Newspapers / Polk County News and … / Feb. 15, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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i Y ' ' ' - ' - ' - ' ' ' niinniAU annum THE WEEK'S EVENTS IMPORTANT NEWS OF STATE, NA v TION AND THE WORLD ' BRIEFLY rOLD ROUND ABOUMHE WORLD A Condensed Record Of Happenings Of Interest From ATI Points Of The World Domestic Five mased men entered the grill room of a hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, early in the morning and, enforcing their command of "hands up" with a fusilade of shots, obtained $1,500 from the cash drawers and escaped in a waiting automobile. As the men left the place, one of the patrons began shooting at them, and one of the ban dits fell wounded. A patron also was slightly wounded in the exchange of shots. The robbers got $3,500. A score or more scientists and busi ness men interested in food conserva tion and new sources of food supply sat down to a "whale steak luncheon" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. When it was over they declared the big mam mal furnished as delicious and appe nding a dish, as any meat market af fords. The commission on navy yard and naval bases says that Charleston, S. C, offers the only suitable site between Hatteras and Key West for a great navy yard. Heatless Mondays have been abol ished in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. ; A German spy was reported to have been found among forty first and sec and cabin passengers 'of the Dutch liner Nieuw Amsterdam, who were de tained by federal agents for examina tion at "An Atlantic Port." The man Is said to have broken down and con- . fessed that he was in the pay of the German government and had come to this country in order to furnish aipies operating in this country with a new code. Emergency deliveries of coal enabled many New York factories to continue operations and others to reopen after being closed for short periods, and brought cheer to thousands of homes and apartments. Warmer weather in the East gives promise of increased coal receipts. Federal legislation compelling "the most severe treatment of spies" and "enemy agents" is recommended to congress in an executive committee re port adopted, by the chamber of com . merce of the state of New ork at a meeting held in New York City. Contracts have been awarded by the French government to the Foundation company for the construction f 36 mine-sweeping vessels at the company yard at Savannah, Ga. News that Capt. Peter McLean, com vmander of the torpedoed liner Tusca- nia, has been saved reached the An chor line offices in New York City. It is also stated that both the purser and cliief steward were saved. Washington. Five masked men entered the grill to have been killed, four are missing and one was wounded when an Amer ican patrol was ambushed in No Man's Land by a superior force of Germans. The spot where the encounter occur red is an isolated one and-reports concerning the casualties inflicted by both sides" were meager. Only one American is known to have escaped the trap of the Germans which was laid in front of our wires. The one survivor, who crawled back to the American lines with a bullet in his chest, was unable to talk. A Mexican paper, reaching New York, gravely informs its readers that the United States government is plan ning an invasion of Mexico with Can ada and Cuba operating jointly with the United States. Representative Glass, in a speech de livered in the hoiue, went to the de fense of the administration, answered the charges contained in Senator Chamberlain's indictment of the war department and denied that the Amer ican war machine has "fallen down." A story of disaster at sea, affecting the hearts and hopes of Americans, although they have been schooled to expect it ever since the first contin gent of their fighting men left an At lantic port to become brothers-in arms to the entente warriors who are en-! trenched against the German hordes, fortunately has dwindled in the telling. One hundred and one lives were lost in the torpedoing of the British troop ship Turcania, off the Irish coast, at dusk Tuesday evening, according to the latest report. Consideration of the administration railroad bill has been completed by the house interstate commerce committee. The committee recommends that the states retain the power to tax railroad property during federal control and hold on to states' police power. Apparently retribution at once befell the underwater boat that sent the Tuscania to the bottom. According to the testimony of an American offi . cer, who was one of the last men to leare the Tuscania, a British de stroyer das"hed toward the evident lo cation of the attacker and dropped depth'; bombs that resulted, in the ex pressive phrase of the submarine hun ters, in the enemy being "done in." Major General -March, now chief of artillery with General Pershing, has been named acting chief of staff, tnd will' return to Washington immediately. Continued improvement in weather and transportation conditions will bring an end to the heatless Monday program after its enforcement next Monday, it is announced by the fuel administration. A favorable report on the war de partment's bill amending the selective draft law to require registration of men as they reach 21 years and bas :ng quotas on the number of men