North Carolina Newspapers

! i 1 ! ' 1 I. i i 3 J-lvY.-- li i Ill '; It 1 J ?! it it HI POLK COUNTY NEWS, TRYON, N. 0. ; ; i ........... v . l A RR PnToTTrl fr-w- 11 r-Tf?- JHk n HIV th Ufl IK yrrv , ,n - . n , if, i a rr,r 'if. .. irii;iia.d.iiv.i.irtawicjaiiiftiinniiiyii)-inniiinniiiiiitiifli.iiiii BOATSWAIN IS CITED F0R6RE AT HEROISM HOW JOHN MACKENZIE SAVED THE REMLIK WHEN A DEPTH CHARGE BROKE LOOSE. . HE CAPTURED THE BIG BOMB Delivery of Locomotives Ordered by . Government Starts in July Ger many Limits Spending Money of American Prisoners and Interned Civilians. t (From Committee on Public Information.) Washington. Many members of the United States army and navy are be ing commended for bravery In action or in eme-gencies. A typical case is that of john Mackenzie, chief boat swain's mate, of the naval reserve force, described in a navy department statement. The case Is unique In that it has to do with one of the latest engines of war. As is well known, United States destroyers and other submarine fight ers carry depth charges containing a large amount of high explosives which are dropped in the path of enemy sub marines and explode under water. These have proved effective weapons in the destruction of U-boats, and they are safe enough when the safety pins are affixed ; but when they get beyond-' control and the safety pin comes out they are a source of serious danger to; the vessels carrying them." It) will be recalled that the men on the U. S. S. Manley who lost their lives in the col lision of that destroyer with a British vessel were killed by the explosion of one of these bombs. ! In a heavy gnle on the morning of December 17, 1917, a depth charge on the Rem! Ik broke loose from Its posi tion on the stern. The box went over board, but the charge, was hurled in the opposite direction and went bounc ing about the deck. As it weighs hun dreds of pounds it was Impossible for anyone to lift the bomb and carry it to safety. It was even dangerous for anyone to go to that part of the ship, as the seas were washing over the stern. As the officers and crew watched the bomb some one shouted: "The pin's come out!" Realizing the danger, Mackenzie, exclaiming, "Watch me; 111 get It," dashed down the deck and Flung himself upon the charging cylinder. Three times he almost had his arms about ' the bomb, but each time It tore from him, once almost crushing him. The fourth time he got a firm grip on It and heaved It up right on one flat end. Then he sat on it and held It down. The charge might have broken loose again and exploded at any moment, blowing Mackenzie to bits, but he held on firmly until lines could be run to him and man and depth bomb safely lashed. Soon after ward the ship was headed up into the sea and the charge carried to a place of safety. The commanding officer of the Rem lik, in his report recommending that the medal of honor be conferred on Mackenzie, says: "Mackenzie, In acting as he did, ex posed his life and prevented a serious, accident to the ship and probable loss of the ship, and entire crew. Had this depth charge exploded on the quarter deck with the sea and wind that ex isted at the time there is no doubt that the ship would have been lost." Money Intended for Interned civil ians and prisoners of war in Germany should be remitted through he bureau of prisoners' relief, American Red Cross, Washingtonf D. C. Remittances so made will probably not be delivered to addressees by the German govern ment in cash, but in the form of credit on prison exchanges. According to the Spanish ambassa dor at Berlin, the war department states that there are no restrictions in regard to the remittance of money for civilian and military prisoners. Such money is placed to prisoners' credit, and may be spent under the i following regulations: J "Military prisoners. Sixty marks weekly may be spent by officers and others of similar rank ; 50 marks weekly by non-commissioned officers and men. "Civilian prisoners. Sixty marks weekly for men of better social posi tion; v50 marks weekly for others." . A study Is being made of the for mulae and manufacturing processes of medicines requiring glycerin, and plans for the curtailment of the quan tity iow used in case It becomes nec essary will be submitted to the general medical board of the Council of Na Hmal Defense. It Is announced In the Bohemian press that experiments made with "paper cloth" have proved so success ful that "Hungarian state railways are to furnish their employees with sum clothing of this fabric. - j In Its . regulations governing the price of . wool the war industries loard allows dealers to make a charge of three per cent of the selling price If the wool Is not graded, and 3H per cent if graded. This commission is to cover all storage, cartage and insurance. An Additional credit of $3,250,000 has been extended to Belgium by the United States, making a total of $107, 850,000 loaned to that country, and tredltt to an the allies $588,850,000. Delivery of the first of the 1,023 locomotives ordered by the railroad administration will start, in July, and deliveries will continue monthly during the rest of the