A. E. F.
? >
Corporal Klaus of the 91st.
Corporal N. H. Klaus, a Voll
nier young man, better
here as the husband of Miss Mat
tie Ash, that was, tells of his own
and other Lewis county boys' ex
periences in the famed 91st Div
ision, in the following good let
ter;
Crombeke, Belgium, Dee. 25, 18.
Mr. W. P. Conger.
Dear Friend ;
Have just
.'finished reading the ' Nezpercc
Herald by the light from the fire
place in my "P. C." We are
stationed hère at a British rest
camp and have been for two and
a half weeks, but may move out
now any day. I hopo when wo
do the move will be homeward
This camp is on the Flanders
front and sure is a "mud hole ''
rains here every night '
Well, Corp. Elmer Ralstin and
I have a 2-room corrugated steel
hut about 14x20 feet to our lone
some and we have equipped it
to suit our fancy, a nice fire
pïaee is the main feature. In
one room we have our bunk and
fire place and in the other we
have our machine guns and
equipment for our squads. (Wait
till I take a drink of milk.) The
fire place furnishes vis a great
home comfort and any time we
are not out shopping or drilling
we will most always be found at
this "P. C." with a nice roaring
fire and plenty to eat, such as it
is. About all one is able to get
known
to eat here is rice, coffee,'bread,
tapioca, milk and butter Well
we get a half gallon of milk and
some good rice or tapioca and
have a good feed, have all the
pudding and toast we can eat.
Every day we get good rich pud
ding and toast, and we get rice
two or three times a week.
I am chef and Elmer is fire
man and water buck. When he
is not busy at one of these jobs
he is eating pudding and when
I'm not eating pudding I'm cook
ing it. French fried or shoe
string potatoes are in evidence
here quite often and fried corn
meal mush when ever we are in
a "mushy notion." Well we're
not starving, I'll say; am fatter
than I've been for a long while
and Ralstin is not so thin.
Our bed, as I claim, is the best
in camp and consists'of a 4 inch
board, 7 bundles of straw, -7
heavy army blankets, 2 shelter
halves and an overcoat. Oh, yes,
I had cooties. Don't think Rais
tin got them tho. There must be
something wrong with him for
the cooties never hankered for
his bloid. Well, I had a plenty
for both o fus. However, at this
time I am quite well rid of the
vermins.
That our hut is all of steel it
is rather cold so when our fire
burns Ioav about 7 to 8 p. m. avc
go to roost. Last night avc saAV
the first light snoAv storm of the
season, only lasted half hour
then cleared up and froze.
Christmas morning Avas nice .and
bright and Ralstin and I spent
the time hunting souvenirs and
Avar relics. We found some good
ones. It is snoAving this after
noon so Avili stay in and write. .
Well, avc had a very nice din
ner at the kitchen today, consist
ed of Avhite bread and butter,
cream gravy and, mashed pota
This
young Nedroiv
toes, boiled beef and peas. Each
got tAvo doughnuts, 1 pkg. Lucky
Strike cigarettes, 1 cigar,
gramms good chocolate, 1pt.
can of jam and some Prince Al
bert and Piper Heidsiek.
LeAvis county Avas Avell repres
ented in this company, and you
Avili knoAv just Avhat each got on
this Christmas day from Uncle
Sam.
Those of us who are now Avith
the company are : Corp. Ralstin,
Corp. Hutley and myself. Har
A r ey Nedrow Avas Avounded from
fragments of H. E. shell easing.
One piece piercing the shoulder
and another piercing the side.
Corp. Roy Drake was wounded
from a H. E. shell ' fragment in
the left leg just aboA'e the ankle.
Corp. Sven Thompson took sick
on tho march and Avas taken to
the hospital. Heard from Drake
and Thompson a few days ago
and both are getting along O. K.
The rest of us Avho are here will
go back Avith the company, to tell
hoAV the job was done. The Ger
man barrage of H. E .in Avhich
was Avounded
took place the ei'ening avc Avere
relieved from the first time in
on the Argonne front, it lasted
but a feAV minutes but shells
dropned into and around us, each
one bloAving a pot hole in the
ground from 4 to 7 feet Avide, at
the rate of approximately 700
200
per minute. When the barrage
began our officers ,who were
very efficient in their lines of
duty, assembled the company
and we calmly set our machine
guns pointing toward the enemy
and all held our once gained
position and awaited the ap
proach of the Hun but he was
only bluffing, for he failed to
come over. In a few minutes this
barrage ceased and all was silent
for a s P ace °f time when all at
onee the Hun opened up again
and iu tllis sec ond barrage got
,)ut two of our men - Two hours,
later were. relieved by the
, nd . Division. This sure was
Pnews for us as a\oi*c
holdin K a front line and had to
sta - v low al1 the while or be the
ta,-Ret of the German barrage,
We had to sla y in small holes
suel1 as We could di £ f or shelter
from the rams of bullets, day
and m S ht . f . or 96 hours. _ Well
were relieved and going to
the rear for a rest and about a
half a mile back we passed a
the road where there lay
13 kllled and wmnded men of the
company which had gone out
w 11 e barrage was on. These
men c / llled for first aid and can
teen, but we were not permitted
do anything for them as we
} vere on the march. Our captain,
however, who was later promot
P, a J or . took it on himself
and with one sergeant hunted
fn'Ht aid for the wounded men s
iek Ge - succeeded
1
dom g so. About three miles to
the rear we were caught on a
f°ad where German high explos
lve shells we ™ falhn g but lucky
' ve were and no one was hurt.
