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a!)e Mount 3lirg Jleta# MOUJfl AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY. MAY 3 1917. MO. SOLDIERING WILL SOON TAKE ON A NEW ASPECT. Official* lUtdy to Apply to New Army Lcwoni Learned From European Battlefield*. Wanhin/ton, April 28.—Soldiering' will talc* place on an aspect entirely; new to American military science when training of the force* to I* as sembled umler the draft hill logins' at the 16 training cantonments. Care ful plans laid by w«r department of ficial! provide for the application im-i mediately of every lesson leatnel from Eutopean battlefields, and much of the work to 1ms done will be new, ( even to men recently in army in-1 utruction camps. The American training system pro-' bably will follow *o some extent that [ used in CWnnda, where t'lo instructor have mad" eve: y effort to reproduce as clos»ly as po"'Hc conditions at. the front. Another work new to American troops will be bombimr practice. Every company will ha\ • its section of grenadiers to clear the way into a disputed trench. Ma-h ine gun work will oe revolu j tionized. With the artillorv. all the complicated mechanism for curtain and barrage fire must be pro\ ided for. It takes long training to fit gunners for this w..rk, and absolute' •certainty of the lines of communica tion with the observation posts. So for each element of the army! there are days of endless toil ahead.! Secretary Baker said today that j many problems involved in raising,1 organizing and training the new army could not be solved nntil actual cases were presented. He said it now seemed unlikely that the entire 7,000, 000 or more men who will be liable for duty in the conscriptive forces could be enroled, physically examined ing to the color* began. Mr. Baker is Inclines to favor the' jury wheel system of choosing the men to be called first. When any! township is called upon for its quota to fill the first 500,000 increment, thei names of all of its citizens previously ' registered for militar; duty would be placed ir the jury wheel and the pro-j per number drawn. Fxamination of' that number would then be carried' out and additional names drawn to. fill up the quota, with provision made for exemptions. The secretary indicated that pas-; sage of the draft would be followed by further vigorous efforts to stimu late voluntary recruiting in the regu lar army and national guard. Presi dent W i' >on may issui a proclamation calling for fiOO.OOO or more volunteers for the.-o branches of the service. Mr. Baker mnde it plain that the war de partment does not plan to apply the draft to fill up the regular and guard' forces until the supply of volunteers has b^erj exhausted. Within a month after enactment of the bill, the secretary expects to set j the registration date for the con scriptive forces. A proclamation will be issued notifying all men affected to appear at the registration places. The election machinery of each com munity will be used to facilitate registration, and the police forces will be employed to bring in those who fail to appear voluntarily. Exemption boards will be localized to the greatest possible extent, as Mr.' Baker desires to get the benefit of neighborhood sentiment and neigh boring knowledge in carrying out this work. The importance of a man in' his civilian occupation is well known1 among his neighbors. The department issued a statement j today to correct the impression that the army Springfield rifle is to l>e' abandoned for the British Knfield. The department announced als> that it had ordered t>*.*o types: of heavy field howilren. of foreign! design. l"he departr>#n: Issued this state ment: "The final list of citinens ".»ho are to be admitted will be published on May 8, or as soon before that time as practicable. Those who urn, selected will be notified and will lie expected to report at the camps i.s anon as pos sible after notice is received and in no event later than May 11. "All reserve officers of infantry, cavalry, field artjllery arid coast artillery will be ordered Into active servire at once, to report to training camp- as may be designated by de partmert commander- They are ex pected to arrive in these ramps not later than May 8th. In order to handle without confus ion or delay tha problem of supplying and equipping troop* to bo raiaad undar tha war army bill, many quar termaster officers in tha reserve rorpa already have been called out for active service aa assistants to the depot quartermaster at headquarter* of the four military department*. As to Treason and The Penalty Everything. The law defining treason is about a* wide a* an aligator's mouth, and the man who wants to try to wr Ik the tight rope on that frontier lying be* tween loyalty and treason had better go prepared to be hanged. Just now the President has given out a procla mation to the effect that all persons guilty of treason shall fie hanged— and in the broader sense