year. The locomotives are of six standard types, with one heavy and one light style in each type. They vary In weight from 290,000 pounds to 540,000 pounds, and the en tire order will cost about $(50,000,000. The six standard types are expected to eventually supersede the many kinds now in service, which embrace engines built according to 500 or more specifications. According to the rail road administration, this is the first real step ever taken toward the wide standardization of locomotives. An order has also been placed for 100,000 freight cars of standard type to cost between $250,000,000 and $300, 000,000. Negotiations for the construc tion of many thousand additional steel freight cars are still pending. The five types of cars ordered represent the standard forms of freight cars adopted by the railroad administration. The adoption of these standard types, It is believed, will eventually substitute a few scientifically worked out designs for the numerous miscel laneous varieties of cars, representing probably more than a thousand differ ent old styles and specifications now in use, the accumulations of the past. Before an airplane can be put into military service it must be equipped with at least nine delicate aeronautic Instruments, some of which are abso lutely essential to exact flying, and all contribute to the successful operation of a plane. One gives the pilot his lo cation as to height and direction ; oth ers tell his speed through the air, the speed of his propeller, the amount of gasoline carried, water temperature, operation of the oiling system, and guide his "banking" on turns. An other necessary article is the oxygen supplying apparatus, without which an aviator could not climb to any great height.. For operation of actual combat planes, such as observing, photograph ing, bombing, and fighting planes, other complicated and expensive in struments and. sets of apparatus are necessary. Among them are machine guns, gun mounts, bomb racks, bomb dropping devices, bomb sights, radio and photographic apparatus, electri cally heated clothing, lights and flares. These bring the total cost of equip ment for an airplane to several thou sand dollars each, depending upon the type of 'plane. Nearly 2,000 types and sizes of farm implements which have been gradually developed by manufacturers during peace-time competition have been rec ommended for elimination during the war by committees of the National Im plement and Vehicle association. The object, according to a statement by the Council of National Defense, is to conserve materials, labor, capital, and manufacturing facilities for war use. In the report of the committee meet ings to the commercial economy board of the Council of National Defense it was stated that no machinery recom mended for discard was believed to be necessary to modern economical agri culture. The lines considered by the committees consisted of steel and chilled plows, grain drills, seeders, and other tillage implements and farm cul tivators. Such of the recommendations as the board deems suitable, with others from different sources, are being brought to the attention of all implement manu facturers and jobbers, pud as many re tall dealers as may be reached, through questionnaires. A number of high-grade news pho tographers are urgently needed by tlj signal corps. These men must have expert experience In the handling jof . speed cameras, such as Graflex, Graphic, and also understand speeds of lenses and various makes of cam eras and operation of same. Only 'those men who can furnish references as to their actual experience as news photographers will receive considera tion. The men selected for this branch of the service will be sent to a school for military training. Upon completion of the training they will be promoted to grades of sergeant, first class, and will be ordered overseas In a short time. Applicants must be citizens of the United States between the ages of 21 and 31. All communications should be addressed to Air Division, Training Section, Photographic Branch, Wash ington, D. C. Advice from Shanghai states that the subscriptions to the third Liberty Loan there amount to over $600,000, and a report from the American em bassy in Mexico City states the sub scriptions there are more than $350,000. Regulations for bread-making in Sweden permit only nine kinds, the weight and price being prescribed by law. Only rye, wheat, barley, or oat flour may be used, and for ordinary bread the use of butter, lard or other fat,, milk or cream is prohibited. Recent contracts by the war depart ment authorize the manufacture of 3,500,000 pairs of metallic-fastened field shoes for overseas use. The aver- age price was about $7.75 a pair. Contracts have also been awarded for the manufacture of 2.000.000 pairs of field welt shoes for United States and overseas service, the average price being $6.50. EfttTfif- jvenirn Newspaper UnjonaS&gg iA,,ctrniinn official nhoto!rraDh that shows strikingly the wastage of var; troops arid horses moving to the front along a duckboard road that Is lined with dead horses and broken wagons. 