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THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE : ' JULY 20, 1919.
7
German Roads, Which Were Last Opposition
ToAdyaneingRainbowbivisionrLookedLik
'Beforedyertiseme
Divisio Consisting of About 23,000 Men Was Moved 25 Kilometers Every Day
.000 Gallons of Gasoline Needed to Travel Into Germany-xTrucks Stuck So
Deep in Mud That 200 Men Were Needed to Move Them Choosing of Rainbow
Division for Army of Occupation Was Reward for Extraordinary Service During
Actual Warfare. v '
By RAYMOND S. TOMPKINS. V
' (Coayrlsht, 1I9. ay RnM S. T.sisklas. All RlfhuT MMnri.) '.
Thirteenth Installment
Next morning, on its way to Birresborn, the Rainbow
division began a-heart-breaking battle -with the roads
of Germany. Lilce the German government and the German
army, they had broken gone to pieces. Collapsing under
Jie steady rain and the. hacking hoofs and wheels of the in
' ;ading American column1, they were trying to halt the Rain
v oow on its march upon the Rhine: It 'was as though they
; relieved the last struggle was up to them. y
a , Hisrhwavs Merely Mud Hbles.- '
t - i : ..
Our soldiers had been smelling' it
n the distance, this battle. In the
aiountain climbs, the hairpin curves,
the" slippery slopes that began on
this side of the border, there were
prophecies of it. But they didn't
expect 'it to be as tough as it war.
Staff officelrs were climbing out of
the leather cushions into the mud
to push. The main road between
Speicher and Birresborn that
stacked up on the maps with the
main roads of France were mud
holes. They looked like the "be
fore" photographs in advertisement.'
of paving material. The edges were
miles of sticky strawberry jam, with
no limit to its depth. The two deep
ruts down th,e middle made by the
wagons of the, retreating German
army were, snares and delusions
Worried truck drivers and harassed
staff chauffeurs .picked these ruts
instinctively, as a locomotive picks
the rails; within 200 yards their only
conceivable salvation had , tripped
.hem. The ruts were too deep;
sometimes the wheels of lighter car
were clear of the bottoms; the heav
ier cars were mortised-and-tenoned
in the roadbed.
And the roads squirmed and
curved and climbed, and at least
one edge of most of them was also
the edge of a precipitous descent
Under the best conditions it was
not the easiest thing in the world
to pick up an American army divi
sion and move it, holding it together
during the moving and keeping it
it for the exercise of its profession
it every moment. Still less easy
was it to move an American army
division every morning 'and set it
down to rest eyery night, repeating
that process day after day andnight
after night and covering 25 kilome
ters orfso every day. ' , , s
The strength of the Rainbow di
vision at that time was, roughly,
23,000 men, about the population of
the city, of Cumberland, Md., Nearly
4JJ00 gallons of gasoline were re
quired to keep its motor transpor
tation moving for one day. Its
truck-carrying capacity' was clost
to 1,000 tons. It had between 275
and 300 giant trucks. Its smaHer
automobiles numbered about 40.
The dope , seemed to be that we
would be on the Rhine by Decem
ber 17. The divisicjn started into
Germany on December 2. Looking
ahead, the Rainbow's quartermaster.
Col. George F. Graham, of Texas,
must have figured that he would
have to use 60,000 gallons of gaso
line on the trip at the lowest esti
mate. To carry 60,000 gallons of
gasoline for 15 days would b as
impracticable and unwise as to car
ry food sufficient for that length
of time and in such enormous quan
tities. Simple principles of con
servation .dictated adherence to a
"base-of-supplies" system.
Rainbow Used to Moving.
So that when the Forty-second
Division pulled, up for the night
through wild tpjests ana-rocKS. and announced to the German vil
Nifcri finnnn Gallon of "Gas." Pi, ...... "W.M1 ,fnn Vir. t-nmr
lagers. "Well stop here; come
across with the keys to the city,
it did not mean that the day's travei
was over. Several hundred tons ol
trucks had still to go back to the
railroads and bring uV the food and
gasoline for another day the food
and gasoline and equipment to re-
Our new catalogue is the cause of all
this excitement. ,
Think of it 100,000 Worth of New
Merchandise, including ' Autos, Auto
Trucks, Auto Supplies, such as Spark
Plugs, Speedometers, No-Glare Lens,
etc., Oils, Greases, Farm Light Plants,
Farm Tractors Plows, etc., all new and
' at greatly reduced prices. v .v
Our catalogue goes to the printer
today. We have' on hand a lot of odds
and ends, accumulated in operating a
large business of this kind, which we
cannot list in the catalogue because of
the small quantity in stock.
