MAYOR OF COLMAR! INTERVIEWED BY WALLACE IRWIN Says Alsace-Lorraine Is French to the Heart. . 30,000 IN ARMY OF FRANCE Desert From German Army When War - Broke Out—Not Only Does France , Want Her Alsace-Lorraine, E*ut AU ' sace-Lorraine Wants Her France — - Tells of His Escape. By WALLACE IRWIN. j I did not go to Interview M. Daniel Blumenthal, because -he has come to Washington as it member of the FreAch high commission. Heaven knows; and [ my wife is still better aware, 'that T know nothing about finance, high or low; and had it been up „to we I «hould have loaned the Frnech gov ernment," via' M. Blumenth'all "any num ber of billions right out of. Mr. rMc- Aidoo's treasury. But it was as the ex mayor of Colmar (Anclen Maire de Colmar Is the" way It Is expressed on the large, foreign-looking •. card he fjiands you) that I washed to see and talk to him. Now, Colmar isn't the largest nor iyet the. second largest city in Alsace. But It Is in the heart of that freedom loving little province which has been lield by Germany like a caged eagle erer since 1871. The . Hohenzoilerns. have held the bars across Alsace, but they have never been able to clip her -wings. And if you think they ever ■will, just talk with Daniel Blumen thal. A little man with a graying beard' «nd round, black, humorous eyes, I found him in a hotel room packing for another flight with the commission. 1 told him that since I had heard of Ills famous escape from the Germans, . / • :ji *'. - Misses Janet and Lyaia Blumenthal, Daughter of Mayor of Colmar. Invading Colmar, I Imagined he would be a hard man to coerce Into an in terview. "To escape from America would be something," he assured me, talking with all the fingers *on both his hands. *'But the Germans,! They are what you call it —bone-ln-the-head." "It would be doing *us a service," I said, "to teil America what Alsace- Lorraine would prefer to be after peace is made—French or German." "Do you know," he replled. stahd lng straight as a ramrod, "that the Marseillaise was first sung at Strass fcurg? Freedom has always been to us the passion, and from us the best bloOd of the French revolution went out. Do you think, then, we would have any business with spiked helmets from Berlin?" French to the Heart. I had heard talk In the newspapers of a .plan to leave the nationality of the twin states to a plebescite of Al sace-Lorralners. •' • i» '.'A Gennan-made plebescite would be pretty to see," he informed me with , a smile. "Alsace could vote with scraps of paper, but never by fair elec ••'tion. W T hy? Because she is French tb I ,the heart today, and since 18tl she i has never forgotten her loyalty- to the free republic to which her soul be-. J longs. . German editors write edl- ! torials full of learning to show that the children of Alsace-Lorraine today are different from yesterday, because.) they speak ..the language which Berlin has forced upon them. Eh bien! Do you know how many Alsace-Lorrainers deserted from the German army when war broke out and are now fighting with France? Thirty thousand. It is £D honor to say that they are the brav es among the French; but. that is so. "German papers will tell you that because we speak the language that has been forced down our throats we are content That is the thinking of Prussia. But can' the Prussian fell us why while We were d part of France we never spoke bitterly cf the .government? Why, under that kind I German rule have we protested by our representatives at the reichstag? Why our young men have emigrated to es cape mllita/y duty, while our citizens Innumerable have gone to imprison ment for expressing thelr affection for ' France? "Despite the mills of Industrious kultur, which strive forever to pour everything into a hideous German mold, Alsace-Lorraine Is .today over whelmingly French. If you wish, I will recite some figures. Our popula ; tion Is .1,900,000 altogether. . Of those 1,500,000 are natives, almost without exception totally French. There are ] 400,000 German immigrants or de scendants of immigrants. Deported to Slavery. "Germany cannot'possibly substan tiate her claims that -your provinces have been Germanized," I agreed. "German„logic |s able to think both ways, likfc a donkey" with |wo