The Vian Press (Vian, Okla.), Vol. 24, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, June 17, 1921 Page: 3 of 8
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VI AN PRESS VI AN OKLAHOMA
i
TSfie
AMERICAN
(Copy (or Thin Department Supolted by
the American Legion News Service!
FOUND VALUABLE WAR RELIC
Oregon Legion Man' Best Trophy of
Big Conflict U Worth
Large Sum
Souvenirs varying from a chip off
Eiffel tower to a German beer stein
captured in Se-
dan were brought
back from France
by the returning
Americans But
few of the me-
mentoes stored in
a doughboy’s
pack are as' val-
uable as that be-
longing to George
D Foster former-
ly a corporal of
the Fourth Engi-
neers Fourtli Division who found a
rare Homan coin that Is perhaps worth
several hundred dollurs
While looking for a safe and soft
spot in the ruins of an old house near
Sergy France Corporal Foster now
a peace-loving member of the Ameri-
can Legion in Cottage Grove Ore
found an old gilt case containing a
coin He thrust It into his puck and
recently turned it over to a college
professor who pronounced it wortli
more than its weight in gold Its date
Is 306 A D On one side it bears the
Inscription “Magnus" the title given
the Emperor Constnntlne On the oth-
er side are the Inscriptions “Voties
XX” "Beams Tranquilltas" and
“Percursa Treveris" The latter
words the professor declares Indi-
cate that the coin was minted in Trier
Germany formerly a seat of the Ro-
man empire
LEGION MEN BURY COMRADES
Organization Officiates at Almost
Every Reinterment of Men Who
Fell on Battlefields
With the thousands of bodies being
returned to the homeland from the
buttlefields of France the American
Legion has Justified its existence if
for no other reason than the display
of proper respect for the remains of
the country’s heroes In almost every
instance in which the body of n
soldier who died overseas lias been
reinterred In American soil Legion
members have taken part
Funeral for Indian Comrade
The photograph shows the cere-
monies of the military funeral held
by Carl Anderson I’ost of the Legion
at Cloquet Minnesota for John De-
foe the first American Indlun from
the state to he killed in action The
tribe to which the dend soldier be-
longed was glad to allow ids white
comrades to bury him In a manner
befitting his brnve career In the serv-
ice of his country
EX-SERVICE BOYS GET JOBS
President of Chicago Grain Concern
Trench Experienced Does Not
Forget His Buddies
When Private Paul J Ilealy 33rd
Division A E F wns waiting in the
trenches of
France for the
shell with his
initials on it he
vowed that If he
got out alive he
would never for-
get the bravery
and sacrifice of
his comrades
Now President
Paul J Ilealy of
the Chicago Grulu
Products com-
pany Rockford 111 is living up to
the pledge he took on the field of
buttle
The company which Mr Ilealy heuds
recently began the construction of a
new distillery Mr Healy ordered
that none but ex-service men be em-
ployed in the construction work and
informed all concerned that when the
plant is constructed veterans of the
World war will be shown all the pref-
erence on the company’s pny roll
”My hope is to build un organization
of former soldiers’’ Mr Henly an-
nounced Mr Ilenly enlisted ns a private in
the infantry and wns discharged a
sergeant lie was gassed at Albert
on the British front lie is one of the
most active workers of Brophy post
t the American Legion In Chicago
1 American Legion !
I
-i
Notes
“There is not tile least doubt in
my mind that if it had not been for tiie
determined stand of the American Le-
gion Zimmer and I would still be in
prison” writes Sergeant Xeff who
with Sergeant Zimmer was urrested
by the Germans following uu attempt
to capture Grover Cleveland Bergdoll
notorious slacker “The American Le-
gion came to my aid during one of
my darkest hours and it demonstrated
by its unwavering loyalty toward a
comrade that Its sublime aspirations
uud lofty Ideals concerning comrade-
ship are a living truth”