- .. v.". . ' . "
V The seven Kopac Brothers operate
-automobile agencies and supply houses
in Norfolk, David City, Schuyler, Colum
bus and also a large jobbing house in
Omaha. Write, telephone, telegraph or
. call for this $100,000 list of auto equip
ment immediately. . Delay will cost you
money. When these materials are gone,
no more will be had at these prices. The
$100,000 list will be mailed to anyone
upon application. N
KOPAC BROS.
...... j - -.'' '
Omaha. Neb. .
Film Star Owns
Liberty
1
place the wear and tear of the day's
grind. -" ''.
Imagine moving Cumberland. Md..
like that every day, or Chilicotne.
Ohio;.or other similar cities! . V
The Rainbow Division veterans
of the whole America expedition
ary force in point of length of. con
tinuous service in the fighting line,
was accustomed enough to moving.
It had done more moving from one
Bart of ,the line to another than
any other American division, with
fight at both ends of the move
more often than not. Moving was
nothing mere detail-in the day's
work. And so far as moving through
uermanjrt was concerned, why. that
would be a vacation.
Their Bright Hopes Dashed.
No shetl holes to get the traffic
across, no ripped-up roads, no night
marching, no fighting. Great! Cer
tainly would like to be going home,
the forty-second Division would,
but this'was the next best thing
seeing Germany, soldiering de luxe.
Why, this !was,a pretty fair reward,
tor a year of the most terrible work
human men can be called upon to
do. To be sufe, some birds were
being sent back home, but they were
replacement divisions mostly. Never
had seen a fight, some of them
hadn't Let"em gol This Germany
trip was the thing! .
that was the spirit back in
Brandeville, France, when the Forty-second
wai waiting for its new
equipment to come up Its, ' new
trucks, more, trucks .than it had
ever had before, and its new clothes
and its new passenger automobiles.
1 his , was also- the spirit through
Belgium and Luxemburg, where the
days dawned clear and warm, and
where the work of "occupation" of
the enemy's country was about as
arduous as strolling through the
old cherry orchard.
Yet going toward Birresborn I
heard an officer say, "When they
pick an army of occupation after
the next war, count me out!"
I also .heard a supply officer say,
I'd rather supply three reeimeuis
in the front line of an attack than
try to keep stuff moving up behind
one regiment that moves like this
along roads like these."
And I heard, variously expressed,
tOe sentiment that fighting a war Is
preferable to occupying the con
quered enemy's country when the
country is the inhuman sort ot
country that this German country
is. i-orever, in the minds of the
Rainbow Division men (1 can't
speak for men in other parts of the
army of occupation). Germany will
stand as the symbol of the utmost
in rotten roads, just as France sym
bolizes the best.' '
Took 200 Men to Move Trucks.
A detail of 200 men moved from
truck Jo truck that day along the
roads between Kyllburg and St.
Thomas, pulling them out of the
mire and the ditches. 'It took the
combined strength of every one of
these 200 men to move these trucks,
for they weYe loaded with tons f
supplies... Sometimes the releasing
of one truck opened the way for a
whole train of others that were not
heavily loaded. Sometimes the
crew of 200 truck-pullers had to tow
eash truck several hundred yards
to the beginning of a stretch of
firm road, then gd back for the
others, one at a time. Elsewhere
on the roads, no gang of men beinR
available, two or three trucks that
had managed to keep out of-trouble
would be pushing and pulling a
loaded truck that had got into
trouble. One would be pushing and
two pulling; the engines wold roar,
the wheels would spin, , aN the
motor-monsters would leap and tug,
panting and" growling like great
trapped animals ,4nd finally, clamp
ing their teeth on something solid
at last, slowly, painfully drag their
loins up, up and out.- - - v
All neht let's am!" ar,A (,. ...
who "fight the trucks" would be off
aown tne road, slipping and sliding
uiuuKcniy, ngnunr torward every
inch of the wayL maybe for 200 yards
without a halt, j ; - ;
Division Chosen as an Honor!,
In the' selection of divisions to
form the armv of nrnmimi. u.
element of reward of extraordinary
services in the war did figure, and
the men knew it. . That is why they
were ?o cheerful as they toiled up
th t'4 hills, snaking trucks
out ofditches, urgiqg tired horses
to another loner null waiirin.
feet that weighed many times more
than ordinary, for the shoes of the
infantry gathered this German mud
and grew m size and tonnage like
ws wun xoiung aown tne mil.
