Newspapers / Polk County News and … / April 12, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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POLK COUNTY NEWS, TRYON, N. C. 1 L I STANDARD GARS OF ORDNANCE BUREAU VARIETY OF THE VEHICLES AND PARTS KEPT TO A MINIMUM BY CONSTANT EFFORT: MANY BOOKKEEPERS NEEDED Civil Service Examinations for Such I Positions to Be held Weekly Raw Cotton From" the .United States Goes to Spain. (From Co.timittee on Public Information.) I Washington". Among the standard motor vehicles being provided by the ordnance bureau are the following: The ammunition truck, which has . m steel body designed to accommo date packing boxes of any type of ammunition mounted on a four-wheel drive truck chassis. The equipment repair truck, making use of the same type of chassis, has bins and drawers for spare parts and material for re pairing personnel equipment, rifles arid machine guns, leather equip ment, etc. jThe artillery repair truck has a four-wheel drive chassis and a small machine-shop body with equipment consisting jjf a lathe, drill press, beiich grinder, electric drill, welding outfit, air riveting hammer, milling at tachment, blacksmith outfit, and other tools.- Electric power is supplied by a gasoline-driven generator. The 2-ton artillery tractor weighs about f,000 pounds and is capable of making 12 miles an hour under favor ably road conditions. The five-ton ar tillery tractor, weighing 9.000 pounds andj capable of a speed of six miles ' an hour, will handle a load of 10,000 poutids: It is Intended for use with 4.7-inch gun and 6-inch howitr,er mate rial.! A loa(J 9 18,000 ponnds is the maximum for the 10-ton artillery tractor, which will make about 41i nile an hour on high speed. The 15-ton artillery tractor and the 120-hprsepower artillery tractor will be supplied in limited numbers. They are of the track-laying type similar to thosej used by the French and British governments and are for heavy loads which are not subdivided for transpor tation!. Othjpr standard motor equipment consists of the reel and fire-control truck with a four-wheel drive truck chassis and rear wheels replaced by caterpillar trucks; reconnaissance car, . . a 1-ton truck capable of a speed of from 30 to 40 miles an hour; the light repair J truck, weighing about 2.400 pounds; the 1-ton trailer for anti aircraft gtins; the 3-inch field- gun trailer.! which is utilized for hauling ammunition as well as the 3-inch gun material. . Tanks and other armored land ve hicles are designed, procured, 'and maintained by the ordnance bureau. There has been a constant effort to keep the variety of vehicles and parts to a minimum. Only one size; of tire Is used on all the heavier trucks and trailers.1 this size also being used on similar vehicles by the quartermaster corps, signal corps and engineers. The same magneto Is used on all types of ordnance vehicles. All types of ordnance truck bodies are inter changeable on all truck chassis Issued to the artillery. So urgent is the government's need for bookkeepers that Civil service ex aminations to fill positions of this c haracter J will be held throughout the United States each Tuesday until fur- ther notice. 'Women as well as men are eligible. Two classes of examinations are an nounced. I A grammar school educa tion or Its equivalent is required of applicants J for each class, with the further stipulation that those who wish to take the bookkeeper-type-vriiter examination must have had at least six months' experience In book keeping, and those who would under take the " clerk -book keeper examina tion, one year's experience in clerical workslx months of which must bave been in bookkeeping. The vacancies to be filled from the register obtained from these examinations are in the de partmental service at Washington and offer entrance salaries of $1,000 a year. ! These examinations are open Dot only to allj citizens of the United States but also to subjects of allied nations who are otherwise qualified for the posit ons offered. There is being prepared In the ad jutant general's office a new "pay card" which will be kept by the per sonnel officer, and will show the pay status of the jman at all times. Should a man be transferred or detached from his company he will carry his card with him. This is expected to eliminate the! many causes for de layed payments of men so transferred, and to do away with many of the an noyances that have heretofore existed. During the first year of war the army paid $60000.000 for horse-drawn vehicles and harness: more than $50. 000.000 for horses, mules and harness. Expenditures for the fiscal year end ing June 80, 19lb. for fuel and forage are estimated at more than $500,000.- 000. A standard system of Insnection bv which' federal food administrators may keep a check on commercial bak er Is being worked out by the de partment of agriculture and the food administration, j - 1 -3. , r - niifii 1 111 mi Tft. The war trade board has granted licenses for raw cotton to Spain in quantity sufficient to load several Spanish vessels. This action pro-, vides cotton necessary to fill the nor mal requirements of the Spanish mills. Under the agreement with Spain that nation permits free export to the allies of certain commodities in re turn for which the United States per mits, so far as consistent with its con servation polities, the export to Spain of necessary supplies of cotton and other commodities to cover genuine Spanish requirements. Congress has authorized $2,034,000, 000, of which sum $U35,000.(00 has been appropriated, for the United States shipping board and Emergency Fleet corporation : on March 1, $353, 247,955.37 of this sum had been ex pended. The Emergency Fleet cor poration had requisitioned March 1, 425 steel vessels and contracted for 720 steel vessels, making a total . of 1,145 steel ships, of an aggregate dead weight tonnage of 8.1G4.508 tons; it had let contracts for 490 wooden ves sels, aggregating approximately 1.715, 000 dead-weight tons; it had repaired and put in operation 7S8.000 dead weight tonnage seized from Germany and Austria. On March 5 the build ing program of the Emergency Fleet corporation was being carried oh in 151 plants. Among the purchasers cf the quar termaster's department are 61,000,000 pounds of prunes and dried beans ; 273.000.000 cans of , tomatoes, con densed milk, and baked beans; 40, OOO.(KX) yards of mosquito bar; 75, 000,000 yards of olive drab; 20.000. 000 woolen blankets; 50.000.000 pairs of heavy stockings; 11.000.000 wool coats. The ordnance program In cludes the purchase of 23.000.000 hand grenades, 725.000 automatic pistols. 2fK).000 revolvers, 23.000.000 projectiles for heavy artillery. 427.246.000 pounds of explosives. 240.000 machine guns. and 2,484.000 rifles. A war emergency course to train selected men for machine-shop occu pations, blaeksmithing, sheet-metal working, and pipe fitting has been prepared by the federal board for vo cational education and will be distrib uted to the schools throughout the country. It Is known as Bulletin No. 8. The board is acting with the war department in preparing these courses of study and in1 dealing with the state authorities in charge of the school work. Recently there has been consider able discussion through the press and at public meetings In Australia con cerning the advisability of producing more beef, cattle and sowing less acreage to wheat, according to- a re port to the department of commerce. Several hundred submarine chasers, built since the war, have been deliv ered to the navy by 31 private con cerns and six navy yards; many of these boats have crossed the Atlantic, some in severe weather. . Through a card catalogue system 109,487 men have been transferred out of army divisions into technical units to function according to indi vidual educational, occupational and military qualifications. S ' There are now four times as many vessels In naval service as a year ago. The estimated pay of officers and men in the navy for the first year of war was $125,000,000. The Norwegian government has ap propriated $7,000,000 to assist inten sive agricultured development. Of this amount, $4,500,000 is to maintain low maximum prices for cattle feed and fertilizer. New Japanese concerns pumberiug over 100 are reported as having en tered business at Shanghai during 1917. The Japanese population is rap idly Increasing, now being about 14, 000. During 12 months the army hospit als increased from 7 to 63 in number and from 5,000 to 58,400 beds ; 30,000 more beds are being added. More than 70.000 acres of land in this country has been planted with castor-beta plants to produce oil for aircraft. American troops permanently took over a part of the firing line as an American sector In January, 1918. The navy now has in Its possession a stock of supplies sufficient for aver age requirements for one year. Our 14-inch guns weigh nearly 95 tous and are over 58 feet long, cost ing $118,000. Our 35,000-ton cruiser capable of 35 knots, will be the fastest In the world. ,! Production of 10,000 new automo bile trucks is In progress for the army. Chinese peanuts are usually hand sorted by women after being sifted. The United States grows more than 6,000.000 bushels of peanuts a year. The annual pay of the array now exceeds $300,000,000. The navy ration In 1017 cost $0,438. as against $0.37684 in 1914L 1 r t 1 ! st 1 1 11 in . ... .1 i.,k .. 1 Laeul. O. uumpuzauu, a vyia aivi .v " the Cuban esquadrille. 2 The beautiful city of Bassano on the Brenta, in an objective of the invading Teutons, NEWS REVIEW OF THE jAST WEEK Germans Resume Drive Toward Amiens But Pay Heavily For Small Gain. FOCH'S PLAN NOT REVEALED Hundred Thousand Cheering Ameri can Troops Mjving Up to Battle Front Count Czernln's Stu- . pid "Peace Offensive" Exasperation Against Disloyalists Is Increasing. By EDWARD W. PICKARD. Halted by the magnificent defense of the allies and, according to their own statements, by the bad weather prevailing, the Germans made little ef forts during the first part of the week to push farther ahead in Picardy. Then, on Thursday, they launched a series of furious attacks In the region north of Montdldier. evidently aimed at thev Amiens-Calais railway. Ten rimes the Huns, 100,000 strong,' ad vanced against the Franco-British lines, only to be met with a devastat ing gun fire, and In the end they had gained but a few hundreds meters of terrain, with three small villages, at the cost of many thousands of lives. At the same time the British be tween the Somme and Avre rivers and near Albert, north of Amiens, were subjected to heavy attacks. In the former region General Ha ig reported that he had yielded a little gronnd, and on Friday the fighting still was severe, with the allied lines holding well. , Earlier in the week there were daily local operations .at many points on the battle front, but these were mostly undertaken by the British and French for the purpose of Improving their po sitions,' and usually were successful. The recapture of Ayette,. south of Ar ras, the center of a fiercely contested sector, by the British, and the retak ing of Hangard-en-Santerre by the Franco-British forces were apparently the most important of these enter prises. In both of them the Huns lost heavily. The period of comparative quiet was utilized by both sides in strengthening their lines and bringing up re-enforcements and supplies for the renewal of the battle, which was regarded as in evitable. No intimation was given of the plans of either the Germans Or the allies, and there' was considerable won der in America at least' that the ex pected counter-attack by the allied re serve army did not begin. It may be that General Foch is planning to strike at some sector yet unguessed. He is recognized a one of the best of strat egists. I Since the kaiser has promised his people a ,blg victory, there Is every prospect of a long period of bloody fighting, with further heavy losses for the Germans. Already the casualties of the, Han- have been staggering, the estimate of the French beimz between 350,000 and 450,000. Those of the Brit ish and French have been unexpected ly light. peraps not more than 130. 000, including the considerable num ber of prisoners. Artillery work was almost continu ous during the week, and especially vigorous In the Montdldier region and north, of that toward Amiens. The Germans admit they have had much difficulty In getting their heiavy guns'to the front, owing to the mud and the destruction of roads by the allies. Also their transport is so slow that they are short of food and ammunition. Presumably in order to help in clear ing up the congestion and preparing for a resumption of the checked ad vance, Field Marshal Von Mackensen went to the west front from Berlin Wednesday. to Of vital Interest o the United States is the part our soldiers are to play In the continuation of the great hattfe. Offered to the allies without a,-t.ii vvrhn hm wnn fnmp rm the French front and has returned to instruct a Americans on me which iu nit mi reservation by President Wilson and General Pershing, their aid was Joy fully welcomed by the British and French and America's unselfish action in relinquishing independent command for the time being was highly praised. One hundred thousand thoroughly trained American troops at once began moving toward the places selected for them, singing and cheering as they ploughed their way through the mud, happy that they were at last to have Opportunity to take a real part In the mighty conflict. Where thej .were as signed to duty naturally has not been revealed, but wherever they may fight, there is not the least doubt that the high opinion" of them held by the Brit ish and French officers will be fully Justified. The American aviators in France "lave been giving Invaluable aid and have won unstinted praises by thelf boldness and skill during the battle. Attached to the service of the allies, they have helped them maintain com plete command of the air. The Ameri can Red Cross. It is almost unneces sary to say, has covered Itself with added glory, for Its physicians and am bulance men and nurses wl)o were in the battle zone have devoted them selves with bravery and self-sacrifice to the care of the wounded and to help ing the refugees. ta As our trained hundred thousand marched away from the sectors they had been holding in France, their places were taken by less seasoned troops who enviously cheered them on. From this time forward the flow of Americans to Franc will be continu ous, for the government plans to send about 100,000 in each remaining month of this year. This means that by 1919 we will have ,1,500,000 men over there. As they go the training camps will be refilled by drafted men. for it is the intention to call out 100,000 of these every month. The plan now adopted of tempor-, arily brigading American troops with the British and French permits the sending of National guard and Nation al army divisions that are not yet adequately trained and whose ranks are not full. Of course the success of the Ameri can program depends largely on the tonnage available. It is good to know that this probably will be sufficient, with the seized Dutch shipping,! the 450,000 tons Japan is to turn over to us and the new vessels being built under the direction of the shipping board. The lnutfchings of new, vessels are in creasing, in spite of lack of steel at the big Hog Island plant and labor troubles at other shipyards. The shipping board ' Is planning to build a number of 10.000-ton vessels oh 'the Great Lakes. The situation In what once was Rus sia is if possible more confusing than ever. In Finland the allies are said to be aiding the revolutionary Red guard ; the Germans have landed a large number of troops presumably to assist the government's White guard ; the Sweden are helping the White guard, who have been shelling Tatn merfors : Russian troops, including the famous Preobrashensky guard, have arrived and taken up a position on the Karelian front. In Siberia the bolshe vik! forces have asked the allies to aid them in fighting the Cossacks who make Incursions from China and re tire there; the Japanese still hold back from intervention at Vladivostok; the bolshevikl declare Siberia never vyijl submit to Germany, but a German army occupied Irkutsk In Russia proper, according to Trotsky, the boU sheviki have crushed all their enemies but cannot consider their power last ing, owing to the disorganization of Jhe country. They are still trying to raise aj great volunteer army. In the Caucasus the Armenians and Georg ians are fiercely fighting the Turks. In Turkestan and In Kiev serious anti Semitic riots have broken our and hundred of Jews have been killed. In Ukraine the Germaps persisted In advancing and nt last reports were near Ekaterinoslav, while the Turks and Kurds were threatening Sebasto pol. Anyone who thinks he can figure out what all this portends is welcome to try. . Russia and Roumania have conclud ed a peace treaty by which the latter agrees to evacuate Bessarabia and to defend the Russian republican feder northern Italy, which is believed to be ue m num-c. ation against attacks, while Russia agrees to deliver to Roumania the sur plus of grain in Bessarabia. la Teutonic diplomats seem to be the stupidest on earth, and seldom have they been more stupid than in their latest "peace offensive." This was launched by Count Czernin, the Aus trian premier and usual catspaw for Germany in such matters. It appar ently was designed to separate the United States from the allies, for the count undertook to show., that France's claim to Alsace-Lorraine was the only real obstacle in the way of peace. He said Premier Clemeneeau had Inquired through an Intermediary whether Austria-Hungary was ready to negotiate and on what terms. To this Clem eneeau replies merely.: "Czernin lies." The Austrian 'leader said nice things about President Wilson's peace alms, hut declared his country would not beg for peace but would enforce it by mor al right and physical strength. The Teutonic leaders sare blind If they cannot see that neither America nor the entente allies will for a mo ment consider a peace settlement that leaves their military power unbroken or that does not carry, as a prerequis ite, the evacuation by Germany of the invaded territory she now holds. Only a few days ago President Wilson, in a letter to American Methodists, reiter ated his determination to carry on the war until the German power is crushed. With a rush that promised to carry all before it, the Third Liberty loan campaign started Saturday. In every town and hamlet In the country the event was celebrated with parades, salutes and speeches, and the enthusi asm was such that the success of the $4,500,000,000 loan cannot beuestion ed. Helping to make it a success, with money and .with work, has been es tablished as a test of patriotism, and few will care to evade the-tfcst. Most appropriately, the opening of the cam paign coincided with the first anniver-' sary of America's entrance into the war and Saturday was made a day of remembrance and action that will not soon be forgotten. . fca ' Warned by their constituents that intolerance of pro-Germanism is so in creasing that it will soon take the form of lynch law. the members of the sen ate have awakened, and on Tuesday three separate measures were intro duced providing for dealing more dras tically with disloyalty. One would Kreatly enlarge the scope of the es pionage act and Increase the severity of the punishments provided : the sec ond would bar from the malls any pub lication printed In an enemy alien language: the third calls for the dis missal of any government employee who unwarrantably criticizes the government-or makes disloyal utterances. The governors of the states, at the first session of their conference oh Americanization of aliens, also were roused to speech and action concern ing the prevalence of disloyalty. Res olutions railing on congress to provide for the enforced naturalization of all, aliens of draft age and to suppress all German language newspapers for the period of the war were Introduced and probably would have been adopted If Secretary of the Interior Lane had not Intervened with a plea against bit terness and for a campaign of educa tion. Many of the governors did not like thl. and next day they resumed their demands that the government deal more drastically with disloyal Ists, spies and the German language press. In Colllnsville. 111., a man of Ger man birth, who was accused of mak ing seditious remarks, was hanged by an exasperated mob, and In many oth er places pro-Germans w.ere roughly handled. fc In the Wisconsin senatorial election. In whieh Congressman Lenroot was elected, the Germans of the state did not -sfiowup any 400 well, for they gave the Indicted Socialist, Berger, a sizeable wte.1 especially In Milwaukee and other German reirions. Also Mil waukee re-elected Its Socialist mayor. There may be nothing against such men as Socialists, but the very name now smacks of treason. - Chicago did better than Wisconsin, for in Its aldermanlc election every Socialist and anti-war candidate. met" defeat HURRIED 10 FM AT ACCELERATFn PLATED IN GOVERNMENT.. SPEED-UP PROGRAM. NO DEfA'LS GIVEN American Fnrre q r . oc Dr'Caderi Mr... ! British Troops to Hasten can r-articipation. Washington. t American troops to FraY,,' ' ' ,n c- is nroceed tt3V contemplated by the sp(e,i,0 measures taKen after ri a u . . , ' Ihe battle - Picardy began. At -ting Sp , ! Crowell made this statemev would give no details. " Following the conferences bf- Secretary Baker and allied offie? orders were given under vt'u British official statement wi ; 6 savine that A iriprifon f. " o 1L11 uiiusn tronnc ; order to hasten American partiriPa. wiuciais explained that the process to be followed w--similar to that adopted in American troops in the front li with the French for training. ' It has been estimated that 30 davt. training of this characterwith ul ican battalion units assigned with tbt British organizations, will fit the newcomers ior active duty at the front. All divisions now moved from this side are composed Of men who have had several months of prelim, nary training and who need only final Instruction to take their full share in the fighting line. The training process will be quicker with the British than with the French, it is believed, because the language difficulty does not exist. American units will find every British veteran an . instructor, and there will be 110 need for interpreters. It was indicated that the new plans call for a more extensive training scheme with the British army than has been the case with General Pershing's original force. There nrnhahlv will h rn uttomnt tn t,ct a purely American force within the British ranks, as has been done wh-a the French. The Americans are to be withdrawn when trained and turned over to Gen eraj Pershing as a part of his army. They will share fully with their Bru: ish comrades the battles on their front and ther belief here is that, they will not be withdrawn as long as there is pressing need for their sen ice with the British lines. SAYS GERMAN OPINION UNDER-ESTIMATED AMERICA Washington. Word that American reinforcements are moving to the sup port of the allies in Picardy has re vived argument in Germany over the efficacy of the submarine and drawn from Captain Persius .military critic of The Berliner Tageblatt. the com ment that .after being persuaded to under-estimate America, German opin ion is undergoing a change. An" official dispatch from Switzer land, reviewing the latest discussion, quotes Captain Persius as follow?: "We were at first a good deal per suaded to under-estimate the partici pation of America in the war. We begin .now to. note a change of opin ion. It is beyond a doubt that it would be well to curb at the present time these more or less fantastic va garie8 of persons discussing the sub marine war. We cannot for the mo ment estimate when the United States will hare ready the millions of men which her population will permit her to raise, but it is certain that America will in the very near future succeed in amassing armies which will conM; tute a very valuable aid for our ene mies." Captain Persius expressed without great conviction the hope that the. present off enalve will attain a result which will frustrate these plan? DECISION IN $57,000,000 DUPONT SUIT DELAYED Philadelphia. Pa. A decision of tie ! United States circuit eourt of appls .in the $57,000,000 DuPont stock suit Is delayed perhaps for a year as a result of the refusal of the court 10 order the case argued during ln! month. The litigation arose out of the ac quisitlon by the DuPont Securities company, formed by Pierre DuPont and others, of the holdings of Cole man DuPont in DuPont Powder Co WHEAT FORECAST PLEASES U. S. FOOD AUTHORITIES Washington. Forecasts by the de partment of agriculture of a winter whaat crop of 560.000.000 bushels th year brought optimism to the food ad minlstratioh, and the prediction unofficially made that if the sprin wheat crop maintained the same ratio r.he next harvest will furnish sufT' clent wheat to take care of the nes of this country and the 4llies nexi 'ear. Forecasts indicate an increast f 142.000,000 bushels.
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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April 12, 1918, edition 1
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