14 GERMANS STILL GOOD FIGHTERS, LIEUT. WRITES Officer in Rainbow Division Declares Bodies Are Not Yet Whipped Lieutenant Victor H. Harding, formerly of Company E, 26th In fantry, and now in the Rainbow Di vision (the 42d), "Somewhere in France," writes an interesting letter to Mrs. K. Fred Rowe, 80G North Seventeenth street, about conditions in the front line trenches. Lieutenant Harding's company was one of the iirst to engage the Germans, and in a letter dated November 15, the lieu tenant expresses his feelings as fol lows: "As you probably know. American troops have been fighting, I with them. 1 am attached to one of the very first regiments to fight. I had command of JBSO meters (1,000 yards about) of front line trenches fori sixty hours. The Germans gave us a ■ heavy cannonading, but here I am. At least I know how it feels to expect | to be killed, also know that the : Germans are not yet whipped. "I am attached to a Stokes French mortar school: this mortar is the I most wonderful little stunt of the j land warfare. The Germans have j many wonderful things, but they; cannot duplicate this one. It is a | very light and simple gun, but it will s shoot forty 3-inch sheets a minute j and keep it up. One tff the shells iligs a hole as big as a good-sized room and it makes a noise as loud as • boiler explosion. You can guess its : rower when the base of the shell will fly SOO yards after explosion. Be-i fides, it makes very little noise when I the gun is fired and is smokeless. I guess the Germans cannot get the steel process necessary to make it I light and strong at the same time, but we can. , ••Old Women From Hell •"The French are the real lighters In this war. Their artillery is the best | will win unless the people at home; lay down on us. Our army is well! led. well clothed and well housed. "The Scots wear their kilts with no | pants or drawers and the Germans rail them the "Old Women from Hell." j If comparisons are fair I think the> j are the greatest troops of the war.: There are plenty of old men in the army and there are millions of men; like I am, who have left families be-j hind. ] •It rains here every day as usual.! but we keep on. Everyone is so used | to wet clothes that we wouldn't know! how to act in dry ones. We use a newi hob-nailed shoe with ironbound heel. The leather has the smooth side in side and the outside is waterproofed I with neatsfoot oil and tallow. "The French mud is like any mud i deep, sticky, with stratas of chalk j mixed in it. It is quite a fruit and) farming country here, but every lut j of the work in town, city and coun try (outside of army work) is being done by women and very old men. j The tools are heavy, yet these brave French women are carrying the I burden." | Lieut. Harding is a graduate of | Syracuse University and Law School, j and also of the Auburn Theological j Seminary. For several years before i tlie war lie was chaplain in the Arniyj under reserve. U. S. SOLDIERS KILLED BY BOCHE SHELLS [Continued from Flint I*aj{e.[ with veteran French engineers | for purposes of instruction. i During a recent (moonlight | night German aviators dropped bombs near a certain town and two American privates, who were in t camp in a wood, were I killed. Kor three days snow has been! falling intermittently throughout thej American zone, interfering with tiie training of troops and with .'om-, miinications. At times a strong i wind has accompanied the snowfall.! and many roads are l>eeoming al most impassable on account of drifts. No serious difficulty has been] experienced thus far in supplying the troops in the outlying towns and | districts, but' it is feared the supply 1 problem will sive trouble if the storm continues. Motor trucks to-day were crawl-j in>: over the hilly roads at a snail's j pace because of the drifts and den-; sity of the snow. Numerous acci- ] dents were reported, and the weather was so cold that many carsj were frozen and could not be moved. I Brigade maneuvers of a division whose units have seen service in the trenches were called off for a time because of the snow. The troops of a newly-landed; division, composed of former National guardsmen to-night reached the towns in which they are to be billeted temporarily after marching for two days through the storm. Their experience seemed to have done them more good than harm, for the men are rapidly becoming hardened. Former guardsmen of another division engaged in bayonet, Krenade and automatic rifle prac