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FRANCE SENDS ONE OF
HER FIGHTING PRIESTS
1 ' 1 1
Father Souris of the diocese of
3Paris recently arrived in this country ,
"with the permanent French commis
sion. To use his own words, he is
there to "talk to Americans from a re
ligious standpoint of view regarding
this world catastrophe, and tell them
•jof the spirit of the men today
in the trenches." Father Souris
wears every decoration in the power of
ITrance to give for bravery and devo- i
tion to country, and in addition he
toears the scars of wounds received In ,
many battles.
'FRIGHTFULNESS' BY
BRITON IN LAUSANNE
Ripe Tomato Bombardment
Routed a "Gott Strafe Eng-_
land" Couple.
The latest tale of frightfulness
comes from Lausanne. In one of the
most fashionable restaurants recently
all the tables were occupied except
two small ones not far from each
ether, w r hen a man and a woman, un
mistakably German, entered. The
■woman wore a light wrap, but when
she had seated herself at one of the
tables she removed it and it was seen
that she wore on her expansive bosom
sin enormous brooch with the inscrip
tion In brilliants, "Gott Strafe Eng
land."
A few moments later an English
man, accompanied by a countrywom
an, seated himself at the other table.
fThe inscription on the brooch Imme
diately attracted their attention, and
Indignation. Sending for a head wait
ier, the Englishman said to him that
. «uch a violation of good taste in a neu
jtral country was an Insult that could
snot be bornfc. He told the waiter to
Inform the German that the ordinary
civilities would suggest that the
jbrooch worn by his companion should
toe taken off.
The head waiter had little stomach
for such a job, and feebly demurred,
jwhereupon the Englishman rose and
excellent French addressed the Ger
mans. In a clear voice he repeated
rwhat he had said to the head waiter,
tout, except for a supercilious shrug of
the shoulders, the Germans gave no
evidence that they had heard his re
marks, although everyone else in the
understood what he had
isald and looked their sympathy.
The Englishman, without showing
any signs of anger, reseated himself,
* (picked up a menu and gave his order <
to the waiter. When the soup was ,
fserved the waiter also brought on a
fcplatter a dozen large ripe tomatoes,
Which were placed on the table. The
{Englishman and his companion, after
finishing their soup, deliberately plck
•ed up the tomatoes and rained upon
the two Germans the ripe vegetables,
splattering their faces and breasts
with the soft, juicy contents.
The applause and laughter of the
pother diners appraised the objects of
this novel form of reprisal that they
Could find no support or sympathy and
they fled from the restaurant in great
precipitation. "Let them go," an
nounced the Englishman. "I will pay
their bin."
GIRL IS BANK PRESIDENT
Heads Cleveland Institution With 850
Depositors.
Fannie Koehlman, seventeen, Is
president of a bank at Cleveland. The
bank has 850 depositors and a capital
of $155.58. '
The depositors are members of the
Council Educational Alliance, who
save their money to buy Llbsrty loan
bonds, vacations and Christmas pres
ents.
The deposits came in pennies. Some a
persons literally have "only a cent to a
their names." f
VIVID STORY OF
TRENCH STORMING
Writer Describes Happiness
After It Is All Over.
TENSE AS MEN AWAIT WORD
Anxious and Nervous Men Try to Con
ceal Their Real Feelings While Wait
ing for the Order to Go Forward, by I
Telling Funny Stories—Waiting the
Worst Part.
Henri Barbussi, well-known French
writer, has written a graphic account
of the storming of a German trench in
which he took part. In gripping lan
guage he describes the torture of wait
ing for the signal to advance, of run
ning out in the open against terrific
fire, and of the happiness of the men
when they find each other safe after
"going through hell."
"It is evening in the Champagne,"
writes Henri Barbusse. "The men are
waiting In the dugouts of the first line
trenches, wondering when the order to
charge against the enemy will be given.
They are anxious and nervous, but try
to conceal their real feelings by telling
funny stories and laughing heartily.
They know that in the next moment
they may be facing death, but there is
always hope. They have been spared
before, perhaps they may be spared
again. A voice is heard in the neigh
boring trench.
