:OURTH YEAR OF WAR A BITTER ONE FOR ALLIES BUT ENDS WITH PROMISE -- ..I... ■■■■■■ . - i. ■ 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. Copyright, 1918, Now York Tribun*) The fourth year of the world war 1r the western nations, the gloomiest t the whole struggle, is ending under tnditions which are more favorable (id give more real cause for optimism ian any that have existed In the past I month* We are entering the fth year of the contest not with any Kispect of peace now hr even within te period of another year, but under jrcumstances strikingly recalling the ltuatibn after the first battle of the iarne. The second, and wo may be eve the final, blow of Germany Uae ten parried, if not broken. If we have )t brought the new Napoleonic edifice i the ruin of a Waterloo, there are i gr.s that the recent defeat may prove : I some degree suggestive of Leipslc. The story of the fourth year of the jruggle is measured by two major vents: the collapse of Russia and the bmlng of the United States. When fee year opened we were, all of us, still loping against hope that the Russian berations in Galicia might prove the flrst sign of a renaissance of Russian 1 iilitary power, and that Russia might J ypeat the achievement of the first -bench republic and, in defending the |>erty of the Slav world, contribute lightlly to the salvation of western tvllixation. But before the campaign had come p an end Russia had ceased to be a bllitary factor; treason and madness fad done their work and hence the Ilslntegration within was to be rapid; Vhlle German troops, released from the test, were to carry peril to the very jdge of Paris and threaten Sir Douglas laig’s mighty force with the fate which jad been prescribed for the "contemp tible little army” of Field Marshal Sir fohn French In the opening days of the The world, particularlly the allied vorld. was slow In perceiving what Vere to be the consequences of the tussian collapse. When the full Ger taan storm broke In March of the pres ent year It took the allies by surprise, ind brought an unready coalition with it measurable distance of one of the ,*reat disasters of human history. But yhen the March blow had fallen and jhe extent of the danger was perceived, ben the wai became a race between America and Germany, a race between lur young troops, hurried across a tubmarlne infested ocean, and the last Sower of German veterans thrown up in the allied lines in offensive after if fen si ve, seeking a decision before imorica came. Lost Without America. As early as June of 1917, when Nt felle's Aisne offensive failed, it be lame claar that unless America came io the rescue the war would be lost lo our allies and Germany would win «n the continent something recalling Napoleon’s success against Austria in l8ue, Prussia in 1800 and against Rus lia in 1807. But what was not per ceived at that time was that it was joins to be a narrow question whether France, Britain and Italy could hold Igainst our coming, and, blind to the real facts, our coming continued to ask real facts, our allies continued to ask »f us material and money rather than men. until the bitter awakening of March transformed the whole situa tion. The Russian revolution and the re sulting 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 be repeated the German effort of tip Marne campaign. From August. 1917, onward the German prob lem and the German hope was to or ganize a new blow which should crush France 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 man; 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 eeas, placed the kaiser’s generals in control of the colossal Russian carcass and removed from the eastern flank of a completed Mltteleuropa 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 the Constantinople bridge to the nearer east. When the campaign of 1917 was. over the JJerman could calculate and did calculate that he had, with hands free and resources concentratetl 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 American foe. Story of Misfortune. The story of the campaign af 1917, after August 1, Is briefly told. For our allies it is a history replete witl^ mis fortune. In August and September the brilliant but foredoomed Brusilpff of fensive In Galicia • faded info 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 wns 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, frcg_ Ostend and iieebrugge, abolish the'submarine bases on this coast and,- prgpglpg eastward throw the Germans behind the Scheldt and com pel thch- later retirement out of France from the Lys to the Meuse. in this effort Plumer had made a brilliant beginning in June at Meseines. But in July and August Gough, later to disappear as a result of the Picardy defeat of the present year, had so handled affairs that a second operation lind ended In costly failure ami when I’lumer resumed the direction of opera tion I he weather was already changing - he gplcejj'moment bad passed. 4a n0*.?.4 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 me“ to their task and the toll of cas ie8./°.r British in Flandera rlv alled if it did not pass that of the | oomme the previous year, while great i hopes, excited by a brief but brilliant ! success before Cambrai, gave way to j new developments when one more op-| Portunlty was sacrificed. On the map there was proof of Ger man retreat. The Ypres salient disap peared, the British troops seized the w“<>le of th# Passchendaele ridge and critics talked of the advance from this vantage ground In the next year to! Ghent and to Lille, little dreaming that a few days of battle would then suf fice to compel the surrender of these hills, won by so much sacrifice and ef fort, and that Ypres itself was again to! be In peril, In peril as deadly as that of October. 1814. 