Newspapers / Polk County News and … / Feb. 8, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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GORITZ TORN C PIECES Correspondent Sees., Shell-Battered City Just Before the Italians Retreated. PAINTS PICTURE OF RUIIl Newspaper Men Have Narrow Escape as They Watch Artillery Battle ' Outlines of City Still There, ; but It Is a City Sieved by Bombardment. Headquarters of the Italian Army, Northern Italy. Goritz is a symbol. "On to Goritz!" was the cry of the "duke of Aosta's soldiers as they pressed through the little town of Lu- cinico a few months ago, fighting thejr way down to the Isonzo river, then across the western bridge leading to the city,, when the cry changed to "Go ritz at last !" Theii this was reversed when the overwhelming invading force of Aus . Vo-Germans took up this same cry, "On to Goritz!" pressing down from the north, across the northern bridge ,to the city and ending with "Goritz at last!" Thus Goritz has become a symbol of ;thc huge change which has occurred. It was one of the furthest points for ward on the Itairan line, the center of la vast arc of fighting front stretching from Piozzo, far in the north, down to the- Adriatic at Montefaicone. and it was the most populous and important city in the great crescent of-territory -which the Italian army had sliced off southwestern- Austria some six hun dred square miles in all. And so Go ritz. was symbolic of that entire region which "has twice changed hands in this war, and of the furthest advance in the first Italian campaigns. I went to Goritz and saw the city on the eve of its agony. It was the i last. trip made there by anyone outside the' military before the retreat began. The roar of the great Austro-German offensive already had commenced, though for the moment it was taken - for a spasmodic renewal of tlie cannon ade which had been going on for weeks. Within twenty-four hours the enemy had crossed the Isonzo 15 miles further , north, turned the Italian left wing. - beaten back the second army under ; General Capello. threatened to envelop the third army under the duke of Aos ta," brother of the king of Italy, and put In execution that gigantic hammer stroke by which they hoped to finish Italy and cripple the whole entente. Roads Left Clear. My trip was made by invitation of the supreme command, with staff edr tor' from headquarters as escort. As we sped along the road in the big army automobile I noted there were no troops along the road and bordering fields as one sees approaching Verdun or in the Somme or Flanders. This ab sence of troops in the rear was part of , the system adopted, it was explained. All the reprovlsioning of the army was done at night and the roads were left clear by day most of the time. Ten miles out we crossed the Italian-Austrian frontier and entered Aus tria. At Corm ns, an Austrian village on the road, jhe signs above the shops were all in Italian, showing the Ital ians were right in the claim that all this section was racially Italian. The cannonade began to be heard for the first time ten miles west of Go ritz a low rumble to the north and east, with now and then the muffled i boom of a great gun. Day by day the fire was getting heavier, said our es- cort, who knew the ground by heart, and he added that the enemy forces had been Increased from 120 battalions -to 330 battalions. As we passed throusrh the town of Luclnico, a far-out suburb of Goritz, it was seen to be half destroyed. Along the main street ran rows; of battered buildings, with walls half down and shell holes making ugly gashes. But business was going on, men were at the cafes and women and girls strolled the street unconcernedly. Now the au- tomobile turned up the steep side of Padgera hill, one of the outer defenses of Goritr where bloody hand-to-hand fighting occurred. One could see the old trench and wire system, now grass grown. All this hill had been swept bare by shell fire, but nature had klnd y obliterated the scars ami the hillside A-as again smiling with its verdure. The sound of firing had now increased lo an enormous roar as we -passed Pad- gem hill. Turning the corner of a shattered j wall we saw the Isonzo river lying ahead and on the further side Goritz rising in terraces with the huge battle ments of the citadel towering on the right. The river looked about the width of the Potomac at Washington but1 with swifter current froui the mountain feeders. Along the edge of the river ran rows of shell-torn walls with gaping windows. This whole wa ter front had been torn to pieces, and yet "mauy of the demolished remnants of the :' buildings were occupied and work along the river wharves was pro ceeding. Old Bridge Replaced. ' The Isonzo river was crossed by the wooden bridge v ixich Italian engineers built rter all th old bridges had been blown vp. On one side lay the wreck of n Mg pontoon. It was on pontoon feritaea that tb Italians entered the ) - ' city arjd this wreck was one of the remnants of that crossiftg. The' big railroad bridge was lying in a wreck frou artillery fire. Further on was the massive stone bridge, with one of its main arches'b'own to pieces. Near these bridges lie several important pa per mills, where paper is made for gov ernment notes. All these mills were masses of ruins, with a few tall chim neys still standing among the debris. Goritz itself was under the rain of terrific bombardment, for the full force of the great offensive was now only a few hours off. And yet with the imminent danger many persons still clung to their homes and belongings with that same tenacity which makes the Vesuvian peasants cling to the mountainside when the vol cano is raging and threatening to bury them. But most of these people on the streets are the poor who could not get away and the small shopkeepers who cannot afford to abandon their goods. The big stores are all closed and the place lias an air of a deserted city, with only a few stragglers bring ing up the rear. Goritz had 30,000 people, but only 5,000 are left, and these make only a scattered showing In the wide main street fringed on either side with its shell-torn fronts. It was raining hard and this added to tlie lugubrious spectacle. Entering the city we passed the ex tensive Jesuit establishment where GOO seminarians are, located. One corner was knocked off, the cornices were hanging and several big holes told where the shells had found a mark. The main contour of the street was preserved and the buildings were in tact as a whole, but every second or third had been hit, somfr collapsing en tirely, others with their front wall gone and their upper rooms with house hold goods showing from the street. But there was no vast area of com pletely leveled debris, as at Verdun or Monastir. The outlines of a city were still there, but it was a city sieved by bombardment. Trip to the Citadel. The trip to the citadel was the event of the day. This is a huge pile, with old-time moat and battlements and a great tower dominating the whole country for miles around. Here we were to view Mount Gabriel. Mount Mi cael, the Biansizza plateau and the whole range of ground which had passed through this upheaval. It was uphill to the citadel. Everything showed the havoc of long continued fire. In one great court there was a pretty little chapel which had come through the ordeal untouched, though all around was a wreck. Once upon the battlements a com manding view was ahead. There was one point of vantage where this view was particularly good, known as the observation post. We halted a moment, about to enter the post, but others wished to push on to the very front of the wall, and this view prevailed. It was a most fortunate decision, as we soon after had reason to know. On the battlements a splendid view stretched out for miles over this bat tleground of mountains, valleys and plains, with the city houses clustered below and the roads winding off through the valleys and foothills. There in front was Mount Gabriel, this side held by the Italians, the other by the Austrians. "There runs the dividing line," said the escort, pointing to a line of trees , and depressions near the summit. The Italian trenches could be plainly seen, but there was no need of indi- mating a dividing line, for the bursts of i smoke along one side of the summit ! nu ,he nnswerlng bursts from the j other s5tle told where the line was. off to lJie left was Mount Michael, - nee swept clean by shell fire, but now I green again. Nestled In a hollow was ine convent or &r. atarina. 'Ihe Blan- slzza plateau was off to the left, and through the mist were! the dim out lines of snow-topped Mount Nero, that outpostof the Italian advance. -As we stood surveying this scene there was the steady rumble of 'guns. w!th tne cra:f q"ik-flrers and then the ,ong "whiz" of ever-passing shells, I But there was one which ln- I stntly engaged every attention. We cou,a nenr " com,nS. an" was not going over, nor under, nor at either OBSERVATION POST mountains. " -TTT""UWU HHtl or Ul Crenel e side. " Every orielnstlneir reined: and then Crash.! No Moire Observation Post. Five of us went down in a heap. stunned as with a lminiiier blow.