" 'Listen,' said one of the men.
'Didn't you hear? The alarm was
sounded I'
"'Alarm? Are you crazy?'
"Just then a shadow appears In the
opening in the dugout and somebody
cries: 'To arms!'
Roar of Guns Frightful.
"Quiet prevails. We have all become
dumb. We get up and stretch our
weary bones and go out into the trench.
The roar of the guns is frightful. One
man looks at the other; no word is
spoken, but the eyes tell everything.
We are ready; some of the men are
sitting quietly in the mud, others are
resting their arms on their rifles. I
study the pale, deeply lined faces of
these men. They are not soldiers,
but simply human beings. They are
not adventurers or warriors. They
are peasants and workmen In uniform,
and were not made for slaughter.
They are awaiting the order to die.
"Each one of them knows what It
means; he knows that he is to expose
his head, his breast, his stomach and
arms and legs to rifle balls, to shrapnel
and to the bayonet. They are a quiet,
peaceful lot —not bandits or barba
rians or savages looking for another's
blood. I can see that they are tor
tured by the suspense, that they are
in anguish, that they are wondering
whether they will live through this
terrible night. No one who has not seen
men ready for a charge can appreciate
what it means.
"They still wait. It seems like an
eternity. The sun has set and a weird
darkness Is creeping over the sad land
scape. Then rain falls in torrents to
add to the grewsome picture an at
mosphere of tragedy.
"There is more time spent In wait- j
lng and then hand grenades are pass
ed around to the men. Each man re
ceives two. Then the order 'Forward!'
Is heard, and we know that it is now
our turn.
"We spring out of the trench and
into the darkness. We expect to be
greeted by a deadly fire, but, strange,
the thunder of the guns suddenly
ceases.
"Don't use your hand grenades un
til the last minute," shouts our cap
tain.
Bullets Whistle Past.
"Just then a curtain of fire rises be
fore us and the bullets begin whistling
past our ears. We are running for
ward now. Shells are bursting all
around us. The fingers of my right
hand are singed by the fire of an ex
ploding shell and I drop my gun, only
to stoop and pick it up again. The
fire becomes so strong that we become
blinded by It; our men become sep
arated, none of us knowing just where
he is going. Here and there in the
mist I could discern forms of men
falling heavily to the ground, and now
and then above the roar I heard the
heartrending cry of someone who had
received his death wound.
" 'Forward!' shouts our captain.
"We are running like mad now.
Sometimes we stumble over the bod
ies of our comrades, but there is no I
stopping. Our breath is coming fast,
our hearts are thumping wildly in our '
breasts, our blood is coursing at break- I
neck speed through our veins. We are !
now as men possessed; we have for
gotten all our fears and all we want
now is to meet the enemy face to face; j
we are lusting for blood. !
"The German trench Is before us,
and we all plunge in; but the Ger- <
mans have flown; the trench is empty. <
We stop for breath and look about us. 1
It seems all like a dream now, and we
greet each other like happy children. j
"'What, you, my friend? Thank
God, you are unhurt. Have you seen l
our captain? What has become of
him? God, what must we not all go i
through!' ]
"We remain in the trench and tell i
our experiences. The cries of the
wounded have ceased, but the roar of
the guns has Increased. We no longer
pay any attention to the noise. We 1
are tired, very tired, and there we sit 1
at the bottom of the trench, waiting 1
for a wink of sleep." . . j I
HUMDRUM LIFE I
OF AIR THRILLS
Reads Like Page From Book of
Fairy Tales.
TELLS OF FIGHT WITH HUN
Boy Sees Nothing In His Exploit, But
Is Willing to Spin the Yarn if Any
body Cares to Hear It—Plays Pos
sum on Fritz and Then Gets Him—
Clouds Help Ambush.
| The every-day humdrum life of the
boy alrfighters on the western front
reads like a page torn from a book of
fairy tales. Here is a story of one of
the dull days as told by a rosy-faced
; youth of nineteen. He was back in
"Blighty" recovering from a machine
gun wound.
