The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, August 08, 1918, Image 3

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    OURTH YEAR OF WAR A BITTER ONE
FOR ALUES BUT ENDS WITH PROMISE
tussia and Rumania Were Crushed, Great Britain, France and
Italy Each Suffered the Worst Defeats of Entire Period of
World Struggle, But Growing Tide of American Troopers
Turned the Scales In Nick of Time and Next 12 Months
Should Be a Story of Victor ies Over the Teuton.
By Frank H. Simonds. j
Copyright, 1918, Now York Tribune)
The fourth year of the world war
Jr the western nations, the gloomiest
1 the whole struggle. Is ending under
♦nditions which are more favorable
(id give more real cause for optimism
lan any that have existed In the past
I months. We are entering th*
fth year of the contest not with any
hispect of peace now or even within
te period of another year, but under
frcurastances strikingly recalling the
Ituatlon after the first battle of the
tarne. The second, and we may be
•ve the final, blow of Germany Uae
ten parried, if not broken. If we have
t brought the new Napoleonic edifice i
1 the ruin of a Waterloo, there are |
gns that the recent defeat may prove .
I some degree suggestive of Leipsic. |
The story of the fourth year of the
Jruggle Is measured by two major
vents: the collapse of Russia and the
tuning of the United States. When
year opened we were, all of us, still
(oping against hope that the Russian
beratlons In Galicia might prove the
erst, sign of a renaissance of Russian
illltary power, and that Russia might
ypeat the achievement of the first
•bench republic and, In defending the
fcerty of the Slav world, contribute
lightily to the salvation of western
Ivilizatton.
But before the campaign had come
p an end Russia had ceased to be a
Military factor; treason and madness
tad aorve their work and hence the
ttalntegration within was to be rapid;
Hi lie German troops, released from th*
fest, were to carry peril to the very
?lge of Paris and threaten Sir Douglas
alg’s mighty force with the fate which
jad been prescribed for the “contemp
Ible little army” of Field Marshal Sir
iohn French In the opening days of the
The world, particularly the allied
vorld, was slow In perceiving what
Vere to be the consequences of the
iussian collapse. When the full Ger
han storm broke In March of the pres
Int year It took the allies by surprise,
tnd brought an unready coalition with
jj measurable distance of one of the
jreat disasters of human history. But
yhen the March blow had fallen and
(he extent of the danger was perceived,
hen the wai became a race between
Imerica and Germany, a race between
lur young troops, hurried across a
mbmarlne Infested ocean, and the last
Sower of German veterans thrown up
>n the allied lines in offensive after
Iffensive, seeking a decision before
America came.
Lost Without America.
As early as June of 1917, when Ni
telle's Aisne offensive failed, it be
tame clear that unless America came
io the rescue the war would be lost
to our allies and Germany would win
on the continent something recalling
Napoleon’s success against Austria in
lS()o, Prussia in 1806 and against Rus
lia in 1807. But what was not per
ceived at that time was that it was
roing to be a narrow question whether
France, Britain and Italy could hold
ygainst our coming, and, blind to the
real facts, our coming continued to ask
real facts, our allies continued to a3k
Of us material and money rather than
men, until the bitter awakening of
March transformed the whole situa
tion.
The Russian revolution and the re
oulting anarchy, which led to the de
moralization of the Russian army, in
fact produced a situation In which
France and Britain could win the war;
It produced a condition In which the
possibility of a German success was
patent, at least to Germans and neu
trals. It brought back the old prob
lem of 1914, and in the next 12 months
there was to he repeated the German
effort of tht Marne campaign. From
August, 1917, onward Ihe German prob
lem and the German hope was to or
finize a new blow which should crush
ranee and Britain before America
could arrive, as Germany sought to
crush them In 1914 before Russian op
erations in the east should demand
attention.
In a word, we went back suddenly to
the conditions of the opening days of
the war. By the end of last year Ger
many was free to strike for Paris
again; before the campaign of 1918 was
Well opened the peace of Brest-Lito
vsk and of Bucharest had eliminated
Russia and Rumania, abolished the
eastern front, given to the Germans
the mastery of the Baltic and Black
seas, placed the kaiser’s generals in
control of the colossal Russian carcass
and removed from the eastern flank
of a completed Mitteleuropa the imme
diate menace of Slavdom. The Teuton
seemed to have won his age long bat
tle with the Slavs, his way to the Pa
cific-lay open, while he still command
ed Ihe Constantinople bridge to the
nearer east.