heads. She has well learned the speech, 'What is yours belongs to me and what Is mine.ls my own.' - Since the beginning of the present war the German gen- have made pe hesitation about declaring that they, consider Alsace- Lorraine an enemy coUntry? How much better than Belgians have * we been In the. sight of Prussia 2 Look at the thousands of Alsace-Lorralners who have been deported to slavery and answer for ■ yourself. -We have been told, we speak the French language In. a,provoking manner. Therefore it Is taken out of our mdliths, so that we may worship the Kaiser In his own sweet words. The prisons are full of my people who were arrested during those first awful days of the war. "When they are candid—which hap pens seldom —the Germans admit that they have no faith in the loyalty of Alsace-Lorraine. They mistrust us be cause we do not admire the goose step do not regard the. sign 'Verboten' as more beautiful than our mountain scenery. Thus it is that Germany' longs for "der tag" when we shall be dragged by the hair of .our heads Into further despotism. loyalty and love are not bought without price; that you kndw. The martial courts haye ,sought to si lence us with frightful grimaces. We have spoken our love for France at the cost of our lives. Executions have been many, and thousands of years of imprisonment have been ordered by their councils of war. And it is not alone a matter of language, this loy alty, for the Alsatians of the upper Rhine, who speak the dialect, have suf fered no less terribly -than the others. "In the, larger cities, particularly Metz and Strassburg, you will find the j Germans concentrated most thickly. When Alsace-Lorraine becomes French again—&nd we are sure t>f It,~Tfton sieur—there will be a scattering from those large cities, because the German population is mostly of the garrison or the official life. And what shall we | care for those remaining? In power the German' is rude and brutal, out of power he is dull and slavish." Must Be Returned to France. "France was wise to send you here on her high commission," I suggested. "France knows that I am like the heart of Alsace, all French," said M. Daniel Blumenthal. 'My own coun try must be returned to France or there can be no lasting peace. We will accept no sedatives from Germany, no hypocritical offers to become an au tonomous state in the German con federation. It is not alone that France wants her Alsace-Lorraine. Alsace- Lorraine wants her France." Those, round black eyes beg£h snap ping again with, the joke of Jt when I referred to his escape into France. It was not so humorous, perhaps, ih that July day in 1914 when the Huns ap peared .With, bayonets on their rifles; and stood sentry on the good mayor ! of Colmar. "You Americans do things tout a coup—all of a. sqdden—what you say.? • Maybe no mayor from these United States ever resigned himself from crfftce so quick as I took myself out of the mairie of Colmar. r ,-.,, f .. . > „ "You see I had not been loved tdr some time by Berlin, because I had refused to receive decorations from M. le Kaiser or to acknowledge that Deutchland was über alles in Colmar. We Alsatians are not pacifists. We knew for, quite a whjle .wan. would break over us one of these days''arid that the Bbches would come marching In with the kind of kultur we hated to think about. One of my daughters ! thought of what to do, so she said to me: "'Papa, when war comes you must be the first out of Colmar.' "So we talk it over often en famllle. Nothing was omitted. For we knew .that the name of Blumenthal was at the head pf the list of those to be ar rested. . i "Bien! It was the day of July 31, 1914, that very polite. German officers and soldiers arrive to my office the I-town hrtll of Colniar. • They shW me proclamations from the general com j mandftpt. .which J. am, .with, greatest politeness, requested to post. Those sa£ how dadger of war is pro -1 claimed. Colmar is to go tinder mar i tial law. That is sufficient. I am still coriside'ring my program nfore gray -In wtth 'still more j politessg to,.inform me..that I am. now an ex-may Or. A German judge at the .court of appeals fs' to take my office. , Fritz Is "Bone-ln-the-Head. w , .. "I see my daughters! The day is pleasant for motoring! I sayV Why not a little trip to the station 1 They are delighted to take the air. But when we reach the town of Neubrei sach we are Completely halted by more. German bayonets. The officer is full, of anger and all puffed up with rules, like every Germari. What do I mean driving up to a" guarded city with:.riy motor?