in class one, instead of on state popula tions, was unanimously ordered by the senate military committee, is the in foiniation emanating from the national, capital. Troops of the regular, National Guard and national army divisions will be made available for parade or reviews ; in towns or cities near their training centers to the fullest extent possible provided tL?y do not add un necessary burden to The railway facil ities. Vice Admiral Sims has arrived in Rome, Italy, and has been properly feted. He will remain there only a few days. The first survivors of the Tuscania were landed at Larne and Buncrana, two widely separated Irish ports. European. An American general now commands the sector of the front recently taken over by French troops. When the Americans first entered the sector it was under the command of a French general commanding a certain large unit of the French army. In turning the sector over to the American gen eral on February 5 the French com mander issued a general order in which he expressed complete satisfac tion with American troops. Reports have be,en received in Lon don of verified sworn statements from British soldiers who have returned from German prison camps and hospi tals regarding the systematic brutal ity practiced by the Germans upon the Italian prisoners. The international committee of the Red Cross has issued an appeal to all belligerent armies to abandon the use of asphyxiating gas, by common agree ment. An official statement on British aerial operations reports successful reconnaissances and the bombing of enemy targets. Polish forces which recently revolt ed from the JLussian army under the leadership of General Dovbor Moun Itsky have captured Smolensk from the Bolsheviki according to advices from Vienna. German newspapers arriving in Switzerland say that Field Marshal von Mackensen sent an ultimatum to the Roumanian government February 6, demanding that peace, negotiations be begun within four days. The Rou manian cabinet thereupon resigned. It is learned that confirmation in Russian circles has been received of the sending by Germany of an ulti matum to Roumania. Maj. Gen. Frederick B. Maurice, the chief director of military operations at the British war office, says the allies are still superior in number on the western front, notwithstanding the Germans have moved troops from the east to the west. Artillery activity continues on the British,. French, Italian and American front, but, aside from this, the opera tions have been confined to patrol and aerial attacks. London hears that twenty enemy air planes which endeavored to cross the American lines were violently shelled by anti-aircraft batteries and driven off. A member of the military police on the western front found three little French children wandering along, the road immediately behind the frorft, which is shelled very frequently by the enemy, and is considered very dan gerous. He turned the children over to an ambulance driver, who returned them to their homes in a nearby vil lage. That a German submarine endeavor ed to attack the destroyers while the latter were engaged in rescue work, is the statement made by an American officer at an Irish port where a large number of men were landed. i Few events of the war in the past few months have stirred the English people more deeply than the disaster to American troops approaching a Brit ish harbor on a British transport. Such an eventuality had been feared The latest casualty list indicates that the loss on the Tuscania may be one hundred or even less. This causes a distinct relief from the tension. The bodies of 44 of the miseing 101 victims of the Tuscania disaster were washed up in the rocks 15 miles from the scene of the torpedoing. The bodies wert mutilated beyond recognition, none of whom wore identification tags. The Cunard liner Aurania, 13,400 tons, was torpedoed by a German sub marine while bound for the United States. Although badly damaged, the ship was not sunk, and no loss of life is reported. Rome reports slight artillery activ ity on all the Italian front, but that hostile aircraft . have renewed their bombardments of Italian towns. The Finnish railway authorities at Torneo have received a report that the allied missions have been epelled from Petrograd end that they have al ready departed. There is no confirma tion of this report. Operations on the western front con- tinue to be marked by heavy artillery exchanges in conjunction with raiding attacks on the opposing trenches. London hears that looting has again broken out in Petrograd, and that many wine cellars have been sacked. Armored cars were used by the au thorities against the pillagers. POLK COUNTY NEWSTRYON, N. 0 III7 ri . Ii ft ' iff i Tr,- ri-jfici "ninin ps on meir 0114 11 - NEWS REVIEW OF the Past week Sinking of Transport Tuscania Inspires Nation to Carry War On to Victory. LADS FACED DEATH BRAVELY America Ready With New Methods to Combat the Submarines Russian Bolsheviki Fighting All Their Neighbors President Wil- sen Asks Further Powers. By EDWARD W. P1CKARD. The United States sustained its first severe blow in the war on Wednesday, when the transport Tuscania,. carrying American troops to Europe, was tor pedoed off the north Irish coast and sank in two hours. At the time of writing the number of missing, pre sumably dead, is 101. Of these 7u