When the campaign of 1917 was over
the Xierman could calculate and did
calculate that he had, with hands free
and resources concentrated upon the
western front, another chance to win
the war in the largest possible sense,
to dispose of France and Britain before
American was ready, and then to ne
gotiate a favorable peace with the
Aaierican foe.
Sfory of Misfortune.
The story of the campaign af 1917,
after August 1, is briefly told. For our
allies it is a history replete wltl^ mis
fortune. In August and September the
brilliant but foredoomed Brusiloff of
fensive' in Galicia • faded into the
shameful and indescribable flight of
Russian troops from the field of vic
tory into the darkness of demoraliza
tion and disintegration. There was a
moment when It seemed as If Lemberg
w«8 again in danger, we read the old
names of towns and rivers, the scenes
of victories by the Russians in 1914,
but in' a few brief hours the Russian
offensive In Galicia succumbed to the
internal diseases of the Russian nation.
After August, in point, of fact, Russia
■was gone.
Meantime, in the west the British
offensive in Flanders pursued Its un
lucky road to complete failure. It had
been the conception of Haig and Rob
ertson, striking north from Ypres and
out of the famous old salient, to break
the German line, cut off the troops on
the Belgian seacoast or compel their
retreat, free_ Ostend and Sieebrugge,
abolish the'submarine bases on this
coast and, preysjlpg eastward throw the
Germans behind the Scheldt and com
pel their later retirement out of France
from the Lys to the Meuse.
in this effort Plumer had made a
brilliant beginning in June ut Meseines.
Rut in July and August Gough, later
to disappear as a result of the Picardy
defect of the present year, had so
handled affairs that a second operation
lmd ended in costly failure arul when
I’lumer resumed the direction of opera
tion the weather was already changing
*u.-* he golceg moment bad passed. 4a
d01.?.* w°f fact> tlve campaign of the
British was already sure to fait, for
German troops were hastening west*
ward from Russia. Yet. doggedly and
grimly, the British generals held their!
to#the'r task and the toll of cas
the British in Flanders riv
alled If It did not pass that of the
Somme the previous year, while great
nopes, excited by a brief but brilliant
success before Cambrai, gave way to
new developments when one more op5":
P°ttunlty was sacrificed.
On the map there was proof of Ger
man retreat. The Ypres salient disap- ]
P«ared, the British troops seised the!
yS B th* Passehendaele ridge and
critics talked of the advancs from this
vantage ground In the next year to
Ghent and to Lille, little dreaming that
a few days of battle would then suf- ]
t0 compel the surrender of these
hills, won by so muoh sacrifice and ef
fort, and that Ypres Itself was again to
be In peril. In peril as deadly as that of
October. 1914.
In this autumn the French-army was
passing through a period of reorganiza
tion and renaissance. Its defeat in May
had shaken it to the very foundation.
For a few weeks its morale was lower
than at any time since the war began.
To P^taln, who succeeded Nivelle, was
assigned the grim task of restoring
confidence and discipline, while behind
the army the nation, under Clemen
ceau, cleaned its high places of those
who had oonsplred against victory and
held secret confsrence with the foe. A
few minor successes above the Alsnc
and about Verdun served to prove that
the task was being accomplished, but:
for the balance of the campaign of 1917 j
the French army was limited to the de
fensive, or to operations which were i
but local offensives.
In Italy, Too.
The first months of tha fourth year
of war saw Italy winning considerable
successes along the Isonzo, where for
two years Italian soldiers had been
struggling to break through the gigan
tic Tnermopylre between the Julian
Alps and the Adriatic, by which ran
the road to Trieste and the Austrian
capital far beyond, the road Napoleon
had taken more than a century before
in his brilliant campaign of 1787. By
October the gate seemed forced; Aus
trian recoil was general north' and
south, and allied capitals, ' looking
southward, saw in Italian succeas at
least consolation for their own failures.
But in November. Italy suffered her
first great reverse of the war. Her
population and her army, like those of
the French nation, had been corrupted
by enemy propaganda and by defeatist
and pacifist efforts. The taint of bol
shevism was already beginning to do
its work in Italy as it had in Russia.
Suddenly, along the Upper Isonzo front,
out of the mountains about Caporetto,
a German army appeared and struck
an Italian array holding the flank of
Cadorna'H mala forces to the south
ward, and holding it carelessly and
with little thought of danger.
