May 12, 1918 - Don Martin recounts glowing report from Judge Wadhams of New York

Don Martin diary entry for Sunday, May 12, 1918: 

Invitation from American censors to New York correspondents to go to British front presumably to see the 77^th division American Army, which has been brigaded with the British. Undecided what to do. Went to Boucq alone. Got nothing. Spent part of the evening at the club but went to bed early so to get up early and start for Paris.

Weather pleasant; then showery.

        Don Martin played to his home crowd in New York City with another upbeat report on Judge Wadhams tour in France. It was dated Sunday and published in the New York Herald on Monday, May 13, 1918.

NEW YORK’S TROOPS THE FINEST, SAYS JUDGE WADHAMS AT FRONT; U. S. ARMY CLEANEST IN WORLD

Prominent American, Guest of British Bureau of Information, Ends Tour

TELLS PARENTS SONS ARE HAPPY AND WELL

Predicts Doom of Huns When the American Forces Get Fully Into Action

By DON MARTIN

[Special cable to the Herald]

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Sunday

            As he is leaving for England to go thence to New York, Judge William H. Wadhams, of the Court of General Sessions of New York city, sends word to parents in New York that their boys are happy, healthy and eager to get into the big fight.

           “I have seen the soldiers in every part of the American front line and in reserve training,” he said. “All are fine, but there is no finer type of boys or officers either than those hailing from the Empire State.

           “Mud and gas are nothing to discourage them. They talked with me and many were tickled to have seen a man from home. They wanted to know about Broadway, and Herald Square, and Fourteenth Street, too. They realize that war is a very serious business. They have seen plenty of evidence of this, but they are like race horses fretting at the wire and want to start the real business. They want me to take work back that they will give a good account of themselves. I know they will.”

Gun Named After Judge

           Judge Wadhams has been on the whole front, north and south, as guest of the British Bureau of Information. He spent a night in the first line trenches and was in the gas zone twice. He fired a gun which is now named “Wadhams.” He says:--

           “The fate of the Boche is sealed. It is no wondrous achievement of an army to make an advance when willing to accept wholesale slaughter. The Allies could, but they run the war differently. The time is not long before the advance begins which is to make Germany realize that she is in the second class. The military genius of the Americans is sure to play an important role when the Hun starts his new offensive.”

American Army Clean

           Despite the unfounded accusations made in the United States, medical statistics for the half million members of the American expeditionary force now in France prove that the American Army is the cleanest in the world.

           Where provision had been made to care for 5,000 cases of social diseases, only 500 places in the hospitals are occupied. Hospital accommodations had been made to care for one per cent of the entire American forces. That space is now used mostly for other cases.

           This astonishingly low rate of infection has delighted the high officers. Major Jounh says he is confident that the present conditions will be maintained.

          The comparative absence of such disease is due to the high moral attitude of the army as a whole, their cleanly habits and the excellent medical supervision they enjoy. 

       A mailed story dated May 12 appeared in the June 16 Sunday edition of the New York Herald. It was a short sidelight about how the French were still living normally after four years of war.

AMERICANS LEARNING THRIFT 
FROM FRENCH

[Special to the Herald.]

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, May 12

         Americans are learning some things besides war from France. One is economy. All Americans do not need instruction in the science of saving, but a good many do, and such of those as have come to France are getting the fundamentals and a post-graduate course as well.

         The Americans have had their eyes opened to the possibilities of economy and thrift. Wherever they have gone they have found the French people well clothed, able to get all they need to eat-though of course the old bountiful boards of former days are missing-and satisfied with their lot and their future. The French in all the villages are prosperous. And France, with the exception of a very few cities, is made up of villages, so many that in driving over the country highways one may see five tiny places at one time, each with its red roofs and its one spire, while in the spaces between the villages are rolling hills, with never a fence and never a house.

      The Herald placed this at the end of Don Martin's several articles published on Sunday June 16: 
       Don Martin, HERALD correspondent with the American army, is sending thrilling special cables every day, telling of the glorious achievements of Pershing's fighting men at the front. Don't miss them.