FRB - The Pop Valve, Journal publié par les soldats américains installés à Vauzelles, près de Nevers (Nièvre), item 8

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Page 2. THE POP-VALVE May 3, 1919.

THE POP-VALVE

Published by and for

The 19TH GRAND DIVISION TRANSPORTATION CORPS

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

Camp Stephenson - Nevers (Nièvre), France.

Major C.E. Lester, Engrs., U.S.A.

Commanding the Grand Division.

Managing Editor...........Mr. Engr. John J. Rule, Hqrs.

Associate Editor........

Art Editor...................Sgt. Lee R. Gummersell, Hqrs.

Business Mgr. & Treas..........Sgt. J.S. Winfrey, "119"

Shop Manager...............Mr. Engr. Otto Hehn, Hqrs.

Press Supervisor..........Pvt. 1/cl. C. G Martini, "116"

COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES

Headquarters Det..................Sgt. Larry Gill.

Band No.5. A.S.C.....................Mr. Engr. Thos. McFarlane.

Medical Det..............................Pvt. 1/cl. N.A. Feidler.

Company 109...........................Corp. George Harris.

Company 110...........................Corp. Leon H.A. Weaver.

Company 116...........................Sgt. J.A. Keshlear.

Company 117...........................Sgt. R.E. Beauchamp.

Company 118...........................Corp. D.C. Sperry.

Company 119...........................Pvt. 1/cl. R.B. Loomis.

Company 120...........................Pvt. 1/cl. J. McC. Frazier.

Company 121...........................Pvt. W.H. Morrow.

P.W.E. Co. 240..........................Corp. Ben Cherenson.

Mech. Trades School...............Pvt. 1/cl. R.A. Johnson.

SATURDAY MAY 3, 1919.

Weekly Circulation..................3000 Copies.

MERCI BIEN!

Boiling down a long, sad story, the promoters

of the Pop-Valve offer their sincere thanks to

the Camp for it's reception of the first number

The financial returns almost paid the printer's

bill and that's about as good as we could expect.

The paper felt the financial strain of that sad

period in the life of a "buck" -- the week

before payday -- but all things considered, the

paper is satisfied, if you are. We have enough

nerve to take another "shot" at it, with hope

at flood stage. We are even planning to make it

an eight page paper, with some new things

in and some old ones out!

Company representatives are empowered to

make certain financial arrangements with you

-- such as accepting advance payments and

giving you credit during the fatal prepay-day

period, which, it is hoped, will meet with your

approval.

WHEN DO WE GO HOME?

Keeping a promise made at a Divisional

gathering of some weeks ago, the Commanding

Office Major C. E. Lester, in a brief talk on

Tuesday evening gave the Camp all the FACTS

he had in connection with the length of our stay

in Nevers. Following on the heels of a series

of wild rumors from the usual rumor factory -

these facts were not exactly pleasant or exciting,

but a brief "post-mortem" brings out more

than a little consolation.

The Major's official position prevents his

giving us anything else but FACTS, for no

matter how conservative his opinion might be,

the possibility of his being mistaken and the

possibility of misinterpretation makes the voicing

of it too dangerous for consideration. He could

only tell us what he knew and he did tell us that

we would not be here later than July which

gives us a license to figure on a MAXIMUM

stay of 75 more days. We have been demanding

some thing definite to figure on and now we

have it.

But nothing in the address touched on the

MINIMUM length of our stay and it was not

definitely stated that we had to stay until July.

We merely got the worst that the definite

information pointed to; nothing was said about

the chances of an earlier departure, This point

and the item on the evacuation of the SOS in

the current STARS AND STRIPES gives us

substantial grounds for hoping that our stay

here may be shorter than the Major's facts

would indicate.

In this interpretation of the address and the

situation, the POP-VALVE is not using any

thing official. No word concerning his speech

or the subject has passed between the C. O. and

anyone connected with the paper. When the

paper began it's career, the Commanding Officer

stated that he wanted it to be the men's paper,

he wanted them to run it, and he would not

interfere himself or let anyone else interfere

unless rhe actions or policies of the Staff forced

his hand. The paper is not muzzled, neither is

its staff instructed or influenced by any officer of

the Division. It is free to print anything the

staff feels like printing. Appreciation of this

privalege, Army regulations and a little common

sense keeps us from printing the "wild stuff"

that some few narrow and loud men of the

camp seem to think we ought to use. This

paper is the men's paper and if if it should go

on the "rocks", the francs to pay the bill will

come out of enlisted men's pockets. Fortunately

the men in this camp who are so narrow between

the eyes as to be unable to distinguish between

common courtesy and "handshaking" are few

in number, even if they are loud. It is the frank

opinion of the staff that our chances of getting

home soon are much better than facts would

suggest and that it behooves each and every

one of us to "watch our respective feet" lest

we slide into the S. O. L. gang!

Our correspondent at Tours asks that the

efforts of the POP-VALVE be lent to the form-

ation of a society for the suppression of all

ancient "Second Looey" jokes. "With you

the whole distance Fred, but we want your

help on our society to have the A.E.F. furnished

with hates instead of the "Happy Hooligan"

things the Q.M. lists as Over-sea Caps." The

Golden Barred ones deserve sympathy for they

draw all the "bucks" that cannot be passed

down to the enlisted men; say what you will,

the Great War was won by the Second "Loots"
and the "buck-privates", and that is absolutely

no joke.

