Evening Star Newspaper, February 1, 1931, Page 4

b A4 LEAVE O VETERAS DENED BY WAL Quotes President’s Order in Reply to Questions by & L. Chre.. Despite an executive order of Presi- dent Hoover concerning medical leave for disabled veterans, Controller Gen- eral McCarl has ruled that “there ap- to be no law giving to per diem ungloyes who are veterans any leave | rights not granted to per diem em- ployes who are not veterans.” The question was raised by John L. Clerc, chairman of the organization | committee of the United Veterans of | American Wars, whose address is given | @s 15 M street. Mr. Clerc asked the | controller general for information as to the charging of leave to per diem employes of the Federal service for time i taken to report to the United States Veterans' Bureau for various| Teasons. i Quotes President's Ovder. In his answer Mr. McCarl quoted the President’s executive order of last July 17, as follows: “With respect to medical treatment of disabled veterans who are employed in the executive civil service of the United States, it is hereby ordered that, upon the presentation of an official statement from duly constituted medi- cal authority that medical treatment is required, sych annual or sick leave as may be perhitted by law and such leave without pay as may be necessary, shall be granted by the proper supervisory officer to a disabled veieran, in order that the veteran may recelve such treatment, all without penalty in his; efficiency rating. “The granting of such leave is con- tingent upon the veteran's giving prior notice of definite days and hours of absence required for medical treatment in order that arrangements may be made for carrying on the work during his absence.” Leave Not Provided. “It will be noted,” continued Mr. McCarl, “that the executive order quoted relates only to the time neces- sary to receive required medical treat- ment and that it" does not provide for any annual or sick leave not otherwise authorized by law, and there appears to be no law giving to per diem employes. who are veterans, any leave rights not granted to per diem employes who are ganizations presented & very creditable appearance. and military and the personnel looked strong and vigorous. tion had been carried out under the direction of Brig. Gen. Traub, one of the brigade commanders, and seemed t be well advanced. National Guard units from New Eng- land States, whose troops had borne a good reputation in all our wars, its preparation watched with great interest. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 1, My Experiences in the World War =By — Gen. John J. Pershing Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces First National Guard Unit Arrives---26th Division |, Is Well Trained and With Good Personnel. END OF WAR IN 1918 HELD IMPERATIVE Secretary of War Is Told Utmost Exertion Next Year May Be Too Late to Assure Victory. BY GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING, Commander in _Chief of the American Expeditionary Porces in the World War. HE units of the 26th Division, Maj. Gen. Clarence Edwards commanding, began to arrive the latter part of September, continued during Octoher and the early part of November, and were | now assembled in the billeting area near Neufchateau. | I inspected the division November 11, 1917, and found the various or- The officers seemed alert Their instruc- As this division was composed of for active service was Solicitous of Man Power. or elsewhere, with the least delay for use in_carrying’ our Armies to France. “It should be no longer & question of how much tonnage can be spared for military purposes, but only the most imperative necessity should permit its use for any other purpose. To secure this result the whole of our shipping ought to be finder War Department control, and as much more obtained as possible from nentral or allied sources.” Outcome Depended on America. In this whr, where the battle lines not veterans.” ARMY ORDERS Col. Jay R. Shook, Medical Corps, has been | ordered to this city for duty as assis- tant commandant of the Army Medical School; Maj. Shelly U. Marietta, Medi- has been transferred from Prancisco to Walter Reed General . Robert &t Fort Lewis, Was) cal Corps, San Hospital, this city; Jones, Infan C. Venn, Medical Corps, from Hawai to Fort Crockett, Tex.. Maj. Robert C. from _Fort Crockett to Hawali; Maj. Arden Freer, . Dell S. Gray, Dental is city to Fort Leaven- Edmund B. Capt. B. E. McKeever, Corps, to duty with Reserves in the Third Corps D. Bell, Infantry, from Fort wuljhmn. Me., to Fort Warren, Murphy, Medical Corps, Lieut. Col. q . R. ; Capt. Prancis P. Simpson, In- to Fort Howard, from Hawali, G. P. Manlius, N. mflnfiw Qua Hawail to Philadelphia; Capt. Lieut. F. S. Tandy, Canal Zone. Capt. Ernest A. Reynolds, Quarter- , Capt. Horace J. Caterer, and cond Lieut. Clarence K. Roath, Air transferred to the re- d list on account of disabilities in- ter Corps, fedical Administration Corps, , have ent to the service. . Carl C. Jones, rtermaster Corps, have been pro- moted to the grade of colonel; Lieut Col. Henry F. Phiel, Adjutant General’s Department, at the War Department, has been assigned to additional duty Organized Reserves in the 3d Frank B. Borden, , from the Panama Canal Zone to Brooks Pield, Texas; Maj. Read Medical Corps, from Fort Y., to the Panama Canal . Carl H. Starrett, Infantry, Capt. | Walter F. Heine, Medical Corps, from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to Balboa with the Corps Area Medical Corps Maj. B. Harding, Slocum, N. ‘ap Hawaii to Orlando, Zone; from Fla.; Heights, Panama: Capt. Thomas Murphy, Medical Corps, from San Fran- | cisco to Balboa Heights, Panama; Ma) John W. Sherwood, Panama to Denvi Capt 8. H. Young, .In- fantry, from Maplius School to Fort Jay; Capt. Will R. White, Quarter- master Corps, from San Antonio, Tex. to the Panama Canal Zone; Capt. F. H. Boucher, Field Artillery, from Fort Okla., to Hawaii; Pirst Lieut. K. rtermaster Corps, from Seth Gale, jr., Medical Corps, from Denver, Dolo., to the Panama Canal Zone; Pirst t. Albert Svihra, Field Artillery, Hawaii to Yale University, New , Conn.; Pirst Lieut. Prancis H. Engineers, from Fort Humphries, to the Panama Canal Zone, and Engineers, om Fort McIntosh, Tex., to the Pana- Medical Corps, {rom , Colo.; Capt. Alvin The probable situation as to man power in which the allies would find themselves in the Spring was causing much solicitude. The Germans had captured Riga in September. Kerensky's power was at an end and the Bolsheviki government was established, with Lenin and Trotsky in control. The situation was such that Russia had become en- tirely negligible as far as assistance to the allies was concerned. An analysis of the possible strength of the contestants showed that Ger- many would be able to spare a con- siderable number of ‘divisions from the Russian fropt. Careful study by my | staff, im -co-Operation with the allied stafls, bad led to the conclusion that her total number in the West by Spring might be &8 many as 217, not counting the possibility of the added strength of 48 divisions from -Austria. The greatest number the allies could muster, according to estimates, would be 169 divisions, counting two American. Italy could not be counted on to do imore than barely hold her own, even with the help of the 11 allied divisions then on that front. Other American divisions might pos- sibly be in Europe by May 1, if they should arrive according to schedule, which wa: doubtful, but they would be too late to participate in the expected early Spring campaign. At the slow rate of arrival we should not have more than half of the 21 divisions promised by the War Department ready for service by June. Urged American Haste. ‘With these possibilities before me, I wrote the Secretary of War November 15 setting forth our estimate of the situation and urging that the utmost efforts be exerted to hasten the arrival of American forces. 1 wrote, In part, as follows: “The utmost co-operation among the allies must be secured. The recent en- deavor to get the allies to take a broad general view of the war as a whole shows an awakening. Hitherto each nation has largely considered only its own interests, thus enabling Germany to it her enemies in detail. “Viewed at its best, the situation is, of course, grave, and should be fully re- alized. America must stand firmly be- hind the allies, as any sign of weak- ness may cause the collapse of allied resistance. The contingency must also be faced of Great Britain and our- selves being left to carry on the war without material aid from any other | power. In war we must prepare to meet the worst. “The most intense energy should be put into developing America’s fighting forces for active service during the coming Summer. Winning the war is vital to our future, and if humanly possible it ought to be done in 1918. There is no telling what might happen if we defer our utmost exertion until 1l available sources of supply of | artillery and ammunition should be in- vestigated and developed, having in mind Japan's resources in this regard. France may not be able to meet even | our early requirements. | “Pinally, every possible ton of ship- B. L. Gorby, Medical Corp: to Fort Lewis, Washington; Capt. ‘Wal- ter L. Mitchell, Infantry, from the Phil- ippines to Fort Benning, Georgia; Capt. | Walter J. Reed. Air Corps, from Lang I;Knneld. Virginia, to the Philippines; | Lieut. Howard E. Engler, Air| Corps, from Chanute Field, Illinois, to | the Philippines; First t. George P.