-Tlierer was n great, enveloping noise," with the .m... .1 1 flvln" Cif fragments, andihen the heave of tons of earth, mortar and masonry, plowed up by the huge -missile. - j ' Tt had struck that observation post, just 15 feet away, which we were about to enter. There was?no more observa tion , post; it was swept clean. But fortunately the shell had gone straight through, battering down massive wnl,s and digging a deep trencb into the eariu wiiere u uau exuioueu uuucit .11. ' -.1 1A. - I 1 .1 .1 ..rwlna.. . I ground, throwin&UR great-geysers. But;v ii'hila Ha AAwh nnH ointiO MOW II kP hall, the underground explosion had held the shell fragments, j Stunned as Referring to the recent defense of we were, the first impulse was of self- waT(iepartment made by Secreta preservatlon. A hasty glance showed t ry gakej; ex-President William How no one Was seriously injured, though ard xaffVin the course of his speech the trickle of blood on the right tem- Defore 'gathering of Atlanta, Ga., pie of one of the party told that a fly- businessmen, soldiers and others, Ing stone had found a mark. j stated titat he could bear witness as "They have this range,'; said the es- tn the excellence of the work done in Wll US WK SlTUggteU IU UUI ICCl, auu one shot means; that another will fol low." There was a hasty scramble from the battlement, over the tons of debris thrown up, which now completely blocked the three-foot path skirting the wall. ! The shell had suddenly brought to a naa suuaeniy uruugiu iu close our observation of the battle ' -"B ;T "V y,t front with all id tragedy and majestic fers wnt, he toYMB beauty. But worst of all, it put an end testimony's to the splendid condi to all trips to Goritz,, for the officer hs he himself seen' said no further chances df this kind "Sugar pines" were formed in Chi could be taken. It was just as well, cago January 31, hundreds of persons for now the creat offensive of tlie ! standing for hours at a number of big enemy burst unexpectedly, and with it ' .i a. j.-' ii si it. ii' cuiue me reireaix irom ine ijoiiijs one. w jtiuiv-up c - - o - Fortunately or unfortunately, I had Edwin James, of Toledo, Ohio, seen it at the last moment when the and Carl S' Mather, of Pawpaw, Mich., tide was turning., j second lieutenants of the first squad- Situation Explained. ' ron, Ellington field, were killed when At the cafe here we went. for lunch the airplanes in which they were fly the officer from headquarters laid out ing collide head-on and fell 2,000 feet the big military map on the Jtlble atid to the ground at Houston, Texas explained the military, fcituation. It The c0M,n states official advisory was this: The enemy was bringing marketing; Wd wa: formally organ great c masses of men to the north of jzed at a feting in New Orleans of the Biansizza plateau. His design was gtate comDsionerS of agriculture, evident The Italians by their last ad- marketingommiSsioners and presi vance had swung a ring which was denlg Qf gmers, unions in Aiaamaf threatening Trieste. To save Trieste Arkansa .ississippif Oklahoma, Tex he enemy must force the Italians back && GeoTSl$ana Louisiana. The com to the Isonzo river, as another Italian ; missioner agriculture of Georgia. J. offensive would clear the Carso range j Brown. as elected president. and give the Italians the mastery of i . Trieste. To the enemy the time had ' The United States Steel Corporation come when he must net before the Ital- Paid to th federal government mcre Lians played their final card and held the jewel of the Adriatic. I lcr Vl "iaccuiumg uo a builciii As we pored over the map the in- j made l)UDl!? bv that corporation. T creasing roar of the artillery told that ; tal earning f or that period amounted the enemy was losing no time in his to $59,724,Io. part of the military game, i The pro-' . prietor of the cafe was an intelligent Washington. old man, and I asked him if the fire a dispatch from Buenos Aires says we heard was the same as usual. He the minis!! of. war las recalled Ar shook his head and said: "No, it is gentina's military attaches from Ber very much heavier and it seems as nn and Vienna. In political circles though something was going to hap-; this action lis regarded as significant pen." This was the instinctive feel- and connected with tne sinking of the ing of the people on the spot who had Argentine steamer Ministro Irriendon, gone through this day after day for January 26Ji months. They felt the blow coming, j The 8ituaon in Argentina is tense On the corner there were two women the authorities are maintaining of the working class talking together , more than ineir usual silence on the under an umbrella, for it was raining situation, but