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 Petaln, who succeeded Nivelle. was' assigned the grim task of restoring. confidence and discipline, while behind! tha army the nation, under Clemen- i ceau, cleaned its high places of those! who had conspired against victory and ! held secret conference with the foe. A | few minor successes above the Atsne; and about Verdun served to prat’s that j the task was being accomplished, butj for the balance Of the campaign of 1917 the French army was limited to the de fensive, or to operations which were 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 Ihrough the gigan tic Thermopylre 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 Ills 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 success 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 army holding the flank of Cadorna’s main 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 Wimltrleff’s Russian army had Radko Dlmitrieff’s 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 tho next with their rear and Hank Imperiled, condemned to a swift and costly rush backwatd, behind the Tagllamento and then behind the Plave. 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 Plave and not at the Adige, but Italy had suffered one of the great defeats of history and was henceforth condemned for long1 months to the defensive. Shs 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 Plave 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 successes 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 Aisne, but had, 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 the 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 aide Rirasla 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 beset 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 tho east; he could look forward to superiority In guns as a result of Russian end Italian successes and to advantage In numbers as a result of the suppression of the Russian and Kamanina fronts. For him th-3 new year dawned bril liantly. tl’or his enemies It was tho i beginning of a time which they already foresaw was to be one of grave trial. ! but how grave it was to be they could I not suspect, and, not suspecting, failed to provide against. The German Strike*. | On March 21 the German struckbe tween the Scarpe and the Oise, 40 dl ! visions against 15, swiftly destroyed tlie Fifth British army, swept over its ruins to the outskirts of Amiens, opened the road down the Oise valley to Paris aa far as Noyon and took Montdidlor. and cut the main railroad from Paris to Amiens by artillery Are. Only the swiftest possible work on the part of the French rushing to the aid of their Britlstfalllcs 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. Barely has any defeat taken the van quished more completely by surprise Suddenly tlie French and British alike were aroused to the fact that their position w;as critical, tlieir numbers in sufficient Vend hound to lie insufficient. They had expected to maintain a suc •“wiful defensive uctll America delib emtely accomplished her military pro gram. They saw themselves condemned to a desperate defensive, while Amer ica feverishly rushed to France those division* without which a Ludendorff victory seemed inevitable. By his flrat attack Ludendorff, for hta had become the master mind In the German 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 69 miles and to a depth of 86. After three years and a half of a war of positions, of stagnation, of siege and trenches, h* had carried an offensive tnto 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 Una south of Ypres he pushed forward 16 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 German numbers and interior position. It,re opened the question of the arrivai'gffj the Kaiser at Calais and emphasiMd' again the greatness of allied peril. The third German blow was in the larger sens# even more terrifying than the first. Although two months had passed and the allies had been aUowed time to study the German method and p-epare an answer, Ludendorff was able in late May to duplicate his March successes, and, sweeping across the Aisne and the Vesle, the victorious German 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 all the ground lost in the months of the British offensive of 191* and the German retreat In the spring of 1917, he now in three daya retook all tlie- ground gained by Niyells in his Ill-starred offensive of 1917, and in addition drove south between Rheims and retook Solssona, French since September 12, 1914. The British defeat in Picardy was the greatest in British military history; the French reverse on the Alan* 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 Parie and had thrust wedges forward toward the French capital down the Otee 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 Complegne and Rhelms 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 thia 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 nervea and French spirit would at last break and the army, after the civil population, abandon a stiuggle which had cost France so much and still held out the threat of even worse suffering without any promise of ulti mate victory. Ths Tide Turns. It may be that this German success, 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 atrong ground and carrying their line Into the open ground south of Seniis, Lu dendorff launched a fourth blow be tween Montdldler and Noyon, between the Avre tind 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 Mangin, the de liverer of Verdun, was striking a counter blow on the German flank, which paralyzed the offensive. Com 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 net? Italian at tacks, and the Austrians were driven in disorder across the Plate, losing 250. 000 men, innumerable guns, and having suffered in a few brief days a defeat as destructive to their plans for this year as Verdun had proven for the Germaus in 1916. And now, last of all, checked on the Oise and at the Compiegne salient, we have seen Ludendorff In recent days launch his fifth offensive, j> colossal at tack from the Marne to the Argonne, later restricted to a local operation to .break in the Rheims sa.licnt and clear his flank and rear, against the day when he, should resume his drive for Paris. The results of this venture are being written on the map at the r resent hour. Its failure'was immediate ^nd, 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 call of March had been an swered in July, when more (hart 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’n first blow in Picardy, that tho worst is over, the consequences of the Russian collapse have been liquidated If ww may not yet wisely fix the time when victory will in the larger sense ho won, we have come to the hour when tlie danger of defeat is passing, prob ytbly 