The Community-Funded Battery
Kennewick rallies to outfit its local volunteer artillery unit with a 'mess fund' as they prepare for the trenches of Europe.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The boys of Battery 'E,' 146th Field Artillery, known as the Benton County battery, are not going to France with the feeling that the folks back home have forgotten all about them. Capt. F. M. Weil requested a mess fund of $600 from the county to provide for 'extras' not covered by army rations. In response, H. R. Vibber, acting as custodian, has collected over $800 from citizens in the Kennewick area. The campaign is a testament to the community's desire to support the local men serving in the war. News from Camp Mills indicates the soldiers are in good spirits and training hard to handle artillery, with the hope of becoming a crack unit.
“They are going to carry with them a very substantial fund from which to make purchases of some of the things which do not come in the regular routine of army life.”
This reflects the hyper-local nature of military support during WWI, where the distinction between 'the army' and 'the town' was blurred by direct financial support from neighbors.
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