several events at the hard. Their indifference to the shell- government: !house lead to the belief ing seemed strange, and I stopped to that the government is at last prepar ask them if the bombardment did not ing to take ' an important step, frighten them and keep them awake at Abandonment of the heatless Mon nif' , , ' , - x ! day prograKj was predicted at the xney ere puzz.eu ior moinem. as though not comprehending such an In quiry, and then they shrugged their shoulders. ; "We are used to it," they said. "It used to frighten us at first and the children still cry at nicht. But what can we do?" These were tvnical townswomen who had become habituated to the dan ger and destruction all around them and were now stopping on the. street corner in the rain to exchange the latest gossip. One of the women had th'i! features of an Austrian.! and she smiled as she heard the rumble of the Austrian guns and looked off toward the enemy lines so near. Within three hours when we got back to headquarters the full force of the blow had been struck and the great Austro-German offensive against Italy was in full operation. ; Girl Triples Wages. 1 Denver, Colo. From $10 per week as a presser in a loo.1 dry cleaning establishment to .$30 a week as a ma chinist in a plant that is j working on war munitions Is the sudden jump of Miss Tltlanla BIttner, pretty seventeen-year-old Denver girl. IN THE VOSGER fosj ' Vosge IMPORTANT NEWS Tnc llmoi n nuf ( 9 III. yUllLUOAUI.il IMPORTANT HAPPENINGS OF THIS AN OTHER NATIONS FOR 55 JJ - SEVEN DAYS GIVEN THE JEWS OF THE' SOUTH A - . t- . f .,. v what 1 Taking Place In -The f 4 Am m I eA Seuth- Will Be Found- in . Brief 'Paragraphs Domestic. the eighf o nine camps he has vis ited. Ex President. Taft, in a speech, in Atlanta, pa., said that m so far as j the camp's are concerned, the sites which ha$ been selected and the care , of the goyernwent and the people in housing, feeding and providing the . . fnrtahl1 1ivine for the department stores awaiting their turn I nnvnVioWA half a nnnnH nf I than half earnings in the final quar- cloge of a rol0nged conference be- tween Fuel Administrator Garfield and Director Gepral McAdoo. A final de cision; was nf t reached, but there was every indication that both oflcials, as well as President Wilson, who has been consulted," feel that the purpose sought can b accomplished from now on by continuance of preferential coal transportation and distribution and by railroad embargoes now in force. Admiral PCnti has been appointed the command ?r of the Brazilian fleet which will rTGoperate with the allies in European Raters. For a long time it had been known that the Braz;lian fleet would assume the responsibility of patrolling tf?e entire coast line from Guiana bordef to the southern boun dary of Brazlr but this is the first indication that the Brazilian fleet would co-opejjjte in European waters with the wardships of the allies. Senator Htfghes of, New Jersey d'ed after a long ; illness. Word of his death was reclived at the whit hm,6B He was bornih. Ireland April 3, 1872, and had a meteoric rise to political fame. He assistant to Major Gen. Fitzhug.Lee in the Spanish American war, " He was an avowed sympathizer th labor, and the Pat erson, N. J., laboring men sent him to the nation?! house of representa tives, then tojthe senate. In a messa to the nation's farm ers, delivered tp an agricultural con ference at Urltna, 111., President Wil son told them that he thought that statesmen on jjoth sides of the water realized that te -culminating crises of the war had !ome, and this year's achievements ould decide it. The president, suffering with a severe cold authorized President James of the Uni vejsity of Illinois to deliver the ad dress for himi f Ambassador jjancis at Potrograd ca bled the state dipartment that ?m.,n ! of Bnssian anarchists had notified him ne would be hd personally responsi ble for the safety of Alexanlr Berft mar, and Emm GolU..i?n, un ler pris on sentence infthe United States for violating the dtft law. xnrougn meiivcontrol of bunker coal Je.alFes are 4 position to shpm4ftt of goods 'rom the allie.-'countftes.: stop not to Snuin rom the allied countries, but from neutrals as wejg, consequently they -Te in a position to hri nv nnr ..1 - iS fv 1U1 pressure to ben to insure fair treat meM in th Sriiah markets tte as applicd bakers-'were extended ny rxm tmuaii' i nrnclamation to taKe m "hotels, restaurants and clubs which do their own baking, to inciuae u--sands of -small bakery heretofore , exv empt, and to cover the manufacture of bread of every kind,' Including cafce &nd crackers, biscuits and pastry, in : fact, all bakery products '! , , New regulations Tor selective draft physical examinations have been is ctiorf and heine less stringent, will bring into the army many whV would otherwise be exemp.tea.- . Agreement between the United; stntes and GreaCBritain and Canada . on the terms of separate conscription convention which only await the sig natures of the representatives of the governments concerned, has been an nounced by Secretary Lansing. The convention gives the. citizens of each country the option of returning to their own country for military serv ices within a fixed period. Quick .retaliatory measures have been forecast. as the answer of the United States and the allies to Spain's interference with the shipment of goods across her frontier. In fact, cer tain Spanish ships now in American ports ready to sail are being held tip pending a clearing of the situation, al though the war trade board in a formal-statement denied that vessels were being kept in port. European. Forty-five persons were killed and 207 injured in the German air raid re cently on Paris, according to the lat est revised figures. The city of Paris has alloted burial plots in perpetuity without cost to the families of the victims of air raids. The Freich government is bearing the expense of all killed in the war. In Russia the Bolshevik i has cap tured the important Black sea port of Odessa and also the railroad. June;, tion of Orenburg, which liesnear the As!atic. frontier. The Russian Bolshevik! is continu ing its program of hostilities against Rumania, the revolutionary committee of the Black sea fleet having confis cated a large number of merchant ajid other vessels in the Black sea in or der to hamper Ruman'a's commerce. The Rumanians have captured from the Russians the town of Kishinev, capital of Bessarabia. "The submarine is held." Thus in ford words Sir Eric Campbell Geddes, first lord of the English admiralty, summarized the results of the first year of Germany's unrestricted sub marine warfare, which began February 1, a year ago. Dr. Alexander Wekerle, Hungarian premier, in address the diet February 1, said: "Our readiness for peace is sincere and earnest. We never strove nor do we strive for conquests. We are ready to seek a just understand ing." The British torpedo gunboat Haz zard was sunk in the English channel on January 28 as the result of a col lision. Three men were lost. The peace conference at Brest-Li-tovsk is in session again, but no de tails of the proceedings have yet been made public. The British casualties during the month of January are reported to total 73,017. A crowd of carousers broke into a factory at Novo Archangelsk, Russia, and became trapped in the cellar. Some cne lighted a can lie, the alcohol ex ploded and the whole bunch went to kingdom come. Twenty persons were killed and fif ty were injured in a ia:d on Paris. One ' of the German machines was brought down and the occupants made prisoners. Fragments of projectiles dropped by German birdmen on allied cities show that they are winged torpedoes weighing from 160 to 200 pounds, ex plosive bombs and incendiary bombs. An increase in the British sh!pmng losses is shown ia the effical sum mary issued February 1, which reports the destruction cf nine vessels of more, than 1.G00 tons, and six of lesser tonnage. The Bavarian king is reported to be taking a very act've part in the peace deliberat'oni; between Russia n the central powers. The Huns attempted to break through the hill region to the Vene tian plain, but failed around Monte Tomba and sectors west. It is report ed, however, that the Austro-Germans have been taking up re'nforcements in the Asiago district preparatory to a further series of attacks to reach the lowlands around Bassano and Vicenza. In the twelve months of unrestrict- ! ed warfare launched against American and allied shipping by Germany one year ago, there have been sunk by 'sub marines, mines and raiders 69 Ameri can vessels, totaling 171,061 gross tons, accord ng to a careful comnilation of records of sinkings wh eh have been made public during the per od Enemy airplanes dropped bombs on ! London. One of the invading aircraft was brought down 1c Essex. 1 Ser'ous strifes are reported to be in 1 ingress mrougnout Germany. in Ber lin awl suburban towns 90,000 workers are snid to have quit work, vnri. - large factories engaged in' the mama- ! cune nt war supplie. especially a;r planes, are affected. Independent So cialists are reported to hav. taken an active part in the calling cf the strike: Italian success against the Austri ans in the mountain reion-pf north ern Italy has bee&'exteadetf by the cal ture of Monte di Val Bella, another dom?nat?nsr beitht on the Asfaco pla teau.' si - MANUFACTURE AND DISTRiy TION OF OILS NOW UN DER LICENSE. UCEKSE " BY FEBURARY 1 1 Gasoline and Kerosene Is Not Mo tioned But Expected to Be Taken Over Soon Oil Tankers Have Bn Discontinued. Washington. Government co.