tice despite the storm. Boys Entertained at Y. M. C. A. Social A grab-bag in the V. M. C. A. was a leature of the boys' social held there Jast niffht. About 500 boys were pres ent at the affair, which was one of tlu> largest ever held in the associa tion building. The t?rab-bag was filled with pres ents. and each fellow put his hand in. pulling out a gift. Most of 1 were simple and inexpensive. Musical selections and Christmas carols were rendered. Arch H. Dins more, boys' work secretary of the as sociation. was in charge of the pro gram. A similar evening for mem bers of tiie continuation school is now being planned. WW- Tt IW• J HOW'S THIS-Any $25.00 SUIT in the House F VI 1 Made to-Measure, Any Style SATURDAY ONLY- $1 / .75 Lvl WEINIE, Your Tailor One Step from Market FRIDAY EVENING, Photo By Roshon In the above cut is shown how Ilie quet. The men anil women pictured | stunt is an annual affair of the Ro- j were given turkey and ail the trim- auditorium where the dinner was . i . ~u c minus that iro with a meal of this served, in automoDlles. .Most ol tlie 15 children, who were entertained in the rear of the _ room are the tary Club for the poor children of j sUe.Bonw> oV the children raiding things given to the children were do esterday by members of the Rotary waiters and waitresses who attended the city. The meal is known as the ln jj, p renlo t e districts of the city nated by members of the Rotary lub, enjoyed themselves at the ban- to the wants of the children. This | Big Brother dinner. The children | were brought to the Chestnut street Club. NOTE OF OPTIMISM RUNS THROUGH WAR-AIMS SPEECH OF PREMIER London, Dec. 28.—Premier Lloyd I Georges recent utterances on war! aims in the House of Commons is being widely quoted, and'has per haps been more extensively read, during the past day or two than when lirst given, at Christmas time. Lloyd George points out the cer tain dangers ahead of the allies, but' a note of high optimism pervades the: address. Me says: Trying Months Just Ahead "I should like to say a word on: future prospects. There is no doubt that the next few months will be the most trying of the war, |or the sim ple reason that one great power has . practically gone out of the war and another great power is not yet fully j in. Therefore, the burden upon us will be very considerable. "But wc must not imagine the on-; emy has not got his difficulties. We >, had a durious proof of this the other! day when certain facts were ghen ; to us as to the deterioration of the h physical quality of German workmen I as a result of the blockade by on,- ■ Navy. Whatever may be the diffi-i. cult ies of the British workman, they', are not comparable to those that , have to be endured by the German , workman. They have so deterlorat- j. Ed that the output per man has gone j, down by something like 33 per cent., j as compared with the first year ofp the war. "What are the prospects in front' of him and in front of us? He is ex- j, liausting his resources of man-pow- j er. France has been in the war | ( from the start and there is no doubt that her losses have been very se vere. In spite of the reverse which Italy has endured her losses are not i comparable to the losses of Austria, and in spite of the heavy casualties inflicted upon ourselves the perma-j nent burden of the losses of the Brit- j ish army is not more than one-fourth or one-iifth of the permanent losses endured by Germany. "If you take the reserves of man power of the nations which are in alliance against Germany, (and here i am not considering Japan, India, ir ( China, but taking Great Britain, Frame, Italy, and the United States.) the manpower reserves of those countries are more than twice those of Germany and Austria and tlie j countries in alliance with them. That, means time and courage, and, given! time and courage, that means pow er, and the enemy must know it. i Those are facts that must be borne | in mind when we are temporarily de-j pressed by war conditions. Tiie Vital War Aims "Yesterday there was a very inter- j esting discussion in this House 011 war aims, and there was a good deal 1 of criticism of ministerial utterances,! which the honorable members para phrased and emphasized. What was the good of doing that'.' Were the! honorable gentlemen trying to find; out what our war aims are or did | they merely wish to criticise the| ministers? I was told that I had not placed myself in line with Presi dent Wilson. "In my war aims speech at