were American officers and . enlisted men, the others being members of the Brit ish crew. That the losses were so small was due to the excellent work of the convoying vessels and the time the Tuscania remained afloat. The fact that such disasters as this were expected In the process of trans porting hundreds of thousands of men to Europe does not lessen the shock to the nation or mitigate the anguish of the relatives of the victims. But those relatives have the great consola tion of knowing that their boys met their fate bravely and calmly, as Amer ican soldiers should, and that they gave their lives for their country and for civilization as truly as if they had died on the field of battle. Most of these troopers were but partly trained mem bers of forestry and other contingents going over to work behind the lines, but when the first excitement of the explosion had passed these lads, like veteran soldiers, lined up on the deck and ang national airs while they wait ed their turns in lifeboats. The sinking of the Tuscania has served to weld the determination of the entire nation to see the war through to a victorious finish. It also has brought forth the information that the American navy, which so far has been fighting the U-boats with make shift devices, is now about, ready to put into operation new devices and methods that, it is confidently believed, will prove most effective in dealing with the murderous submarines. The movement of troops to the other side will not be checked in the slightest by the loss of this one transport. Says Secretary of the Navy Daniels: "Just as fast as our ships can carry men to Europe they will go, and just as fast as they are equipped they will be sent, i and ships will carry them, and no man mui W1 1 . f"11 , , I I f -l ...til I U. .1 1 Our goous win utr vuiiieu atiuss um Atlantic except in ships flying the flag of the United States." For a bunch that is determined to have peace, the bolsheviki of Russia are getting plenty of fighting these days. And according to reports, they are not getting the best of It. Under taking to coerce Finland into a revolu tion like their own in Russia, they and the Finnish Red guards have been de feated in long and bloody battles at Uleaborg and Tammerfers by the gov ernment forces commanded by General Mannerhelm, known as the White guard. Uleahorg was the chief mili tary depot of the Russians In northern Finland, and bJh there and at Tara merfors the White guard captured con siderable stores of munitions and arms. So far Sweden has refused to permit supplies to be sent across the border to General Mannerhelm. despite the demands of fie Swedish press and peo ple. To the south the bolsheviki are fisrht- ing both the Ukrainians and the Ron- P manians In Besrabia and app.irentlv petting well whipped. In one fljrht Ihe Roumanians raptured and disarmed two entire, divisions of Russians;. In western Siberia General Kaledines was said to be working his way toward I Omsk, while farther east another force n . wi twwri! was moving north from Lnc' Li, I huiidin in large numbers. SScene during the enforced registering of enemy aliens in Chicago wnv to int mium-iidcicu - - the Chinese border to take the railway. The Tarjta-rs occupied Yalta, in the government, of Taurida, and were ad vancing to Sebastopol, the great naval base on the Black sea. Adding ;to their own troubles, the bolsheviklt-decreed the separation of church and' state and seized all church property for the people, which aroused the patriafch of Russia to excommuni c te some of Hhem and to call for a holy" war.v- An unconfirmed report said Polish troops hal -captured Mohilev, .head quarters of the bolsheviki army, and had captured Commander in Chief Krylenko and his staff. A deadlock over the question of the Ukraine put" an end, for the present at least, t the peace negotiations at Brest-Li tov)di. The Germans, it was said, then demanded their terms be ac cepted at once, threatening otherwise to march -oi, Petrograd. The Russian soldiers' council at Moscow called on the government to fiorm a volunteer socialist arfny and continue resistance. Meanwhile economic and food condi tions in Perograd and other parts of Russia are yrrowin steadily worse. It Is quit evident that Trotzky has been counting on a real revolution of the workers, of Germany, and It Is equally evidftjt that no such revolution is forthcoming In the near future. The widespread Utrkes which were hailed with joy bf, the foolishly optimistic were qulcklj? crushed by the military p&wer of th government, many of the leaders fortl Into the army and the rank and file of the workers driven back to their labor. In this Internal struggle thlGerman autocracy seem ingly did notjyield a single point to the democracy, though some effect of the strikes may appear in .the future. The radical leaders in the empire are not backing watec any more than are their autocratic opponents, and the situation there is still: critical. , - to ! As a substitute . for the war cabinet and munitions directorate bills which he so firmly; opposes, President Wil son on Wednesday had introduced in -the senate by Senator Overman a bill designed to dp.