Men entitled to navy retainer pay
and not receiving It should communi-
cate with the navy allotment oiilcer
navy retainer puy section Navy de-
purtmont Washington D C accord-
ing to the American Legion Weekly
Applicants should give the following
datu : Full name dute of enrollment
rating and class in which enrolled
present address present rating num-
ber of retainer pay cheeks received
(if any) and amount of each date of
release from active duty date of dis-
charge from reserves
One of the largest single cash con-
tributions for the benefit of disabled
ex-service men has been received by
the St Louis city central executive
committee of the American Legion
Tiie amount wns $5000 "without a
string to it” given by Mrs Newton
L G Wilson weulthy philanthropist
of the city The fund will be used
exclusively to assist dlsubled men in
obtaining just compensation and for
the relief of their dependents
American Legion posts in Minnesota
are huving a lively controversy as to
which one has the oldest Legionnaire
on its rolls Redwood Falls presented
Dr Gibson seventy-two years old who
served with the medieal corps at Fort
Benjamin Harrison Ind and heljl the
record until Kimball post Introduced
Adam Brower seventy-six years old
and Joe Mason who admits eighty-six
years and u highly prized membership
in the Legion
As a result of a fight waged on the
floor of congress by Representative
Huinllton Fish Jr of New York a
prominent American Legion worker
relatives of aliens who served in the
American army navy und marine
corps during tiie World war are en-
titled to preferred right of entry in-
to the United States in the three-percent
Immigration to be allowed during
tiie next year under the Immigration
hill
Members of tiie American Legion In
St I’aul -Minn cast their bread up-
on tiie waters and it was returned —
a hundredfold Last spring they gave
assistance to a needy mutt When the
Legion men were selling theater tick-
ets for u benefit performance for un-
employed veterans tiie ex-service limn
sold 500 tickets in two days As a
result 150 men were sent out on Join
tiie following day
A vigorous campaign waged by' tiie
American Legion against disloyul ac-
tivities of tiie Industrial Workers of
the World is responsible for tiie stab-
bing of u Legion worker by uu I W W
funntic according to reports received
at Legion national headquarters from
I'ocatello Idaho True to form tiie
I W W member attacked the Legion
man In a dark alley stubbing him in
the buck
For tiie prompt relief of disabled
und unemployed ex-service men of Chi-
cago Theodore Roosevelt post of the
American Legion staged a stag purty
at which Judge K M Landis was a
guest Buttling Nelson was in charge
of the uthletlc program the baud of
the Great Lakes naval training station
provided music und stage stars con-
tributed their services to u midnight
frolic
Commuters and street car fans of
New Orleuus may have to walk when
the American Legion meets Em-
ployees of tiie New Orleuns Railway
and Light company have formed a
post of the Legion The street railway
men are enthusiastic members of their
post und have promised to uttend meet-
ings evgn if they huve to bring along
their private cars
'An Americun Legion speuker has
been asked to explain the ulnis and
purposes of the organization at the an-
nual labor picnic to be held June 18 in
Kunsas City Kan The action which
followed a conference with the mayor
of the city is intended to clear up any
misunderstandings which radical ele-
ments nmy have fostered in the ranks
of labor organizations
Only men who were in the service
during the World war will be admitted
to a Hotel being erected by tiie Port-
lund Ore post of the American Le-
gion The post is enlarging and re-
modeling upper floors of its large club-
house to accommodate 70 men
Idaho American Legion members
opened their ‘state service and mem-
bership campaign with prayers in al-
most every church In the state
Store window posters and street car