And that, in fact was whv )h
hgronsed -about it when they settled
uown ior an evening or two in a
new German village a little nearer
the River Rhine; forv-no soldier's
vacation is complete unless he can
sit around of an evening with some
vi ms Duaaies ana swap growls and
kicks. : . .. ' ,
They had wide-eyed, open-mouthed
galleries now in the kitchens of
uermany. Birresborn, a. town about
as big as Speicher, was a twcV-niBhf
stand and every man who could
possibly do it hunted himself up a
uwei in some uerman house. By
4 o'clock that afternoon the casual
officers' mess was established in the
village Gasthaus, a phonograph was
going ana a group ot officers had
discovered that there was exactly
one-half ken of beer left in the vil-
lage and had chipped in and bought
it "just so we'd have some on
hand, one of them said. Bv
o'clock theywere sittinsr around a
table beginning the evening's grouse,
with two amazed German women
watching them from behind the bar
and a sepia-toned picture of Wil
helm.II. looking down at them from
the wall. At supper the captain pho
tographer in the signal battalion sur
veyed the officers ot the 42nd divi
sion, sealed up and down two long
tables shoveling in food and dealing
out conversation, while the kaiser,
as he looked in the grand old days
before the ground rose up and hit
Another of the notables who drive
ijaberty cars is George Beban, one
of the foremost character actors in
the. film world.
.With his little son, George jr., Mr.
Beban played at recent engagemVnt
in Detroit, supporting-his latest film
success, "Hearts of Men,1' produced
byhis own company. s
An enterprising press agent caught
this picture just as Mr. Beban drove
up. before the theater. Hi s-'son, al
ready costumed, was out on the
running-board quicker than a wink
to observe the awtics of the camera
man whowas trying to dodge
Woodward avertue traffic and;v still
get a good picture before Mrv Beban
left his car.,
Thanks to the little fellow, the
presi agent succeeded.
him, haughtily ' contemplated the
scene, and he opined, this captain
photographer did, that this certainly
would make a fine flashlights for the
Rainbow division's pictorial record;'
Plates all Were Ruined
But he never took ft! He told me
insteJd how everynegative of the
division's march throueh France and
Belgium had been ruined in Luxem-1
Dourg when a bunch of little Luxem
bourg children, , wondering whether
the nice leather case wasn't full of
that precious thing, chocolate, had
opened it, pulled out the plates and
exposed every one to the light.
But coming into Germany he had
got some good stuff. Spinning along
in his frord truck, "he sat on the front
seat and the sergeant hung his legs
over the tailgate, and between them
both they licked the German scen
ery-platter clean. One morning they
caught a-group of Germans working
around two dead horses. They had
just skinned the horses and the pho
tographer had "shot the whole
scene one German rolling up th
skins and putting them in a wheel
barrow; two otherscuttinsr steaks
and piling them into another wheel
barrow, and the restjooking on hun
grily. Leather would come from the
skins Fprobably, and the steaks would
trot their last heat from the frying
pan to several German dining room
tables.
About Major's Nice Boots.
Knowing how hard uo Germany
was for leather everybody was sur
prised to hear in Birresborn the
story about Major Bertram's boots.
Major Bertram was intelligence of
ficer for the 42nd. but as the work of
an intelligence officer in an army of
occupation consists principally of re
peating every day "There are no new
identifications . in the army'' and
"There are no new enemy move
ments -to report," "Major Bertram
had been handling Major Bob Gill's
job while the lattey was in the hos
pital. Major (jill s job was the job
of moving the division some job.
I started out with Major Bertrant
for Birresborn. Just before we left
Speicher the major remarked: "Let's
run back to Welchbilig first. My
orderly left my best Cordovan boots
back there. I ve been saving them
for the big entry into Coblenz."
We remarked that it was too bad
the orderly had forgotten about
them and certainly hooed he'd find
them, but secretly we didn't think he
would, and he probably didn't think
so either. A leather-hungry German
had probably- pounced upon them
and by some miraculous application
of kultur had turned them into 200
pairs of shoes .irth 250 marks a
pair. .
Also there was fresh in my mind
the strange little story I had heard
that morning from a staff captain's
orderly. It didn't tend to make me
feel hopeful for the major s boots.
I will, tell it presently.
But Major Bertram went straight
to his Welschbillig billet, was in
the house about three minutes and
came out grinning all over and tri
umphantly carrying ,the boots.
; "The old fellow ad locked them
in his safe so that nobody would
steal them," he laughed. "Pretty
lucky, eh?" '
In the morning a soldier sat on the
edge of his cot to dress and reached
for his socks, which he had laid on
the table that stood against the wall.