-away with bureaucratic inefficiency aid to give the chief exec utive vast powers. It was drafted for a: Mr. Wilson by the attorney general and authorises the president during the war to distribute, co-ordinate, con solidate and ijtherwlse reorganize any and all existing administrative func tions and agencies and create such new agencies fas he" deems necessary for the conduct of the war. He is also authorized toftransfer appropriations from one department, bureau or com mission to -an; other agency he may designate. :JV . Those who npport the measure say it properly confers on the president, as commnndepliri chief of the nation's armed forces,! whatever power he deems necessary to perform his task with efficiency; . Other congressmen declared the bi actually creates a mil itary dictatorship. There doesn't seem to be much difference between these two views. I :f Ships, ships nd more ships, is still the cry of thefUnited States and the entente allies, nd all are agreed that ultimate victor hangs largely on the ability of America to turn out the re quired amount f tonnage to transport Its troops and'Jne immense quantities of food and myftitions necessary. The present lack Isot shipyards and ma terial, but labo4 Already the govern ment Is operating great yards on both coasts, and others are being rapidly completed, but 'even those now In op eration are workine Jmt one shift of men where three should he worked. The appeal for laborers In the yard Is urgent and sbcrld meet with ample rerponse. not ojalv for patriotic rea sons, but for selfish reasons, too, for the pay assuredHs larse. The Unitod States now has! in all services about 4.000.000 tons shinnintr. approxi mately one-fourtjh of which Is engaged In bringing in mte inls that have been considered indirtrirl essentials. The government Is ' onsb?rin? a plan to make a SO rer Cet reduction in hnnorts by elhMlnnt'ng atiHes ih-t are nt es sential to the wifnins of the war. Th's wryld hetn om. j,n,t nf course the pllls mn swpnl.Tn eertafn amount of tonnage, but thee will still be left a wtde 1iscrpp.ntteterwn the availa ble amount of bfjeniwnr nl the .1 mount we must hrve lnWrder that Secretary BoVer's promise &f hHf a million men In Euro, by sprang and a million and if ' - ' 1 " o ifL nUGoiHPi Atimito a half more this year may be realized. Mr. Baker was sharply challenged in regard to that forecast, and admitted that it might not be exact. On the other hand. Rear Admiral Harris of the naval bureau of yards and docks, was rather optimistic concerning the shipbuilding progress, stating that un der favorable conditions the government-would complete this year its orig inal program of 6,000,000 tons of con struction. Chairman Flood of the house foreign affairs committee also added a cheerful note when he said the United States "will furnish more men and more money for the war in a far shorter time than has been the fondest hope of our own people or the nations with which we are associated." Directly connected with the question of ocean transportation is the propo sition of the British government that 150 battalions of Americans be trained in English camps so they can be hur ried to the front in Flanders and to the sector held by General Pershing. This would serve to relieve the exist ing congestion at the French ports where Americans now are debarked. This and similar plans are still under discussion. Although General Maurice, director of military operations, says the allies are still numerically superior on the west front and have no fear of the re sults of the expected German drive there, Great Britain and France are urging America to get as many men as possible into the fighting lines. The German concentration movement has been going on steadily and the German press says all is ready to strike the blow whenever Hindenburg says the word, and that the greatest battle of. the war is about to begin. Hindenburg himself gave the world a laugh the other day when he told a group of editors that he would be In Paris by next April 1. lEa Diiring the week the Germans at tacked the French rather strongly In the Aisne and Verdun regions but were utterly repulsed. All along the west front the activity of the aerial forces cached a high pitch, and the artillery fighting was continuous. The American expeditionary force, whose sector has been revealed as lying east of St. Mihiel and north of Nancy, was subjected to every form of attack the enemy could devise, and stood it all well, replying vigorously and effective ly. There is no lingering doubt as to how well and bravely Pershing's boys will fight. Th? "cune fire of their batteries is cspeci""v noteworthy. tea There has been little change in the situation in Italy, the invaders having lost ground if anvihing. The Italian aviators Oid excellent work In Wmbinsr the ene.ny's rear lines and mun'tlon stations, while the Roche airmen de voted tliir efforts mainly, and charac teristically, to atta'-s on Venice. Trev iso. Padua and Mestre. where the greatest damage tbev could do was to women and f'llldren. hospitals and architectural ,trr "os. 9 Uncle Sam Is p-ttin? the Hamps on the enemies within his borders In s way that probnhlv wil' check their ne farious operations. In New York Franz von Rintelen and(six of his fel low conspirators were found guilty and given the maximum sentence. The en forced registration of all enemy aliens was begun throughout the country The government's determination to keep out spies and epidemic-causing Terms sent by the Germans was ex- mplified