signs aided Summit post of the Amer-
ican Legion at Akron 0 during a
membership campaign
Mystery of Lost Cyclops
Probably Cleared at Last
Former Navigating Qfficer of U S Collier Who Went Over Her
Course Later Convinced She Broke in Two Under Strain of
Badly Stowed Cargo— Passed Buoy He
Believed Hers
New York — In un Interview given
to The World Lieut Juiues M Hays
who was navigating officer of tiie
navy collier Cyclops until a few days
before she put to seu on u voyuge
from which she never returned suld
that when he went on the collier
Orion over tiie Cyclops's course he
i learned enough from floating objects
' and Inquiries made in Brazilian ports
to satisfy himself as to the fate
of the missing collier and her crew
From the bridge of tiie Orion on
' which lie also was navigating officer
' he saw a buoy and what appeared to
be a llfe-rnft such as the Cyclops
' carried The buoy wns in latitude
1531 north and longitude 58-7 west
or about 150 miles northeast of Ber-
muda In Buhla Brazil he learned thnt
the Cyclops was londed with 15000
tons of manganese ore for the Beth-
lehem Steel company There were
only two stationary cranes to load
the ore with and they were 300 feet
apurt So 7500 tons of the ore were
loaded forward in the collier and 7-
500 tons aft
His conclusion mny lie a divulgence
of the secret of one of the deepest sea
mysteries of all times which sailor-
men hnve said was guarded by the
Southern Cross The Soutiiern Cross
looms up at night down where Po-
laris the North Star which is often
used by mariners for adjusting com-
passes disappears from view
“No Mystery in My Mind"
“There is no mystery in my mind
as to' the fate of the Cyclops and her
crew" Lieut Hays said “I believe
that perhups on a culm and sunny
day when the sailors off watch were
dozing or perhaps at midnight when
ail were asleep except the men on
watch the great ship without warn-
ing pnrted amidships splitting her
aerials (she sent no wireless call) and
sank from sight
"The current north of Barbados
runs strong If any objects floated
free from her they would have been
curried seaward perhaps thousands
of miles from where she sank It is
plausible thnt they were carried
across tiie Atlantic where navy
wreckage from tiie war wns so com-
mon It wns not all picked up As a
matter of fact It wns nvoided by ves-
sels as n warning of the proximity of
submarines”
Just Escaped the Tragic Trip
Lieut Hays remuined in the navy
after tiie war only leaving tiie service
on March 27 lust From the Urion lie
went to England and was on cargo
transports that crossed the English
channel After tiie war he was on
mine-sweeping duty In the North sea
He went into the navy in tiie reserve
force as a “gob” In Pittsburg Thnt
wns on March 17 1917 a few dnys
before we entered tiie wur When war
was declared he wns assigned as u
coxswain on tiie destroyer Downes
which was at Philadelphia Three
months later lie was commissioned an
ensigu and sent to the reserve offi-
cers’ training class in Annapolis
After thut lie went to Cape May as
an Instructor in seamanship and from
there In November Vil7 he wus as-
signed to the Cyclops us UeutennDt
junior grade The Cyclops wns at
Norfolk Lieutenant Hays was de-
tailed us nnvlgatiug officer
“On Christmas day I had lunch with
the officers of the Orion which was
lying in the same dock" Lieutenant
Hays snid "Her officers asked liow
I liked the Cyclops I said I did not
like the atmosphere on the ship They
asked me why I did not try for a
transfer to the Orion I did and it
was arranged through Captain Boesch
of the Orion Nerlng took my place
on the Cyclops
"Despite war time secrecy every
one In Norfolk knew the Cyclops was
to take on a enrgo for South America
“On January 1 1918 I stood on the
Orion's quarter deck near the stern
rail watching tiie Cyclops let go her
lines and clear the dock under the
Orion’s stern They Met go forward!’
on the Cyclops and the current car-
ried her bow out In the river They
Met go aft!’ The cry ‘All gone sir!’