In a few short hours this Italian army
was destroyed in exactly the fashion
Radko Wimitrieft’s Russian army had
Radko DimitriefTs Russian army had
with consequences to other armies
equally grievous. One day advancing
and seemingly on the eve of decisive
victory, Cadorna’s armies on the Lower
Isonzo and about Goriza found them
selves on the next with their rear and
llank Imperiled, condemned to a swift
and costly rush backward, behind the
Tagllamento and then behind the
Piave. The Invasion of Austria was
over and the Hapsburgs once more oc
cupied at least a wide sweep of their
old province of Venetia, while It was
the fate of Venice, not of Trieste, which
was now In doubt.
Thanks to an Italian rally and to the
rush of British and French troops to
their stricken ally Venice was saved,
and the retreat ended at the Piave and
not at the Adige, but Italy had suffered
one of the great defeats of history and
was henceforth condemned for long
months to the defensive. She had. In
fact, been on the edge of ruin; her es
cape had been by a slight margin, and
at the moment the question of her
future capacity to fight, brilliantly an
swered at the Piave the other day, was
to give her allies grave concern.
Thus the calendar year and the cam
paign of 1917 ended amid the most
gloomy of all possible circumstances.
British succeeaes in the early months
had been dimmed by the failure, the
bloody failure, In Flanders. The French
army had not merely seen its hopes
come to nothing at the Alone, but hod.
for the first time, been shaken in Its
confidence and was only beginning to
give signs of renewed constancy and
efficiency. The Italian army had suf
fered one of ths great disasters of the
war. The minor efforts In the Balkans
had been without even the smallest
material benefit.
To swell the balance on the wrong
side Rdlsla was sinking to a hapless
derelict and Rumania was obviously
soon to quit the war. All hope of an
offensive in 1918 had now to be sur
rendered. The allied high command
did not preceive that, the defensive
which was Its role would be one baset
with difficulties so great that disaster
might impend, but It did recognize that
there was no longer any chance of
victory in 1918 nor at any other time
until America shouldifie able to replace
Russia tn the battle line.
As for tire German, he could look
forward to a return to the west now
with his armies victorious in (ho east;
he could look forward to superiority
In guns as a result of Russian and
Italian successes and to .advantage in
numbers as a result of the suppression
of the Russian and Ramanlnn fronts.
For him the new year dawned bril
liantly. For Ills enemies It was the
beginning of a time which they already
foresaw nan to be one of grave trial,
hut how grave it was to be they could
not suspect, and. not suspecting, failed
to provide against.
The German Strike*.
On March 21 the German struck be
tween the Scarpe and the Oise, 40 di
visions against 15. awiftly destroyed
the Fifth British army, swept over its
ruins to the outskirts of Amiens, opened
the road down th» Oise valley to Paris
as far as Noyon and took Montdldier.
and cut the main railroad from Paris
to Amiens by artillery lire. Only the
•swiftest possible work on the part of
the French rushing to tlie aid of their
llritislt allles prevented the separation
of the two armies. The blow was
checked at the moment v.hen further
German progress would have meant
separation and separation approximate
ruin.
Karely has any defeat taken the van
quished more completely by surprlsa.
Suddenly tlie French and British alike
were aroused to the fact that their
position w;as critical, their numbers in
sufficient :uid bound to lie insufficient.
They had expected to maintain a suc
■“•w'ful defensive until Amerioa deilb
erately accomplished her military pro
gram. They saw themselves condemned
to a desperate defensive, while Amer
ica feverishly rushed to France those
divisions without which a LudendorfT
victory seemed inevitable.
By his first attack Ludendorff, for his
had become the master mind in the
Oerman high command, employing the
method of a brilliant lieutenant, Hutler,
had succeeded where all predecessors
had failed. He bad pierced and broken
an enemy front on an extent of 6#
miles and to a depth of 86. After three
years and a half of a war of positions,
of stagnation, of siege and trenches, hs
had carried an offensive into open coun
try beyond all defense cones.
Checked in Picardy, Ludendorff car
ried his offensive to Flanders and again
achieved swift and substantial vic
tory. Breaking the allied line south
of Ypres he pushed forward IS miles
toward the channel ports, won back all
the lost ground of the Passchendaele
campaign of the previous year, took
Kemmel, which looks down upon the
rear of Ypres. and threatened to re
duce this restored salient, which had
for,the British empire the same sig
nificance Verdun carried for the French
nation. This greater success was not
attained, and a sharp repulse on April
89 closed the Flanders battle, but this
second episode had served to demon
strate anew the efficacy, of German
tactics and the advantage of Oerman
numbers und interior position. It,re
opened the question of the arrival'ft
the Raiser at Calais and emphaslAd
again the greatness of allied peril.