any per ion giving aid or comfort to the enemy is guilty of treason. Treasonable utterances and treas onable acts have been defined many, times, but as it remains for the judge1 and jury to determine from the evi-! deuce it may he here suggested that, all people inclined to criticise this! government had better pin up a large sign in front of their eyer renting "afety first", and than pro < I to button their lips. In this country, where there are so many German >, well intentioned citizens, then- will be much trouble, no doubt on the "utter-j ance" score. Th" average German talks excitedly and the average American citizen, if the war gets warm and the lines are closely drawn, is going to construe what might puss for a joke in times of peace to be a very serious matter in times of war. But not only Germans are admoni shed by the new proclamation to hold the tongue in abeyance, but all these people who have erstwhile shot off their mouths at random mubt curb an tees freedom of speech should ait lead men too far. The man who criti cises the President, the man who abuses the flag, the man who orally gives aid or comfort to the enemy will speedily be found guilty of treason— and trenson, my worthies, is punish able by death. And it is well. This free America has taken too many priviliges. Fun ny old world, that war measures are so much more strict than peace measures. In times of peace the car-, to«.ryst can come in anil slander and villify the President of the United States; the gossipers can crucify the fairest character; the newspapers can. lamliast any man running for office and claim the privilige because it has been made the custom by rowdies in power; but in times of war the man who speaks disrespectfully of the: stars and stripes wil! be hauled up be fore the United States commissioner. and put under ten thousand dollar bond, and when he is tried, if guilty he can be shot because he has com-1 mitted a treasonable act. The man who speaks disparagingly of the Presij dent of the United States is guilty of treason—if he speaks loud enough and there are ns ifs or ands about it. In other words, the man who claims protection of the flag; the man who IHCO *•» IIIIO VUUIIU)! ruuni WUilV II1C chalk. He must keep his mouth shut if he doesn't like the program an.l^ the much vaunted freedom of spee/n becomes a myth, as it should, and the freedom of the press which the Con-( stitution guarantees j8 abrogra'ed and the editor with his fume and foam and swagger who has cut a swath in the path of peaceful times dips his pen no moie in vitriol. He takes a long needed rest. The proclamation just issued by the President is timely and will Sear much fruit. The peace propaganda must have a care. The citizen wb > has been in the habit of chewing to bacco and expectorating on the side walk and declaring that hell be if he endorses this thing must have a care; the editor must l>e cautious and all of us get under the flag and talk for It and write for it and fight for it and die for it if need lie. Such is the majesty of the law— such its supreme function. Jus* hew many men will be arrested is prcble matiral. Rut the Germans and the German sympathizer* are going to be closely watched, and the thing for them and all of us to do is to under stand that the war is on and I hat the laws are strict. "Keep your mouth shut" is the companion piece iijw to "safety first", and he is a wis" man who earr'e« these two mottoes always in his mind. ' ' ■ DESPERATE BATTLE IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL With German and British De stroyers Locked Together the Men Fought Furiously. London, April 25,— Two British de stroyers on patrol duty in the English channel off Dover on tho night of April 20 came upon a flotilla of six Gorman destroyer* and then ensued an encounter which will live long in the history of naval engagements. German destroyers were torpedoed and rammed; every gun aboard the combatunU was working, sweeping the decks and testing gaps in the sides of the opposing craft. There was the locking together of a British and German destroyer, and the men fought furiously in a hand to hand battle. Germuu seumen of a rammed de stroyer climbed aboard ~ne of the British boats mid a midshipman fought them buck with an automatic pistol. They were killed or driven into the sea by British jackies who came to the midshipman'- aid. The - British destroyers were the Swift and the Broke and although they had received muny wound.", they returned to port. The destroyer leaders. Swift and Broke, on night patrol, were steam ing on a westerly course. It was in tensely dark but calm. The Swift sighted the enemy at six hundred yards and the Germans instmtly opened fire. There were six German destroyers, according to German pris oners. The Swift replied an.l tried to ram the leading enemy destroyer. She missed ramming, but shot throu the German line unscathed and in turning, neatly torpedoed another boat in the enemy