| Privett, Field Artillery, from Hawail to | the University of Oklahoma, at Norman, and Capt. Aubrey I Eagle,. Air Corp: has been placed on the retired list o) account of disability incident to the service. BALTIMORE PREACHER | SPEAKER AT BANQUET Rev. George Hein, pastor of Lutheran Church of Baltimore, s on “A Thinking Laiety” at the first an- nual dinner of the Takoma Lutheran Brotherhood at Takoma Park Lutheran Church Thursday night. Rev. R. G. Steinmeyer, pastor of the church, was| toastmaster at the banquet, and ad- dresses were given by Rev. G. E. Lenski and Rev. S. Kornman, both of Wash-| ington, and F. G..Stein, president of the brotherhood. ~ The dinner was in ob- | servance of the first anniversary of the | group. Williem Rupertus sang a solo on the program and special music was furnished by the Trinity Lutheran! Church Men’s Club orchestra of Wash- | ington. About 100 members and their | wives attended. BOYS PLAN PILGRIMAGE Bcouts wi“>vi-!".> )!o’unt Vernon February 21. { \ Members of the District of Columbia | Boy Scouts will make their annual pil-| || glmue to Mount Vernon Saturday, | bruary 21, to honor the memory George Washinglon, whose birthday an- niversary comes on the following day ‘The group wi'l include hundreds of Scouts in the D‘Jtric{,,“_:{nssfln%‘fih. rby Maryland and 3 082 oriid rip will leave by busses ; the © milestone in back the ] uomxmnn%n ping_should be secured by purchase, foa Saen | construction o otherwise, in the Orient Not a Midget—But a Big Performing Radio extend across entire countries, and in which the qualities of the opponents were about equal, the strategical aspect largely resolved itself into a consider- ation of the number and location of divisions on either side. The situation was of such a character that it was a question which side could provide the superiority of forces necessary to success. In other words, the outcome would depend upon the number of troops that Amcrica could send over. All eyes were on the eastern front. To allied statesmen the collapse of Russia meant possible grave political conse- quences; to the allied commanders it forecast the release of approximately 100 divisions and the increase in the enemy’s ranks in Belgium and Northern not be overcome. To us it indicated a race between America’s best effort to pour our fighting men into France and Germany's determination to crush the allies before our soldiers could arrive in sufficient numbers to dominate the battlefield. My diary notes: “Paris, Sunday, November 18, 1917. On Friday inspected trenches of the 1st Division, still in sector northeast of Luneville. Saw several men who were with me in Mexico. Visited graves of three American soldiers recently killed. “The Painleve ministry has fallen and new ministry on Friday. “Reports from all quarters complain of shortage of trucks. Sent cable dis- closing British control of neutral ship- ing.” pDul’tnz my visit to the 1st Division the officers of the French units serving with our regiments spoke with deep feeling of the first Americans to lose their lives at the front, They praised the bravery and courage of the detach- ment as though the men had been their own. The spirit of comradeship that prompted such sentiment naturally served to draw us closer together in every way and stimulated co-operation as to material things. Reasons for Painleve F: The downfall of the Painleve govern- ment was not difficult to explain. The general disapproval in Prance of the Supreme War Council, the alleged timidity of the prime minister in not pressing charges of disloyalty against high French officials and the cumula- tive opposition to the government by many people looking for some one to blame for their misfortune, including Nivelle’s failure, added to the general air of pessimism, were among the principal reasons. The main political fight against M. Painleve was conducted by Clemenceau, who, as president of the Legislative War Committee, had at- ained an immense popularity among the people because of his condemnation of he alleged pacifiistic tendencies of some of the members of the ministry. It was, therefore, logical from the French point of view that he should be selected to form the new ministry. In the beginning, as president of the council, M. Clemenceau lost no time in taking steps to clear the administra- tion offices of red