The third Oerman blow was in the
larger sense even more terrifying than
the first. Although two months had
passed and the allies had been allowed
time to study the Oerman method and
prepare an answer, Ludendorff was
able in late May to duplicate his March
successes, and, sweeping across the
Aisne and the Vesle, the victorious
Oerman troops reached the bank of
the Marne once more, after nearly
three years of absence. Ner was this
all: the British positions in Picardy
had lacked any dominating military
strength, but the French positions at
the Aisne were among the finest on
the western front. And, as at the
Somme, Ludendorff had in a week re
gained ail the ground lost in the
months of the British offensive of 191«
and the Oerman retreat in the spring
of 1917, he now in three days retook
all the- ground gained by Nlvelle in
his ill-starred offensive of 1917, and
in addition drove south between
Rheims and retook Solssons, French
since September 12, 1914.
The British defeat in Picardy was
the greatest in British military history;
the French reverse on the Aisne sur
passed the disaster of the first days
of the Verdun campaign. As a result
of the two successes the German was
once more within striking distance of
Paris and had thrust wedges forward
toward the French capital down the
Oise and the Marne valleys. June was
only Just come and .America’s ferces
were still too weak to exercise any
decisive Influence. There remained the
relatively restricted tasks of eliminat
ing the Compiegne and Rheims salient,
the one a menace to the community
of his operative front between the Oise
and the Marne, the other a threat to
the rear of this front, and then, he
could undertake the final venture, a
drive straight south upon Paris, which,
even if it failed to take the city, might
bring his heavy artillery within bom
barding distance and enable him to
destroy the city if it refused to sur
render. and with this destruction he
hoped French nerves and French spirit
would at last break and the army, after
the civil population, abandon a struggle
which had cost France so much and
still held out the threat of even worse
suffering without any promise of ulti
mate victory.
The Tide Turn*.
It may be that this German suet see,
which took the kaiser to the Marne,
will prove the last high water mark
of the war. Before June was over the
tide had changed. Seeking to sweep
the French out of the Complegne re
gion, open up the lower valley of the
Alsne, Insure the continuity of the
right wing of his operative front be
tween Solssons and Montdldler by
clearing the French out of strong
ground and carrying their line into
the open ground south of Senlis, Lu
dendorff launched a fourth blow be
tween Montdldler and Noyon, between
the Avre and the Oise. This time there
was no surprise, no collapse; the Ger
man machine ground its way forward
for a short distance, cleared the Las
signv heights and some valuable ground
along the Oise. But by the third day
it was checked, and Mangln. the de
liverer of Verdun, was striking a
counter blow on the German flank,
which paralysed the offensive. Coj|
plegne was not taken; at u staggering
cost the German had gained a little
ground, but his fourth venture had
been a failure.
While Ludendorff prepared for the
fifth stroke his Austrian colleague, Bor
evic, struck on the Piave and sought
by a supreme strope, with the largest
and finest Austrian army which had
yet appeared in Italy under his com
mand, to crush the troops who had been
beaten so terribly at the Isonzo six
months before. But the Austrian of
fensive failed dismally, a brief advance,
a short desperate period of days when
Italian counter attacks held up the ad
vance, then floods and new Italian at
tacks, and the Austrians were driven
in disorder across the Piava, losing 250,
000 men. innumerable guns, and having
suffered in a few brief clays r defeat as
destructive to their plans for this year
as Verdun had proven for the Germans
in 1916.
And now, last or all, checked on the
Oise and at the Compiegns salient, we
have seen Ludendorff in recent days
launch his fifth offensive, v colossal at
tack from the Marne to the Argonne,
lathr restricted to a local operation to
.break In the Rhelms sa.lieut and clear
his flank and rear, against tlie day when
he, should resume his drive for Paris.
The results of this ventuie are being
Written on the map at the j-resent hour.
Its fallure”was immediate dnd, save in
one sector, complete. Its failure In all
sectors was complete when Foch
launched his ever memorable counter
attack. In which for the first time
American troops in large numbers
played a leading part.
America hus at last arrived, the de
spairing cull of March had been an
swered In July, when more than 200.000
American troops participated in the de
cisive thrust, and American troops In
^France numbered above 1,200,000.