- Do I not know ihs rules, ef *•'T; j •« t , war? It makes me nothing when I tell the Herr Lieutenant that I am a p^ee ful avocat and do not know anything about war. He arrests me and sends my daughters back home in the auto mobile. "Herr Lieutenant Is quite German in his behavior. He calls a common soldier, who goose steps away with'me to see the general. This poor Fritz was bone-in-the-head, too, as you say it in Arm*rica. «-" 'Well, well!' says the general in great irritation, 'what have you there?' " 'He was arrested at the gate, Herr General 1' " Take him away!' groans M. le Gen eral. " 'Jah, Herr General. Where shall I i take him?' ; " 'Take him anywhere. Take him to the station.* "The private salutes, shoulders hisJ musket, and marches, me away to the railroad station." j The former mayor of Colmar stroked his little gray beaid and shot bright sparks from his round,, black eyes,. J "it thought the train 'I fobk w'ould ; go right across the Swiss border.- =But it iwa« ,;war time, and the Germans were npt making it easy for escaping " Alsatians. " _About^■- two smiles from : Switzerland we were 1 taken:: off .the train and left to walk. "It was at the German at Lldpoidshoeshe thhl we met our 1 last obstacle. On the-very wall that marks; the border ( of Switzerland stoqd a,Ger " man Herr Lieutenant with sentries. *" TOrt P* We clo so; * * V " 'What business have -you crossing the borders in war time?* . •«. I "'Herr Lieutenant,' I say, 'I am an avocat who was obliged this morning to cross the border in pursuit of his peacefull calling." "'Pass!' says the lieutenant In the disagreeable voice of a German officer doing a favor.., :' .vj Very Slender Escape. "Monsieur, it was by, a stairway of a few Steps that we mounted that- wall Into Switzerland. There-were a few' ' more steps leading down to the other side. And what should happen then, juSt as I was standing at the top of the wall?" I couldn't imagine, and confessed as much. "I had one foot on German terri tory, the other on Swiss, when a great clown of an Alsatian soldier, one who knew me at home, began saluting very politely. " 'Ah, Herr Lieutenant,' he says, in tending to pay me a great compliment, 'you are letting pass a very great man —the mayor of Colmar.' "I awaited no more courtesies, but descending the stairs into Switzerland by leaping nine steps. Nom d'un chien, but it; was—-what you call it? —a very slende*escape." "What becomes of your wife and two daughters?" I asked ih my best nur sery manner. , "Ah, you see we had arranged every thing,. I was more happy than sur prised when they joined me in Basle." "Weren't you afraid they'd miss connections somewhere?" I' Inquired. "How could they?*' he counter ques tioned., "Did we not. all- make up the ' program together?" ' * ' And I bade him adieu, full of the faith that is making Alsace safe for I democracy. I U. S. SOLDIER BREAKS RECORD FOR WOOING I ■ ... - I * Private Barnoff and his was. Mfcss "BlHy" Garrellg£ Qak^^nd. i Barnoff returned from the .Philippines recently and' £hter&l"a '- Fremont, and . plans. $o his. wife ioin the Red Cross. ' • " , | : *Slieep:Will Mow Golf Course. • -The members of the.Arkansas City (Ark.) Country club are combining golf ; " and patriotism. : They have discov ered that no green keeper can do as j gpod. a job of. mowing as a. flock of sheep. d The government* is urging peo i ple-'toraise sheep; ei^o,'combine the. two aftd« your golf pounds- axid be. a patriot gt the same time. The v '] members hkVfe "chipped* in and 6onghti ; a flock of sheep, and now expect*to. , one. of finest greens* in the 'slate, 'arfd possillv tr» 'receive a leafheV medal frt)hi'lio'!".eru *C." 1 »er as- aid in .cor.