Glas gow I emphasized the points which j I thought should be kept in the fore-j front of our war aims. First was the demand for complete restoration ol' j national territory conquered by Ger- j many and complete reparation for! damage done. Does any one differ from that? "Since Russia has entered into se-' pa rate negotiations she, of course, I must alone be responsible for the! terms in respect of lier own territor- j ies. I am speaking now of Belgium, j Rumania, Serbia and other countries! which have not entered into separate j negotiations. Of course, the fact that Russia entered into separate! negotiations disposes of all questions; about Constantinople. "My second pointjhad reference to| Mesopotamia and the German colon-1 ies. Since then we have conquered | 1 the most important part of Palestine j and the whole of East Africa. "I said at Glasgow that what was! to happen in Mesopotamia must be left to the peace congress when it i met, and then I went on to say that! whatever happened it would not be j ! restored to the blasting tyranny of | the Turks. The same thing applies to Armenia, i "Then there is the question of the ! German Colonies. That, I said, was a | matter that could safely be left to a : great international peace congress, which would, no doubt, have regard Ito the wishes of the native races. I ! don't think that is challenged by any I honorable gentleman. Does any one J ( say that we ought to compel these j , people to place themselves again un j der the tyranny of German rule? The future of these colonies should ' be settled upon the principle of re HUNDREDS OF POOR CHILDREN ENJOY BIG BROTHER DINNER AT CHESTNUT STREET HAUL specting the desire of the people j I themselves. That is what we laidi ; down then, and that is what we stand j : by now. "We have conquered no country where the population belonged to thej governing race, not one- —Mesopota- mia, Palestine, Samoa. We have not! annexed a single yard of territory! where there is German population. "The next thing 1 asked for was I security. 1 noticed that one honor- i able member said the government; i had not made any declaration. I made a considered declaration after 1 discussion with my colleagues and we| stand by it. _ Democratization of Germany "I said that there must be guar- ! an tees of peace. Does any one chal- | lenge that? I said that one guaran- 1 i tee would be the destruction of the Prussian military power. A better ; guarantee than that would be the i democratization of the German gov ' ernment. No one wishes to dictate to the German people the form of government they should accept. That is a matter entirely for themselves, ' but it is right that we should say that we could enter into negotiations ; | with a free government with a dif- j ferent attitude of mind, temper and ! spirit, with less suspicion, with more contidence than we could with ; ja government whom we knew to be 1 dominated by the aggressive and (>r | rogant spirit of Prussian militarism. [ 1 The allied governments would, in my judgment, act wisely if they ( 'made that distinction in their gen-; I eral attitude in discussion of terms \ lof peace, either from Germany or (even from pacifists in this country. I 1 ' The third condition, with regard i to the democratization of Germany, I goes to the very root of this. ■ "Why were the Allies forced into the war? Certainly not for terri torial aggrandizement. No one be- ; j lieves it. Did Russia want any ter- I ritory from Austria or Germany when she went into this war? Does any one believe that my noble | friend's (Lord Grey's) one motive 1 whern he came to advise the govern ment upon the subject of peace or war was to saci !f -e millions of lives jin order to ami ; the German col onies? "Who believes it and who dares say it ? Then let us get rid of that ; idea. When we entered this war we ; may have been right or we may have i been wrong, but, at any rate, we did : not enter this war to annex a yard of anybody else's territory. We en- I tered into the war because we be ' lieved the honor of Great Britain j was involved in standing by her ! word. Who but Prussia Caused War? "But what brought the war ab/mt? Does any one doubt who has ! read the whole history of that rest ; less and vicious, arrogant military i caste of Prussia, determined to i force their dictation and domination over Kurope and through Europe lover the world? They planned and they plotted for years for this war. They were even prepared (and ev ' erybody in Germany knew it) to i overthrow their own ruler in order to help another ruler who was more !in sympathy with their ambitious designs. It was common talk In Germany and there were pamphlets on the subject circulated throughout Prussia and the whole of Germany. ! "They repeatedly tried to force war on Russia, and Russia pur chased peace once or twice at the ' price of humiliation. They tried to I force war on France. Has any one ! taken the trouble to acquaint him jself with the temper 6f the military I caste ? i "We all know the Zabern history, j Only yesterday a British general (gave me an instance which had hap ! pened here in this country which is !an illustration of what we are up [against and what we are lighting I against. A Prussian officer who is interned strolled into an enginehouse | where he had no business to be. ; The engineer ordered him out. He j took no notice of it. hut answered ! him in German. The engineer said. 'You have no business here, and T must request you to leave.' Then ! the officer said: 'I am not going to \ take any orders from you.' The en gineer then took him by the coat, II not roughly, and began to take him out. and the German hit him in the ! face. "The point I want to put is this: You are dealing now with a temper , which has made this war. The point I wish to come to is the defense which was made by this officer when he was put on trial. Here it is: 11 'According to German military law ■ j I have the right. In the event of any interference by civilians, to have re ' course to arms.' That meant that if I he had had a sword he would have • had the right to run the man . UIUSBURG TELEGRAPH through, and he would have done it. ! That was what happened in Zabern. : "Now translate that Into terms of I international relations. Britannia j was the civilian nation until this war began. The civilian nation says: 'You have no business in Belgium; you 'go out,' and Germany says: 'How dare you? By German mill- i tary law 1 have the right to use | arms against you and run you | through tor attempting to interfere.' That is the temper that has made this war, and until you break that you will never get peace in this world. That is why when we say— whether it is President Wilson or my right honorable friend, Mr. As quith, or myself—that victory is an essential condition: it is not because it satisfies some low vindictive sense in human nature, because you .want merely to punish, but it is because we realize that victory is the only thing that will give reality to peace terms. A league of nations in which Germany is represented by that mil itary caste, triumphant, would be a hollow farce, but the people of Germany must be there, and that is why victory in itself is more impor tant than mere terms. Victory alone will give reality to it, and that is alsg the reason why the government after mature rellection has decided to go first to the trade unions and afterward to the House of Obmmons to ask them. 'Equip us with greater powers to enable us to increase the means of victory.' " U. S. Will Commandeer Material For Uniforms By Asspciateti Press Chicago, Dec. 2S. Representatives! of the quartermaster's division of the United States Army to-day began taking: an inventory of all Army uiriforms and uniform material in Chicago preparatory to commandeer ing such goods for Army use. The action is being taken under orders received from the War Department. Captain Early Zimmerman in charge ot the work here, estimated there / approximately sl,ooo,Utin worth of i uniform material in Chicago's ware- I SOCIAL Maclay St. Choir Sings 'The Story of Bethlehem' Tho choir of the Maclay Street | Church of God, under the direction of Mrs. Sue Duff an Fager, will sing! Spence's beautiful Christmas cantata, "The Story of Bethlehem," this even- j ins: at 8 o'clock, in the church audi- j torium. Those taking: part will be: So- • pianos, Min* Ethyl Dissinger, Mrs. 11. | Sa.vford, Mrs. If. Fisher, Miss Ruth Hlair, Miss Emma Sheetz, Miss Helen Siple, Mrs. Parker; altos, Miss Grace I Gallagher,' Miss Aletha Fries, Miss | Adeline Otstot, Miss Florence Lay; | tenors, C. 11. Zellers, Albert Siple, Ves- j per Smith; bassos. l,eroy Merkle, Mar tin Gordon and Abner Martin. The soloists are Miss Dissinger, Mrs. Say. I ford, Mrs. Fager, Miss Gallagher, I Messrs. Zeller3 and Merkle. GIVKK INFORMAL PARTY FOR M'M BI3R OF FRIENDS Miss Ruth F. Etter, of 1515 Derr.v j street, entertained informally the i other evening for a' number