It seems now, as I write these lines
today. Just four months after l.uden
dorff'a first blow In Picardy, that the
worst is over, the consequences of the
Russ-lan collapse have been liquidated
If we may not yet wisely fix the time
when victory will In the larger sense
ha won, we have come to the hour when
the danger of defeat Is passing, prob
yibly has passed. The second battle of
the Marne has already had conse
quences recalling the first, us did the
French strategy; after four months and
at the close of tremendous exertions
the Germans are retiring on a bread
front from the Marne; the Parts front
Is disappearing, and on their heels
American as well as French soldiers are
pr»ssing, while the flood of American
troops continues to flow toward France.
As in 1914.
The German problem In 1919 was his
problem in 1914. Four years ago British
unreadiness and Russian slowness hi
mobilization gqvo him six weeks In
which to dispose of Franco, employing
the full weight of Ms mfTrfary eetaV
! Ushmenf against France. He used the
six weeks, he won many battle* and
drew near to Paris, biU the dose of the
period saw him In retreat, his time ex
hausted, his blow purled; the Russian
menace in the east, no longer to be
neglected entirely, destine to make ever
growing demands upon him until he
was forced to go east and seek what h#
found—victory and the destruction of
Russia.
In March, 1911, the kaiser’s new com
mander could count not upon tix weeks
but on something like six months In
which to bring home the victory. Rus
sia’s collapse gave him back the ad
vantages of the flret weeks ef the war.
But again he had to win In the time
fixed, for by the end of six months
America's aid would begin to become
effective, and If he failed in the cam
paign of 1918 to put one of his great
foes out he would automatically lose
the Initiative, the offensive, the chance
for victory In the next campaign, when
the American hosts had arrived.
And now, In late July, we see Ger
man armies, again retiring from the
Marne after a severe defeat, the extent
of which is still unrevealed. No dis
aster may easne now, as none came In
1914. The German may presently
gather up his strength and strike
against the British, as hs struck in
Ootober, 1914. Defeated at the Marne,
he may, for a second time, seek com
pensation in a new effort to open the
road to Calais. But the road to Calais
ends at the Channel, and It was not
by taking Calais but by beating down
French or British armies, one at least,
both if possible, that the kaiser in his
grandiose campaign of the present
year was to achieve a victorious peaoe,
MARRIAGE COST MILLIONS.
New York—Three children of the late
Dr. Matthew S. Borden have lost their
legal fight to share In the millions left
by their grandfather, Matthew C. D.
Borden, a cotton financier. He was ir
revocably opposed to his son’s secret
marriage while a student at Yale uni
versity to the daughter of a New Haven
tailor, and to the subsequent renewal
of his marriage vows.
A codicil to his will disinherits the
son who chose love rather than wealth.
He directed that neither his son, daugh
tsiinlaw nor their issue should derive
any benefit from his estate.
Both father and son are now dead.
The daughters of the latter. Misses
Gladys Minerva, Muriel Durfee and
Harriet Dorothy Borden, all younger
then 18, and who live with their mother,
through their guardian, asked that the
codicil denying them $2,619,000 which
would have been their father’s share,
be declared Invalid.
Hearings were conducted before Jchn
Couch, as referee, upon the accounting
filed by the late John W. Sterling, Bert
ram H. Borden and Howard S. Borden,
executors of the estate. They charged
themselves with receiving $8,165,910 and
having a balance of $5,120,936. The lat
ter two executors, sons of the testator,
announced their intention to divide
them Dr. Borden’s share, which would
entitle them each to $1,009,500. Objec
tions to this disposition were filed In
behalf of Dr. Borden’s children.
The girls are entitled to collect in
terest on the sum for two years, repre
senting the period between the death
of their father and ths testator. This
Is expected to aggregate more than
$100,000.
The stand taken by the elder Borden
against the marriage was assailed by
the special guardian for the children.
The codicil, said Daniel J. Mooney,
their counsel, had the effect of offering
a premium for the dissolution of the
marriage by its suspension of income.
The lawyer contented that the girls
at least were entitled to one-half of the
principal under article eight of the will,
which provided for such a payment to
each of the testator’s sons when they
attained the age of $5. Dr. Borden
was 41 when he met his death.
Referee Couch admitted that several
clauses of the codicil touching upon
the marriage were Invalid as contrary
to public policy. The Interest of the
testator was paramount however, he
held. _ _
Afghanistan, Guarded.
Basanta Koomar Roy, In Asia.