-. nervation. ' . : RABBIT SAUSAGE A BERLIN TIDBIT Britain Studies Economic Posi tion of Central Powers. DEBT IS 94 MILLIARD MARKS Industry and Commerce of Germany and Austro-Hungary Must Devote Its Energy to Rehabilitation People Raid Food* Fields—Serious Shortage j • of Coal in Both Empires. , The economic position, of Germany and Austria is b£ihg carefully studied by 'the British intelligence department, and from & series of notes taken from the press of the central, empires one learns, for Instance, that' afte* : war problems in Germany ai*fe the cause of mych anxiety.-. It.is expected.that the . debt of the, empire, according to the Vosslsche ZeifUng, will, TJy the end of* the year, have IncreaSecF tcf ninety-four milliards ;of niarks, This wIH involve an annual charge of si£ milliards, a. sum which will be_increased to ten milliards "by pensions, debts 6f 'sepa rate states, municipalities and . com-' mimes. After the. war Industry and commerce will have to_ devote its at tention to methods for reconquering Its old position in the .international • market, "but they cannot succeed ip, doing so unless the burdens that*lb-* dustry has to hear— taxes, wages and other expenses—are kept within bear-, able tynlts." - ....* » .. . * are fears of an economic war, and hence the writer lays \t down that "it must be one of the principal Items in the German conditions of peace that no door anywhere shall be bolted against the entry of German products. Without any artificial obstruction there will be plenty of hindrance to over come. Not one out of all the efforts of our enemies to substitute their own products for German goods can be suc cessful in the long run. . Yet after the war hatred toward Germany will cer tainly persist among our enemies and may result In the temporary boycott ing of German goods." Shipping Shortage Serious. One of the first problems Germany will have to face will be the shortage of shipping. Herr Heinken, director general of the North German Lloyd Steamship company, thinks the opinion rt the shipping Jlnes will' "roll in gold" somewhat premature. con siders that after a certain period, short or long, Germany will again'enter into relations with her enemies, but until such time arrives he believes that the German shipping industry will have to wage severe and stern war. The two vital tasks of German shipping will be, first, to make up losses and Injuries suffered during the war, and, second, to catch up the enormous advantage gained by the 1 enemy and neutral ship ping as a result of the war. It is also predicted in Vienna, ac cording to the Neue Freie Presse, that i steamships probably will be com mandeered by the government after the war and required to convey raw materials to and manufactured goods j from the country at fixed rates In both Germany and Austria _ the ' manufacturing industry and agriculture will tend more fcn'd more toward sub stituting work by .machinery for the labor of men and beasts. The enorm ous sacrifices of human lives demanded by the world war In all countries has reduced the number of working men to such an extent that no branch of In dustry will have* at Its disposal as many "trained men as before. Turning, to more domestic matters, these notes afford a good insight into the Internal condition of Germany and Austria. The four-pound loaf In the new harvest year in Germany cost just a fraction less than double what It cost I before the war. There was an increase in the daily bread ration from the mid- of. August from six ounces to near ly eight ounces, while at the beginning of this month the flour, meat and po tato rations were regulated anew on the basis of the harvest estimates and the live stock census. People Raid Food Fields. Previous allowances were consid ered insufficient, and the position of food supplies was one of the principal causes of labor discontent. It was com plained in August, by the general offi cer commanding in the marks, that "people are not ashamed to help them selves to produce growing In fields and gardens, often long before it Is ripe." In Austria the position was still more ■serious. - On - Sundays > great' - crowds preqeeded to the. country around ..Vien na .to buy UP early potatoes from the s aid people Yto'od in queues : - right •%to"the 7 peasatfts» hpases: -the supfily gave- out exciting scenes were witnessed, and the much-annoyed citizens proceeded to the fields and dug- up potatoes themsetves. ;< - < • Rabbit