Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, October 15, 1918, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    1SVRIEF
k RIGHT
JRfeEZY
BITS OF NEWS
France Out with Finns.
Paris. Oct. 14. France r has
broken off the semi-official diplo
matic relations which have existed
with Finland, it is officially an
nounced. This action was taken be
cause the Finnish diet called a Ger
man prince to the throne. French
interests in Finland will be in
charge of a consular agent at Hel
singfors. ' Chicago Half Way on Loan.
Chicago, Oct. 14. Chicago faced
the final week of the Fourth Liberty
loan camoaign today with little
more than half of "her $252,300,000
quota subscribed. So far the total
subscriptions for the city have
amounted to $132,000,000 distributed
among approximately 470,000 sub
scribers. King Receives Editors.
London, Oct. 14. King George,
Queen Mary and Queen Mother
Alexandra yesterJay received a
party of 25 American editors at
Sandringham, tne estate of the royal
family in Norfolk.
Good Joke on Allies.
Berlin, Oct 14. (via London)
North of Laon and on the Riuer
Aisne the German forces have with
drawn to new positions, says the
official statement, issued today by
the German army headquarters
staff.
Hundred Die at Mayaguez.
San Juan, Porto Rico, Oct. 14.
With all the bodies not yet re
covered, it is probable that 100 or
more persons lost their lives at
Mayaguez, a seaport on the western
coast of Porto Rico, in last Friday's
earthquake. That city is in terror
"as the result of a continuance of
minor quakes. Many of the inhabi
tants are homeless. '
THE NEWSPAPER YOU ALWAYS LOOK TO FOR LATEST AND MOST RELIABLE WAR NEWS
The Omaha Daily Bee
V
VOL. 48 NO. 102.
Cattrat M MMlt-elM mtttr May IV ISM t
OMAHA, TIJESDAY, , OQTOBER
1918.
By Vail (I yaar). Dally. KM. S4y. IIS.
Oally Sua., St; wttlaa Mb. ! xtr,
CENTS.
nn rri t n vi i j r" nr n nnr- nr n
a r i i n it r a in r n n ,
www Ul
UUMUUvuu uui i u i iui j vy u zs uu
: .. ,
THE WEATHER:
Nebraki Generally fair Tuas
day and Wednesdays cooler Tuoa
4y. Hourly Temperature.'
6 . m.
a. m.
7 ft. m.
R a. m.
9 ft. m.
10 m.
It ft. m.
IS m. .
.54
.S3
.83
53
.51
.. .SI
s
70
1 P. in.
1 p. m.
t p. m.
4 p. m.
5 p. m.
P. ro,
1 p. m.
8 p. in.
7S
....II
....77
....Tl
GREAT BATTLE ON
LYS RIVER TO DRIVE
HUNSFROMBELGWM
Peace Overtures Not Heeded by Fighters; New Hostil
ities on Major Scale Being Carried Out by
Allies; Americans Face Greatest Re
sistance of All on Meuse.
Huns Enjoy "Prospects."
Geneva, Oct. 14. Travelers from
Berlin arriving at Basel say the Ger
man people are ortrjoyed at the
prospects of peace. It is asserted
that whilePresident Wilson and
Chancellor Maximilian are being
eutogized by the people the name of
Emperor William 1s not mentioned.
. Cheers From 40,000.
Chicago, Oct. 14. Forty thousand
tailors at the Great Lakes naval
training station received news of
President Wilson's reply to Ger
'mafly tonight with cheers. At every
regimental headquarters there was
-wild rejoicing .at the prospect that
they would see service "over there"
before the end of the war.
"Some Understanding."
-'IVckford, HI., Oct. 14. When he
comptained that a specially made
size No. 16 shoe pinched his feet,
Private J. A. Alexander, hailing from
with a pair, six inches wide, size No.
17, by Sergeant James Goldman at
Camp Grant. -
- VilW VtW v a T-mmj
v"Pershmg Day" to
' ; Boost Liberty Loan
New Yorlc, Oct 14. A nation
wide : movement to celebrate next
Saturday, the last day of the fourth
Liberty loan campaign as "Persh
ing day" was advocated here to
night by the National Council of
American Patriots in telegrams to
Presidtnt Wilson and the governors
of all the states.
"The telegrams, signed by more
than a score of senators, representa
tives, governors and army and navy
officials, ask that "Pershing day" be
established by executive proclama
tion, predicting that such a finale of
the campaign would result in a tidal
wave of patriotism and enthusiasm
which will roll from ocean to ocean,
striking fresh terror to the heart of
the situation.
It is urged that churches, schools
arid all other organizations be en
listed in the celebration "to the end
that the concluding day of the cam
paign may be one of militant
America, fully aroused and realiz
ing its patriotic obligations to over
subscribe the loan."
General'Pershing was cabled news
'of the plan and asked to send a mes
sage from the battle front to be
communicated to the nation on that
day.
Shots From Airplane
" Spread Death Among
Long Island Soldiers
ttew York. Oct 14. Bullets
fmm a machine eun presumed to
tv been inadvertently fired from
an army airplane in flight, killed one
soldier and wounded three others as
the men were drilling in formation
tnriav at Camo Mills. L. I.
WILLIAM HALL, private, Mc
Leansboro, died from a wound
in the head.
Samuel M. Lowryy lieutenant,
Sumit, Pa., was shot in the arm.
Williim H. Bivens, private, Avon,
111., was shot in the back.
Lewis J. Simmons, private, Dan
ville. 111., was wounded by a bullet.
ine army ana aviation auinon
ties had not succeeded late today in
identifying .the airplane. Observers
reported seeing' an airplane in the
f neighborhood flying very high and
which had come from the ocean
-side of the island. It was the the
ory of the aviation officers that the
. airplane while engaged in target
practice, suddenly dipped, thus un-
, intentionally directing a stream of
: ballets earthward.
A military board of inquiry was
appointed to investigate the shoot
in r.
t Many Dw in Denver. "
Denver. Col.; Oct 14. Twenty
seven deaths from influenza in Den
ver,, ocenring during the last 48
hours and reported to health au
thorities, today, brought the tota!
for the epidemic here to 93. One
tinnrirrit and Jiin'v.fnnr new rate
were reported today, ; J
BULLETIN.
With the American Army Northwest of Verdun, Oct.
14. The American troops, west ofjhe Meuse are now be
yond Cunel and Romagne. Their patrols are in the Bois De
Bahthviile. Farther west the American line has reached
St. Georges and Landres-Et-St. George.
BULLETIN.
Paris, Oct. 14. French troops have captured the town
of Roulers in Belgian Flanders and also 2,500 prisoners, ac
cording to the official announcement tonight.
In conjunction with Italian troops the French captured
and passed beyond Sissonne and south o( Serre occupied the
village of Monceau-Les-Leups. '
By The Associated Press.
Peace talk pervades the air, but it is falling on deaf ears
as far as the armies in the field are concerned. Instead of a
relaxation in the intensity of the fighting, new hostilities on
what seemin&ly is a major scale are being carried out by the
British, French and Belgians in Belgian Flanders.
Having cleared out the old Laon salient and made ad
vances northward in Champagne which are menacing the re
tirement of the Germans eastward toward the Yalenciennes-Mezieres-Metz
line, General Foch has ordered a drive in the
Lys river region of Flanders toward Ghent, which threatens
to break entirely the.grip of the Germans in Belgium all the
way from the frontier to the coast and likewise to eliminate
the big bulge in the line with Lille as its apex.
While the latest official communication from Field Mar
thai Haig announces that only local actions have taken place
in the new theater and that prisoners have been taken in the
fighting, dispatches from headquarters assert that Rouelers
has been captured and that Courtrai, the junction point on
the railway leading to Ghent, has been outflanked.