Afghanistan has no outlet to the sea
and hence no navy. But the paramount
factor In Its life is its state of military
preparedness. Out of political and mili
tary chaos a new Afghanistan has been
created by the supreme genius of Abduy
Rahman, the late father of the present
Amir. He fought his way to the throne
of Afghanistan, and Immediately after
his recognition set himself to reorganis
ing the scattered forces of the army.
He introduced a system of compulsory
military training by which one man in
every seven between the ages of 18 and
20 had to take military (raining. Thus
he planned in course of time to train
every man in military science. He had
the British manuals of military train
ing translated Into Persian and Pushtoo
R>r the use of his army. He hired
Turkish officers to train his officers and
to drill his men. He built forts all over
his kingdom, especially along Its fron
tiers. He established arsenals, two of
which, those at Kabul and Herat, were
undor German military experts for some
time.
Abdur Rahman used his subsidy money
In buying guns, rifles and munitions of
war from the British. He built store
houses throughout his kingdom for stor
ing foodstuffs, to be used only tn cases
of emergency. He built strategic roads—
though there Is not a single mile of rail
road In Afghanistan—over some of th«
almost Impassable parts of his mountain
kingdom. His plan was to raise an army
of 1,000,000 men, and to have all the means
within the land to arm, clothe and tbed it
REPRESENTS CHINA
IN ALLIED MEETS
*----_«
Hoo Weitol.
Hoo Weitel 1* the Chinese minister
to Kranae. He is the man who repre
sented the Chinese kingdom in the
inter-ullled conference held daily at
Versailles. He acted aa spokesman
for Japan military powars In th» wotK
„ war.
MODERN SNIPING '
BECOMES FINE ART
British Officers Have the Work
Down to a Scientific
Point.
Behind British Lines in France (by
(nail).—Sniping and countersniping has
been reduced to a fins art in modern
warfare, and the sharpshooter uses
many other branohes of the service to
assist him. An Incident which oc
curred a few days ago In the British
lr> Flanders shows how a little ar
tillery work Is sometimes necessary In
bringing about the undoing of the Ger
man snipers.
Lieutenant Jackson, battalion snip
ing officer, was walking down ths
trench when ho heard a sudden rattle
of musketry—German bullets striking
°h* ,of the British sniping plates. One
of bis sniping posts was being battered
by German armor piercing bullets. The
officer hurried to the scene and with
hie peeriscope located ths spot where
the Germans were firing. It was & big
post on some ground behind the enemy
firing line, hidden with earth and look
ing exactly like any one Sf the other
tangled hummocks with which shells
and mines had strewn the vicinity. But
his trained eye quickly marked out four
small apertures which he knew to be
loopholes. The excellence sf hie peris
cope even enabled him to see the puffs
°f unburned powder which came from
the four hostile rifles at every shot
"They are behind concrete and eteel
under that surface mud, sir,” said the
sergeant. “It won't be eam dealing
with them."
“Xt'e a case for the heavy artillery,
I'm afraid,” murmured Lieutenant
Jackson regretfully—he disliked calling
in any outside assistance for his snip
ers.
"I saw the major of that heavy bat
tery which covers us going by a mo
rn sit t ago," suggested the sergeant.
Lieutenant Jackson hurried off down
the trench and found the major, who
was up on a survey of the enemy line
for special targets. A hint of what had
developed brought the major back, and
a minute later he was In the nearest
signal dtigout, telephoning Instructions
to Ills baterr. Meanwhile, Lieutenant
Jackson beckoned the sergeant away
out of the major's hearing. "Put Hag
garty and Brown into Poet 9, sergeant,”
he ordered. “I don’t think the Ger
mans have any day communication iato
that post of theirs, and they will have
to bolt for cover over tha ridge."
Presently the first heavy project)!#
came rumbling up from the rear. It
burst fifty yards wide in a great
splash Of earth. The second shell
burst in the German firing line, right
in front of the sniping post, and tors
a huge gap in the parapet. The third
fell right on top of the post itself. But
the concrete of the structure was
strong, and the shell actually ricochet*
ed clear and burst several yards away.
"That has frightened them." exclaimed
the major suddenly, as four figures ap
peared from behind the sniping post
and raced madly for the crest of th#
ridge. Just then a shot rang out from
the British trench, and the first Ger
man pitched forward on hie face. The
second fell a yard further on. The re
maining two were dropped as they
reached the crest.