line. Again the Swift dashed at the leader, which again eluded her and fled, with the Swift in pursuit. In the meantime the Broke had launched a teorpedo st the second The Broke'* commander swung round to port and rammed the third boat fsir and square sbreast the sfter funnel. Locked together thus, the two boatarf^ught a desperate hand to band conflict. The Broke swept the enemy's decks at point blank range with every gun from main armament to Pompom maxim rifle and pistol. Two other German destroyers at tacked and poured a devastating fin on the Broke whose foremost gun crews were reduced from 18 to fi men. Two minutes after rnmming, the Broke wrenched herself free from her adversurv "anil tu:..ed to ram the last of the three remaining German boats. She failed in thiobject, but in swing ing around, succeeded in hitting the boat's consort on the stem with a tor pedo, Hotly engaged with these two fleeing destroyers, the Broke at tempted to follow the Swift in the di rection she wax last seen but a shell struck the Boke's boiler room, dis abling her main engines. The enemy then disappeared in the darkness. The Broke, altering her course, head ed in the direction of a destroyer, which a few minutes later was seen to be heavily afire, and whose crew on signtmg tne Hritisn destroyer, sent up shouts for mercy. The Broke steered slowly toward the German, regardless of the danger from a pos sible explosion of the magazines, and the German seumen redoubled their shouts of "Save! Save!" and then un expectedly opened fire. The Broke, being out of control was unable to extricate ho u ![, but silen ced Hi" i-tichcry w.l four ro'.iiv'a; then, to ensure her own safety, tor pedoed the German amidships. Meanwhile, the Swift continued her pursuit, but slight injuries which she received earlier in the action prevent ed her from maintaining full speed, so she abandoned the chase and sought fresh quarry. Sighting the outline of a stationary destroyer, from which shouts were heard, the Swift approached wearily with her guns trained, to find that it was the destroyed which had already been rammed by the Broke. The Germans were bellowing "We surrender!" Fearing treachery, the Swift waited and presently the destroyer heeled over and sank stern Tlrst, the crew jumping into the water. As no other enemy was visible and the action, which had lasted approxi mately five minutes, appeared to be over, the Swift switched on her sear ch lights and lowtred boats to rescue the swimmers. Those who remained of the crews of the Swift and the Broke, after exchanging detail! of the action, cheered each other until they were hoars*. I dmTMMtfiiiiilifel.fi THRILLING BATTLES ARE FOUGHT IN THE CLOUDS Allied Birdmcn Engage the Enemy Craft and Many Plane* are Sent to Earth. From ■ Staff Correspondent of th« Amociated Preaa with th« British. Armm in France, April 27.—The j German airmen had one of the great-. est surprises of their live* lata yes terday. The day had been heavily. overcaat until nearly 6 o'clock in the | evening, when the clouds suddenly | thinned and the aun broke through. A few German machines had been j sighted well hack of their linea dur- > ing the obscured pe.iod, but when the nun shone out severaf enemy squad runs which had l«n housed all day1 came out to stretch their wings in the j slanting afternoon's rays. They hail scar ely taken the air when the fc'rit'ii mac^irtr pounced upon them, r."i in tn* after-tea lime; fighting th I' ensued several German machines wer; seen to trash and eight others to <>e driven down completely nut of cont'i*. which are believed to: hi e l>»en .le.t oyed Between 6 and 8 o'cldtk the air vas filled with wonderful incidents of1 deeds of daring. There were running fights and general melees. One dia tinguished youf.g Britisher who only recently returned to the air after several months of rest, deliberately "sat over an enemy airdome" and watched six enemy machines leave the ground and begin to climb toward him. He was sitting at 13,000 feet and calmly remained there until the leader of the challenging planes had attained about 6,000 feet. In the meantime he had noticed that one of the hostile birda was something of a stranger. It had a very long tail and very ahort nose. The Britisher did not atop to worry about it. He dived at the higheat of the climbers and gave him two burata from hia machine gun. Down went While this little action waa going on five other Germana had formed be tween the British plane and hia home line. Firing as he came, the British er tried to break through the forma tion but failed. Then he turned away, as if about to attempt an es cape toward the south. All the Ger mans started in pursuit. One of them soon outdistanced the others and was approaching the Britisher,^ when the latter whirled about and fired into the German at point blank range and ■law him burst into flames. Next in line was the long-tailed, short-nosed stranger. "I drove him down, too," said