Talr. ftftrt Rrman
The French troops alone are said
o have taken 3,000 prisoners, while
the Belgians have captured several
complete batteries and guns and nu
merous prisoners. Just how wide
the new front of attack is has not
become apparent. t is stated that
the new advance has brought the
allied troops within range of the
enemy coast defenses, but that the
guns from them have offered no op-"'
position.
Meantime, in the south the Ger
mans are offering stiff opposition to
the British southwest of Valencien
nes and on the Solesmes sector in
an endeavor to prevent the closing
in of the Lille sack and the capture
of this important town, and also
Valenciennes, which are in precari
ous positions if a pioneer movement
gets well under way.
French Gaining.
At last reports the Germans were
still falling back irom the region of
Laon, that town and the entire St
Gobain massif being in the hands of
the French. In, Champagne the
French have been enabled to make
further crossings of the Aisne and
to materially better their front east
ward, notwithstanding the stoic de
fense of the enemy, who realizes it
is of the greatest importance to
hold back the French and Ameri
cans driving northward, as a breach
in the southern line and a swift ad
vance would x imperil the entire
German force inside the sack from
the Oise river west of Flavigny to
Sissonne, east of Laon.
Gas Shells For Americans.
Probably the greatest resistance
of all is faced by the Americans on
both sides of the Meuse river.
Vicious counter-attacks are being de
livered against the men from the
United States, the fierceness of the
assaults indicating that fresh troops
have been brought into the fray to
halt their do-or-die efforts to pro
ceed up the river valley and thereby
compel the Germans in case of re
treat to wend their way obliquely
northeastward, instead of eastward,
toward the German border. Concen
trations of artillery are being used
against the American positions at
various places. Gas shells are 'not
being spared by the nemy in his
efforts to holdthe (Americans in
check.
All the counter-attacks of the Ger
mains thus far have beenwithstood
by General Liggett's men, and the
American artillery is answering the
German guns shot for shot.
Omaha Sailor to Wed.
Chicago, Oct. 14. (Special Tele
gram.) Jesse D. Robinson, Omaha,
in service at the Great Lakes, 111.,
naval training station, was licensed
today to wed Miss Rose Dow,; Chi
cago. .
Young Omaha Newspaper
Man Dead at Fort Omaha
( $r
Robert D. R. Weigel, 24 years old.
of the Forty-seventh balloon di
vision at Fort Omaha, died of pneu
monia .day night at 11:10
o'clock at the Fort Omaha hospital
He was a well known newspaper
man, having been in the employ of
the Associated 'Press, Omaha Bee
and World-Herald in, Omaha for 10
years.
He became ill October 5 with in
fluenza which, after a few days, de
veloped intd double pneumonia.
Young Weigel was interested in
amateur sports , and for several
years was a star player on the First
Christian church basket ball team
- His ability, optimism and. cheer
ful disposition won him a host of
friends. He was anxious to serve
in the army and attended the first
officers' training school , at Fort
Snelling. '
He is survived by his wife, who
resides at 2320 Howard street; his
mother and father, Mr. and -Mrs.
L. J. Weigel, 2420 Cass street, and
four brothers, Carl and Jack, both of
whom are with the American expe
ditionary forces in France; Earl, em
ployed by the United Press in Des
Jkfoines, aad Raymond, oi Onaaha, '
Germany's Prisoners
Forced Into Slavery!
Buy Another Bond
With the French Army in the
Laon Area, Oct. 14. General
Mangin, in driving the Germans
out of Laon, freed the thousand
inhabitants that remained there
from actual slavery. They were
not only despoiled of their house
hold goods, their money and other
possessions, but they were robbed
of their time.
The officers commanding in the
town pretended that the right of
"requisition" extended to labor,
and accordingly obliged men,
women and children of all classes
to labor for the German army in
various ways. The requisitioned
labor was paid for as were re
quisitioned products in orders
uporl the mayor. The town, con
sequently, paid for the labor done
by its citizens for the occupying
forces.