"What, you want to write a story
about how I got this?" He laughed in
embarrassment. "It was just an ordl
! nary day—no story In It —Americans
wouldn't care to hear It.
"This particular Hun had got old
Regan—sent him down blazing. So we
were after him. He usually came
snooping over our way 'bout sunup.
Poor old Regan. His old fault was
that he adopted stray dogs.
"Anyway, this Hun bird came sail
ing over impudently the other morning
about five. I skipped out to the aero
drome. All the boys yelling good luck
to me. After that nothing but the roar
of the engine.
Clouds Help Ambush.
"There were a few chunks of white
cloud —bully for ambush —if the other
fellow doesn't do the ambushing.
"Once before this bird had caught
me with nothing to feed my Lizzie,
my domesticated machine gun, and
jolly well chased me right down to
our back door.
"Before I got up much I was get
ting 130 out of her —old engine sing
ing like a cricket. I went up 10,000
feet, keeping an eye peeled for Fritz.
He was sitting under a cloud some
where, evidently. While I was nosing
around the corners of the clouds I
caught eight of a shadow on a cloud
bank below. It was my meat. 1
"You bet I took a quick look at my
fixtures, got a trayful of food ready 1
for Liz, hummed the 'lnvitation to the 1
Waltz' and began to slide a bit. But
I fell clean into a pocket, did a slide
slip. While I * was getting her 1
straightened out, Fritz saw me and
started to get up over me. He flew
better'n I did, had more parlor tricks,
but I'd got the best machine. He
knew it.
"The boy leaned forward and his
eyes sparkled with the memory.
Plays Tricks on Fritz.
"Y'know what that son-of-a-gun did?
—he'd lured me over their
First thing I knew a puff of shrapnel
left off below me, then one above, then
one on my port side. I turned her nose
up and got out of their reach. Mean
time I'd lost sight of my Fritz.
"Then I got an idea. I began to
wabble around like I was hit. Began
to fly like lame ducks was eagles com
pared with me. And it worked. He
barged right out of a near-by cloud
and opened up on me. I swung over
him —two struts and a landing wire <
cut clean off. I whirled —and let Liz
zie sing her favorite hymn to him. He
swerved and began to settle. Then
his machine caught fire and began to
whirl like a falling leaf.
"Only then I felt my arm stinging
and a funny feeling across my back.
He'd got me with his first beltful.
"I turned back toward home. 'Bout
twenty feet rom the ground I lost
control —probably fainted —and ruined
our flower patch. Had bullet In arm,
skin wound across the back and;
sprained leg In the bungled landing.
That's what sent me over here.
"But let me tell you, old man—and
put It In the paper—l wasn't fighting
that particular Fritz; it was the whole
outfit of skunks that bomb defenseless
cities and kill women and children.
"Now let me buy you a drink for
boring you."
GIRLS STOP TRAMPING
Wisconsin Poor Soon Tire of the Wan
dering Life.
Maude Bride, eighteen years old, of
Madison, Wis., said she was not going
to hobo any more, as she sank on the
upholstered seat of a passenger train
just leaving Peoria, Dl„ for her home
recently, in custody of her father.
She and Marie Shadel, seventeen
years old, also of Madison, were picked
up by the police in Princeville one eve
ning In a stranded condition and lodged
In the detention home. i
The two girls set out with $lO
earned by Maude In a candy factory to
hobo It to Waco, Tex., to visit their
soldier sweethearts, whose names they
gave as Herbert Ward, corporal of
Company C of Madison, and Ben Nl
chelski, a member of the Wisconsin
band.
They rode box cars and blind bag
gage until their money ran out, when
they were glad to be picked up, they
told the authorities.
Maude's father is just recovering
from a broken leg and used the money
he had laid by to buy his winter coal
to come to Peoria for his daughter.
Woman Mayor Fined Herself $lO.
Mrs. John J. O'Brien, woman mayor
of Moorehaven, la., fined herself $lO
when one of her horses broke the law
by straying from its corral and tram
pling gardens.
KAISERISM LAID
BARE BY GERMAN
Or. Liebknecht Makes Charges
Against Government.