Nibht before, the light of the single
candle had been dim and flickering
and he hadn't noticed the table
much. He noticed it now, though,
It was full of little plaster images
of saints and ti i was a vase of
artificial roses on it and a" vase of
some dried grasses and a picture of
a little girl. . r
By the picture lay something
that made the orderly start and rub
his eyes. It was a "springling" a
St. Nicholas day cake a, Christmas
present. The old man had put it
there for him. Well, that was pretty
white for an old boche.
Violated Family Altar.
The cake - was shaped on the
rough, general lines of a rooster.
The orderly bit a piece out of it.
It was pretty cood. He decided to
keep the rest and take it home. That
1 j t. j . . ,
wouiu oe a great souvenir to raice
home a real German St. Nicholas
cake left by old Santa Claus him
self in his own country, which had
just been licked by the Rainbow
division, et al. So he put' it in his
pocket, dressed hurriedly, dashed
downstairs to breakfast in the old
German's kitchen, where he and
some other orderlies had arranged
for mess in-Welschpillig. and went
about the work of getting himself
and his captain ready to move on to
Speicher.
It was about 9 o clock in the
morning and he was half way there,
riding on a baggage truck, when a
startling thought occurred to him.
He had felt the cake in his pocket
and his mind had gone back ewer
the train of events that led to the
origin of it. He recalled the little
table, and everythiing about it stood
out sharply in his memory. In
memory it had a strange look that
he hadn't noticed in the hurry of the
morning. There was something
sacred about it. Those plaster,
images one of them was of the
Saviour, he remembered now, and
there had been a crucifix, too, and
they had all been arranged in some
order, i
And that picture; the. cake had
been lying right in front of it. It
was a picture of a little girl dressed
all in white, with a wreath around
her hair. Her first communion
dress, probably. She was probably
the old man's little girl. "
Just there, apparently, this star
tling thought hit him between the
eyes, why, that table was a family
altar, of course. That cake hadn't
been put there for him, the old min
hadn't even known he was going to
stay in the room.- He had put the
cake there for his little girl.' The
Ijttle girl had died.' They probably
put that cake there every year on
St. Nicholas' eve.
Carries "Springling" Back.
Now, this Kansas boy was like
every other soldier in the. American
armylof occupation. He had been
ill Vhe hardest fights in the war. He
hadn't been an orderly very long,
he had been a fighting, hard-boiled,
rough-neck doughboy, who knew
the German as an enemy, for he
had seen the German trying to kill
him arid actually killing some of
his buddies. Like every - other
American soldier, he had ap
proached the German bordefwith
some hauteur and contempt, ready
at the flicker of an eyelash to slug
to his knees the first German who
tried to get gay. And, like every
other American, he had been patting
the dirty little German kids' heads
and smiling at the old women, and
not being too cojdly distant toward
the village girls, and being more
paternal thin contemptuous toward
the men, ever since he had gotten
into Germany. '
So he didn't let this , new St.
Nicholas Day development worry
him long, but hopped off the truck,
caught one going back to Welsch
billig, sneaked into the old house
and up the stairs,, and " with his
overseas cap in his hand, placed the
"springling" back on the table in
front of the picture of the, little girl
who' was' undoubtedjy dead the
"spmgling,, with the piece he had
bitten out of it Then he went out
tdi catch another truck for Speicher,
feeling deeply at peace with every
thing and everybody. The poor old
man's Christmas offering to his lit
tle daughter would not . go astray
now. These Germans might be
enemies, but the war was over now,
and the Germans would listen to
American doctrine more "earnestly
if they had a high opinion of the
honesty of American soldiers. Well,
he'd done his part j
" Old Man Stole His Bacon.
He happened to 'catch the truck
on which the boy, who fiad cooked
for their mess down in the German
kitchen, was going to Speicher. It.
was a nice little mess a congenial
bunch of enlisted menvwith one of
them acting as cook and drawing all
the rations, and with nobody butting
in.
."What d'ye think?" said the cook,
taking, one of the orderly's cigar
ettes. "Y'know that old rat-eyed
bird back there where we ate? Well,
v'know we had thr whnl. -..,.
of bacon last night. This old bir(T
sroie tne otner two. bure as you re
born! Got in the truck after they
loaded everything in, and when -i
looked around just a few minutes
ago, there was only one left. An
the old woman was cookin' bacon on
the stove this mornin', too. For
2, cents I'd go back there and'
crown him with a .45, but what's the
use? "You couldn't prove it on him.
but he stole it, all right."
The Kansas boy was silent for a'
long while, and it wasn't until the
cook had forgotten all about it that
he said:
"Why didn't you' tell me that
sooner, cookie? I'd like to go back
an' crown him, myself."
"'S too late now." said the cook.
"Yes," said the Kansas boy, '"s
too laft."