Men and girls were forced to
serve as beaters for German offi
cers on hunting expeditions. The '
girls were also obliged to go to
the fields and gather nettles, from
which the Germans made a fabric
that served as a substitute for bur
lap in making sand sacks for their
trench fortifications.
FOREST FIRES OF
ESOTATME
BIG DEATH TOLL
Believed 1, C00 Have Perished
in Great Conflagration;
Thousands Made Home
less; Relief Active.
Duiuth, Oct. 14. Information
reaching here tonight from fire
swept northeastern Minnesota
tended to confirm reports that
nearly 1,000 persons lost their lives
in the forest fires of Saturday and
Sunday in this section. At Moose
Lake jnd vicinity alone, the death
list is expected to reach 500.
Reports from other districts are
expected to swell the totals.
There is little danger of the flames
breaking out afresh if weather con
ditions hold. A slight wind is blow
ing off Lake Superior and whatever
fires are revived will be blown back
over burned sections.
In the vicinity of Cass Lake, the
western edge of the fire zone, the
wind tonight revived and the fires
started again. However, the town
was believe not to be in any im
mediate danger.
Morgues FulL
Officials said at least 24 hours
more will be required before an ac
curate figure can be placed on the
loss of life and property. Every
hour brings additional bodies to the
morgues at Moose Lake. Cloquet,
Aitkin and Dufuth. Relief workers
are just beginning to learn the full
extent of the damage. Latest advices
tell of the destruction of 21 towns
and devastation of nearly 100 square
miles of timber and farm land.
Duluth's overcrowded morgues
today presented a pitiful scene of
activity. During the day hundreds
of persons passed from one under
taking establishment to another in
search of some missing relative or
friend. In the majority of cases
identification was accomplished.
Between Lawler and Moose Lake,
where the fire raged fiercest
through the Jackpine country, heaps
of bodies are being found. Thirty
bodies were found in one root cel
lar. Rescuers Busy.
In the direction of Cloquet, 18
bodies had been found tonight and
rescuers believe more than 100
others still are in the neighborhood.
Near Carlton 18 were recovered to
day from the ruins of a school
house.
The monetary loss at Cloquet, ac
cording to the estimate of business
men of that city was $12,000,000. No
estimate can be made of the loss in
other sections.
General Rhinow said tonight res
cue work is progressing as rapidly
as possible and that all injured will
be cared for before tomorrow morn
ing. Governor Burnquest and Gen
eral Rhinow arrived here tonight
and immediately went into confer
ence with officers of the local Red
Cross and public safety commis
sion. Following the conference com
mittees were appointed to attend to
refugee relief and to consider means
of raising money for rehabilitation
of farms and rebuilding of towns.
Kaiser Does Not Intend
To Give Up His Crown
Berne, Switzerland, Oct. 14. The
Wolff news agency of Berlin today
issued an official denial of the report
which- had become current in Ger
many that Emperor William intend-'
cd acabdicate f - .
ATROCITIES MUST GEASE ' '
-BEFORE CHANCE OF TERMS; '
SAFEGUARD TO ARMISTICE
Text of President Wilson's
Reply to German Peace lote
if.
Washington, Oct. 14. The text of the president's answer
to the German peace note reply follows:
"Sir: In reply to the communication of the Ger
man government dated the 12th instant which you
handed me today, I have the honor to request you to
transmit the following answer:
"The unqualified acceptance by the present Ger
man government and by a large majority of the Reich
stag of the peace terms laid down by the president of
the United States of America in his address to the con
gress of the United States on the 8th of January, 1918,
and in his subsequent' addresses, justifies the president
in making a frank and direct statement of his decision
with regard to the communications of the German gov
ernment of the 8th and 12th of October, 1918. ,
"It must be clearly understood that the process
of evacuation and the conditions of an armistice are
' matters which must be left to the judgment and ad
vice of the military advisers of the government of the
United States and the allied governments, and the
president .feels it his duty to say that no arrangement
can be accepted by the government of the United
States which does not provide absolutely satisfactory
' safeguards and guarantees of the maintenance of the
present military supremacy of the armies of the
United States and the allies in the field.