tape as far as pos- sible. He also took up energetically the whole question of scandals and Philco Baby Grand ‘Wonderful tone, great Screen grid circuit. Two- set. S Harry C 1217 G St. NW. lectivity. Gets long ONLY $68 Complete With Seven Tubes Terms $8 Down and $1.50 Weekly istance if wanted. walnut cabinet. A regular radio it and hear it in our store or your own homé. . Grove : Dist. 2067 France to a preponderance that could | M. Clemenceau succeeded in forming a Above: Children cluster on a hillside in a little French town to waich American troops march through. hurcelow: American soldiers holding an fmpromptu service in a war-wracked church. vigorously attacked socialistic encies. tend- He said there were to be no more pacifist campaigns, no more Ger- man intrigues, and neither treason nor half treason. He tried to get in com- munication with Kerensky with a view of mobilizing what remained of dis- ciplined forces in Southern Russia, and although his efforts were useless they demonstrated his aggressiveness. As to land transportation, our efforts turned toward the greater use of motor transport, Motor The come in the and about this time the Transport Corps was created. Need of Motor Transport. use of motor transport had be- an absolute necessity, not only slupply of troops but in trans- porting them from one field of activity to another, often in the emergency of M. | batt] An army without such facility FINAL Forward the Light Brigade! by - P . g M"’:‘ noble fhons OO S N folk o volu e e 7.?00 W,,y'k- Co™” for ordinary purposes and without a re- serve to meet the exigencies of opera- tions could not be considered as pre- pared to engage successfully an adver- sary who was so equipped. It was estimated that our require- ments, calculated from our own data and that of our allies, would be some 50,000 motor vehicles, with an unlimited reserve of spare parts. Our priority schedules contemplated an increasing allowance of motor vehicles to corres- pond to the growth of our forces, but despite our most urgent appeals and the resulting promises from Washington we had constantly to borrow large numbers of_trucks from the French. In anticipation of a full equipment of motor vehicles for our Armies, a skeleton organization was created, with tensive depots, repair sho) WEEK! The price quotea below, which is the lowest we have offered since 1920, will prevail just one more week. Season-end price ends Saturday, Feb. 7th. $30—$35—$40 NEW SUITS NEW TOPCOATS & OVERCOATS $1975 Buy 'em on the famous Kauf- man Budget Plan—Y; Cash— Balance in 10 weekly or 5 semi- monthly payments. HOME OF SMITH SMART SHOES 1931—PART ONE. necessary schools for mechanics and chauffeurs. With our country by far the greatest producer of mmgemdu in the world, that we were 80 poorly equipped wi ith them. dvices at one time indicated that tured before sending any to Prance. This, of course, was quite out of the guestion, and I suggested that the cantonments at home might use horse-drawn vehicles and their motor transportation sent to us. Shipping Under British. ‘The motor transport procurement was then in the hands of the Quarter- master Department at home, and it was my opinion that the transport bureau, not knowing the extent to which motor vehicles were needed, thought our re- quests excessive, As to shipping, it was soon ascer- ) tained that practicaily all neutral ship- ping then in sight, estimated at about 1,000,000 tons, considered available on time charter, was under the Nor- wegian flag. In attempting to obtain some of it we learned that it was con- trolled by the Interallled Chartering Executive, originally organized with rep- resentatives of England, France and Italy, but the determination of its use was exercised by the British Admiralty. ‘The latter dictated the chartering of such tonnage by withholding bunker facilities if any charters were granted without its specific approval. This was done under the guise of a law in Nor- way prohibiting charter without the consent of the Norwegian Association, which was in effect under the direction of the Interallied Chartering Executive. Even the Prench government itself was unatle to obtain vessels seriously needed, although offering special premiums for direct charters. In our case, after signing a charter for 11 steamers, subject to approval of the Norwegian Association, our ap- plication was rejected. Thus many dif- ficulties surrounded this question, both in.France and in America. Knowledge of available shipping always reached London first, and the British were at that time somewhat unrestrained by any sentiment for the allies or other considerations