A Corporal who labors in Shop Clerk Joe

Donze's gang contributes this gem: "Consider

the "LOOIES" of the field; they toil not,

neither do they spin, yet Solomon in all his

glory was not as fine as one of these." "Ver-

ily, the Corp. is a clever twister of things

Scriptural!

Some time ago the Commanding Officer

started the ball a-rolling to get us back our tin

derbies and a gas mask apiece. The headgear

is on hand and the masks are expected most

any time so that we will have a couple of good

souvenirs to tote home. Thanks Major, we can

now describe the Battle of Nevers glowingly.

The Manager of the promised Ice Cream

Parlor, Miss Leonard of the YMCA staff, expects

to serve Ice Cream instead of tea, tomorrow

afternoon. The plant, a modern one, was built

by engineers of the camp and the product will

be truly "home made". The Ice Cream will

be a welcome addition to the many other

features of the handsome YMCA building.

Lack of space necessitated the "killing" of

an item that would have added to the attractiv-

eness of the paper. It was a list of good books

in the YMCA library, compiled by Miss Sarah

Walters, the librarian, and her assistant. If the

plans for the enlargement of the paper can be

carried out, the item will be featured. Mean-

while, just ask Miss Walter's advice if you

want a good book -- she picks winners every

time, and is glad to help.

The second dance given by the Welfare Com-

mittee during Easter week was a successful and

enjoyable affair; two hundred couples attended

and were greatly pleased with everything on

the program which consisted of fourteen

wonderful Jazz numbers by the M.T.C. orchestra,

the dreamy moonlight dances and the delicious

lunch served during the intermission. The

Camp dances seem to improve with each

succeeding dance, and the Welfare Committee

certainly deserves the gratitude of the camp for

it's splendid work.

The First Provisional Mech. Trades Co. has

four members who wear the Croix de Guerre:

Sgt. P. J. Clark and Thos. Horan, Corporals

J. A. Johnson and Edward Wagner. Sgt. Clark

also wears the D. S. C. and has been cited for

the third medal. The experiences of these four

distinguished visitors are most interesting.

The original plans for the curriculum of the

Mech. Trades School have been slightly modified

to meet some changes in conditions, but the

Director of the School, Lieut. Walter Smith

expects to give the boys some valuable expe-

rience in shop work before the schools close

and they start on their way to America.

If present speed is maintained, everyone in

camp will soon have had his legal share of the

leave privaleges -- nearly two hundred leaves

are being issued each week, to the Riviera

areas, Paris, other points in France, and to

Belgium, England and Italy. The number of

men leaving for Casual Camp with "immediate

discharge tickets" in going up too.

Numerous were the inquiries as to the identity

of "Merc" who decorated last weeks cartoon-

page and the answer is: "Pvt. 1cl. Mark J.

Mercier (464778) 116th Company, Captain'

Brown's office and St Louis, MO. "Merc" is a

cracker-jack cartoonist with a keen sense of

humor and absolutely none of the goat-getting

conceit that men who can do things so often

have. "Merc" is the most willing and best

humored "buck" in the A.E.F. and if he don't

connect with fame when he gets back to St.

Louis, our guess is all wrong.

Major General Hay is too busy for any cere-

monial visits and the Camp's first official visit

from him was distinctly informal. He slipped

into camp, almost unexpectedly on Tuesday

morning, accompanied by Major General Hugh

Drum of GHQ and Captain Brown, his chief of

staff. The rumorists are profuse in explana-

tions of the visit, which lasted but a few

minutes, but so far, the General has'nt published

any bulletins concerning it.

Camp Stephenson is now the Headquarters

of the Post Commander of Nevers, Lt. Col.

Granger having moved into offices in the

Administration building. Lt. Col. Butler, has

also taken offices here and several hundred men

have been moved into the northern section of the

Camp, forming what is now known as Camp

Stephenson Casual Camp. Col. Granger is

Commander of all the troops in the Nevers

district.

New arrangements made by Maj. Lester and

Lt. Proctor will keep the Canteen open all day

hereafter. The opening hour is not yet known

but the closing hour will be nine P.M. The

Canteen Officer of the Camp will also have to

provide goods for sale to the men of the Casual

Camp and he hopes they will make it a point to

make their purchases during the day, while

the men of the shops are at work. This will

prevent crowding and waiting in line and be

better for all the patrons of the Canteen. The

new arrangement ought to find appreciation

among the men of the Camp and will undoubt-

edly remove a great many of the hardships in

procuring articles from the Canteen.

The first theatrical attraction the Camp has

seen for several days was the "Hot Dog" comp-

any that entertained in the YMCA Auditorium

on Tuesday night. The five members of the

company, especially the female members, fur-

nished the audience with a big evening of fun.

Their costumes, dancing, singing and chatter

were great and one of the best vaudeville

attractions ever staged at the YMCA theatre.

Chaplain White is in receipt of a letter from

the States addressed to him in this manner;

19th. Grand Division, Trans. CORPSE. He is

now wondering if the people in the States

think we are a bunch of dead ones.