"He feels'confident that he can safely assume that
this will also be the judgment and decision of the allied
governments.
"The president feels that it is also his duty to add
that neither the government of the United States nor, he
ii quite sure, the governments with which the govern
ment of the United States is associated as a belligerent
will consent to consider an armistice' so long as the
armed forces of Germany continue the illegal and in
humane practices which they still persist in. '
"At the very time that the German government ap
proaches the government of the United States with pro
posals of peace its submarines are engaged in sinking '
passenger ships at sea and not the ships alone, but the
very boats in which their passengers and crews seek to
make their way to safety; and in their present enforced
withdrawal from Flanders and France"the German arm
Jes are pursuing a course of wanton destruction which
has always been regarded as in direct violation of the
rules and practices of civilized warfare. Cities and vil
lages, if not destroyed, are being stripped of all they
contain not only, but often of their very inhabitants.
The nations associated against Germany cannot be ex
pected to agree to a cessation of arms while acts of in
humanity, spoliation and desolation a're being continued
which they justly look upon with horror and with burn
ing hearts. . .
"It is necessary, also, in order that there may be no
possibility of misunderstanding that the president should
very solemnly call attention of the government of Ger
many to the language and plain intent of one of the
terms of peace which the German government has now
accepted. It is contained in the address of Jhe president
delivered at Mount Vernon on the Fourth of July, last
"It is as follows: 'The destruction of every arbi
trary power anywhere that can separately, secretly and
of its single choice disturb the peace of the world; or, if
it can not be presently destroyed at least its reduction to
virtual impotency.' "
"The power which has hitherto controlled the Ger
man nation is of the sort here described. t is within the
choice of the German nation to alter it. The president's -words
just quoted naturally constitute a condition pre
cedent to peace, if peace is to come by the action of the
German people themselves. The president feels bound
to say that the whole process of peace will, in his judg
ment, depend upon the def initeness and the satisfactory
character of the guarantees which can be given in this
fundamental matter. It is indispensable that the gov
ernments associated against Germany should know be
yond a peradventure with whom they are dealing.
"The president will make d separate reply to the
royal and imperial government of Austria-Hungary.
"Accept sir, the renewed assurances of my high
consideration. '
' "ROBERT fSING
Doom of Kaiserism Held Es
sential by United States
Before End of Hostili
"t ties; Senate Applauds
Washington, Oct. 14. President Wilson has answered!
Germany's peace proposal with a decision which not only !
fulfills the expectations of supporters of diplomacy, but also
dispels the fears of those who predicted he would substitute
victories at arms with defeats at diplomacy.
No peace' with kaiserism, autocracy must go; no armis
tice can even be thought of while Germany continues her
atrocities on land and sea; one cannot be considered unless!
it fully is dictated by the allied commanders in the field in
such terms as absolutely provide safeguards and guarantees
that Germany's part will not be a scrap of paper this in a
few words is the president's answer.
If it does not bring a capitulation which may be more;
than etn unconditional surrender, allied diplomats and Amer
ican officials believe it may cause a revolution in Germany. , ,
V Bevond Question it sneaks for the
entente as well as the United States. .
v
HON CASUALTIES
HEAVYASTHEY
ARE DRIVEN BACK
Allied Troops Also Take Thou
sands of Prisoners and
Many Guns; Britons
Nearing Courtrai.
By Associated Press.
With the British Army in France,
Oct. 14. The British in their at
tack in. Flanders today approached
Courtrai. Counter attacks by picked
Bavarians against the French broke
down under a hot fire.
Thousands of prisoners have been
taken and enormous casualties again
have been .inflicted on the enemy.
The latest reports indicate that the
British broke through at ne place
and are advancing toward the Lys.
The Belgians havesignalled from
the east and southeast of Roulers
that they have captured Hage
brook, Gitsberg and Beverin and
that 3,000 prisoners thus far have
been counted.