sausage having, made Its ap pearance in .Berlin at .5.40 or 6 marks" a pound, and being considered a tasty morsel, the municipality has taken up the manufacture at 2 marks a pound. Blood sausages are regulated at 2 marks a pound, and liver sausage 2.30 marks. German "tea, 1 ' made from black , berry, raspberry,, currant and straw berry plants, sells at an equivalent of -55 cents a pound, while both tea and tjoffee" substitutes. are declared by a learned professor to .resemble the orig nal in color only; in taste and smell • "litre fs noneV- -'"- *' 5 i • There ±B«.a serious'coal shortage, and . announced- that in Frankfort half he SofTools will be closed this winter. *v -.. , EXILED KING VISITS EMMANUEL OF ITALY ##################################^ u wmmlSm I MWM "* nl |l| An unusual photograph, showing the kings of Montenegro and Italy In Paris. -This is ope- of the very few ' taken of them together, although King Nicholas is father-in-law of * Em manuel. > The picture Is the best and most re cent made of the monarchs. The meet ing took place recently after the Ital ian king returned from his visit to the French front as guest of France, King Nicholas since his exile from his na tive land at the war's beginning has made his home in Paris. TraTSi^ DELIGHT THE FRENCH Soldiers and Surgeons Show j Childlike Pleasure Over Any thing From This Country. Letters from France tell of the child like delight of the French soldiers and surgeons when they receive even the slightest tokens from America. Miss Kate T. Cooke, writing to the Ameri can fund for French wounded, which had sent some hospital supplies says: "If only you could have seen the pleasure of my head nurse, and Doc tor Ferris and Doctor Buc when your j cases were unpacked and treasure af ter treasure was brought to light! "The shirts and pajamas were the 1 admiration of these doctors, and when they discovered the handkerchiefs and post cards, and even chocolates In the pockets of these garments, their de light knew no bounds. "The unpacking was held tip while I translated for,them the various mes sages of courage and good luck sent I across the ocean by your committees at home. Monsieur le Medicin Chef Ferris begged like a child for one post card which bore the address of a girl often. ' * "The compresses In those lovely s boxes appealed especially to the sur geons. "We have been using "such fear fully rusty boxes for sterilizing, and the prospect of jpJCe. new ones makes my heart glad. "The- twelve surgical blouses brought. forth cries of joy from the two surgeons, and I warn you that the medicin- chef (chief surgeon) in his letter of thanks, is going to beg you for more. "The fly-killers (swatters) were -much appreciated. No one here had ever seen them used, and I had much trouble to keep them for the blesses (wounded), the personnel of the hos pital liked them so well." Thanks were also received for six cases of surgical supplies sent to the hospital at St. Brieux. "Our stock has been pitiably low," says the letter. The greatest call is for socks, sweaters, shirts and warm underclothing. THE FLAG GOES BY. Ji ; j-' r. - 7 - Hats off! Along the* street -there comes A blare -of bugles,**ft ruffle of drums, a A flash Qt color beneath the c'.y. Hats off! Thfe flag is passing by. * i, - - ~ " " * j Bljie and crimson and .white It shines Over the steel-tipped ordered lines. * - Hals off! • 4 The. colors before us fly; But more than the flag is passing by. - Sign of a nation great and strong To ward her people from foreign wrong, Pride and glory and honor, all -1 Live In the colors to stand or fall. Hats off! Along thfe street there comes " A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, And loyal hearts are beating high. , Hats off ! , The flag is passing by. _*" ..•» —Henry EL Bennett. MAKE GOWNS IN MIHST OF WAR Paris Dressmaking Industry Is Not Hampered. SPAIN IS BEST CUSTOMER "akes the Place of the United States as the Most Lavish Buyer of Dresses —Rabbit Fur, Cunningly Dyed, Keeps Up Rich Appearance in Fash ions—Norway Heavy Buyer. The great war does not seem to ; nave worked the same hardships on the Paris dressmaking trude that It has on other branches of French In dustry. The openings at the big cou turiers g