Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume], March 07, 1918, Image 16

About Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
ROCKINGHAM POST-DISPATCH, ROCKINGHAM, N. C.
Soldiers Want 1 ji
00.0Kb MnO (i! M
Sg :rn soias and fe4xAAl M em wMJ
WlK sailors, whether they be at iXfi . JA U4'i $ tf1
L?ll iniiiilnc camps, on warcraft, fn Mf. Uwf r" 1""v?it Bii f
TO ''a transports or hack oC the MlrlPlllS 3 11
V . tronches in France, the OTfe.alF WfSWl
American Library As.socia- n' 52JdJ 1 d l JhWJ
-H turn War Service has turned I v fc$$SS , ffM LL tS4
It ffiSts
1 ,
1 liUlUHi t; tne uuu uuun
of Anieriean soldiers and
sailors, whether they be at
training camps, on warcraft,
on transports or hack of the
trenches in France, the
American Library Associa
tion "War Service has turned
lnose n stream of books
Which is destined to become oue of the
most powerful factors in winning the
fight for liberty. Already the efforts
of the association have been crowned
by signal success and this, in spite of
the fact that as late as the end of last
summer It had nothing but a concrete
plan and a determination to put that
Idea Into operation.
Since the association set for Itself
the task of putting Into the hands of
the soldiers and sailors the books It
felt they needed and would appreciate
It has, by an Intensive campaign car
ried on last autumn, raised a million
and a half dollars; has procured,
through donation and by purchase,
more than half a million books which
It has assorted and sent out ; with the
$820,000 donated by the Carnegie cor
poration for the purpose, has erected
camp library buildings in 34 camps
and has others In the course of con
struction; has opened a dispatch sta
tion at one of the points of embarka
tion from which books are being
shipped to France and has got to
gether a force of trained workers to
carry out its plans on a gigantic scale.
The headquarters of the American
JJbrary Association War Service are
at the library of congress. Dr. Herbert
Putnam, librarian of congress, is the
director. Assistants to the director
are Carl H. Milan, librarian of the pub
lic library of Birmingham, Ala., and Jo
seph L. Wheeler, librarian of the pub
lic library of Youngstown, O. George
Jj. Utley of Chicago, secretary of the
American Library association, Is exec-
Jtlve secretary of the war service. Wll
am A. Slade, head of the periodical
division of the library of congress, and
P. L. Windsor, director of the library
ichool of the University of Illinois, are
also on the headquarters staff.
Keep Down Expense.
It has been the determination of Doc
tor Putnam and his associates in the
war work to keep overhead expenses,
down to a minimum. Much of the most
Important work of the service is being
done by volunteers and experts drawn
from libraries all over the country
who are working only for the salaries
they receive from their regular occu
pations. The standard salary of the
camp librarians Is $100 a month, and
by obtaining board at theY. M. C. A.
or at the camp mess the cost of sub
sistence Is held to a low figure.
To the war service the most gratify-
Ann result of its work so far is the
tremendous demand for books, a de-
: mand so great and so wide In Its range
as to prove conclusively to the asso
ciation that It lias a definite field of
endeavor and one which Is bringing un
told happiness to thousands of men,
At all the camp libraries a system, of
book requests has been Installed and
It is giving accurate Information on
what the men want to read.
To the great surprise of the older
army officers the draft men are call
ing continuously for serious books,
Fiction naturally leads, bat not by so
vide a margin as one who gave but
casual thought to the matter might sur
mise. For example, a day's record at
the camp library at Camp Meade, Md,
the following subjects were represent
ed:
French history, mechanics and
strategy in war, self-propelled vehicles,
band grenades, field entrenchments,
bridges, chemistry, physics, astronomy,
geology, hydraulics, electricity, medi
eval history, calculus, civil engineering.
reography, American history," survey
ing, materials of construction, general
history, masonry, concrete.