The British have taken Denap,
Boschmolen, Gulleghem, Wulvelg
hem and Wervicq and are a thou
sand yards northwest of Menin.
They had captured by early after
noon 1,600 prisoners and had count
ed 11 field guns.
Explosions Wreck
Canadian Plant;
One Body Recovered
i v, -
Trenton, Ont., Oct. I4.r-A united
plant of the T. N. T. and gun cot
ton works of the British Explosives,
Ltd., here was virtually destroyed
tonight by a series of 12 explosions
followed by a fire. At midnight the
fire was reported under control.
Early reports placed the number
of deaths at nearly 100, but so far
only one body has been recovered
ana it is not believed" the casualties
are high.
The force of the explosion shat
tered every window in town and put
telegraph wires out of commission.
Big Military Map at The Bee
Building Draws Huge Crowds
Crowds blocked the street in
front of the Bee building Monday
afternoon watching with interest
the daily advance of the allied
armies against the hordes of Hun
land, as depicted with (lags and col
ored pins on a large map of the
war zone which has been hung on
the Farnam street side of the
building. The map is considered the
best in Omaha showing in detail
and on a large scale the battle fronf
of the world war.
All important points of military
operation are clearly shown. The
map is so hung that it can be
easily seen and studied. The lo
cation of the various armies of the
allies are shown by the flags of
the countries engaged in the con
flict, . -c
Men to Continue Overseas,
The dispatch of the president's - -
reply was followed by the issue of if
the following formal statement by ; l
Secretary Tumulty: -
"The government will continue to i
send over 250,000 men with their'' "
suonlies everv month and there will :i
be no relaxation of any kind."
Quite outside of the formal -phrases
of a diplomatic document that was
President Wilson' word to the world
that he had no thought of stop
ping the fighting at this stage. The
senate chamber rang with applause
of senators as the president's answer
was read a few minutes after it had
been announced at the State depart
ment. Senator Lodce. the nrs!dnt'i
chief critic in his course until to- v I
day, issued a statement, expressing h
his gratification at the president's " r
decision. Opinion in the capital and
throughout official Washington was
unanimous in approval.
Delivered to Swiss Charge.
The official text, which will con
vey the president's decision to the
German government and more im
portant to the German people, was
delivered today by Secretary Lans
ing to the charge of the Swiss lega
tion, who has been acting as the in
termediary. It was given out pub
licly by Mr. Lansing at the State
department at 6 o'clock this eve
ning. One outstanding point which does
not appear in the president's note
a point on which the world has been
asking questions, can be answered
tonight. When the president de
clared that the wrong done . to
France when Germany took Alsace
Lorraine should be righted, he
meant that Alsace-Lorraine should
be returned to France.
rK What Some Critics Say.
Those who contend the president's
decision arranges the situation for
something more than an uncondi
tional surrender base It on the argu
ment that he has now passed the
stage where he might have accepted
a surrender of the German military
and naval forces and left the Hohen
zollern autocracy on its throne.
Mr. Wilson, according to this view
has now finally informed the Ger
man people that if they want peace
they can only attain it by getting
rid of the kaiser and his system. An
armistice, it is true, might come
first and the details of the downfall
of the German autocratic govern
ment might be arranged later.
x What Armistice Means.
But) this is what an armistice
would entail:
First: A stop to the atrocities on
land and sea and the systematic de
struction and devastation in the
wake of the retreating German
armies.
Second: The disarmament of all
the German forces and the deposit
of their arms and munitious at
points to be chosen by the allied
military commanders.
Third: The ocenpatioo ' by allied
forces of certain German cities or
strongholdsof strategic importance.
Probablv also the oecunatirm nf all
the submarine bases, a turning ovei
of the German fleet rv'-t
Disposing of Kaiserism. In .
In short, it would entail a
from Germany of everythfi
(Continued aa Pua Twa CalamivafeJt
nuMdv it vi
-- in r i- il