2 Twin Lewis guns mounted, on a British airplane and used with deadly effect. 3 Major General Maurice whose accusations of misrepresenta tion and lack of sincerity against the Lloyd-George government brought on a cabinet crisis in England. NEWS REVIEW OF THE PAST WEEK Premier Lloyd George Again Is Winner in Crisis Brought on by General Maurice. GIVEN VOTE OF CONFIDENCE German Attack South of Ypres Smash ed, While Allies Improve Their Po sitions at Many Points Investiga tion of American Aircraft Produc tion Collapse Started. The Difference. Boost, don't boast One gets some thing, the other doesn't. Memphi Commercial Appeal.. . r . By EDWARD W. PICKARD. Premier Lloyd George and his cabi net successfully weathered another storm last week when the house of commons, by a vote of 293 to 106, re jected Herbert Asquith's motion pro viding for the appointment of a spe cial committee to investigate charges made against the premier by Maj. Gen. Frederick B. Maurice. Having de clared that he would considered the action of the commons as a test of confidence. Mr. Lloyd George would have resigned and turned the conduct ol the war over to Mr. Asquith had the latter been sustained. As it is he has won another great personal victory largely by means of the -statement he made in the house an ex parte state ment, to be sure, but one that im pressed his hearers with his evident honesty and frankness. The charges made by General Mau rice, formerly director of military op erations, were that the premier and other officials had deceived the people by false statements - concerning the army. The accusations were fully re futed by Lloyd George, who showed that his statements were made on in formation obtained from General Mau rice's department. He protested vig orously against such distracting and paralyzing controversies and implored thnt'there should be an end to "snip ing." He called Maurice's action a flagrant breach of discipline, especial ly pernicious in its effect on a new army and not understandable to the al lipsiof Great Britain. I Then is no reason to question the patriotism of General Maurice's mo tives in precipitating the crisis, but it is eviuent that he was made the tool of the political opponents of the pre mier whd hoped to ride into office on the resulting storm. Presumably the offend'.ng officer will be court mar tlaled. isa Last week passed with only one im portant infantry action on the west front, but neither army has been idle. The heavy artillery of the allies has been continually hammering the Ger man positions and especially devoting Itself to smashing the enemy's lines of communications and munition depots and to hampering the bringing up of re-enforcements and supplies. In this the aviators have given Invaluable aid and the work has been so well done thatthe renewal of the offensive was perforce delayed. Heavy and frequent rains also handicapped the Germans and they found great difficulty in mov ing their ponderous tanks and largest guns across the devastated country, the roads being consistently broken up by shell fire and their repair made al most Impossible. Meantime the allies took every op portunity to improve their positions and In many local operations advanced their lines and strengthened their hold on the commanding heights both in Picardy and in Flanders. In these fights the Australians and Canadians had a prominent part, the former be tween the Ancre and the Somme and the latter south of Arras, both contln; gents making considerable and very valuable gains. All along the line the British, French and Americans re pulsed all the enemy raids ' until Wednesday night, when, after heavy artillery preparation, the Germans at tacked in the sector of Ypres, between La Clytte and Voormezeele. It was their apparent intention to outflank the Important heights of Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge from-the northeast and they succeeded in forcing the Brit ish and French there out of some of their first-line trenches. But later in the night the British counter-attacked and regained all that had been lost. Two Hun divisions carried out this at tack and they suffered heavy casual ties. On Thursday morning the enemy made a new attack on the Flanders front north of Kemmel and slightly bent the British line. At the same time troops from Nova Scotia pndtNew Brunswick made a great raid on the German outpost line at Neuville-VItas-se, southeast of Arras, taking prison ers and guns and inflicting many cas ualties. Most of the American troops that have been moved Into the battle re gion appear to be placed along the line between Montdldier and Noyon. and they are giving a good account of them selves there, as are also those hold ing the Toul sector. There have been no heavy operations In either sector recently, but the artillery In both is always active and the American gun ners have proved their excellence. They are now using their heavy artillery northwest of Toul after several weeks of preparation. The American casual ty lists, still relatively small, are in creasing daily. ftl There is no Indication that the Ger man high command will abandon Its plan of smashing the British army and