IS « SCATHING INDICTMENT
War Incited Through Suppression of
Belgian Ultimatum and Messages of
Czar—Submarine Warfare and Sink
ing of Lusitania—Taking of Host
ages and Levy of Contributions.
A scathing indictment of the Ger
man government by a German was re
ceived in Washington and made pub
lic at Washington. It is a four-page
pamphlet in German by Dr. Karl Lieb
knecht, the Socialist leader. These
are some of the things with which he
charges the kaiser's government:
The incitement of the war through
the suppression of the Belgian ulti
matum and the messages of the czar.
The rape of Belgium and Luxem
burg.
Introduction of poison gas.
The Zeppelin bombings, "aimed," he
says, "to annihilate every living per
son, combatant and noncombatant."
Submarine warfare on commerce and
the sinking of the Lusitania.
The taking of hostages and levy
of contributions in occupied territory.
Systematic exaction of service trea
sonable to their own countries from
Ukrainian, Georgian, Courland, Polish,
Irish, Mohammedan and other prison
ers of war, and from enemy aliens In
Germany under threat of internment.
This service involved forced espion
age for the central powers.
Fostering political lawlessness and
exploitation of the people through
martial law.
Failure to provide for the people
through the war through the Influ
ence of the capitalistic and agrarian
classes.
Maintenance of Its aims of conquest
blocking the way to peace.
All of this Doctor Liebknecht sums
up as "the most extreme concentration
and extension of political oppression,
of economic exploitation, of militaris
tic slaughtering of the working
classes, body and soul, for the advan
tage of capitalism and despotism."
Paved Way for Revolution.
"The German government," he says,
"has prepared the way for a revolu
tionary uprising of the people and for
general distress."
Doctor Llebknecht's statement was
made to the imperial military tri
bunal, Berlin, in explanation of his
deposition in the proceedings follow
ing his arrest. He says:
"The German government contrived
the war jointly in concert with the
Austrian government, and so burdened
Itself with the greatest responsibility
for the immediate outbreak of the
war.
"The German government brought j
on the war under cover of deception!
practiced upon the common people and i
even upon the reichstag (note the sup- j
pression of tjje ultimatum to Belgium, l
the promulgation of the German White j
book, the elimination of the czar's dis-1
patch of July 29, 1914, etc.), and it j
sought by wicked means to keep lip i
the war spirit among the people.
"The German government wages the
war methods which, judged even by
standards till now conventional, are
monstrous. (Note, for example, the
sudden attack upon Belgium and •
Luxemburg; poison gas—since adopt- i
ed by all the belligerents—but most ,
outrageous of all the Zeppelin bomb
ings, inspired with the purpose of
annihilating every living person, com
batant or noncombatant, over large '
areas; the submarine war on com
merce, the torpedoing of the Lusitania,
etc.; the system of taking hostages
and levying contributions, especially
at the outset in Belgium; the system
atic exactions from Ukrainian, Geor
gian, Courland, Polish, Irish, Moham
medan and other prisoners of war in
the German prison camps; of treason
able espionage for the central powers;
the contract between Under Secretary
of State Zimmerman and Sir Roger
Casement in December, 1914, for the
organization, equipment and training
of the 'lrish brigade' made up of Im
prisoned British soldiers in the Ger
man prison camps; the attempts un
der threats by forced internment to
compel enemy alien civilians found in
Germany to perform treasonable war
service against their own country, etc.) j.
'Necessity knows no law.'
Refuses All Reforms.
"The German government has,
through the establishment of martial j
law, greatly increased the political
lawlessness and economic exploitation
of the people; it refuses all serious
political and social reforms, while it
seeks to hold the people docile for the
imperialistic war policy, through rhe- j
tori cal phrases about equal rights of
all parties, about alleged discontinua- j
tion of political and social class dis
criminations, about an alleged new or
der and direction of affairs, and the
like.