GREAT OYSTERS ON THE NILE
Discovery Made by Engineers Is at
Present Chiefly of Interest to
the Scientist 1
Government engineers constructing
a bridge from Boulac to Ghezlrch,
while boring for the erection of the
piers, came across the remains of an
old building, on which were found
dinging a large number of oysters of
giant species. Some of them have
most perfect mother-of-pearl. , They
Burton E. Stevenson, the author.,
who Is camp librarian at Camp Sher
man, O., says that the first three re
quests that came to him were, first,
for a book on the valuation of public
utilities; second, for a book on con
servation of national resources, ana,
third, for a Roumanian dictionary. He
supplied the first 1;wo and later fur
nished the Roumanian dictionary.
A young soldier walked Into Mr.
Stevenson's office and asked for a book
on motors. Mr. Stevenson found one
which looked highly technical. The
young soldiers turned over the leaves
and handed It back.
'Shucks," he said, "I drew the pic
tures for this book. I want something
more advanced."
Mr. Stevenson promptly sent for a
more advanced book.
Public Libraries Help.
A system of borrowing books from
public libraries all over the country
has proven a great aid to the camp
librarians and they have been making
the most of this privilege. All the li
braries are doing their bit toward mak
ing the leisure hours of the soldiers
happy by lending the camps what they
need.
The camp librarians have found out
that an extremely high percentage of
the soldiers want to study. Most of
them are ambitious to rise and are tak
ing advantage of the opportunities of
fered them by the American Library
association to read serious books. Be
cause of the demand for serious litera
ture the association has determined
to spend most of the money it has for
serious books and to look to the public
to donate fiction and light literature.
In the near future It will launch an in
tensive campaign for gift books. Judg
ing from the freedom with which the
public has given books so far the asso
ciation has no misgivings as to the
outcome of Its campaign.
The reason the campaign has not
been made before is that the associa
tion wanted to perfect Its organization
and arrange for the prompt handling
of the great flood of books it Is ex
pecting. So far the standard of books
donated has been high. Few persons
have shown an Inclination to rid their
library shelves of useless volumes at
the expense of the soldiers ana sailors.
On the contrary, vie best books have
been given. Occasionally undesirable
books are sent It but they are prompt
ly thrown away by the librarian. In
fact those who might be Inclined to
send such books may as well save the
energy it would take to dispatch them,
They will never reach the soldiers.
Before Its camp library buildings
were completed the association dis
tributed Its books through the chap
lains of the Y. M. C. A, the Knights of
Columbus, the Red Cross and other
nreanlzatlons. which gladly volun
teered to nandle them. These organ!
zatlons are still assisting In camp dis
tribution by receiving books at their
stations. The A. L. A. has established
belong to what is called the Aetheria
Nllotlca, and traces of this species are'
found all over Egypt but above the
present level of the Nile. Their ex
istence In such places has greatly help
ed scientists In determining previous
courses of the river.
The Nile oyster has some Interest
ing comrades In the Nile crab and the
lanlstes, a sort of snail, which differs
from the ordinary snail In that It has
Its spiral wound In the reverse direc
tion. It remains to be seen whether
this oyster Is of an .edible nature. - ,
its own automobile delivery system at
all the camps where Its libraries have
been completed, and dally deliveries
are made to all of these "branches"
and stations.
The men are allowed to take books
out of the library and keep them from
a week to two weeks. There Is no
penalty attached to overtime retention
of a book. In fact, penalties are not
necessary, for the men appreciate the
books so thoroughly that they are as
sisting the camp librarians if every
possible manner.
Sending Books to France.
With Its system of camp librarians
well organized, the American Library
Association War Service is gradually
developing Its overseas service. By es
tablishing a dispatch station It has be
gun a systematic distribution of books
to soldiers and sailors on oversea
duty. From the dispatch office books
are being sent to naval vessels of all
classes and are being placed aboard
army transports for the soldiers back
of the trenches.
The Y. M. C.A. has arranged to put
on transports book cases holding about
125 volumes each. Books for these
cases are being supplied by the A. L. A.
which later will supply the cases also.
These collections will be used as cir
culating libraries on the voyage and
will be emptied at the port of debarka
tion In France, returning to America
to be refilled. The work of distributing.
the books In France will be done by the
chaplains, the Y.M.C.A., the Knights
of Columbus, the Red Cross and the
Y. W. C. A., The A. L. A. will not at
tempt to set up libraries In France.