of her I friends at a party at her home, .home. A social time with inu-i'o, games i and refreshments was enjoyed. The guests were Miss Florome j Van Horn. Miss Daisy Seide l , Mij-s Minerva Van Horn. .Wis". Katharine j McFarland, Miss Elsie Oowlron. Missel Helen Kuntzleman, Mifl* Ethel Dim-j ler. Miss Dorothy ArnolJ, Miss Sarah ; Lackey, Miss Laura Heaps, Miss Georgiana Weigle, Miss Mabel Dull'-! ington. Miss Emma Leib, Mrs. A. T. | Hubley, Albert Saunders, Mr. Dim- | ler and Samuel Etter. HOLIDAY VISITORS F. L. Murphy and daughter, Miss ! Sadie Murphy, Mr. and Mrs. A. L. ! Michener and son. Leonard Michener, ' of 747 Soulli Twenty-first street, are i guests of the Rev. J. C. Rupp and family over the holiday season. Mrs. Michener and son will leave later for Fort Wayne, Ind. FELI X-GI XTEK M A !I IA G E A quiet wedding was solemnized last evening at the Felix residence, 2031 Logan street, when Miss Cora Blanche Gttnter, of this city, became the bride of John L, Felix. The cere mony was performed by the Rev. George M. Hartman, pastor of St. John's Reformed Church, Fourth and Maclay streets. Mr. Felix is an en gine hostler in the employ of Number L' Roundhouse, Pennsylvania Railroad Company. !,. 11. A. MEETING MONDAY Branch No. 1067. Ladles' Catholic Benevolent Association will hold their semimonthly meeting Monday, Decem ber 31. After a short business meet ing the evening will be spe.nt in a j New Year social. Other Personals on Page li 1 TWEXTV-FOl It Mold) HOY* .MUX THE Y. Jt. C. A. | Twenty-four new boy members i r signed application blanks at the V. M.! C. A., A. 11. Dinsmore, boys' work: secretary announced to-day. Ap. j proximately half of these member- ! ships were secured as Christmas gifts: for their sons by parents. The new j members are: Carlton 10. Laverty, Timothy W. Conway, ltichard T. Conway, James IJ. Mansfield, Marcus Michlowitz, Abra-1 ham Mlchlowitz, Morris Hatuijn, Wil- j •liani 11. McCaleb, Francis K. Howard, I Bernard S. Ilenry, YVillard Putney, (leorge K. Uartman, Leonard Kapnej- John 11. Bechtel, Robert Hamer, Her- Fighting Over the Empty Sugar-Bowl Blaming the Food Administration itself for the sugar shortage, and charging that its sugar com mittee is'a more adjunct of the American Sugar Refining .Company, the sugar trust," Mr. Claus A. Sprackels, called "the leading independent sugar-refiner of the country," started the Senate Commit tee's inquiry into fuel and sugar conditions with somewhat of an explosion. In reply to Mr. Spreck els' charges, Food Administrator Hoover issued a statement in which he said that "it required no proof from me to establish that Mr. Spreckels, the leading sugar-refiner, is sore at the Food Administration, and would like to see it destroyed. I realize that Mr. Spreckels" balance sheet will not look so good next year as last, for refiners' profits have been regulated." In THE LITERARY DIGEST for December 29th, there is a very enlightening article dealing with the sugar situation from various view-points, showing what has caused the shortage and what the Food Administration has done to curtail the cost of sugar to the people. v • Other articles that will awaken unusual interest in this number are: Jews Look Askance at Restored Palestine The Gift of Jerusalem to the Jews Does Not Imply Unconditional Acceptance, and Many of Them Do Not Show a Feverish Haste to Emigrate Battle Is on to Make America Dry Four Bites of Our War-Cherry Canada Pledges Her Sons Austrian Sheep and German Goats Ex-Premier of France Facing Treason Trial Russia Under the Terror Ti? e , Churclh and Sinn Fein Canada's Ambassador at Washington Fabncated Ships A Drug-Controller Needed lo Dole Out [Niagara rower or T What Makes Us Tall or Short From a , Remedy For Food Transportation Evils Psychology of the Woman Shopper (Specially Prepared by U. S. Food Administration) Our Literary President Troubling the Baptist Waters A r t a Martvr In War An Urgent Duty and a Glorious Privilege Doubling the Army Chaplains A War of Self-Defense , , (By Secretary of State Lansing) News of rinance and Investment Many Striking Illustrations, Including a Reproduction of a Lithograph by the American Artist, Joseph Pennell. Annual Motor Number—l2B Pages Motor Car, Truck, Tractor and Motor Accessory buyers will save time and money by con sulting this week's "Digest." It's "The Digest's" Annual Automobile Issue and contains an nouncements of the leading manufacturers in these lines. I his number of "1 he Digest' will ♦give its readers throughout the nation information as to the latest models and newest accessories, and they will get a wealth of information as to how manufacturers are meeting the transporta tion problems brought about by the war. December 29th Number on Sale Today—All News-dealers—lo Cents H Itterary Digest || \SERVE7 FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY (Publishers of the Famous NEW Standard Dictionary). NEW YORK ! man Goldstein, Joseph Goldstein, Wil ! liam \V. Ualbruitll, .lullus Nurick, i Klmer A. Stonor, I). Alex Wlelanit, , Homer li. HeUotii, Charles li. Shirk, j Joseph J. Machlan. ' MK\'IT>KSS MINCK I'll, COOKED ISY EXPEKT Washington.—A receipt for nieat ! less miilce meat by Mrs. C. M. Kins, i Orange, N. J., creator of the pump- I kinless pumpkin pie, is submitted, as ! a Christmas gift, to the conserving j public. Here is the receipt: Half a package seeded raisins, | half-pound prunes, stewed with lem on juice, quarter-cup sweet cider, four tablespoons brown sugar, chop raisins and prunes. DECEMBER 28, 1917 STATE DECLARES j 1 WAR ON THE CROW i Dr. Kalbt'us (lives Orders to Game Wardens to Poispn and Examine Stomachs The State of Pennsylvania to-day formally declared war on the crow, and it will not only be systematically waged as a move to benefit agricul ture and protect useful birds, but sci- j ence will be invoked to prove that it !s a righteous conllict. Dr. Joseph ■ Kalbfus, secretary of the State Game , Commission, has for weeks been in- | vestigating reports that crows had j been unusually destructive of young . bird life this year and that theii dep redations were interfering with in- I crease of quail and other birds which liave proved special foes of the potato bug. I To-day instructions were sent to all | of the state game wardens to poison i corn by certain methods and to place it ill localities where it would not be tound by domestic animals. The crows have been for years showing a dispo- i sition to mobilise in large flocks dur- ! ins the winter and have been observ ed by the hundreds in some half a dozen counties. The corn will be put near these roosts, but at the same time tho campaign will be carried on , in ail counties. Game wardens have j been instructed to have the stomachs I of 1 lie crows killed by the poison ex- f amined and reports made. It is de-; dared by the state game authorities ' that crows, while killing mice and vermin, do considerable harm to use- : fnl birds and that in the long run] they are a nuisance. Dr. Kalbfus says that he is conli- ! dent that the reports will show the I importance of clearing out the flocks of crows before next spring. WHABTOX ri.ni TO KET "T.ight refreshments, but plenty of good smokes." the members of the Wharton Study Club have been prom ised by President "Joe" Kline at a gathering at the clubrooms, 213 Walnut street, to-morrow night, when the newly-elected officers will be hosts. School sessions of AVharton will not start again until Monday evening, January 7. League of Nations Is Forecast by Lecturer A league of nations and democracy Is predicted by the Bible (or the last times, according to Dr. A. C. Gaeblein, who spoke at the concluding session of the thirty-fifth Interdenominational Bible* Conference in the' First Baptist Church, last evening. Dr. Gaebelein gave an inspiring address on "Com ing Events Cast Their Shadows." He showed that the Kaiser's efforts to I place himself on a level with God, are , a shadow of the prediction that a per ! son will come, "the masterpiece of | Satan, witli whom the Bible predicts ian associate. This man will come .and will take his place as political dictator of the affairs of the world." ihe declared. lawlessness, he said, is | another prediction of the last days., J The various I. W. W. activities were characterized as fulfillments of this j prophecy. S. P. M. Cliliß TO MEET Miss Helen Arch, of Kunkle and I Cowden streets, will be hostess for the members of the S. P. M. Club at I their regular monthly meeting Thurs day evening, January 4. A social time with music and dancing will follow I the short business meeting. f HEAR ' EDWARDS j Secretary of Reading Y. M. C. A. To-night lie will tall of thirteen months i in war fronts and with invading j army in Jerusalem. j FREE Men, women anil children in vitcd. Auspices of Alrlcks As soeiution. 8.00 O'clock P. M. In Gymnasium of Kpisco|>al Church Nineteenth and Market SOS. *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers