Newspapers / Polk County News and … / March 15, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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IMPORTANT NEWS THE WORLD OVER IMPORTANT HAPPENINGS OF THIS AND OTHER NATIONS FOR ; , SEVEN DAYS GIVEN the! news IT the south What ! Taking Place In The South. land Will - w I Brief Paragraphs Domestic . 'For) the first time in the present generation the aurora borealis was visible in the northern sky from Tarn Pa, Fla. One report had it that Dade Uty, forty miles north of Tampa, was afire, but this was error. Reports rrom. a number of other cities and townssthroughout the United States describe the lights as of unusual bril- Hancy, Burton Hurlburt, Royal Flying corps cadet, whose mother lives at Prescott, Ontario was killed when he tried to malke a landing at Fort Worth, Texas. .He is the thirty-sixth cadet killed at Fort Worth. Indications that a number of French army officers may be implicated with nkj J. Goldsoll, under arrest in Washington, D. C. in his alleged lar ceny of between three and a half million and six million dollars of French government funds naid hi commissions on purchases of automo biles in jthe United, has been found m an examination of papers seized in a raid on, the New York offices of the Alliance iMotors corporations. Equal suffrage. nation-widA nmfiiKi. , " -w VUlhTA- All exceptions to the food adminis tration rule requiring the purchase of an equal amount of substitutes with each burchase of whpat flnur hnv been revoked by the food administra-' f i$ t. V m A, .. - f "u uecause or me necessity or con- serving, wheat for the allies. The en tire country is thus put on a parity in regard o buying wheat flour. Excep tions to the rule had been allowed in certain localities where substitutes are little known and hard to obtain. Increased demands for breadstuffs by the allies had been announced some time previously, and this order is the result , German submarines did no sink a single Italian ship during the week ending March 2. in the week ending March 2 344 merchant ships of every nationality representing a total tonnage of 295, 260 entered port. uermany nas negotiated a peace treaty with the republic of Finland by which the latter agrees not to cede i&ny territoiry or fant ferrij torial rights without the consent of Germany, which, in consideration for JJhis concession, covenants to exert her influence to secure recognition of the Finnish government from other nations. Legislation enabling the government to place in American hands perma nently many great German commer cial and industrial concerns in this country, which have been instruments in spreading the grip of German kul tur, has been favorably reported in the senate by the appropriations com- , mittee. It is in the form of an amend ment to the pending urgent deficiency bill empowering the alien property custodian to sell any enemy property taken over by his office. GERMAN DISPATCH DOG ON, HIS MISSION V. iirmiBSsgS;-,,. m u,r,,"'"ix Through a furious fire trom the trenches on both sides this German dis patch dog is leaping over a shell hole to carry a message for his masters. BELGIUM PLUNDERED AND TORTURED BY THE WAR-MAD GERMAN MILITARY European. According to Captain Pearse, who is a member of the Red Cross, says a turn and radical legislation favoring 'ZT.nTj :S"T"J" S oiube the Britlsh vessel ,rurit"Ia wh"9 th vwnKs or, tne platform of the national were lovtn.. n m t, n.i mans took to small boats and blew up the Turritella while Chinese were in the stoke hole and engine room. The gunboat captured the Germans who were recently tried at Bombay for murder. The last details relative to the peace signed with Finland shows that from the Arctic ocean to the Black sea the German power is complete. Semi-official reports from Berlin also claim that Germany has acquired a direct free route to India via Russia, Persia and Afghanistan. ' Never Has There Been Brigandage So Methodical or So Complete War Contributions Alone Have Drained the Country of Money Raw Materials and All Economic Equipment Car ried Off Famine Now Threatens. y: "ficU i -tjnicago at a con vention attended by about two hun dred delegates, bolters from the Pro gressives, Prohibitionists, Socialists and Independents. Partial ( Centralization of the pur chasing of between oi.e million and two million dollars worth of railroad supplies and equipment this year un der government supervision is involv ed in a plan for organizing the rail road administration's division of finance and purchases, announced by nwior general McAdoo. TT7T it i T.xinc a large numoer of men will ' be called o,,t rtnrin, " " "r "1" "IS ieporiea mat Finland has ask- to fill up the army and Jomrt it. 2 WilIiam t0 place his son loli SCar f;.he throne. This. . war department pTans Tdo noi Sll tol SiTf a fGW dayS ago' ab" 'the, creation of any iditi dW S 7 i?SnTes RuSSia of ons in 1918. It is" stf tTtZ -A 22S ? .a - than, one million mH,-Bmh.M. Z ?9 wna virtually; an inland much In excess of eight hundred thou sand are to be summoned gradually . during the year to complete the exist ing organizations. Delay in the announcement as to the next draft i .. "uncertainty as to what will !hat the German colonies, out .method of allotting quotas to the p leteS driven Cm various states. m dnven' A high tribute to President Wil- K 7 w0 W6re kilIed and for son was paid by Earl Reading Great Were injured in afl aI Britain's special ambassnr T ?.leraid on says an offi United stfltAs i o r c announcement. wuiess ai iew York City to the Merchants' Associa- umroi oi ;tne house of representa w .