-i'mi jf industry as extended to oil in proclamation by President Wilson !n ting under license the manufac tn; and distribution of all fuel oils, x mention is made of other oils or products, including gasoline and kor , sene, but they, too, probably will h. put under control soon. Author, ; under the proclamation is to be v; vi ed in Mark i. Requa, of California recently named as chief of the fn i administrations oil division. 'License, must be obtained before February n by all manufacturers and distributor whose gross sales -of fuel oil, includ ing gas oil, amount to more than inn . 000 barrels a year. A series of regulations drawn by th" fuel ' administration establish in th east a list of preferential consumers who must be supplied in the ord-r they are given, regardless of contracts outstanding. Difficulties of transportation, it is declared both fn the President's pro( lamation and in a statement prepared by the fuel, administration, makes li censing-necessary that ' essential in dustries be supplied. Operation of t)i, control will cut the supplies of the less essential industries where lack of transportation creates a shortage. ORGANIZATION ACCOUNTS FOR MONEY ENTRUSTED To Date $79,450,727.35 Has Been Ap propriated for Relief Work Criticisms Answered. Washington, Feb. ' 4. What tht American Red Cross has done with the vast sums of money entrusted to it by the people of the United States is stated in detail in a report just issued by the national headquarters. To date. $79,450,727.35 has bejn appropriated for relief work in this county and abroad. For foreign, relief $44,657,795 has been appropriated as follows: France, $30,519,259.C0;; Belgium, $1,999,631; Russia, $751,404 87; Roumania. $2,617. 398.76; Italy, $3,146,016; Serb a. $871. 180.76; Great Britain. $1,703,642; other foreign countries, $2,536,000; Ameri can soldiers who may be taken pris oner, $343,627. The foregoing appropriations are from the time the United States en tered the war until April 30, 1918. For the United States the Red Cross Un appropriated $2,612,532.60 and the rea son this sum is not larger is because the government provides nearly every thing our army and navy needs, and besides, there is no civilian distress in this country of any considerable pro portions. The great variety of the military ,ti civilian relief work being done by the Red Cross is indicated briefly in th-" following list: canteens that afford food, baths and sleeping quarters for men at the font rest stations and recreation centers for soldiers in tran sit and at port of arrival in France; care of destitute children; furn'shing supplies to 4.000 hospitals; teachfnn: mutilated soldiers new trades; recon struction of villains: bringing togeth er families of soldiers scattered by the war; farms for convalescent soldiers: sanitariums for tubercular and o'her natients; food, clothing, medicine and shelter for the homeless and destitute: and other activities too numerous to mention. It is stated bv the national wir coun cil that all salaries and administrative xnenses are naid out of membershin dues, so that every penny given to the Red Cross war fund has been snent for relief. This answers the rumors that have been circulated about the expenses of operation. AMERICAN TROOPS HOLD THEIR OWM Apparently with the Germans it ws. a case of the biter having been bit in their attack on the American sector in Lorraine. Although Germans plac ed a heavy barrage along the. Ameri can line of several kilometers, th Americans responded with avidity and with their 75s tore up the German front trenches, blew up several of their dugouts and cut their barbed: wire entanglements. NAVY IS PREPARED TO TRANSPORT 500,000 MErf Washington. Secretary Daniels au thorized the. statement that the navy in assured of enough tran?nort facili ties to make sure that there w'll be SoO.ooo American troons in Franc? early this year, as was stated by sec retary Raker recently before the sen ate military commit .f-ee, f'Mrw-DaafclH . jmade, ;, ihe statement when Informed that-Secre?arr BakerV rorecast of. the number of men : sent abroad had been challenged. to be
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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Feb. 8, 1918, edition 1
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