rang out and the Cyclops swung out
Into the stream
“On April 1 we went to Lambert’s
Point Hnmpton ronds to load 12000
tons of coal and from there to the
Norfolk navy yard to lnnd steel plates
gnsollne drums and depth charges —
all of which gave us 2000 tons of
cargo on top of coal The det-
onators of the depth chnrges we
hung In the rigging for safety On
April 8 I reported to the skipper that
we were secure for sea We were
going to South America
“Lost With All Hands"
“Thut ufternoon a young ensign
came down from the bureau of navi-
gation in Washington with some con-
fidential code books to be delivered
to ships in South American ports He
spent an hour In the captain’s cabin
After he went ashore the captain
came Into the wardroom where we
were playing cards und listening to
n vietrola and said to me I ought to
thank God I wns there The other
officers stopped the gumes and lis-
tened while the captain told me the
Cyclops hud been lost with 'all bauds
"We hud orders from tiie bureuu of
navigation to keep a sharp lookout
for any sign -of tiie Cyclops on our
Journey south to Bahia on our way
to Rio Janeiro Montevideo ODd Bue-
nos Ayres
"On the morning of April 7 I was
on watch on tiie bridge and the look-
out reported a flouting object 500
yurds off the port how Impulsively
I gave orders to tiie helmsman to
change tiie course so I could get a
closer look at tiie object I soon saw
It was a Franklin buoy or circular
life preserver made of copper and
airtight Swinging from it was a
small rod to which had been attached
the carbide light designed to ignite
when tiie liuoy struck tiie water Ail
large navy ships carried these Frank-
lin buoys — one on each quarter deck
In case of a man overboard the buoys
were dropped over tiie side to locate
the spot as well as for something for
the man to swim to
“Thinking there might be some mes-
sage scratched on the copper or that
we might be able to identify tiie buoy
through Its register number I made
three circles around it in the mean-
time having n dozen sailors stationed
along tiie rail from tiie forecastle aft
all equipped with grappling hooks on
the ends of lines and tried to pick the
object up without stopping After
tiie third circle Captain Boesch who
had been awakened in his sea cabin
in the lower bridge by the noise of the
gears’ and steering wheel came up on
the bridge In his pnjnmns It was
8:30 a in He saw the ship was off
her course and ordered me hack on
my course I made an observation
and entered It with tiie incident in
tiie ship’s log Tiie rest of that watch
wus uneventful
Next a Life Raft
“That evening shortly after I came
on duty for the mid-watch I was
standing in the chains tiie wooden
grating projecting from tiie sides of
tiie bridge where tiie leadsman stands
to take soundings For a moment I
watched tiie cutwater of the Orion
and suddenly a life raft humped un-
der the flare of the how and passed
directly along under the bilge of the
ship whirling animal ns it did so
The rnft was ovnl shaped 9 feet
long and 5 feet wide with netting
Inside to stand in or grip On each
of these rafts is u bronze plate witli a
register number by which they are
Identified
“This time I Immediately sent my
messenger to call the captain to the
bridge Tiie captain cnnie up three
steps at a time and looked at the raft
through the glasses It was then
astern hat plainly visible as it is
light down there us lute as 9:30 in
the evening Tiie captain shook his
head and said : ‘Better keep on your
course’ After n glance at the eve-
ning sky he went below Again I
made an entry in the log this time
figuring out the raft’s position by
dead reckoning ns it was too late for
a sun sight and too early for one by
the stars
"For nine days we kept on south
with the ship running durk on ac-
count of the possibility of a lurking
enemy submarine seeing us About
REMARKABLE WOMAN
A new und unpublished photograph
of Lillian Moller Gilbreth called the
new “woman who lives In a shoe"
and on whom the enres of rearing a
family of ten children rest lightly
She Is a graduate of the University
of California and also has a Ph D
degree which she received at Brown
Mrs Gllhreth is not half as proud of
her college degrees and of being the
author of some authoritative books on
psychology of management and futigue
study as site is of being the mother of
ten good Americans The Gilbreth
children of Montelnlr N J are happy
exponents of the industrial efficiency
advocated by their parents
April 10 we received a wireless thnt
the news of tiie loss of tiie Cyclops
had been given out publicly There-
after tiie trip wns uneventful except
for an occasional white sail on the
horizon and un incident one night
"At the end of the thirteenth day
we put into Bahia and dropped off
few of our 300 army passengers We