--cj , luiauu city, so far as commerce is concerned In his address to the British house of commons Andrew Bonar Law speaking of the military situation, said that the dropping out of Russia deep- "-v,vu meaier or war ex. tives was regained by the Democrats i when they elected their candidates from four districts in Greater New York at special elections called to ; t choose successors to four members of that party who had resigned their , seats in congress. It is significant in the national elec tion in Greater New York that out of a total of 78,192 votes the women cast 31,858 votes. jThey voted early, Seem- i to nave made up their minds what tuey were going to do before they re C1,ra ineir Pallots and they asked , few "foolish ijuestions." Exact subscriptions by states to the second 'Liberty Loan tabulated and ,made Public by the treasury depart ment at Washington show that New rone led all the states. Texas led all the Southern states. Senator Tillman of South Carolina, veteran Democrat of the senate and chairman of the naval committee, has announced his candidacy for a fifth Washington, j . unuer me commercial agreement utween uie united States and Spain, the, formal signing of which in. Madrid was announced! at the state depart ment, not only will General Pershing ouppues rrom Spain which he desires for his i troops, but a French credit-in Spain is arranged, and the oyanisn government permits free ex port to the allies of pyrites, minerals and manufactured wool. Dry zones five miles wide, irrespeo- ut,0MnCOrPOrated cities and towns within those limits, are placed around f seven permanent naval training posts ? JE? V16 naVal aPademv at Annapolis, Md., in a general order announced bv Secretary Daniels. Altogether more than eight miles of trenches are now being held by Amer icans on the western fighting front of , E?urope. J American, troops now have taken un : anotfier ppsition on the front in France andwith their usual business-like methods, says a Paris dispatch, have - frustrated an attempt by the Ger mans to raid their trenches. The new position is somewhere in Lorraine V A London. England, dispatch, savs that John E. Redmond, the greai IriJh . NaUonalist leader died therl He haS undergone an operation and had pass ed a fair day and apparently was main taining the progress shown earlier unknown, whence; no traveler has yet rtond .to teUhe story. Great Britain's loans to her allies up to February 9 totalled 1,264,000, (WO. This has been announced in the English house of commons by Andrew Bonar Law, chancellor of the ex chequer. The Germans have transferred thir ty divisions from the Russian front The allies still have a slight superi ority in men and guns on the western front, but there is a possibility that the appearance of Austrians there would change this. More troops may be brought up from the Russian front, uut, ui necessity, they will be of in ferior duality? German reinforcements oontirmo be sent up behind the lines in Bel gium and France. At present the Ger mans have sixteen more divisions than the allies along this front but the allied troops are, numerically stronger and also hold the uper hand in ri fles, guns and aircraft, but this su periority is diminishing. From Flanders to the Swiss border artillery duels of more or less vio lence pre ftaldng place on various sectors. A preliminary peace treaty between Roumania and the central powers has been signed. Under the terms of the agreement R6umania cedes the prov ince of Dobrudja as far as the Danube to the central powers, and undertakes to further the transport of Teutonic troops through Moldavia and Bessara bia to Odessa. Official announcement is made by the British admiralty that the Brit ish armed mercantile cruiser Calgari an was torpedoed and sunk on March 1 the Irish coast Two officers and 46 men were lost There were 610 persons aboard, nearly five hun dred of whom have been landed at an Irish port. The Calearian w.l by four torpedoes. tw J:"!6 RuSSia' " announced the Austrc-Hungarian forces are stihl going forward against the Bol sheviki troops. Japan is not only ready to take vie orous , steps in Siberia, but has inti mated that she would welcome the as sistance of the Chinese in operations which will have for their ohWti safeguarding of the entente allied ln- iciesLs in me rar East Again the Germans in Lorraine attacked the American trnnn again they have mot. with defeat Not withstanding the heavy snow and" the previous repulses they had met with In their effort to penetrate the Ameri. can positions, the enemy n th ti ontfs . ' v, essayed a surprise attack considerable