than those which af- fected their immediate interests. This attitude in regard to granting the use of shipping to others was apparently not much affected by their shipping requirements, as the spirit of co-opera- tion did not prevail in any liberal sense among allied governments any more than it did amaong their armies. Faced Defeat With Allies. Our estimates of the shipping for troops and supplies as set fo in the plan by which & due proportion of com- bat and line of communication troops were to form each increment of six di- visions would require by June 1, for the shipment of 24 divisions, a of over 2,000,000 tons. No one seemed to know where we were to obtain the 1,400,000 tons of shipping in addition to the 600,000 tons we were then sup- posed to be using. It appeared almost certain then that should disaster befall the allied armies under these conditions we would have to go down with them. I always felt certain, however, that | tonnage could be found for our purpose if the necessary pressure were exerted to force it into use. Appeals were made continuously and persistently in an ef- fort to get action on this vital ques- tion, but several months elapsed before | it really came, ‘Taken as a whole, the apparently slow progress of our preparation in Europe also caused considerable ad- verse comment, if not dismay, among the allies. Inquiries were made direct- ly*by the military and civil officials as to which the reply was always, “Lack of shipping.” It might have been added also that it was due partly to inattention at home to our requests and recommenda- tions and to serious inefficiency in load- ing transports, many of which were often sent loaded to only half capacity. - Also— Were $40 and $45— to why we did not move more rapidly,. Formerly $50 & $55 Even if they were not “KUPPEN- HEIMER'S” the saving is exceptional enough to make it worth your while to come downtown and see them. a special group of OVERCOATS equipping and ol ing an independent army. Observed Cambral Offensive. My diary notes the foliowing: “Paris, Wednesday, November 21, 1917. By invitation, I arrived at Brit- ish G. H. Q. Monday evening to ob- serve Cambrai offensive. Went over plans with chief of staff, Gen. Kidgell, and the operations officer. Attack began yesterday. “Called on M. Clemenceau this morn- ing; he is well along in years, not strong physically, but vigorous of mind. He spoke in favor of an energetic war policy.” Immobilized by the mud of Flanders, where British attacks had continued intermittently from the end of July to the middle of November, with rather excessive losses, the British commander In chief turned to a more southerly portion of his line for the final offen- sive of the year. Choosing the Cambral front on which to launch the effort, careful prepara- tions, including the concentration of an unusual number of tanks, were made to insure a break through the enemy's defenses. The tanks and the infantry were to make an opening through which the cavalry was to pass and at- tack the flanks of the enemy. Then French troops held in readiness in the vicinity were to follow. As to the question of command of these combined forces when both should become en- gaged, it was to be left to the senior general officer in the vicinity, who might be either French or British. In going over these plans, it seemed to me that their idea of securing co-opera- tion after the French should begin participation was rather vague. During the day we first went to visit Gen. Byng, commanding the 3rd Army, who explained further details of the attack and the progress already made. He and his chief of staff were busy receiving news from the front, and felt that all was going well. Gen. Byng is a large, fine-looking man and a high type of British soldier, vigorous, force- ful and efficient. Visits Field Hospital. While awaiting the development of the attack I wished especially to visit a field hospital in operation, to which Gen. Byng readily assented, sending Maj. Watson, Medical Service, along as a guide. We motored on toward the front, meeting many captured prisoners, and shortly reached the hospital. The wounded were coming in rather fast and in considerable numbers, and many were there already awaiting their turn. I followed the handling of the wounded from the time they were brought in until they were tagged for further disposition. Most of the men seemed cheerful and pleased over what was believed to be a vietory. I spoke to several of the poor fel- lows, among them being a mere boy With the rank of captain, who told me that he received his wound as he. was crawling through wire