G seemed astho the Hun was on
tj ' ai } and had our range, al
though it vas late into the night,
bl 3 t luak 111 °, ur . fav ^ and
wh cu the high explosives landed
w , e were not there. We went back
about six or seven miles carry
in S all our guns and ammunition,
and at four o'clock the following
uvormng we landed in a heavy
^ ood wkere we foofc up our new
abode. I was so tired that I laid
pack on the ground for a pil
lo \ v and laid down to rest, with
0ld \ cover, onlj my thin short
« " ker - 1 r0 ™ eaT] J to Gnd
^ ka t many others had done like
' w ise_. • .
AI) out noon this morning we
Gloved. a new pail of the wood
a . k "'. hundred yards and were
" n j eu blankets. Here we had to
make ® ur bunks on the bare
F l 'ound and slept here two or
three nights; then had to pack uu
and beat it but. They marched
u ? about four miles and had us
'P^ch tents out in the open and
te were just getmg ready to put
in a good night s rest by pulling
grass gnd weeds to make a soft
bunk when an order came in for
us to go in to the front to fill in
a f ka b e ^ a P kl "' >b '
We broke camp at four p. m.
and were ready for the nearly
ten mile hike by guarter to five,
and by dark wore well on our
way toward the line where we
were to take up our position.
We marched all that mght up
hill and down thru valley and
over^ loose rocks, thru rain and
in mud and total darkness till
four o dock the following morn
ing, at which time we dug in for
the rest of morning. was
darh unci the officers found some
old dugouts just large enough
for one or two men to the hole.
These holes were dug by 316th
Doughboys ' a night or so be
fore. While they were here they
must have been shelled quite
heavily for this place was densly
( s re "'!' ' V1 dead boches from
the 316th Engineers. Beside the
hole in which I slept that morn
mg lay a dead Sammy who had
been covered all but one hand
and eight inches of his forearm
with dirt thrown from the hole.
^ i, Up da ^bgbt only to
see the hand and forearm of this
war hero, who had been killed by
shrapnel On the^ bank just to
our front about _0 jards awaj
ay three dead Doughboys
killed from rifle or machine gun
bullets. On our left lay in scat
tered positions five more two of
whom were killed by high explo
sive '
Wc Avere here all this day and
night and on the following morn
ing at day break AA-e went out
about four hundred yards and
took up a position Avith one pla
toon of 45 men.
hour avc went over the top. Well
our position was at the foot of a
short but steep hillside and when
on top the terraine of the ground j
was quite level for a feAv hun - 1
(Continued ®n page 2)
On the "H."
Elwin Eastman Coming Home.
The following message was re
ceived in this city yesterday :
Navy Yard, Philadelphia, 2-3-19
Mrs. Wm. Eastman,
Nezperce, Idaho.
Am in France waiting trans
portation. Feeling fine. Be
back soon. No mail for five
months. My address, Marine
Headquarters, AVashington,
C. Elwyn Eastman.
This news nqt only brings
gladness to Mr. ,and Mrs. Wm.
Eastman, parents of this young
soldier, but to this whole com
munity where Elwyn grew to
manhood. He joined the U. S.
Marines nearly three years ago
and has been continuously in the
service since, beilng among the
American troops to enter foreign
service some months ago.
was stationed in England in the
aero service and there contracted
influenza .and had a severe siege
of it. and the above message is
the first news received indicat
ing that he had entirely recover
ed from the malady.
L
Xie
Lyceum Course for Next Winter
Mrs. M. A. Helwig, represent
inc the Midland Lyceum Bur
eau, of Des Moines, Iowa, was in
our city last week and closed a
contract for the return of this
next
course to our community
fall and winter.