WEIGHS 649 POUNDS;
TRAVELS IN A VAN
New York—Martin T. Durkin, In
charge of the passport bureau of the
customs intelligence service, Informed
the driver of a moving van that Web
uter Rusk, Seattle, would have to coma
Into the customs house If he wished
to have his passport vised.
“The law," said Durkin, “requires
that all passports must be examined
Inside the customs house."
The driver went out, but returned
shortly. He said that Mr. Rusk was
out at the end of the van, but for lack
of skids, hoists, hydraulic derricks, and
the like, would have to remain there.
“Ya nee,” said the driver, “this Rusk
guy weighs 649 pounds stripped and ha
don’t care to mova much without tha
aid of a crane or a plank. I’m respon
sible for him until 1 deliver him safely
to the Brooklyn pier from where he la
to sail for Porto Rico.
“Sorry I couldn't roll into the office,’’
gurgled Rusk to the customs officer
after he had vised his passport in tha
van. “I wanted to come here to a taxi,
but this van proved to be more suit
able.”
Rusk is 19. For some reason the boat
for Porto Rico sailed without him. It
was said there was no cabin door wlda
enough to accommodate him.
SINN FEINERS ARE
IN NEED OF GUNS
Dublin.—(by mail).—Raids for asms
continue in Ireland, and some are re
ported daily. As a rule the Sinn Fein
ers meet with no resistance In com
mandeering whatever weapons are dis
covered in a raided house. But oc
casionally the owners' fight and the
raiders suffer. An attack was made
recently by six. armed men with black
ened facts on a woman's house at
Ferbane. A retired army officer living
in the house captured two of the raid
ers an drove the other away. The
prisoners were committed for trial t»
the Assize.
In a case near Tulsk, in Roscommon,
a party of men with blackened faces
raided a farmer’s house in search of
arms. They demanded his gun, and
when he refused, dragged him out and
handled his roughly. He escaped into
the house, and finding his gun, turned
It against his assailants, who fled. The
weapons seized by the Sinn Feiners
are In many instances seized by the
police in counter ralds.% The-other day
several shot guns and ammunition
were found in Tipperary. In onehouse
during the seizure the police came
upon a board of 150 pounds In sliver,
which they took away.
WAR BRINGS ABOUT
UNION OF CHURCHES
New Haven, Conn.—At least tempor
ary union of churches In 18 Connecticut
towns has been accomplished within a
year owing to circumstances resulting
from the war, reports a committee of
the Connecticut federation of churches.
Denominations joining in the movement
were Baptist, Methodist, Congregation
al, Free Baptist, Lutheran and Inde
pendent Methodist. Thirty - seven
church organizations now are combin
ing services In 18 buildings. In one I
town Baptists and Free Baptists united
under a Methodist, minister.
Each chureh organization has re
tained its own officers and adheres to
Its own denominational beliefs. In
most cases the union is considered a
temporary expedient for the period of
the war. It is pointed ont that th*
federation of churches ie not Irre
vocable.
Siam produces more than 40.'varie
ties of rice, some of wltlch a re/Tipened
hi 78 days from planting, Wh/'j other*
, reuuirs six months, _
WORLD DOMINION IS
STILL GERMAN IDEA
Educated Prussian Prisoner
Glories In Pact His Country
Started the War.
London <iby mail).—Despite their
(our years of fighting, some of the
German prisoners of war still are ob
lessed by the German idea of conquer
ing the world. That unadulterate#
Prusstanlsm etill exists in the German
ranks is the concluslen of one British
•fflcer who has Interviewed i. number
>f the German prisoners. Ope of them
be describee as "an Intelligent untver
*Ity man." The British officer quote*
their conversation as follows:
"1 do not wish to Insult you,” said
the German, "but you English are well
Intended fools. We who govern In Ger
many are net like you. We govern the
fools; the fools govern you.”
"Tour principles are sweeping," re- “
plied the Briton. "To come down Uf
praotice, what have you to' say dbeui
the guilt of beginning the war?"
"Guilt?" demanded tbe German; "It
was a glory. I claim it for Germany?
"That is hardly your offleial view?
"The official view is for the fools."
"But ybu believe In the Prussian pur
pose behind an this," asked the British
officer.
"I do, as In nothing else," replied the
German. "The Prussian purpose 1*
God. There is no other. Prussia will
rend the veil of the temple, but she
wHl destroy to create. Against Prus
sian might the world as It exists today
will fall In ruins, but Prussia will build
a better and more virile World In it*
place. Strength only will survive. The
life of men is naturally a fight. The
strongest in force and cunning will
live."