forcing a breach between it and the French. Ludendorff is Increasing his resources in every way possible and Austria and Bulgaria have been called on to supply troops for garrison duty in order that the Germans may be sent to the front. Intimations such as have appeared in some German papers that the attempt to reach Paris will be abandoned mean nothing. No doubt there will be repeated great offensives throughout the summer, and the allies are preparing to resist them to the ut most, their Intention being to main tain their lines unbroken until Amer ica's men are there In sufficient num bers to enable General Foch to do more than resist. It Is admitted that with out our army the allies could not gain a military decision over the Germans under existing conditions. How long the German people will stand for the slaughter of their men is another ques tion. From captured mail and the more outspoken of their newspapers it is evi dent they are becoming sickened by the awful bloodshed, but they prob ably will continue submissive so long as they think there is a chance of a final victory. -fc The movement of Americans to France continues with Increasing swiftness and it is the avowed In tention of the war department to have not less than 1,000,000 men there by the end of May. The administration and the congressional leaders, except ing such men as Kitchin, now view the situation comprehensively and agree that no limit should be put on the size of our army, as It is likely as many as 8,000,000 men will have to be placed under arms within three years. A total of about four millions will be available immediately, and Provost Marshal Crowder and others believe it will be necessary to Increase the draft age limit to forty years within a year. In deed, many details have been worked out with this increase in view. Classes 2, 3 and 4 of the draft are being care fully combed out to eliminate slackers and many names will thus be added to class 1. Austrian reports tell of the presence of American troops on the Italian front, though this had not been an nounced by Washington. The expected offensive on that front has not vet ma terialized, but it is believed It wPl not he much longer delayed, because of the critical state of affairs in Emperor Carl's realm. Hunger and discontent are increasing so greatly that-troops have been concentrated in the most disaffected parts of the empire. Also there have been serious disturbances in. the Austro-Hungnrinn fleet, the crews of which are largely Slavs and men of Italian orlfrln. Roumanla has submitted to what seemed the inevitable and signed a peace treaty with the central powers. Of course she loses much and gains nothing. The Instrument provides that ;most of the Dobrudja be ceded to Bul garia and other Roumanian territory to Austria and Hungary; the central r .... . , . powers are to control the navigation of the Danube, and the Roumanian army, except ten divisions, is to be de mobilized, its equipment going to the central powers until the conclusion of a general peace. The queen of Roumanla and her chil dren refuse to recognize the peace treaty end lose no opportunity to af front the Germans in their country. fe The German vice chancellor an nounced the establishment of a special department to regulate Germany's eastern policy, and defended her policy of intervention In Finland, declaring it had Insured the independence and freedom of that country and was un dertaken at the request of the legiti mate Finnish government. It is report ed that Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz has been selected as king of Finland. Little news of mo ment came from Russia or the Ukraine last week. It is quite evident now that Germany will get little food from the latter country this year. fc In Palestine the British forces ap parently met with a reverse which compelled them to evacuate Es-Salt and retire to the wesyt bank of the Jor- 4 dan. Constantinople claimed th Turks administered a stinging defea to General Allenby's troops. s tea Nicaragua lined herself up with most of the rest of the nations on Tuesday by formally declaring war on Germany and Its allies. Its congress empowered the president to employ all the re sources of the nation in prosecuting the war. I Gutzon Borglum's charges that graft. Incompetency and pro-German influ ences were responsible for the col lapse of America's aircraft program could not be ignored, so President Wil son ordered a thorough investigation made by the department of justice The senate committee on military af fairs also announced it would resume its inquiry into the fiasco. Both the administration and the committee as' sured the public there would be no "whitewashing" and that if anyone was guilty he would be duly punished. Secretary Baker protested against a public hearing of the matter by the senators on the ground that it would only aid and comfort the enemy, and he told the military committee of the house that results under the manage ment of John D. Ryan would soon be gratifying and that criticism of the con dition of airplane production was pro German. There is reason to believe his confidence In