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 Paris front la 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. Aa in 1914. The German problem In 191* was his problem in 1914. Four years ago British unreadiness and Russian slowness In mobilization gqvq him six weeks In which to dispose of Franco, employing 'the full weight of bis mftrfary estab lishment against France. He used the six week^ he won many battles and drew near to Paris, but the close of the period saw him In retreat, hie time ex hausted, his blow parried; 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 he found—victory and the destruction of Russia. In March, 1918, the kaiser’s nsw com mander could count not upon six weeks but on something like six months In which to bring horns the victory. Rus sia's collapse gave him back the ad vantages of the first weeks ef the war. But again ha 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. Wo dis aster may earns now, as none came in 1914. The German may presently gather up his strength and strike against the British, as he struck In Ootober, 1914. Defeated at the Marne, he may, for a second time, aeek 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 bsatlng down French or British armies, ons at least, both If possible, that the kaiser in his grandiose campaign of the present year was te achieve a victorious peaoe. MARRIAGE COST MILLIONS. New York—Three children of the late Dr. Matthew 8. 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 terlnlaw nor their lesue should derive any benefit from his estate. Both father and son are now dead. The daughters of the latter, Mlssee Gladys Minerva, Muriel Durfee and Harriet Dorothy Borden, all younger than 18, and who live with their mother, through their guardian, asked that the codicil denying them $2,819,000 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 8. 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 the 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 Darnel 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 eaoh of the testator's sons when they attained the age of 85. 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 Aela. Afghanistan has no outlet to the sea and hence no navy. But the paramount factor In Its life ts Its state of military preparedness. Out of political and mili tary chaos a new Afghanistan has been created by the supreme genius of Abdur Rahman, the late father of the. present Amir. He fought his way to the throne of Afghanistan, and Immediately after his recognition set hlmeelf to reorganis ing the scattered force? of the army. He introduced a system of compulsory military training by which one man In every seven between the ages of 18 and 30 had to take military training. 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 fcr 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 if which, those at Kabul and Herat, were under 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 In cases of emergency. He built strategic roads though there Is not a single mile of rail road In Afghanistan—over some of ths almost Impassable parts of his mountatn 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 teed It. REPRESENTS CHINA IN ALLIED MEETS Hoo Woitol. Hoo Weitel ta the Chinese minister to Kranoe. He is the man who repre sented the Chinese kingdom in the inter-allied conference held daily at Versailles. He acted aa spokesman for Japan military powers la ills wo»K war. MODERN SNIPING ' BECOMES FINE ART British Officers Have the Work Down to a Scientific Point. Behind British Lines in France (by nriall).—Sniping and countersnlplng has been reduced to a fine 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 ln 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 the trench when he heard a sudden rattle | of musketry—German bullets striking one of the British sniping plates. One i of bis sniping posts was being battered by German armor plerctng bullets. The orfioer hurried to the scene and with "I* peeriecope located the spot where the Germans were firing. It was a bid post on some ground behind the enemy firing line, bidden with earth and look ing exactly like any one ef the other tangled hummocks with whleh shells and mines had etrewn the vicinity. But his trained eye quickly marked out four small aperturee which he knew to be loopholes. The excellence of his peris cope even enabled him to see the puffs of 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 eagg dealing with them.” “It’s a case for the heavy artillery, I'm afraid," murmured Lieutenant Jackson regretfully—he disliked calling ln any outside assistance for his snip ers. “I saw the major of that heavy bat tery which covers us going by a m*> mant 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 his baterv. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Jackson beckoned the sergeant away out of the major's hearing. “Put Hag party and Brown into Poet 9. sergeant,’* he ordered. “I don’t think the Ger mans have any day communication into that post of theirs, and they will have to bolt for cover over tha ridge." Presently the first heavy projectile came rumbling -up from the rear. It burst fifty yards wide in a great splash t>t earth. The second shell burst in the German firing line, right ln front of the sniping post, and tore 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 the ridge. Just then a shot rang out from the British trench, and the first Ger man pitched forward on his face. The second fell a yard further on. The re maining two were dropped aa they reached the crest. WEIGHS 649 POUNDS; TRAVELS IN A VAN New York—Martin T. Durkin, In charge of the passport bureau of tho customs intelligence service, informed the driver of a moving van that Web ster Rusk, Seattle, would have to com* 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 see," said the driver, "this Rusk guy weighs 649 pounds stripped and he don't care to move much without tho aid of a crane or a plank. I'm respon sible for him until I deliver him safely to the Brooklyn pier from where ha is 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 the 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 wide enough to accommodate him. SINN FEtNERS~ARE IN NEED OF GUNS Dublin.—(by mail).