THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MARCH 3. 1918.
11 A
PRIEST CAPTURES
ENTIRECOMPAHY
tfcrmans in "Dragon's Cave"
Lay Down Their Arms When
Surprised by French
Stretcher-Bearer.
Omaha Boy at Funston Wins
Honors as Machine Gun Expert
.Correspondence of Th Associate Press.)
French Front, Aug. 1. The story
of the capture of nearly a company of
German troops who were trapped in
the Dragon's Cave. near, the famous
Chemin Des Daraes, when the French
troops stormed and carried the Ger
man position along that historic road
was told to The Associated Press
correspondent by Father Py, a, Fran
ciscan, .-priest, who, with .-a .doctor,
brought the prisoners into the French
near lines-. Father Py was acting as
stretchen-bearer' to one of the mbst
celebrated 'regiments of the French
armyy-thV 152d 'infantry. " .
The Dragon's Cave is near the farm
of Hurtebise, or what was a farm, for
it has now become nothing -but; a heap
of bricRs.'mud and splintered timbers.
He .is a small man, is Father Py,
who wlieii the" war broke out was en
gaged in' missionary work in Brazil.
The call of his country brought him
back to France, and, although he is a
native of the south of France, he vol
unteered for service in the ambuiance
section of the 152d, a regiment. from
the Vosges. He explained to the cor
respondent how on the day pi the
battle he had been detailed to go out
and tend to the wounded, but not to
advance beyond a certain trench,
which was very near the most ad
vanced French line. When he got
there he found no one. The French
soldiers had gone forward with one
bound right in the track of the cur
tain fire, put up by the artillery and
had reached German trenche9 on the
other side of the crest out of sight
with miraculously slight losses. The
priest and a companion looked about
in search of wounded but could find
none.. Then, thinking under the cir
cumstances they were justified in dis
obeying orders they climbed over the
top of the trench and went further
forward.
- Clothing On Fire.
A little farther on they saw a Ger
man running about with his clothes
aflame and uttering cries for. help, at
the same time pointing behind him
to a hole in the ground where two
other men were gesticulating. : The
priest went on thinking to find some
more wounded men perhaps men of
his own regiment, but soon he saw
they were Oermans. ,At once he
raised his crucifix in the air in the be
lief it would protect him, and he con
tinued to advance. The Germans did
not threaten, him as he approached
and soon he saw they were wounded
On arriving at the entrance to what
he had believed was a dugout, he
found the hole went far into the side
of the crest. He entered the Dragon's
Cave still holding his crucifix before
Sergeant Harold T. Thorn, 2315
Ogden avenue, has won honors at
Camp Funston as a machine gun
operator. He has demonstrated such
efficiency in this branch of the serv
ice that he will teach other officers,
and an Omaha man who returned
on Friday from Funston stated that
Thorn will receive a commission.
This Omaha soldier went to the
training camp on September 6, 1917.
He was a railway clerk, was gradu
ated from Omaha High school in
1916 and received his elementary edu
cation at Saratoga school. He is
a son of Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Thorn.
He lived here since he was 3 years
old.
In a series of tests Sergeant Thom
won the distinction of being the best
machine gun man at runston and one
pf xthe best in any of the cantonment
camps.
him and shouting "Catholic 1" Inside
he found the hole spread out in all di- j
rections and that it was full of armed
German soldiers. Four or five of
tlierii were officers and, under the,-im
pression some of them at least would
understand French, he called out in
that language that he was a Catholic
priest and that if there were any Ger
man wounded there he was prepared
to administer the rites of the church.
One of the officers spoke to him,
asking what he was doing . there and
what was going on outside. He.in-
formed fcim thi French had made a
ong advance over their heads and had
crossed the crest and that they had
better lay down their arms, for they
would either be killed or taken pris
oners in any event.
Officers Hold Conference.
Th officers then held a discussion
among themselves, ; at the end of
which one of them with tears stream
ing down his face said he supposed
they must resign themselves to their
fate, but they could only surrender
to an officer.
Father Py scribbled on a piece of
paper a note-to one of the French
captains, which was handed to his
companion who had remained outside
the cave.
While the note was being carried
to the French officer a German doc
tor in the cave showed the priest the
resting pkce of severj.1 German
wounded. Among them was a Jesuit
priest who was serving in the Ger
man army as a soldier, with whom
the French priest spoke in Latin. To
the other wounded Germans Father
Py gave the consolations of the
church.
Afterwards and while awaiting the
return of his messenger with the
French officer, Father Py advised the
German officers to disarm their men
in order to avoid any possibility ot
misunderstanding. He himself super
intended the operation, telling each
soldier to discard every weapon he
possessed, but that they might retain
small pocket knives. t
'A little later, just when the process
of disarmament was1 being completed,
,"v-SV....
c
Dames is now almost entirely in
French hands. T'.ie women for whom
it wag constructed would scarcely
recognize it in its present condition,
for there is not a toot of its length
which is without a shell hole and the
whole of the sheltering trees which
formerly lined its sides have all been
torn away.
To discover why Hurtebise has at
tained such prominence one has to
learn of its high importance as a mili
tary position. Informs the highest
point on the crest along which runs
the Chemin des Dames the Ladies'
Way.
The correspondent was able to note
the peculiar value of this part of the J
crest when he -went out to observe
one of the many fights for its posses
sion which have been waged
Briej City News
a French ofFiqer or rather a doctor
appeared at the mouth of the cave and
the German offict-is surrendered their
swords and revolvers to himv
Then began the exit of the prison-'
ers; through the narrow entrance and
they were all marched through a com
munication trenth- back to French
regimental headquarters, with air es
cort composed only of the priest, his
stretcher-bearing comrade and the
French' doctor. They were almost a
company and their arrival caused con
siderable surprise at headquarters.