the pilot's report, "but after falling a great distance he flattened out and was apparently all right." A young khaki-clad pilot was car ried far from hia own airdome, but managed to cross the British line safely just before nightfall. His machine was absolutely riddled with bullets, but he was unhurt. Asked to tell about his adventures the airman merely shrugged his shoulders and said: "Oh, I just had a bit of luck, that's all." This young flier according to his companions, holds the absolute belief that he will never be killed while fly ing, and with tha* fatalistic assis tance takes the most desperate chances, the result being that he is rolling up one of the most brilliant records of the war. Not content with felling 15 hostile machines during their brief flying in terval yesterday, the British tr.men also downed one observation balloon and sallied forth under the stars last night on a great bombing expedition during which they upset three Ger man trains bringing troops toward the front. Two of the trains were completely derailed and the engine of the third appeared to explode One of the British pilots during the raid temporarily lost his bearing-!. He was fired at from the ground, some of the projectiles being In the nature <>f greenish colored rockets. In the glare he happily saw a supply depot just lieneath him, whereupon he let go one of his bombs and obtained a direct hit, the depot disappearing in a great flame. All the British machin es returned safely, notwithstanding the darkness of the night. The Germans have evidently j brought more of their best pilots op posite the British front to meet the determined aerial offensive that has been in progress since earl/ ir, April. Most of the machines met nowadays are handled in a manner far above the German averages It U seldom, how-, ever, that the Germans evor attack the British unless they oulnumbtr than at least three to on*. A Ion* Carman pilot took a fatal chance yesterday araimt a British ■cout formation, whirh was aacorting reconnaissance marhinaa. By flavor maneuvering, at whirh tha hostile air man also was an adapt, tha British managed to entice h.m to attack one of their machines from hehind. As he did so, a second British machine dived at the German's tail and down he went, one of his wings breaking off in the deadly descent. Germany Planned to Make War on America. New York. April 2t>—With MaJ. Gen. G. T. M. Bridget, of the British war commission a*, their guesi. >f hon or, the members of ^he American Newspap*.- Publisher-' association, at their annual dinnc her« tonight, pro claimed their •onfldcnce in the fu ture of the United States and h«i allies and pledged anew their patri otic devotion to the nation. James W. Gerard, former ambas sador to Germany, who was thu chief speaker, after General Bridges, made an impassioned appeal for universal military service. It is the only thing which can save the nation from Prus sian militarism, he declared. "The worst enemies in this country today", Mr. Gerard declared, "are the insidious enemies here at home who misrepresent facts." Mr. Gerard arraigned Speaker Champ Clark for his advocacy of the volunteer system. He said he had supported Mr. Clark in his campaign for the Democracy nomination for President in 1912. "But, thank heaven," he exclaimed, "some beneficient providence, which keeps the American people from put ting forward their near-statesmen, intervened." Referring to Germany's military ambitions before the war, Mr. Gerard said Admiral von Tirpitz had openly advocated tha seizure of the coast of gfend and America. The von Tripitz party now is in the ascendancy, he said. Germans cf all types, Mr. Gerard explained, advocat ed bringing England to her knee::, seizing her navy and using Rt it i h warships to operate against the United States, thereby forcing Jiis country to pay all the expo i-.es of the conflict. ' JOHN CAMERON BUXTON DIED EARLY THURSDAY^ Prominent Winston-Salem At torney Passes Away After A Long Illness. Winston-Salem, April 26.— Hon John Cameron Buxton, one of Win ston-Salem's leading citizens, promin ent member of the North Carolina Bar association and member of the General Conference of the Episcopal church, died this morning at his home following a lingering illness of sev eral months. Although he hail been under the care of a physician for some time prior, the seriousness of his condition was not observed until October of last year, when he was taken desper ately ill while attending the general conference of his church at St. Louis. Since that time he had been constant ly under the care of medical attend ants. The death has cast a gloom over the entire state, for Mr. Buxton has always been active in all things that were for the advancement of the Old North State, and especially active ii. the promotion of the progress of Winston-Salem and piedmont and western North Carolina- Widely known as a leader in his profession, he was also recognised as a