fore in Washington. The people of the United States have a general Idea of the awful condition existing in Bel gium on account of the invasion of the Huns. Stories of atrocities have been published and it is one unforgivable fact against the Germans that they can make no explanation for the outrageous treatment they have inflicted upon the Inoffensive people of a small, weak na tion. If there was no other reason for keeping the war spirit alive in the United States, until the wrongs of Bel gium were under process of being righted, those wrongs would cry aloud to every decent-thinking person and make them insist that the war shall go on to a successful conclusion, and fur ther that the perpetrators of the hide ous deeds in Belgium be punished. The official Belgian information serv ice has procured facts .showing the situation of the Belgian territory occu pied by the Germans at the present time. Not all of the stories that have been published from time to time give1 such a complete summary of actual conditions as this statement complied from the latest reports which show the great necessity to continue the work that has been carried on for more than three years In America for the relief of the people in Belgium. It seems almost incredible that any na tion .calling itself civilized could Inflict upon the people of a small nation the horrors which are described in the following. The Material Suffering. In the material domain never has there been seen brigandage so meth odical or so complete. War contribu tions alone have, up to the present time, drained the country of nearly two billions of francs. These are still be ing collected to the amount of sixty million francs a month. To this sum must be added fines upon scores of thousands of individuals and the levies and fines imposed upon the filmiest pretexts, upon numerous localities, the total of which amounts to several hun dred millions. The deposits of the na tional bank and the General Society of Belgium, amounting to four hundred thirty millions of marks were seized. The stocks of raw materials, the ma chine, in short all the economic equipment have been requisitioned and carried away. At the beginning of 1915 the German depredations in Belgium were estimated at eight billion francs. It would be difficult to make even an approximate estimate of them today. The invaders have plundered and are often demolishing the factories, not only to send the machinery and the old iron to Germany, but for the avowed purpose of ruining Belgian In dustry after the war. They are now plundering private domiciles. Their spoliations extend to bedding, cloth ing, casseroles, window knobs, rods and objects of art. All that centuries of a high civilization and long years of labor had accumulated in the coun try nas been devoured by the monster. The bells in many churches, the statues in the public squares of Alost and Mons and the monuments in mnnv cemeteries have been sent to the foun dry. The systematic destruction of the forests goes on, on a large scale. More than two thousand barges have been seized. Horses have practically dlsaD peared. . Famine and Diseases. The cessation of labor, the obstacles placed to the employment of those without work, the requisitions of ma chinery and cattle, as well as vexations of all sorts have once more evoked that plague which we believed to have been forever overcome in famine. Working in close co-oplratlon with the Belgian and allied governments, the commission for relief in Brfum has striven by all possible means tr lessen Its horrors and to facilitate the enormous task assumed by the na- 117 It has been confronted by stu pendous difficulties; importations fell far short of needs, tonnage wa lack ing, and the enemy mercilessly, tjrpe- doed more than one relief vessel. The commission for relief in Bel gium has made the most energetic ef forts to assume a food supply arid there has been a marked improvement over the past months. In November, for the first time in a long period, the na tional committee for relief and food supply has received more supplies than its schedule called for. There are fair prospects for the shipment of all sup plies called for by the schedule during the first quarter of 1918. If, however, the famine which seemed to threaten for the winter has been averted, the situation is still far from favorable, because of the great debilitation and general undernourishment of the popu lation. According to people who are In n nrv. sltlon to know, the population-has un fortunately received only 14 per cent of the necessary fats and 29 per cent of the necessary starches, hence a serious condition of nnrl g . .uvunduiucui uuu a .constant undermining of the general health. The securing of food is the principal concern of all Belgians, rich as wen as poor. Half the people must depend for food upon the soup kitch ens organized by the national commit tee. The poor are obliged to stand In line, in order to obtain the nortions Al lotted by the commission for the relief in Belgium. The wealthy have to pay exorbitant prices In order to nrn the most indispensable articles. Those of the middle classes are most to be pitied, for they have too much pride to go to the soup kitchens and not enough money to buy food, with sugar at 90 cents a pound, flour at $1 a pound, beef at $1.50 a pound, fat at $2 a pound, butter at $3 a pound, chocolate at $4 a fUndCOffee at $5 a pound' eSSs from 16 to 22 cents each, and potatoes at $9 to $13 a bushel. Only five pounds of potatoes are allowed a week, but the amount available is much less than this amount People raise rabbits and eat dog. Tobacco has been replaced by strawberry leaves. People are rare ly able to get enough to eat to sntisfv hunger, and the consequences of such j a regime become more and more alarm ing from the point of view of the pub lic health. Tuberculosis has Increased by leaps and bounds ; at Bruges the number of cases has increased 1,000 per cent All kinds of epidemics have claimed numberless victims, especially among children of two to ten' years of age. Loss of 'weight is general. The death rate has greatly Increased. In one 'week Antwerp reported 104 deaths as against 37 births; Brussels 59 against 17. In some localities the death rate is three times the normal rate. Forced Labor. The deportations in condemning to slavery more than 100,000 of our fellow-citizens, have still further added to the general distress. Husbands have been torn from their wives, and sons from their mothers; courageous work men refusing to allow the labor of their hands to be used against their country, have been beaten, subjected to treat-r ment the horror of which surpasses anything that has,, been seen hereto fore, and sent back dying, to their na tive village. Ten per cent have died in Germany and many do not long sur vive their return to Belgium. In March, 1917, the kaiser promised that the deportation to Germany would cease, but the military authorities are constantly carrying off men, who are given hard work, often behind the front Information from a camp in Athus (Luxemburg) shows that the food was so insufficient that the num ber of those there put to work was soon reduced to half. In spite of this, the same amount of work was re quired, so that a double task fell upon those who survived. The sanitary conditions in that camp are described as horrible. Abuses are especially fre quent In Flanders. Recalcitrants are sent to dangerous work at the. front. Some of the men who have been requi sitioned try to escape. In such cases the military authority kmposes heavy fines upon the communes from which they come, arrests, In the Streets, even in the churches, men who are held as hostages and after a few days sent to the front to replace those who escaped. AMERICANS RAID GERMAN TRENCHES DESTROY THEIR DEFENSES PICK UP MUCH WAR MATERIAL. AND ONLY FEW AMERICANS LOST American Batteries Leveled G- Trenches Before Infantry A . . . iacK. use uas sh e- . ..-..a i 1 1 ZQl Made At. vely. American initiative has itself on the Lorraine front lhree savage raids assorted ln Frame on the r.cr...' lines have been made by the Ame cans, who succeeded in reaching second line of enemy trenches befon ordered to return. During their ' in German-held territory thev ed craefully built defenses and pi(k ed up much war material. The American artillery ably assi t ed the infantry in the operation 7 heavy brarage fire was laid down in front of the advancing Americans and the Germans had fled before the wave of infantry reached the hostile mi tions. Ater the Americans had been in the German trenches for a few minutes, the German barrage fire was loosed on them, but the American guns answered shot for shot, and si lenced a number of batteries. The American artillerymen used gas shells with good effect. Near Toul the American heavy , guns have been in action. Three riads on the British lines have been attempted by the Germans in the Armentieres sector, but the British, in spite of a A v 1 ., . - it . . . "UIUl ex man wuu icuves ms nome ior any me enemy's heavy guns, repulsed the reason is never sure of returning to It Teutons. The fiehtine has snrp Qi me landers front, the Ypres and Passchendaele sectors figuring in the official reports. The activities of the contending armies have spread farther south, encounters near St. Quentin be ing mentioned for the first time in recent weeks. Relatives, women, old men and chil dren are arrested in their houses and imprisoned until the return of the fu gitives. As disclosed from journals taken from German prisoners and from reports received through Holland, even women and girls are forced to dig trenches, to repair the roads, and to do other military works, often under the artillery fire. In Blankenberghe and other places boys of twelve years of age are placed at work of military character. Moral Sufferings and Endurance. Successive attacks were and still are being made upon the Belgian people and its liberties. With Impressive unanimity the bishoDS. headed bv Car dinal Mercler, the constituent bodies, UB'esB OI Soviets, which is to pass WILSON EXTENDS SYMPATHY TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE Pledges Any Aid Possible in Driving i Out Autocracy. Washington. On the eve of the gathering at Moscow of the Russ 5sian the notabilities of the political world, without distinction of party, the magis tracy, the bar, the universities have guided the public spirit. There Is no better witness to the bitterness of the straggle than the sanguinary activ ity of the exceptional courts created llldpTOPnt nn r o v .ixc oeiuia.il peace ac cepted by the bolsheviki at Brest-Li-tovsk, President Wilson has sent a message of sympathy to the Russian people through the congress, with a pledge that the United States will avails itself of every onnortnnitv tn by the Germans to force the Belgians aId them in driving out autocracy M 17? P. !' "A- II Lib 4 - ? i ' I 4 15 I ft Afcwg. i f ,' r o , " 1- .......... .... -Yfcbid to obedience. German statistics show that for one year only there had al ready been more than 200.000 convic tions. The Judicial drama in which Miss Qavell perished is being constant ly repeated, and not a week passes but that patriots fall before the bullets of a firing squad. On one day at Ghent, eighteen, of whom three were women, were put to death. The long list of martyrs includes hundreds of names from all classes of society, from all the professions, from all ages, men, wom en, and even children. And if the ex ecutions have been by hundreds, the imprisonments and penal deportations nave Deen by thousands. INJURE SELVES TO AVOID : DRAFT, IS ODD CHARGE Milwaukee. Charged with having inflicted personal injuries upon themselves in an effort to evade the draft. Edgar and Ar thur Berth, twin sons of a-MH-lersville farmer, have been brought here by the federal offi cials. One boy is minus a toe while the other has lost the in dex finger on one hand. Both utns ciaim they were acclden- ituiy injured while wood. chopping and restoring Russia to her place in the world with complete sovereignty and Independence. The President's jnessage. telegraph ed to the American consul general a' Moscow for delivery, follows: "May I not take advantage of Mie meeting of the congress of the sovfets to express the sincere svmnathv which the people of the United States feel for the Russian people at this mo ment when the German power has been thrust in to interrupt and turn back the whole struggle for freedom and substitute the wishes of Germany for the purpose of the people of Rus sia. Although the government of the United States, unhappily, is not now in a position to render the direct and effective aid it would wish to render. I beg to assure the people of Russia through the congress that it will avail Itself of every; opportunity to secure for Russia once more complete sov ereignty and independence in her ow;i affairs and full restoration to her great role in the life of Europe and the mod ern world. The whole heart of the People of the United States is with the people of Russia in the attempt fo free themselves forever from auto cratic government and become Un. masters of their own life. (Signed) "WOODROW WIL3 ON.' ts. . . ..... -u uiiua ut- ti. X Gazzun., one of three society girls who are mem bers of distinguished Philadelphia families and who have enrolled in the stenography and typewriting classes of a Philadelphia business college They have heen attending classes for ocvctui weexs to fit themselves government service. for IS CRIME TOJCIlTa MULE French Army Regulation. Provide Pen alty of Two to Five Years lm prisonment for Offense. Washington. TVoto five years' lm for. HUH ; i"ciuiueui muie I Such Is the penalty provided for this crime in the "livret mUlMJlu that though the mule may be French his disposition Is exceeding IS soTdTefto vbTl,er'S' aDd fxsszr? as ,rresistib,y; This small manual of 34 pages must be on the soldier's person and day He must be ready to prSen? It for inspection at every requisition ft STn m ? nan,e address occopa! Uon, blank pages for notes and five If mic rtC,Sely ,Pr,Dted cri through tL AWnJ,aper' the R Cross f Vhe Amerfcan fund for French wounded has been iMkin-?5?? LZZ one or Z RAILWAY LOSE MAIL SUITS FOR 0,000,000. Washington. The attempt of the railroads to recover from the govern ment $40,000,000 under the old system of weights compensation for transport ing mails was defeated in the court of claims. The court reaffrmed a for mer decision in favor of the govern ment. The court also held for the government in the suits of New Eng land railroads who claimed extra pay for transporting parce' post. CASUALTY LISTS MAY . BE WEEKLY AND SEMI-WEEKLY. Washington. In discussions of the war department's new policy of an nouncing names only in the casualty lists from France, It developed that de partment officials are considering adopting the European custom of pub lishing casualties weekly or semi weekly, Instead of dally. This plan has been suggested on the ground that it would effectually conceal from the enemy the losses in particular en gagements or series of engagements. i
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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March 15, 1918, edition 1
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