The little priest, who always was a
favorite in the regiment, with which
he participates in all the hardships of
fighting and in constant exposure to
wounds and death, is now quite a
hero. He never leaves the men to go
on leave and did not even go to Paris
when a detachment of the regiment
went there to receive the decoration
of the knotted cord in the colors of
the military medal which has been
conferred on it for having been five
times mentioned in general army or
ders for bravery The 152d is the
only regiment in the French army be
sides the Foreign Legion which has
won this honor.
As a result ot its good work at
Hurtebise and on the Californie pla
teau, further east, the Chemin des
Looking for1 work? 'Turn to the
Help Wanted . Columns t now. You
will find hundreds of positions listed
there. . "-
Have Boot Prlat 1 N Beeoon Prase.
Lighting Futures. Diirgcss-Grandcn.
Tom Nolan Returns T. J. Nolan,
Omaha attorney, has returned from
an eastern trip.
Robt. C Drnescdow & Co., stocks
and bonds and local securities, 860
Omaha Nat Ban Bldg. . , .
Students Cive Recital -The stu
dents of James dwa; . C.'.rnal gave
their semi-monthly vo.al recital at
the studio Thursday . enlngr.
.State Bank of Omnlm, corner Six
teenth and Harney streets, pays 4 per
cent on time deposits; S per cent
en savings accounts. All deposits In
this bank are protected by the de
positors' guarantee fund of the state
of Nebraska. Adv. i : .
Enlists in, Engineers Karl B.
Kraus, head of the Karl B. Kraus
company, designing1 : ehglaeera-.'of
Omaha, has been accep... fo.' serv
ice -1th- tha 43d engineers. Ho'goes
to Jeft rson Barracks, Mo. From
there he will proceed to Camp Ameri
can University, Washington, D. C.
Teachers Aid Uncle Sam Mir Ma
bel Qormley of Florence school and
Miss Ida Melchor of Saratoga- school
have gone to Washington, I?. C. to
enter government service.. ?
Special Pre -im Sunday James E.
Carnal, director music., has ar
ranged a special musical program to
be given at the Frist MethoOt church
Sunday. Miss Nora Neal will play the
organ.
Another Candidate Michael . . Sul
livan, Jr.; timekeeper for r street
car company. Sat rday announced his
candidacy for city commissioner. Sul
livan is a son of Detective fiki Sulli
van. He was. born and reared In
Omaha.
Sentence S pended Fred Grleb,
who, with two i.mpanlons, was in
jured In a collisi. with a st et car
Thursd.. night at Twenty-S.st and
Dodge streets, Saturday morning was
To Our Valued
Patrons
We have decided io continue
the early closing hour which start
ed for
Patriotic .Reasons
Store hours, -8:30 A. M. to 6
P. M., Saturday included.
Schmoeller&Mueller
Piano Co.
1311-13 Farnam St.
The Store for Fine Millinery
Fleming-Hats
THE HOUSE OF
1(713' Farnam Street,
Monday
Special Showing of 1918 New and Up-to-Date
" 1 " . . . '
Trimmed Hats
Monday we will show Three Hundred Beautiful New
Models For Street and Dress Wear
Prices $10.95 to $50
sentenced to 10 days in' jail for recki
less-nrivingv.-. VttK- mtU .:zs..1a4fcJ
suspended and he was jjaroW to F,
E. Orange of Thompson -Beld. i comV
pany, by, whom he is employed. . A
Fine fireplace goods at Sunderlandsf-
That extra room will pay your coal
bill. Rent it through a Bee' Want Ad.
A Few of
the Best
for March
Order By Phone.
Tyler 3500 .
. with. the privilege of returning
all but 25 of those you select
"I'm Going W Follow the Boys'
By Elizabeth Spencer.
. DoubledWith .
. . "The Further It Is From
Tipperary". . '
18433... ;.:.7&c ;
Wonderful double record by
T. Untenant Gitz Rice. , the man
? who "made the Tommies laugh; '
"Fun in the Flanders"
l 1-'. 1JMDS. -tKj--. V .
"Lorraine (My Beautifut At-' '
tact-Lorraine )
Bv Reinald Wefrenrath' -Jjt.f
. Coupled With
"Chimes of Normandy" .
Lambert Murphy
45148. . . . .1.UU
"When Stars" are In the Quiet" .
Florence. .HinWe , ,
"The Home Land" '
Lucy Isabelle March...
45146. .... 81.00 ..
Hear this wonderful double
record by Lieutenant John' Phil- i
hn. Sousa -
K "U. S. Field Artillery March"
"Liberty Loan March"
18430 .v;.;;;75' '
New dance numDer oy iner
Waldorf Astoria Dance Orches-
Ira : ' . '.
1 "Mtytime Walts", - .
"American Serene"-)
. . .18432... :..75:"-; v;-;'
Another wonderful record by J
Jaacha. Neif etz .. !. ? . ., .
"Capricieuse" (Op. 17) .
' 64760;.. 81.00
New Records .By,';; ;'. v
De . Cogqrf sa. , i - - Galli Cure.
.. : De Luca :.- ',.
;. GemS from.JacH .0,'ta,ntern a.n.4. sj
. uems Jrom . Leave ir to . J ane
VICTItOLAS, 820 TO 8325
' ; Spld On Easy Terms,:"
Orchard & Wilhelm Co;'
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