hud gobs diplomats and mnrine offi-
cers on board Then we put to sea
again for Rio
“We arrived at Rio four days Inter
and when we entered tiie harbor the
U S S Pittsburgh with the ad-
miral’s flag flying ordered us to take
anchorage 1000 yards astern of her
We lowered away one of our motor
boats and sent to the Pittsburgh
among other passengers Cuptaln Har-
rington of tiie marine corps who had
been assigned to the Pittsburgh for
duty
Reports to Admiral Caperton
“An hour later a semaphore message
from the Pittsburgh -read : ’Captain
Hays will repair on board Pittsburgh
immediately and report to the force
commander’
“A boat called alongside and I
shoved off for the Pittsburgh Upon
arriving on board her I went to Ad-
miral Cnperton’8 cabin and was greet-
ed by him very kindly He asked me
to tell him about the Orion’s Journey
southward and particularly about the
objects we lmd sighted off Barbados
Captain Harrington had told him in
a chat about the Incidents
“In reciting them to the admiral I
made It clpar to hitn that In both
cases the Orion's captain ordered me
not to stop
“This relieved me of ail responsi-
bility and as I left the Pittsburgh
Captain Boesch was ordered on board
the flagship lie came back to the
Orion some time inter apparently up-
set ns a result of his tulk with the
admiral und he called me into his
stateroom
Captain Boesch “in Trouble”
"He told me it looked ns though
we were In trouble He said almost
every one on tiie Orion had seen the
Franklin buoy but as far us lie knew
only the two of us hud seen the life-
raft He asked me in a subtle way if
I wns sure it was a Ilfe-raft 1 an-
swered that it might hnve been a phos-
phorous spot in the water
' “The cuptuin called in his yoctnau
and dictated a letter to this effect
‘After cureful consideration I have
come to the conclusion that the ob-
ject reported as a life-ruft wns not
ii llfe-rnft but a phosphorous spot in
tiie water caused by small sens’
“I heard nothing more about the
matter 1 thought several times
though of Amphltrite beloved of sail-
ors who dances under a ship’s prow
“From Rio we went to Montevideo
On our way home we stopped at San-
tos Brazil to take on u cargo of 12
000 tons of coffee We were glad It
was not manganese We stopped at
Rio again to pick up travel passengers
for the States
A Dread Propnecy
“While in Bahia the paymaster of
the Orion and 1 went to the cruiser
Raleigh one evening to hnve dinner
During tiie course of the meal we
were told thut as the Rulelgh's offi-
cers stood on deck wntehing the Cy-
clops put to sea on her homeward
journey they bet encli other the Cy
clops would never get hack to the
States
"I hnve often stood on the fore-
castle of the Orion looking aft and
wutched her deck give In a calm sea
The cause of tills is that the twin-
screw colliers are so long that when
both engines happen to thrust to-
gether the longltudlnnl strain is so
great there is a give to the framing
of tiie ship Ofttimes during that vi-
bration 1 have looked up at the bridge
and watched the foremast bend like
a carriage whip
The Raleigh's officers even from a
distance had seen the Cyclops’ deck
give under the strain
The Cyclops’ Cargo
"I went ashore at Babin to see the
doekmen who had loaded the Cyclops
On the dock where the cargo was
stowed the foreman named Mnrtins
explained to me as best he could re-
member Just how the loading was
done
"He pointed out two cranes set
about 300 feet apart on the dock and
told me the cranes had lowered the
cargo Into the Cyclops’s holds I asked
him If the cranes had been moved
during the course of the loading and
he said 'No' He also said the Cy-
clops had not shifted either forwurd
or aft along the dock
“This implied that one-half the car-
go had been loaded Into one or two
forward hatches and one-half into one
or two after hatches
“With a collier’s 12000-ton cargo
of coni all the hatches are filled to
the covers Manganese ore Is so much
heavier than coal that 12000 tons of
it spread evenly over a big ship's bot-
tom would be only a few feet deep
“I have given these facts as I found
them Think them over Then de-
cide for yourself the fate of the
Cyclops"
Great to Be Alive He 8aye Then Dies
Des Moines la — "It’s great to be
alive" remarked Victor Dlemer
thirty years old to a fellow worker
Within five minutes a dirt embank-
ment at his back rolled down on him
lie was dead when the others were
able to dig him out
DOY®
scours
(Conducted by National Council of th
Boy Scouts of America)
ST LOUIS HONORS SCOUTS
St Louis celebrated the week of
April 4 to 9 as Boy Scout week to the
great interest of the community The
mayor of tiie city issued the follow-
ing proclamation in connection with
the event:
Whereas The American boy embod-
