There was one influence that was ever guiding him. The future had to
square to the principles of thought and action he had laid down for
himself and that he had followed since he knelt, four years before, at a
rough-boarded altar in a little church in the "Valley of the Three Forks
o' the Wolf," whose belfry had been calling, appealing to him since
childhood.
Admiral Albert Gleaves, who commanded the warship convoy for the
troop-ships, himself a Tennesseean, made a prediction which came true.
"The guns of Argonne and the batteries of welcome of the East were not
to be compared to those to be turned loose in York's home state."
The people of Tennessee filled depots, streets and tabernacles to
welcome him. Gifts awaited him, which ranged from a four-hundred acre
farm raised by public subscriptions by the Rotary Clubs and newspapers,
to blooded stock for it, and almost every form of household furnishings
that could add to man's comfort. It took a ware-room at Nashville and
the courtesies of the barns of the State Fair Association to hold the
gifts.
He was made a Colonel by the Governor of Tennessee, and appointed a
member of his staff. He was elected to honorary membership in many
organizations. As far away as Spokane the "Red Headed Club" thought him
worthy of their membership "by virtue of the color of his hair and in
recognition of his services to this, our glorious country.
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