leader in everything that pertained to the ad vancement of the educational, social and religious life of the people. For 26 years he had served as chairman of the city school board, and during all these years Winston-Salem haa maintained its position as a leader in public school activities. Surviving are Mrs Buxton, one son Cameron Helo Buxton, of Dallas, Tex. and two daughters. Miss Anna Nash Buxton, of this city, and Mrs. Caro Buxton Edwards, of Dallas, Texas. One grandaughter, little Elizabeth Stuart Edwards, also survives. One son, Jarvis Buxton, preceded the father in death in 1892. Mr. Buxton was a member of the Twin-City club. Fraternal Order of Eagles, Winston-Salem Lodge of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. BAYONET CHARGES Of BRITISH FORCE ENEMY TO VACATE POSITIONS. Cold Steal Aaaerts Itself A* Arm of Lut Appeal. From a Staff Correspondent at tha Associated I'reaa in Franca, April 20. — Despite all lha wondroua war weapons modern science ha a created the cold atrtl of the bayonet has as serted itself anew in much of tha re rant hitter fij^htinic aa tha arm of last appeal. Aa already related tha stiuggles about Monchy Mince Mon day have attained an intenaity un equalled by any of the fighting in tha Komme campaign l«at year. There w»s one German position north of the town and paralleling tha | Scrape river which resisted four dea perate attacks. It wax final y decid ed to take this position at the point of the bayonet without a shot of any kind being fired to rob the attack of its surprise nature. The attack waa made along a three quartern of a mile front under cover of darkneaa. The British battalions were form ed in comparatively clone order and at the whispered wwrrr of command, repeuted along the line, trudged for ward into the night. Grim and silent figures they were, some in kilts, some in plain khaki, each man wearing a steel helmet, each having a firm grip of his rifle .vith fixed bayonet, tha polished surface of which, however* caught no reflecting glint in the en veloping darkness. Overhead "hells were droning and back of the line* guns could be heard. Hut it wi-i only a desultory bombard ment going on and there were fleet ing interval. of strange quiet just where the determined line of British troops was approaching their unsus pecting gray-clad foes. Four unsuccessful daylight assaults had left a touch of chagrin which waa to be wiped out in this "getting" of a man. There la little more to tell. l'Aa jmujkL of tha fighting in tho trenches was lost in the British bar rage which closed dTva sor.ie distance behind the Gcrtran position immedi ately the British signalled they had entered the jioi'tinn. This barraga cut off any German who attempted to flee from the bayonet charge. Thus in 10 minutes with the silent bayonet was secured a position which had held out for two days. The bayonet also has come in ef fectively in dealing with the ever troublesome machine gun and gun ners. A few brave men, stealing out in the night have been able to ac complish much. Several British battalions have re ported in the last few days that the Germans are again employing the old 'kamerad' ruse, suddenly standing up in the shallow trenches and holding up their hands and shouting across to their opponents that they would surrender. Two battalions, believing the sincerity of this proposal, started across to bring in the prisoners, but were immediately attacked. Incidents like this has helped mat erially to give the element of bitter i "as to the fighting to a degree which ha startled even those men who have teen in the battles since the first Germt. > rush through Belgium. The I -itish have given unceasing attention to the bayonet fighting drill in the past two years. The month of training in England has been supple mented Ly post graduate courses in the great training camps in France. White House Banquets Now on A War Footing. Washington , April 27.—White Hou'H; banquets, in the past noted for their extravagant elegance, have gone on a wr.r footing. Three courses are now served in stead of the usual seven to 10. This was illustrated in the dinners given by President and Mrs. Wilson to the visiting English and French commissions. The menues for both dinners included: An apetiier of tomatoes staffed with anchovies. Plain soup. Filet of beef with peas and potatoes Salad. Ire. Coffee and cigars. Best K.'m.-d) for Whooping Coegh. "Last winter when my little boy had the whooping cough 1 gave klai Chamberlain's Cough Remedy/' writes Mrs. J. B. Robert*. East St. Louis, III. "It kept hi* rough loose and relieved him of those dreadful coughing spells. Jt is the only cough medicine I keep in the house becvaee I have the most confidence h> it." This remedy is also good for colds and croup. 'd I i-a . • . 5 .j£6u
The Mount Airy News (Mount Airy, N.C.)
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May 3, 1917, edition 1
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