"It will be going back to the flood,*
said the Briton.
" Prussia is the flood.*
"And when the old world Is drownedk
virtue and all such weaknesses will go
with it?
" Tbs old virtue was womanish." sal#
the prisoner. "The new virtue la
strength.”
"In that blessed future will war
reign triumphant?”
‘Xlfe Is war—all of life that la
healthy. Peace is only striving fqs
mastery with other weapons. That la
the law of nature."
"So everyone will fight till everyone
is dead?"
"The weakest will go under. They
are the diseased. The stronger win
live; and after that the stronger and
stronger, till there Is perfect health."
"But it may be that Prueela will keep
a few slaves?"
“Certainly,” said the German. "Those
who care not to fight that they may
rule are In their nature slaves.”
“I had had enough of It," the officer
concluded. "It was nauseating. But
the man was genuine In his beliefs, and
so obsessed by his elsmentary motion
of virility that It was a waste of time
to argue with him. His conception*
were quite definite and not a doubt as
sailed him. The hideous world of hi*
vision seemed to him a natural and %
glorious world.”
1 PERSHING IN
♦ ENGLISH EYES %
W. Beach Thomas, of the London Dally
Mall, In Harper’s Magazine
What of General Pershing, who win
one day have as great an army as any t
The question Is asked as often In Eu
rope as In America. It la not, I think,
known in America how deep a first tafe
presslon his character as man and sol
dier has made on tho British and, in
deed. the French; but I can only speak
within the sphere of my personal
knowledge.
The feeling of confidence in his fu
ture (which is in no degree sentimen
tal and exists principally among the
higher authorities in the g.-my and in
politics) was due to a masterly not*
contributed by General Pershing to
the question of unity of Command, a
note afterward developed into a mem
orandum described by Mr. Lloyd Georg*
as among the most able ever penned.
When he landed in England In June*
191$. one of the British newspapers
whose correspondent had been for a
long while In hiM presence compared
him with Moltke, who wav “silent ilk
17 languages." What General Pershing;
the master of several Philippine dia
lects, said was little and good. When
General Joffre shook his hand in Paris
u few weeks later—a scene worthy of a
great historical memorial—he said t»
one of his staff: “General Pershing will
think first and act afterwards." At all
Junctures the general has been coo! and
prompt and determined. His colonel In
Cuba wrote of hint: "He is tho bravest
and coolest man under fire I ever saw
in my life." His own recorded max
ims are few; but at the most worrying
crisis In France—when news of the
arrival of American troops was pub
lished while some of those troops w?r»
still In tho danger zone at sea—he salt!:
“I do not worry, and when the day’s
work is over I go to sleep."
One of the most vivid Englluh writers
said to me after we had watc hed souk*
of the first American troops land at a
base in Fiance: “I did not see among
the lot a single muddled face." Tim
compliment- was real. If negative In
form; and the general of those troops
deserves It in double measure. He Lv
in that respect their epitome. Face,
voice, figure, thought—all are clear cut,
•andid, definite, manly.
Necessary Building Approved.
From Stone.
"The government, has at last Made clear
that tt does not desire, and has never
desired, to put a stop to necesrary bmi<»
Ing construction," said N. F. Ho ? rson.
president of Hoggsoo Brothers, builders,
to a-New York reporter recently. 'The
Individual or corporation confront#-*! elk
a building problem need only answer one
question—Is the building essential?'
“Secretary McAdoo has stated in im.
equivocal terms In a letter to i-eva' ir
Calder, which forms a part of the Senate
records, that ‘there has never been any
suggestion that buildings actually needed
for the health and protection of the civ I
population, or for the conduct of essential
business of the country, should not tie
constructed during the period of the war.'
A great number of contemplated neees,
sary building operations have been t**d
poned because of an erroneous interpre
tation of the government's wishes. These
should now go ahead.
Safest Way. Too.
From the Boston Transcript
"Why is It that you never mention your
ancestors?"
"Because 1 believe In letting bygones be
bygones."
--
In order to prevent the rush ot
workers the British board of Imde
tramways committee suggests that in
dustrial concerns should “stagger'*
their times of opening and oiosJag- By
taking on and discharging work people,
at intervals of 10 minutes or so tha
ears could be worked more econom
ically and there would be a continuous
Stream of passsngsra instead of UMl
present rush at certain bown.