RECONSTRUCTIOM
(By Sergeant Ray J. Derwort)
RE-ADJUSTMENT
^OW that the period of re-
' construction has arrived,
the people of this country
have a new problem to
face. What is going to
happen to the thousands
of young men who were taken from
the ordinary pursuits of life to answer
their country’s call? Will these men
go hack to their former homes and
their former occupations, or will they
have found new fields for their en
deavors? Many of the men called for
service, have lived their lives in a
very close environment never before
having been away from home except
for short visits or vacations. Will
these men he content to go back to
the limited lives they have lived, or
will a taste fo travel have been de
veloped by their initial adventure
away from home? Many men who
thought the country bounded by
the country in which they lived
have come to a realization of
the bigness of the world and have
found new places, in which to center
their attentions. A meltjng pot, wide
in its scope, has been in process of
construction since this country, tired
of the taunts of the Hun, declared its
intention of waging war for world de
mocracy. The North has sent inen
to Southern training centres, the
South has reciprocated by sending her
men to the North. East and West
have done likewise. Was this just a
coincidence or was it the wise provi
dence of a far seeing administration!
Northern men, some of them narrow
in their viewpoint, have found the
South very different than they were
led to believe. Southern men who liv
ed in and for the South only, have
found conditions so very different
from what their conceptions were of
the North, they have seen the won
derful possibilities of the Northern
commercial and manufacturing dis
tricts These things are bound to have
gained an indelible impression. An
instance of the effect that this has
had on some people can be best illus
trated by a conversation the editor
engaged' in last Sunday. A discussion
arose While four of us were seated at
a table in a restaurant awaitng our
orders, one man, bom in New York
City and ,educated in one of the East
ern colleges near which he settled^ af
ter completing his course, a typical
Down East Yankee in every respect,
expressed it as his experience that
this section offered the very opportu-
THE CADUCEUS
nity that he had been looking for.
The people in this country were con
genial and hospitable to a fault and
he felt that he could make good here,
in his especial line of endeavor, con
sequently he has come to the con
clusion that this is the logical place
for him to locate. The other two men
of the quartette were fresh from an
aviation school at St. Paul,
Both were Southern men from this
immediate section whom had been
sent here to be discharged. These
men declared it as their intention to
go back to the place whCTe they had
been stationed as they liked that es
pecial community and expected to
make that their future home. And
so it will be, where it will all lead to
no one can with certainty predict, only
time and the reversion of the country
to a peace time basis can prove, but
it is safe'to say that many changes
will be the result. This much , is an
assured fact, the enmity ■ existing be
tween different sections of the country
will be only a memory, for the inter
marrying of the young people, who
met as the result of changed condi
tions, will wipe out what has remain
ed of this feeling and forever will we
live a .cleansed, purified and united
people showing a solid front to all our
enemies.
WISE AND OTHERWISE
But for the fact that Ihe warm sun
came to our rescue on Sunday morn
ing, things might have assumed pr
ions proportions in this ward. Be
tween the united efforts of Sgt. Toms,
our good natured first sergeant, and
patient Johnson, they succeeded in
putting out our perfectly good fire.
We were on the verge Of freezing to
death but the timely arrival of the
sun and some assistance from Ser
geant Derwort saved us from that
grave possibility.
* * *
Mundy, Pomponia, Seeger and
Younge took • their leave from t.his
ward to try some real duty for awhile.
All of these men are old line patients
and have been guests of this ward for
some time. Mundy’s face is very eon- .
spiciious by its absence as the presid
ing genius at the usual evening
vention of convalescents at the Red
Cross building. All of the men re
turned to their former organizations
to again take up their work where
they left it when taken sick. Mundy
returned to the C. and R. Department
and Seeger to the C. and B. Depart
ment of the depot Q. M. Pomponia
and Younge returned to the Auxiliary
Remount Depot. Heres iioPfng that
you retain your present good health.
^ *
Quite a furore was created in this
department by the admission of a new
patient from ward B-3. It has been
quite a while since we have had any
Emissions and the arrival of Sutton
who originally comes from^ Recruit
Camp No. 4, was greeted with much
excitement. ^ ^ ^
.Sergeant Toms is the proud possess
or of a very neat pair of cuff links
which he states came from the nicest
‘pxroAi. oqi in piiS
GT. V. J. Harrold, editor of
The Caduceus;—
You who have co-oper
ated so heartily in Char
lotte’s fine Community
Service to our soldiers
from camp, we would express (mr
sincere thanks personally and on be
half of our local and national W. C.
c s
The wholehearted mobilization of
all our social agencies for keeping
our fighting men fit—churches, frater
nal orders, clubs, and governmental,
patriotic and commercial forces in
the community and Y. M. C. A., K. of
C and similar organizations in
camp—has in the dark days of war
wrought miracles in the morale of our
men in service and also in that of our
home communities.
Now that our victorious soldiers
are returning from service, now that
our patriotic home communities are
so full of spirit and so well organized
to go on and build upon the broad
foundations just laid, and since Presi
dent Wilson and Secretaries Baker
and Daniels have called upon us to
exert even greater efforts until every
man in uniform is returned to his
place in civil life, and since the people
of America have contributed millions
of dollars for the support of this and
related work, shall we not thank God
for this wonderful opportunity and
courageously go ahead with a whole
hearted mobilization of our community
for better things. ,
As we celebrate the birth of Christ
who came that men might have life
and that they might have it rnore
abundantly, and as we face the New
Year, 1919, of our Christian era—
really the dawn of Christian world
wide Democracy, shall we not set
our minds, hearts and hands to work
of community service and betterment,
out a constructive peace time propam
Again thanking you for your large
share in Charlotte’s war time Com-,
munity Service, we wish you a most
happy holiday season and we bespeak
the great pleasure of your co-opera
tion with us in the New Year s ppce
time community service.
Cordially yours,
Robt. Lainter,
Chairman, W. C. C. S.,
W. A. Wheatley,
Executive Secretary, W. C. C. S.
DUG UP
Nothing was heard in barracks No.
7 except the rhythmical and sonorous
crashing snores. '
istered 5': 55, when a voice from under
the fourth blanket cried:
“It isn’t the cough that carrms yon
off; it’s the coffin which carries em
° Editor’s note: This is a new and
revised edition published during he
flu era by a mortician, and was found
in an old tick together with a few
diamonds and other riffi-raif.