I
This system of popular and ed- •
ucatiional entertainment is I
A son was born on the 5th in
to Mr. and Mrs. Bert Mar
0 f Russell,
f\y l. Lyon returned to Clark
gt0I1 p r jday, after a brief busi
^ ess visit here,
Mrs. R. L. Norton returned
g imday f r0 m a visit with rela
£ ves at Lewiston,
Chris. Lange and son, William,
are business visitors in this city
today from Moscow,
Mr and M rs. F A W ester
came up from Lewiston Tuesday
f 0J , a v ; s r w ith relatives here,
Mr and Mrs . A. G. Gross went
to Le wiston Sunday to visit rela
jj V es and try the city air for a
season
Mrs. Herbert Doggett and
children arrived Hast Thursday
evening from their former home
• R an 7 as
A j Nissen, the house decora
£ 01 . and paper hanger, is prepar
j n ^o build an attractive home
under the auspices of the high
school, and such proceeds as ac
erue from it go to the school li
brary fund. Such numbers of
the present course as flu condi
tions have permitted here this
winter have been quite satisfac
tory and the attendance has been
large. In fact, Nezperce has
come to be quite as good a ly
eeum town as it is a Chautauqua
center, and it is safe to predict
a successful run for the coming
series of entertainments, under
the personal direction of Super
intendent Skinner of the public
schools.
LOCAL NEWS.
Judge W. N. Scales opened
district court at Lewiston Mon
day.
Mrs. Dixie Daids spent Sunday
Avith homefolks in the Mohler
section.
j n t bi s city,
yf rs , E. Nelson, of Lewiston,
and daU(?hter Mrs. Grace Rals
ü q{ Mo hler, are ests of Mr
and Mrs. L i oyd Stevens this
e k .
; Mr an<J Mrs Lloyd Stevens
Lave moved into the Nelson pro
t recently vacated by Dr. E.
s p eter8 on's family, in South
, Neznerce
County Assessor E. II. Ratliff
returned last Thursday evening
j? rom R 0 ise, where he participat
ed j n state conference of
county asgessors and the meeting
state board of equaliza
..
Word WßS received Tuesday
from Attorney P . w. Mitchell
^at Mrs. Mitchell is convalesc
- satisfactorily after ,ber re
^ sur ^ cal operation ' at Hot
Lake, Oregon, and they expect
.> £ home the latter part of
wep ]
Lewis county also made a good
showing in the recent drive for
funds to feed the starving peo
ple in Armenia. Her total quota
to be raised was $1250, and the
amount subscribed and reported
into Judge Niles, director of the
drive in this couty, was $1139.76;
and this in spite of the fact
that early in the drive the Judge
was overcome bv serious illness
and was compelled to let the
work go as best it might.
Ex-Winchester Surgeon Dead.
Winchester, Feb. 3.—A. E.
Merchant today received word
from A. A. Rogers of Eugene,
Ore., announcing the death in
France on January 1 of Mr. Rog
ers' brother, Dr. Elton B. Rog
ers. The cause of death was
pneumonia.
Dr. Rogers was located at
Winchester for seven years in
the practice of medicine and was
widely known throughout the
prairie country. For a period he
maintained a hospital here for
the mill employees. He entered
the army service about two years
ago and has been in France for
many months. His family is
now residing in Philadelphia.
Dr. Rogers was one of the best
known and most highly esteem
ed practitioneers on the prairie,
and when he entered the army
service he sold his hospital and
practice to Dr. J. L. Kelly of
Nezperce, who has since conduct
ed the 'same except during his
recent service in the army ns a
surgeon with the rank of cap
tain.
-
Nez P erce Have Modern Movie
Show.
The Temple Show' is the name
under which Nezperce 's new and
up-to-date motion picture theatre
will be known, and it will be in
operation in about a week or ten
days, occupying the large ground
floor room of the Temple build
log
Bast Friday R. L. Norton dis
ing in the worn parts. New seats
will be installed anl such fixtures
are to be supplied as to give the
community as modern picture
show accomodations as may be
found in any town with a pa
tronage similar to this,
The management sees the need
of wholesome amusement, mod
ernly served, at' this place and
in giving the town The Temple
Theatre it is snaring no pains to
supply the need.
posed of his equity in the Artie
show to, the new management
and such of the old equipment as
is available will be used in the
Temple establishment. The ma
chine has been shipped to Port
land for overhauling and renew
Stoufer Optometrist.
Mayor S. D. Stoufer returned
Sunday (from Coeur d'Alene,
Avhere he took the state examina
tion in optometry, passing with
the highest grade of anyone tak
ing the examination the past
year. Not only is he thus fully
qualified under the state regula
tions in the general practice off
optometry, but his years of prac
tical experience in this line fit
him for most efficiently serving
those Avhose eyes need attention.
He Avili specialize the eye-fitt
ing branch of his growing busi
ness, and there will be no need
for this community to seek furth
er for glasses and their proper
adjustment.