(The last installment of the His
tory of the Rainbow Division will
be published in The Bee next Sun
day.) Bellhops Mourn Demise
t ii r l
or jonn Darieycom;
Tips Are Cut in Half
New York, July , 19.-rjie grand
old days when visitors to New York
came to see the white lights and
left behind them a trail of $1 to $10
tips to all who served them are no
more. --Those days, it is now agreed
among hotel and cafe men, went
out with the demise of J. Barley
corn. ' .
"From now on the best we can
figure on is a dime, a quarter and
occasionally a half dollar," said one
of the leading bellhops in New
York, who, incidentally, has his own
country place out on Long Island,
with a garage, touring car and oth
er 20th century "necessities." "The
average bell boy in one of the big
hotels has in the past knocked oft
from $25 to $50 a day on good days,
but we'll be lucky now if we make
$10 or $15. On June 30 I collected
$42 in tips; on July 1 my day shrunk
to ?15, and l m afraid that it is go
ing to be considered a good day in
the future."
HERE'S YOUR CHANCE
To Get a Genuine Bargain in a Practically,
NEW AUTOMOBILE .
We have 4,HarToun Touring cars that have!
been-ttsed for demonstrating purposes. These
cars are good as new and will be sold at a big
reduction from list price. -Loolrthese cars over
at Lininger Implement ' Co., or Industrial.
Garage, 20th and Harney Sts. "
(
,. " - . , , .:,, r ; -Mr.
Car Owner: Ton neef tires and w take pleaanrv to an
nounce tha greatest sale ever known In tire history.
; Just received a $50,00 stock of slightly nsed and deiaon
; (trating tires. These tires have been run' but a few mile
and are as good as new. This stock consists of all, standsrd
make tires,- such as Goodyear, Fisk, Perfection, 'Tires tone.
Miller and Kelly-Springfield. These tires are capable of giv
ing from 8,000 to S.000 miles of serviee, and we will dispose
of them at the following remarkably low prices. Order now
. Don't delay. First come, first served.
30x3 . . .
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82x3
31x4...
32x4...
33x4 . . .
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36x4..... 4.50..... 18.25
86x4Vs 450 14.50
85x5 4.76 15.00
36x5 4.80 15.00
37x5 6.00..;.. 16.00
U.S. .Wants to Help
Cripple Soldiers to
, Vocational Training
'New York. July 19. The fact that
thousands of soldiers, rippled by
the war, do not fully understand
their rights, particularly that involv
ing re-education at government ex
pense in callings suitable to their
disability, has induced. Col. Arthur
Woods, assistant to the secretary of
war, to describe some of the things
the government is doing to enable
men disabled in the line of duty to
re-establish themselves in civil, lite.
All disabled service men are en
titled to assistance, no matter where
they were injured, and a postcard
will bring the needed information.
"In some large cities crippled men
in uniform are' seen on the streets
'panhandling' kindly ,, disposed per
sons," said Colonel Woods. "In
nearly every, case these men are
plain, ordinary fakers in .the, guise
of soldiers, who have taken . tnta
method of enlisting unmerited ym
pa thy.."
, "No man disabled in the service
need engage in any sort of holdup.
gan)e on the streets.; Any one ee
ing a man in uniform so engaged
should inform; him of provision
made for him by the government.
If a man, after being so informed,
continues his garde a favor will be
done the great body of self-respecting
disabled men who are trying to
do something for themselves if the
case is reported to the nearest
branch office of the board for vo
cational education."
Bulb Eeplacer. ,
It is possible to make a very satis
factory electric light bulb replacer
by fastening four stiff wires on the
end of a broom handle in such a way
that they, form a sort of hand, which
slips over the bulb, without injuring
it. There should be enough spring
in the wires to enable the operator
to turn the bulb in either direction
in the socket. '
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most completely equip
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Electric lighting and
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The list of other items,
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yi tons capacity completely equipped chassis, $1885
2 tons capacity completely equipped chassis, $2150
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GRANT MOTOR CAR CORPORATION
CLEVELAND
I 1 I
In ordering state whether S. S. CI. or N. S. Is desired. Send
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examination. . , V - - '
.6 Special discount when full amount accompanies order.
HAIL ORDER SERVICE You are .as near to us as your
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PUBLIC TIRE CORPORATION, Dept. 20, 3S13 MfcMiaa
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cars will at once appreciate.
Reserve your judgment until you have seen
the new "80 Serieb" of the Stephens Salient Six,
Inspection and demonstration are invited -
MID-CITY MOTOR & SUPPLY CO.
' . DISTRIBUTORS .
2216-18 Farnam Street. ' Phone TyUr 2462.
iMOimsi""" . tm
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