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Show ARIZONA CITIZENS ERECT LEG'ON HOSPITAL IN RECORD TIME 15)1 S pH.HTrJf'3 1 Wif No. 1. Part of Army of Volunteer Workmen, 5,000 Strong. No. 2. Governor Gov-ernor . Campbell at Wheel of State Highway Truck,- Hauling Material and Workmen. No. 3. Governor Campbell Wearing Overalls That Later Brought $200 for Post Park Red Cross Fund. No. 4. Left to Right: O. C. Parker, Mayor of Tucson; Bert H. Clingan, Commander Department of Arizona, American Amer-ican Legion; E. J. Winslett, National Vice Commander, American Legion. No. 5. Dr. I. E. Huffman, Commander Legion Post at Tucson. A SPECTACLE believed to be almost al-most unique in American history and one that has given tremendous impetus to the nation-wide fight of the American Legion to obtain at least simple justice for sick and disabled dis-abled heroes of the World war, was staged in the thriving little desert city of Tucson, Ariz., recently. Led by Gov. Thomas E. Campbell and national, state and iocal representatives repre-sentatives of the Legion, the entire citizenry of the communiy brought every business activity to a standstill for a day while more thao 5,000 men and women in overalls or -other appropriate appro-priate working garb, drove their automobiles auto-mobiles to Pastime park, three miles north of the town, and labored with rheir hands to expedite construction of an emergency puhlic health service serv-ice hosnitnl for tubercular ex-service men. Governor Campbell, E. J. Winslett, national vice commander of the Legion Le-gion ; State Commander Bert H. Clingan, Clin-gan, Mayor O. C. Parker and hundreds of other prominent business and professional pro-fessional men of the city and state appeared In real working clothes nnd manipulated shovels, picks, hammers, saws and wheelbarrows in the greatest great-est frenzy of activity the community had ever- known. The immediate result re-sult was that the emergency institution institu-tion which government engineers originally had estimated it would take three months to build, was brought to virtual completion within one week, and more than 500 tubercular derelicts dere-licts of the war who "had been unhos-pitalized unhos-pitalized and partly shelterless, suddenly sud-denly found themselves with a roof over their heads The whole demonstration was planned and carried out within a little lit-tle more than 48 hours, whiie Governor Campbell and State Legiun Commander Comman-der Clingan made flying trips from Phoenix to address a mass meeting under legion auspices at the armory on the evening preceding the park event- and to participate In the "heavy work" there next day. The chief xecutive of the commonwealth pushed a wheelbarrow fi;ll of rocks, Irove an ex-army truck and wound ip his rttrenuous afternoon with an mpassloned plea to Tucsonians and all :ood Americans to get together and itand squarely behind the legion in "the most important movement now starting here for the benefit of disabled dis-abled ex-service men that lias yet be -un In the United States." At the conclusion of his address, '.he overalls the governor had worn during the afternoon, and which fig-ired fig-ired conspicuously in several hundred feet of "movie" film unwound by a Pathe News camera man, were auctioned auc-tioned off to the highest bidder, the Morgan McPermott post of the legion at Tucson. Approximately $200 for the benefit of a welfare fund for patients pa-tients at the hospital was realized rom the auction, each bidder being obliged to hand over the sum offered, 'rrespectlve of whether It was high enough to get the clothes. The bid of the Legion Post was $70. The attention of F. W. Galbraith, fr the legion's national commander, vas first attracted to the Tucson sitn-ition sitn-ition after H. P. Ma-'Artan, the public health service physician in charge of the hospital, had gone to Washington nnd reported that more than half of the 12S patients then In the Institution Institu-tion were sleeping In condemned army tents, and that there were approximately ap-proximately 4o0 other tubercular ex-i ex-i service men entirely 'unhospltallzed Id the community ns a result of the j wngesr:on which followed the usual influx of "white plague" victims at this season of the year. These 5G men in dire need of the care and Vreat- j nient they were not receiving, were distributed through the community with such limited bousing facilities and shelter from the extreme cold of the desert nights as their weary wanderings wan-derings happened to bring them. " Commander Galbraith sent E. J. Winslett, national' vice commander of the legion, and a representative of the American Legion News Service to Tucson Tuc-son to see what could be done to remedy the situation. The-tr instructions instruc-tions were to do all possible to speed up construction work, co-ordinate the rfforts of all community interests and visualize the local situation as an object ob-ject lesson to thrust "under the nose of congress" in the legion's national fight for justice for the nation's heroes he-roes of two years ago and the legion's comrades then, now and atwayy. Governor Campbell was in the East at the time and assisted Dr. MacAr-tan MacAr-tan in inducing Director Chomely Jones of the bureau of war risk insurance in-surance and other government offk lals to bring about the cutting of a vast amount of red tape. Dr. MacArtan finally returned to Tucson with authorization author-ization to spend approximately $300,-000 $300,-000 for the erection of an emergency hospital, and he brought with him George E. Kirk, a federal engineer to whom with his assistants much of the credit for the record-breaking completion com-pletion of the project is due. Governor Gover-nor Campbell placed state workmen, materials, trucks and tools at the disposal dis-posal of the government and there was from the beginning a hearty and enthusiastic co-operation on the part of the business and professional men of Tucson, as well as the citizens generally. gen-erally. Arriving at Tucson, Mr. Winslett surveyed the situation and then called a conference of legionnaires and state and municipal public officials and business men. At the conference he told of the legion's nation-wide fight, just beginning, begin-ning, to obtain justice for the derelicts coming back from the war and appealed ap-pealed to all organizations and agencies agen-cies to make a united stand Sir a square deal for those who offered their all to their country In time of need and have become victims of neglect, neg-lect, inefficiency, red tape and dereliction dere-liction of duty as their reward. The following evening a mass meeting meet-ing was held in tlve Tucson armory, with Governor Campbell, National Vice Commander Winslett. State Commander Com-mander Clingan and James R. Dun-seath. Dun-seath. a prominent Tucson lawyer and business man. as the principal speakers. speak-ers. An Informal dance under the auspices of the legion post followed the meeting and Governor and Mrs. Campbell led the grand march. The following day was proclaimed a holiday by Mayor Parker and every store, factory and business establishment establish-ment of every description closed Its doors. Women and girls of the community took an active part in the demonstration, demonstra-tion, and members of various women's clubs and civic organizations entered whole-heartedly Into the spirit of the event and backed it ona hundred per cent. In every sens It was a red letter day In the history at Tucson, Arizona, and America, and an exemplification of the un'ty and unselfish co-operation which animated the whole nation during dur-ing the war and which rarely, if ever, has been so conspicuously displayed In this country since the sig;,:r;g of the armistice. |