Child Burned to Death.
The five-year-old daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Pierce, of
Winchester, was burned to death
Saturiday afternoon while play
ing around a bon-fire. On dis
covering that her clothing was
A. E. Wade, county farm
agent, is moving his office into
the northwest corner office room
pf the Union State Bank build- j
big—room No. 16, up stairs. *
on fire she ran, and before as
sistance could reach her her
clothing was burned entirely
from her body and the fatal dam
age was done,
about four hours after the burn
ing.
She survived
The bereaved family includes
her parents, two brothers and
four sisters, and they have re
sided in Winchester about six
years, where Mr. Pierce is em
ployed in the big lumber mill.
Community Church.
Claude B. Martin, minister.
Sunday school at 10 o'clock.
R. W. Walters, superintendent.
Morning service at 11 o'clock.
Anthem by the choir; 3Irs. Eliza
beth Pennell, director. Sermon
by the minister.
Evening service at 7:30.
service Avili consist of violin solos
by Albert Larson, readings and
musical numbers by others. We
will also recognize the National
Proclamation and observe the
Rooscvelt Memorial. A short ad
dress will be given.
You will find a friendly avcI
come.
The
THE SCHOOL CARNIVAL
A WINNING ATTRACTION.
People Thronged Schocft House
Friday Night and Coney Is
land Gaiety Reigned. ,
—Receipts $217.
Tim carnival of show's and at
tractions o^ the noted "Coney
Island' stamp staged at the Nez
perce public school building last
Friday night drew' like
tard plaster, socially and finan
cially. Most everybody and all
the children
none regretted going,
ies of attractions covered most
of the halls and rooms of the big
buik|ing, and their (preparation
representel magnificent effort on
the part of the faculty and pu
pils. The gross proceeds in dol
lars and cents were $217.65. The
net proceeds in rejuvenated com
munity interest in our public
schools are beyond the capacity
of any adding machine in town
to calculate.
An enumeration of the numer
ous different, shows and booths
*s hard to give, but among the
main features were: "Roof gar
de n refreshment park," "minis
trel show with black face ar
tists," "the wonderful disap
pearing magic cavfe," "movie
show," "Ringling Bros, circus,"
a mus
were there, and
The ser
"the Hebrew magicians," "the
last drop of liquor,
gallery," "the fortune tellers,
"the freak of nature," "nigger
doll rack," "pie booth, with pies
that mother did make,"
Doc AVize, "electrified grab bas
in," "hot dog and hamburger
booth," "hot popcorn," "Japa
nese tea garden, with charming
Miss Japs serving," "the Old
Oaken Bucket" (full of cider), '
"candy stands," etc., etc.
On entering the carnival area,
the prospective reveller was
tendered, in the proper toned
language, an opportunity to in
vest in a string of tape tickets
of admission to the various at
tractions, and the number he
took was only limited by the
amount he felt inclined to separ
ate from his bank roll. Then,
armed with his tickets, the joy
rider was permitted to wandér
where inclination led and the
best "barker" induced, so long
as he did not get afoul of the
police regulations, which wei'e
just strict enough to prevent
overstepping a jolly, good time.
The general trend of the incom
ing crowd was toward the "roof
garden
large assembly
friend met, friend and together
they : platted their itinerary.
This system—or lack of it—pro
vided each show with an ample
audience from the arrival of the
first rush till tired parents and
depleted purses began to suggest
retreat to quietude and rest.
This was a reception to which
considerable energy and thought
had been given, and, according
ly, there was much to be gotten
out of it. It successfully brot
together the country and town
patrons of the school, and dis
closed to the school children
that their and
f f
"picture
I »
i <
old
» >
refreshments—in the
yoom—where
Frank O'Goners will have a
big public sale at the Michael
Bogner place 1 y 2 miles east of
Russell, on Tuesday, Feb> 18
Watch for details in next week's
Herald.
tained a big fund of laughter
tionnv spirits and could fully
enjoy things apart from the
scramble for the "wherewithal.
99
Central Highway to Vote On
Road Bonds.
An election has been called
by the commissioners of the Cen
tral HighAvay District of this
county for Tuesday, Feb. 18, to
vote on a $150,000 bond issue for
the instruction /and improve
ment of roads in that district.
That section will carry a por
tion of the north and south state
higbAvay and is generally imbued
Avith the spirit of good road
building, and it is generally anti
cipated the bonds Avili carry by
a large margin.
Telephone Meeting.
The Idaho Farmers' Co-opera
cive Telephone Co. will hold a
business meeting at the Frater
nal Hall in Nezperce at 1 p. m.
Saturday, February 8. All stock
holders arc urged to be present.
A. F. Harbke, Pres.