"The German government has failed, c
out of deference to agrarian and cap- c
italistic interests, to care for the eco- i
nomlc welfare of the population dur- (
ing the war, and so has prepared the t
way for a revolutionary uprfslng of £
the people and for general distress. f
"The German government holds a
fast even yet to its war aims of con- \
quest, and thereby constitutes the t
chief obstacle in the way of immedi- I
ate peace negotiations upon the fund- \ \
|
amental principle of renunciation of
annexations and of all sorts of op
pressions. It stifles through the main
tenance —in itself illegal—of martial
law (censorship, etc.) public knowl
edge of embarrassing facts and social
istic criticism of its procedure. The
German government thereby discloses
Its system of specious legality and
sham nationality as a system of act
ual force, of genuine hostility to the
people, and of guilty conscience as re
gards the masses,
j "The cry of 'down with the govern
ment' brands this entire policy of the
government'as fatal to the masses.
"This Indicates further that a strug
gle of the most strenuous character,
class struggle against the government,
is the duty of every champion of the
welfare of the proletariat.
Not In Interest of Masses.
"The present war is not a war for
the protection of national integrity,
not for the freeing of oppressed peo
ple, not for the welfare of the masses.
"It signifies from the standpoint of
the proletariat the most extreme con
centration and extension of political
oppression, of economic exploitation,
of militaristic slaughtering of the
working classes, body and soul, for
the advantage of capitalism and of
despotism.
"To all this the working classes of
all countries can give only one an
swer—lntensified struggle. Interna
tional class struggle against the cap
italistic regime and the ruling classes
of all countries for the abolition of
every species of oppression and ex
ploitation, for the termination of war
through the Institution of a peace con
sistent with the spirit of socialism. In
this class struggle, the socialist, who
knows no country but the Internation
al, must come to the defense of every
thing which as a socialist he is bound
to defend.
"The cry 'down with war' signifies
1 that I must stand opposed to the pres
ent w r ar, condemning and hating It on
principle, In its historical character.
In Its general social causes and spe
cific origin, In the method of Its con
duct and In the purposes for which
It Is waged. That cry signifies that
It is a duty Incumbent upon every
defender of proletarian interests to
participate In international class strug
gle for the ending of the war.
"As a socialist, I am fundamentally
opposed not only to this present war,
but also to the existing military sys
tem, and I have to the utmost of my
ability continually urged on the fight
against militarism as an especially
portentous undertaking, a matter of
life and death for the working classes.
(See my paper: 'Militarism and Antl
mllltarism, 1907,' international confer
ence at Stuttgart, 1907, and Copenha
gen, 1910). The present war Is a sum
mons to maintain the struggle against
militarism with redoubled energy.
Socialism Not Hurt.
"Since 1889 the Ist of May has been
consecrated to manifestation and
propaganda of the great fundamental
principles of socialism, against all ex
ploitation, oppression and violence,
consecrated to propaganda for the es
sential solidarity of workers In all
lands —a solidarity which the war has
not impaired but strengthened—
against fratricidal conflict, for peace
and against war.
"The declaration and propaganda of
these principles is a sacred duty im
posed upon all socialists —doubly so
during the Avar.
"The policy advocated by me is set
forth in the pronouncement of the in
ternational socialist congress held In
Stuttgart (1907), which bound social
ists of every country—since they have
not prevented the war —to work with
all their energies toward its speedy
1 fli rji A r ji ffr r |i rfr rfr rji r|i rfr tfr r|i 'j'j/
YOUNGEST KNITTER
FOR THE RED CROSS
Little Edith Riggs, six-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Riggs
of Brooklyn, N. Y., Is the youngest
knitter registered with the local Red
Cross. The little girl has already knit
ted several sweaters for our boys
abroad. She won a knitting bag of
fered to the first pupil in her school
who learned to knit in a practical
way. She is shown at work on a
blanket for a wounded soldier, spend
ing all her play time at this sort of
work.
, ending, and to take advantage of the
conditions which have arisen for has
. tening the abolition of the capitalistic
I order.
"Socialism, even to Its ultimate con
. sequences, is international in spirit
» It imposes upon the socialists of oth
, er countries the same duty, with ref
l erence to their governments and rul
ing classes, that I with others in Ger
, many have performed wltlv reference
to the German government and rul
ing classes.