Mr. Ryan and the re organized bureau is not misplaced, but the public "would: like to know what became of the $640,000,000 already spent and why there i so little to show for it. )ca Another revelation that has stirred congress and that Secretary Baker may be called on to explain is that quan tity production of the heavy Browning gun and of heavy artillerv is very far behind the hopes of the people that were inspired by the promises of the war department. In the case of the howitzers it would seem that valuable time has been wasted In the effort to dev! jnjr cflrHng-pS of new Rnd dJs tinctlvely American model instead of going ahead with the models found satisfactory by the British and French. There is also a great shortage in pis tols, though General Dickson, chief of the arms manufacturing division, says the outlook for improvement in this is encouraging. ' Mr. Baker says an In quiry Into the entire question of ord nance production ; is being made by Lieut. r Baseom Little. 1B1 The railroad wage commission last week recommended Increases for all employees whose wages were less than $250 a month in December, 1915. The increase range from 4.6 to 43 per cent, the lower the wages, th greater the relative Increase. The total annual in crease in the pay roll of the railroads would be about $300,000,000. Director General McAdoo can use his discretion in conforming to the recommendations of the commission, and Is expected to render his decision very soon. Large as the increases are. they do not come up to the demands 4 of the railway workers' unions and considerable dla satisfaction is expressed However Mr. McAdoo's decision doubtless will bt accepted with. good frae. SECRETARY BAKPp AMER.CAN T:Roo?s BP llCtrr. . LU I. AT GENERAL FDCfyaj : t C 1. I.: V ct fev t t) r c tc ti; Expedited Movement of . France s Prr. Washington. "7mericai were inclined to char, , 3 from Lonrlrm . l-r-2!-J can troops would not be , complete and powerful Am 61 had been develonpd inVnci: echo of the political ,JK r ,tl ugiana bv ts, of General Maurice, fhev no other explanation since If ment attributed to the " tee" of the British w5r X' promptly repudiated by ing, British ambassador "here s declared by Secretary Bakerfc mal statement, tn ha n, a v- aaso'ira ance with the facts as know. ncamuBs statements! was confident no such mi of Premier Lloyd-George, ad me views or the British gDTer, wnicn ne was transmitting. actly opposite. Secretary Bake' American troops were now to, iu uaiue auu wouiq continue used as the supreme commas eral Foch, deemed best. . , inquiry ai tne various the war department showed & expedited movement of men to ?i is proceeding as planned after i nouncement that America! would be brigaded with Frd British divisions for immediate ations as well as training. Since the decision to scatter ican battalions or regiments i forces was made only because cry for manpower from both : ish and French governments i: German onslaught was batter: lines in Flanders and Picardy, ti here were inclined to find of the announcement now a:rl to the war cabinet distastes whole American program in": has been subject to revision r son of that decision, the efc: which was to set ustfe natioa and the ambitions of Amend cers of high rank in order to: immediate aid. Such sacriSa; not viewed lightly it is held, c: accepted or lbjec.ed a', the J the moment in London or elsl Just how this report mayrti the recent political crisis in American officers did not undd say. They have a stiong fee:; Enelish politics is oehind 4 tery, however, and looKtcfcjtt. ish government to correct F any misapprehension there Sj about the nsed for America cr. tt' Jc s: da ii dh a n PATrS MAYBE RAISED 25 PER Wasington Estimates a railroad administration offi oQto that an an increase oil 25 per cent n freight and Pf raies win uc w- , moot thP. hitrh costs of ft equipment and otter ope nonapo. now set at between t 000 and $750,000,000 more u vear. Recommendation that rateH ri hv annroximately tin- f y,a hPP.n made to Director '; at r a Ann vv his advisers. x-j i within tils'" pecieo iu tn. t .... :-nram weeks, and to pui i immprflfltplv. Ship?" mitted to appeal to the .:fln llD commerce comun" road act and final decis with the president. be' Cnnh an UUV.il - . rould be the biggt n as ic r American railways is larger than any ever . ' n or nrivate ar.d tf" iffected- railways uuuei y .w. nnnlv alike country. Both ela-s schedules would be a ... PAPERS, NATURALISM i i" cR35 CANCELLED AFTER . t t TViirtv-8ve NewarK. 1 . tAr FYprteriek v u' , ; man-born, obtained An ship papers tney the federal court here. who. according to fused to buy Libert ute to Red Cross or w bus funds, was recently v Vie' v 1- postmaster at , lives, because of aiieg sympathies. Women Granted u'tyreSfi Atlanta, Ga.-Atter fort, women of the - pal church, south. e .Pttnn of the general . lay membership in the . rranhs in the awr' . . s r . Willi tJd is not In harmonr our law that women ...Tife: U 1S .-if general ..-war a woman a6ie man may be elected . j, ,,ftnl. hut je a member of the lLtd ere ordered from tne C: ci : i: ana he t ' c 1 r::: tL : ESI. flna: th!: o: I