in the minute examination triven the passengers and cargo of a Hutch steamshfp that arrived at New York. Of necessity most of the secret service work of the government re mains secret, hut its Increasing effec tiveness becomes anparent. Milder weather and the earnest ef forts of the men who run. the railways served to relieve the coal famine to a considerable extent, though ftiel condi tions are very bad. especially In the Atlantic coast states. The federal fuel administration took over the control of fuel oil. Food Administrator Hoover placed more strirt nt restrictions on nse of whept and meat throughout the country, and ordered all puill- eating houses to observe a two-ounce ration of wheat bread. The people are urged to make larger ne of potatoes In or der to save wheat , the crop of the tu ber being the biggest the country ever had. ARE DEMOB LIZED PEACE EFFECTED BY RUSSIAN; AND UKRAINE WITH FORMER ENEMY. RUMANIAN SITUATION GRiTiGAL Formal Treaty Has Not Yet Been Sign ed But Agreed Upon Contains Provision For Getting Food. Although no formal treaty yas yi; been signed between the Russians a:u' the central powers the bolsheviki gov ernment has ordered a cessation of hostilities by the Russians against Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria and the withdrawal 0f its troops from the trenches and for tified positions from the Baltic sea t0 the Rumanian frontier. It long had been foreseen that such an outcome eventually would follow upon the revo lutionary movement in Russia, where for nearly a year civil strife and war weariness generally proved most po tent factors,, in weakening the battle front. Long ago the enemy forces be gan the withdrawal of troops from this front, and virtually only a hand fill of them have been faced by Ru? sians there. Peace having been effected both by the Russians and Ukrainians with the Teutonic allies, the situation of Ru mania becomes a most critical one. Entirely cut off now from her allies, the Rumanians apparently are faced with the absolute necessity of effect ing a separate peace or being overrun by superior enemy armies. Nothing hae as yet come through to show whether another Rumanian cabinet to take the place of the one which resign ed last week has been formed or whether any reply has been made to the ultimatum of the central powers that peace negotiations should immedi ately be started. As has been anticipated, the terms of peace between the Ukraine and the central powers contain the mueh-des-ired clause providing for the im mediate entering into economic rela tions between the contracting parties by which Austria and Germany may obtain much desired foodstuffs. NO PEACE UNTIL GERMANY IS RECOGNIZED VICTOR Amsterdam. Germany desires peac e but before it can be attained her ene mies must recognize that Germany has been victorious. Emperor William said in an address presented by the burgomaster of Hamburg on the con elusion of peace with the Ukraine. The emperor's reply as given in a Berlin dispatch says: "We ought to bring' peace to the world. We shall seek in every way to do it. Such an end was achieved in a friendly manner with an enemy' which, beaten by our armies, per ceives no reason for fighting longer extends a hand to us and receives our hands. We clasp hands. But he who will not accept peace but on the con trary declines, pouring out the blood of his own and of our own peonle must be forced to have peace. We desire to live in friendship with neighboring peo nies but the victory of German arms must be first recognized." ONLY TEN NAMES ADDED TO THE LIST OF SURVIVORS Roll of U. S. Soldiers Aboard Tuscania Not Reported Rescued Now Stands at 340. Wasington. Only ten names, were dded to the roll of survivors of the 'ner Tuscania bv d'snatches to the war department. The list of American "oldiers who were on board the Hnei md who have not been reported ser "ued now stands at 340. although it i certain that about 200 of these and probably more are safe. FHeven new names have been .r1 "'orted. but one of them. John M. Shor ell. of rnPofo. Mo., had appeared on lteit o the saved nreviously cabled. In manv instances it ?s considered pos sible tht men still recorded as unre ported have succeeded 4n getting pri vate messages to their families. U. S. WAR ACHIEVEMENTS MARVELOUS, SAYS M'GOWAN Columbia, S. C. Feb. It Rear Ad miral Samuel McGowan. pavmaster general of the navy, a South Caro linian, in addressing the general as sembly of State of South Caiwlina de clared that the success of ffce war department in meeMng difficult tasks has been remarkable. The few mis takes made, he said., are far, overbal anced in the record-breaking accom plishments He sa?d that the navy is ready for its work in the war. TRADING IN HENS AND PULLETS IS FORBIDDEN Washington. Trading in live or freshly killed hens and pullets any where in the United States is forbid den in an order announced by the United States food administration. February 23 is , fixed as the date when fresh stock must be disposed of and adds that additional stodes may not be purchased. ' By restricting the killing of chick ens the food administration hopes t incrtaae the production of eggs.
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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Feb. 15, 1918, edition 1
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