—Raids for asms continue in Ireland, and some are re ported dally. As a rule the Sinn Fein ers meet with no resistance In com mandeering whatever weapons are dis covered In ft 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 to the Assize. In a case near Tulsk. in Roscommon, e 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 tho police In counter ralds^ The-other day seweral shot guns and ammunition were found In Tipperary. In onohouss during the seizure the police cams 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 is buildings. In one I town Baptists and Free Baptists united under a Methodist, minister. Each chureh organization has re tained its own officers and adheren to Its own denominational beliefs. In most cases the union is considered a temporary expedient for the period of the war. It is pointed out that %hg federation of churches is not irre vocable. Siam produces more than varie ties of rice, some of w I rich ars^lpene j tn 78 days from planting, wh>*•■> other*, retiulrs six months, _ •'v*" WORLD DOMINION IS STILL GERMAN IDEA Educated Prussian Prisoner Glories In Paot His Country Started the War. London (by mall).—Despite their (our years of fighting, some of the German prisoners of war still are ob tessed by the German Idea of conquer ing the world. That unadulterated Prussianlsm still exists in ths German rank* is ths conclusion of one British •fflcer who has interviewed t. number pf the German prisoners. Ope of them *e describes as "an Intelligent untver »lty man." The British officer quotas their conversation as follows: "1 do not wish to Insult you.” said the German, "but you English are welt Intended fools. We who govern In Ger many are not like you. We govern tho fools; the fools govern you. "Tour principles are sweeping," re- “ plied the Briton. "To come down. Uf practice, what have you to' say dbouf the guilt of beginning the war?” "GulMT* demanded the German; T| was a glory. I claim it for Germany." "That Is hardly your official vleW* "The official view Is for the fools." "But you believe In the Prussian pur pose behind all this,” asked the British officer. "I do, as in nothing else," replied tho German, "The Prussian purpoe# 1* God. There Is no other. Prussia will rend the veil of the temple, but eho wBl 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 tn It* place. (Strength only will survive. Tho life of men is naturally a fight. Tho strongest in force and cunning will live." "It win be going back to the flood,* said the Briton. " Prussia Is the flood.* "And when the old world Is drowned* virtue and all such weaknesses will go with it? " The old virtue was womanish.” said the prisoner. "The new virtue In strength.” "In that blessed future will war reign triumphant?” ‘Xlfe Is war—all of Hfe that la healthy. Peace la only striving for mastery with other weapons. That la the law of nature." "Bo everyone will fight till everyone le dead?" "The weakest will go under. They are the diseased. The stronger will live; and after that the stronger and stronger, till there Is perfect health." “But It may be that Prussia 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 waa nauseating. But the man was genuine In his beliefs, and so obsessed by his elementary motion of virility that it was a waste of tltna 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 a glorious world." 1 PERSHING IN ♦ ENGLISH EYES X A-*~b ♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ W. Beach Thomas, of th« London Dally Mall, In Harper's Magazine. What of General Pershing, who will one day have as great an army as anyt The question Is asked as often in Eu rope as In America. It is not, I think, known in America how deep a first lak pression his character as man and sol dier has mads on the 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 degreo sentimen tal and exists principally among the higher authorities in the (.my and In politics) was due to a masterly onto contributed by General Pershing to the question of unity of Command, a note afterward developed into a mem orandum described by Mr. Lloyd George as among the most able ever penned. When he landed in England in June 1916, one of the British newspapers whose correspondent had been for a long while In hi* presence compared him with Moltke, who was “silent fan 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 a few weeks later—a scene worthy of a great historical memorial—he said t still In the danger zone at sea—he said: “I do not worry, and when the day's work is over I go to sleep.” One of the most vivid English writers said to me after we had watched soma of the first American troops land at a base In France: “I did not see among the tot a single muddied face.” Tli« compliment was real, if negative In form; and the general of th* so troops deserves it in double measure. He U in that respect their epitome. Face, voice, figure, thought—all are clear cut, candid, definite, manly. Necessary Building Approved. From Stone. •'Thegovernment-has at last r lade clesr that it does not desire, ami has nev,.r desired, to put a stop to necessary build ing construction,” said N. F. Ho : ■ -on, president of lloggson Brothers, builders, to a-New York reporter recently. ' 'live Individual or corporation confronted w t*i a building problem need only amtwef one question—Is the building essential?’ "Secretary McAdoo has stated in un equivocal terms In a letter to Ser a* jr Calder, which forms a part of Ihe Senate records, that 'there has never been any suggestion that buildings actually needed for tha health and protection of the civ 1 population, or for the conduct of essential business of the country, should not be constructed during the period of the war.' A great number of contemplated neces sary building operations have been post poned because of an erroneous Interpre tation of the government's wishes. Tncaa should now go ahead. Safest Way. Too. From the Boston Transcript. “Why is It that you never mention your ancestors?” “Because I betleve In letting bygones be bygenee." In order to prevent tho rush ot workers the British board of trade tramways committee suggests that in dustrial concerns should “stagger' thstr times of opening and closing. By taking on and discharging work people at Intervals of to minutes or sd tha ears could be worked more econom ically and there would be a contiuuoaa fetream of passengers instead of iba grssapt nieb at e attain hour a.