Dr. M. L. Raney, librarian of Johns
Hopkins university, has gone to France
as representative of the A. L. A. His
main responsibility wlU be to make
certain that the books arriving in
France get Into the hands of the men.
The A. L. A. War Service wishes also
to arrange with the war department to
add to the flow of books to France by
having every soldier that goes across
carrv a book witn mm, a dook inni m
and his companions will read on the
way over and then band to the Y. M. O.
A. representatives upon his arrival, to
be sent to other soldiers.
Cheap Liquid Sugar
The sugar shortage has encouraged
Louisiana planters to broaden the use
nf Dure cane sirup, which la made from
cane Juice, without taking oat any of
Its sugar. This Juice is Douea to a
point Just below that required to crys
taiize It Into sugar, and can be used
not only for griddle cakes and cand
making, but It Is recommended by the,
niMitera as a sweetening for coffee end;
tea. It is practically sugar in a liquid
form, and on a basis of eight cents a
pound retail for granulated sugar will
yield economies of 40 to 80 per cent,
at a price of four and one-half to five
cents a pound for sirup.
This discovery of pearl-bearing oys
ters Is Interesting In view of the ex
periments of the Soudan government
In the Red sea.
"State Units Now Training
Within Sound of Enemy Guns
A cablegram from France, publication of which was recently
authorized, contains the following information:
Part of the National Guard has arrived in France
and is undergoing intensive training behind first, line
trenches within the sound of the guns at the front.
This Brings the War Home to YOU
In a short time these gallant young men, whose parents, brothers and sisters, wives
and sweethearts are your own neighbors, will be IN the front line trenches, under the
murderous fire of enemy artillery, and going "over the top" to meet the sweeping hail
of the machine guns and the bayonets of the Huns.
If these soldier boys YOUR soldier boys were three miles away instead of three
thousand, you would bend every energy) exhaust every resource, make every sacrifice,
to make sure that they were fed, clothed, armed and equipped as no soldiers ever were
before.
Is your duty any less imperative, any less sacred, because It is your neighbor's boy
who is defending your country, your flag and your home from German f rightfulness on ;
the other side of the ocean? .
Is it not a splendid privilege as well as a duty to deny yourself luxuries, to save
food, save clothing, above all to save money! for our soldiers?
U. S. Thrift Stamps Save Lives and
Shorten the War
There is one thing you can do, every day, to help the Government provide the
guns, ammunition, food, clothing and other supplies which our soldiers' and sailors
MUST HAVE to win the war, win it quickly, and come safely home again.
Go today to any bank, any postoffice, or any store where you see the W. S. S. (War.
Savings Stamps) sign displayed.
For 25 cents you will receive a U. S. Thrift Stamp and a card to paste it on. The
card has spaces for 16 stamps, costing you $4. When it is full, exchange it with a few
cents additional in cash for a War Savings Stamp, for which the Government will
pay $5 January 1, 1923.
These War Savings Stamps are as safe as U. S. Bonds. They are the safest
investment in the world because they are backed by the entire resources of the country,
and the profit you make on them amounts to four per cent interest; compounded quar
terly, if held till January 1, 1923. , ,
. Buy a U. S. Thrift Stamp with every quarter you can possibly save. J Every stamp
. helps to stamp out autocracy. Every stamp saves priceless American blood. Every
tamp is a blow for Liberty. Every stamp will help bring peace to the world a perma
nent peace, grounded in justice and righteousness.
Fine Paint Made From Tar.
The Revue de Chlroie Industrielle
notes that a brilliant black paint whlc't
dries well and Is far superior to min
eral varnish may be made by mixing
equal parts of coal tar with benzine or
con) oil. Spreud thinly with a hard,
brash, It penetrates the wood, which lit
I preserves from decay , : ; .
mismHossTUiFS
MSUB9SYTM
UNITED STATES
J30VEBMMEHT
Every Stamp Helps to Bring Those Sol
and Sailors Home Again Alive and Victorious
THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY
Henry C. Wall