ies the hope of civilization and prog- -ress
Of our country our state and our
city as tiie hoy of today is the man
of tomorrow and
Whereas Every citizen has a respon-
sibility to encourage ail efforts that
have for their purpose influence und
training of boys so they may develop to
the stature of manhood safe clean und’
prt pored to undertake their individual
pa 1 1 in the work of the world with an
unii I'-tanding of their obligations as
citrons husbands and fathers and
Wi ereas Tiie president of the Boy
Scouts of America Colin H Living-
si' t:e of Washington D C a man of
huge affairs is making a special trip
to st Louis at personal sacrifice to
encourage and counsel with the local
boy -cout organization and
W hereas The boy scout movement
in this community has been given grat-
ifying impetus during the last two
yews resulting In many forward step
such as the purchase and full payment
for a wonderful camp site in the
Gzarks a broadening of tiie scope of
tiie work in St Louis participation '
in the Francis Home for Boy Scouts
and Junior Chamber of Commerce
and '
Whereas The citizens of St Louis
are obligated to the hoy scouts for val-
uable service rendered on numerous
occasions such as the various cam-
paigns during the war the very effl- -
cient handling of the ushering at the
Municipal opera and In fact every pub-
lic function where their services are
nested -Therefore
As mayor of the city of
St Louis 1 hereby proclaim the week
of April 4 to 9 1921 as Boy Scont
week and request the mothers and
fathers and all other citizens of SL
Lonls to give special thought atten-
tion and encouragement to the boy
scout activities and organization dur-
ing that week as evidence of their
love for boys and their genuine appre--ciatlon
of a movement which has been
defined as "a process of making
reul men out of real boys with a real
program" and which lends the boy In
early life to do his duty to God and
country to help other people at all
times and to keep physically strong '
mentally awake and morally straight
THE FIGHTING SPIRIT
A statement by an Engle scout:
Many a person has proved himself
on litter failure in life because he
lacked the pep ahd the push that com-
pel snccess
Why? Simply because lie hadn’t
been brought up to put his shoulder
to the wheel He lacked that great
virtue so vitally Important so neces--sary
for a successful career — fighting
spirit!
One of the objects of the hoy scout
organization Is to tench self-reliance
and persistency to stick to a propo-
sltlon till It Is accomplished to use
discouragement as an Impetus toward
that accomplishment What finer les-
son could there be? The boy scout Is
taught to carry his own load without
a murmur without "pulling a long
face” or falling by the wayside and to
carry it with' a smile Each and ev-
ery 8cou t Is taught to meet the turn-
ing of fate without a flinch
Though the boy scouts’ motto is "Be
prepared” we might supplement It
with still another: "Don’t give np
till the whistle blows”
Take the average scout wlint is
failure to him? He Is taugiit to smile
at defeat He hits In all the harder
more determined than before to uttaln
his goal He takes pride in this spirit
and climbs the hill under his own
power not under the powers and do-
ings of others He puts full faith In
himself and builds his castle on the
foundation of persistency He stands
for the square deal for all that is
Just in life and in standing for these
principles he stands for what his en-
tire organization represents
BOY SCOUT FRIEND TO TREES
Every boy scout is a pledged con-
servationist He will not only run
the risk of being responsible for a for-
est fire himself but he will preach the
hows and whys of forest fire preven-
tion wherever he goes He will not
willfully hack or Injure trees In any
way and he wl’fl Interest himself In
fighting tree enemies of oil sorts like
the pine blister and the tent caterpil-
lar The trees nre his friends and he
Is ready to do them a good turn when-
ever opportunity offers
BUSY BOY SCOUTS
Sixteen boy scouts of Dubuque spent
their spring vacation on a canoeing
trip down the Maquoketa river
In recognition of the’ fine services
of the Boy Scouts of America during
the war a new oil tanker built by the
Swlft8ure Company of Portland Ore
was launched recently under the name
of the Swlftscout and christened with
a bottle of water from Wahtuui Lake
the scout summer camp by Harold
Adams the ranking scout of Portland
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Moore, Gould. The Vian Press (Vian, Okla.), Vol. 24, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, June 17, 1921, newspaper, June 17, 1921; Vian, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1759004/m1/3/: accessed May 6, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.