.' "Socialism works in the spirit of ln
i ternationallsm in its reciprocal incite
ment, from country to country, of the
. class struggle against war.
Upholds Socialist Policy.
"With others I have, since the begin
f nlng of the war, in every possible way,
In the most public manner, defended
and upheld this socialistic policy; and
I am pledged to it, to the last degree,
In compact with my brother socialists
In other countries.
("I may mention, for example, my
Journey to Belgium and Holland in
September, 1914; my Christmas let-
I ter In 1914 to the Labor Leader, Lon
don ; the Swiss conventions. In which
1 I regret to say, I was unable to par
. tlclpate personally, being prevented
P by the superior powers, etc.)
"This policy—to which, cost what
» It may, I shall hold fast —Is not mine
alone, but Is on the contrary the pol
icy of an ever-Increasing proportion of
the people In Germany and in other
} ! countries, belligerent as well as neu
i tral. It will soon become as I hope—
and to this end I am resolved to toll
. on—the policy of the working class In
all countries, which will then possess
k the power to break the imperialistic
, will of the ruling classes, and to shape
as may seem best the relations and
conditions of the people for the unl-
I j versal benefit of mankind."
WOMEN ARE URGED TO -
KNIT FOR SOLDIERS
!j Causing Shortage of Wool in
Making Fancy Sweaters for
Personal Use.
"Stop knitting bright-colored sweat
ers of wool" is the message that the
woman's committee of the council of
national defense Is sending out to the
women of the United States.
Miss Hannah J. Patterson made this
statement to the members of the com
mittee : "While nurses and soldiers in
France are sending appeals to the lied
Cross for sweaters, bed socks, wrist
lets, helmets —In fact for six million
articles of clothing which call for
wool, hundreds of women in the Unit
ed States are using up enough wool
in fancy sweaters to equip the greater
part of the army. With knitting yarn
advanced in price and with an urgent
demand for wool from the Red Cross
society and elsewhere, it is Imperative
that we send out a call to our sisters
to do their bit in the war by making
this sacrifice. A woman should feel
the greatest sense of shame in the pos
session of more than one woolen sweat
er, and it is the duty of women con-
I nected with war work in this great
army, which is under the direction of
the women's committee, to make this
point clear. There Is a cry of distress
directly from the soldiers and nurses
In France In personal letters written
to members of this committee. It does
not seem possible that American sol
diers should have to shiver in open
trenches during a terrible winter in *
northern France because the women
of America choose to have from six to
ten sweaters apiece made of material
which is needed by the government."
IS FIFTH TO SERVE
Young Man's Ancestors Were All In
the War.
Although there is nothing unusual in
the enlistment of a young man in these
days, it is quite out of the ordinary for
the young man to be of the fifth gen
eration of his family to answer his
country's call.
Elton H. Bennett, a native of Fort
Madison, la., and a grandson of Quar
termaster H. J. Bennett of the lowa -
Soldiers' Home, has enlisted in the
navy at Los Angeles, Cal., according
to word received here by his grand
parents.
He completes the chain of family
representatives In his country's wars.
Not only did his two grandfathers,
Bennett and Brookover, serve in the
Civil war, but his great-grandfather,
Daniel Bennett, was also a veteran of
that war.
The younff man's great-great-grand
father, Asa Bennett, was In the war of
1812, and Ms own great-great-great
grandfathers, Bennett and Harris,
were In the Revolutionary war. Al
though not in direct line of ancestry,
young Bennett's uncle, Harry Brook
over, represented the family In the
I Spanish-American war.
PASTOR LIVES IN CHURCH
Demand for Houses in Town Forces
Him There.
Even the churches at Junction City,
Kan., are being, used In the emergency
created by the "boom" resulting from
the establishment of Camp Funston.
The Rev. James Houghton of
Universallst church, forced out of his
residence by the sale of the property,
sought in vain for another house and
finally hit upon the scheme of using
the social rooms of the church for his
residence.
Four thousand dollars has been
raised for the construction of a par
sonage to be built in the rear of the •
church and work is to be started soon.