entanglements. He was especially keen to learn how the battle was going, quite unconcerned that he would probably lose his leg. Noticing several men on cots in one end of the room not receiving attention, and inquiring the reason, I was told in whispers that they were moved aside as being quite beyond hope. The attack was made on a six-mile front and the British had the ad- vantage from the outset. The sudden debouchment of the long line of tanks, closely followed by the infantry, all without the usual warning of long pre-~ liminary artillery bombardment, com- pletely surprised the Germans. The tanks broke wide gaps in the wire and subdued the machine &m nests, aiding the infantry through the defenses with & minimum of loss. The front was rather narrow, con- sidering the depth of the objectives. A maximum gain of some 4!2 miles was secured the first day and a greater re- “ROXY" CONGERTS T0 HELP VETERANS Officialdom to Be Represent- ed at Benefits for Disabled Ex-Soldiers. Two concerts at Constitution Hall Thursday afternoon and evening, at which Washington officialdom will be more than sparsely represented, will constitute the latest contribution of 8. L. Rothafel, “Roxy,” to the already long list of his kindnesses in connection with making the lives of disabled United States veterans more liveable. ‘Thursday’s concerts by “Roxy and His Gang,” assisted by Mme, Ernestine Schumann Heink and an orchestra of 35 pleces, are to be given for the bene- fit of the Memorial Chapel fund at Walter: Reed General Hospital under the auspices of the Gray Ladies, volun- teer Red Cross workers' association at the hospital. The First Lady of the Land has taken a box for the concerts, as has Gen. John J. Pershing, many members of the cabinet, Senate and Congress and others high in official circles. Mrs. Delly Gann, official hostess for Vice President Curtis, heads the list of patronesses, which includes, in addi- tion to the cabinet group, the names of many in Congress who have loaned their names as a tribute to the soldiers from their respective States. Veterans at Walter Reed Hospital have often benefited from the talents of “Roxy and His Gang.” In addition to equipping every bed in the wards at the hospital with radio receivers, the Broadway show man has staged per- formances at the hospital for the pa- tients—some in wheel chairs, others on crutches, with braces and bandages easily distinguishable. sult was prevented, it was said, by a serious check to the tanks at Fles- quieres. I remained at Cavaly head- quarters most of the afternoon, to see something of how they handled this arm, in which I_had spent many happy years in our “own service. It was reported later that a bridge over the Scheldt Canal at Masnieres was blown up, so the cavalry was not sent forward. For some reason or other the French were not called into action, but pre- sumably it was because the British cav- alry, which was to precede them, could not go forward as planned. The offen- sive continued for two or three days longer with varying success. It was, however, a decided victory, and while not as great as the British expected, it gave encouragement to the allies on the westesn front and no doubt helped to offset 'A::xrrorl.ruy the depressing effect of the ous defeat recently sustained by the Italian Army. ‘Tomorrow: Col. House arrives for the allied conference gnd & new hopeful- ness sets in. 7 Copyrisht, 1031 in all countries by the NorthAmerican Newspaper Allian orld rights reserved. including the dinavian. Reproduction i -whole or in Pari prohib- eganis Ll Te Railroads Comparisons. The United States has 251,700 miles of railway; Canada, 1;1640 Germa; Beighti tias the ) il igium the largets mileage portion to population. China has smallest. CROSNEIRY 1325 F STREET . UNUSUAL— even for such an event as our Semi-Annual Sale! Our entire stock of shirts and ties left from this season’s selling . . . together with a spe- cial group of suits and overcoats, makes a bargain combination that should make our store your first stopping-off place when you come downtown tomorrow morning. *Entire Stock of Shirts and. Neckwear a special group of Kuppenheimer Suits remaining from this season’s selling Reduced Shirts including solid color imported and domestic cham- brays, woven madrases and broadcloths in neckband, col- lar-attached and demi bosom, with two collars to match styles. All sizes. SHIRTS Formerly $2.50 and $3 $1 .55 Three for $4.00 SHIRTS Formerly $3.50 to $5 $7).35 Two for $4.50 TIES Formerly $1.50 to $3 95¢ Three for §2.78 "TIES Formerly $3.50 to $5 $1.75 Three for $5.00 “®Formal Wear and Silk Shirts Are Excepted &