La Grande evening observer., August 02, 1917, Image 3

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1917.
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER.
PAGE TERES
F
REHCH
ARMY
IS
ASCENDENCY
GERMANS
BY 'HENRY WOOD
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
With the French Armies, July 31. In three titanic
forms of warfare imposed the past year by the imperial
forces of imperial Germany on the democratic armies of
democratic Prance, the latter have established and main
tained an ever increasing ascendancy..
The significance of this fact for humanity at large ex
- ceeds a thousand times the more military value it may
have in eventually winning the war.
The third year of .the war has marked the supreme test
before the tribunal of the world before the tribunal of all
Mmankind of the superiority of democratic over im
perialistic forces. And by "forces" is not meant mere
armies.'
The year was one in which every force intellectual,
material and physical that an imperialistic empire, was
capable of inspiring and producing, was massed against
the same supreme forces as inspired and created by a de
mocracy in one great struggle for the survival of the fit
test. And Prance ever the first champion of democra
cies has justified the fitness of democracies to survive.
The test was one that could only come with a fair de
gree of equity during the third year of the war. It was
only then that France, inspired for a quarter of a century
previous by .the democratic ideals of peace, was able to
enter the arena with all the forces of her national life
mobilized and turned into a single military aim. Ger
many had begun the war two years previously with this
advantage already established by forty years of imperial
istic ambitions and preparations.
While with the opening of the -third
year of the war, Germany unquestion
ably still had material advantage due
to this long, intensive preparation,
yet at that time both France and Ger
many had at least brought into pTay
the highest forces that a democratic
national life was capable of produc
ing and opposing to those of the max
imum imperialistic inspiration.
The third year of the war opened
with this democratic and imperialistic
contrast even more pronounced in the
field of military operations than else
where. Against the generals com
manding the French armies generals
whose whole military education, ideals
and aims hacl been those of a democ
racy was ranged the German armies
commanded in almost every instance
ty German princes and sovereigns in
spired by the highest imperialistic am
bition, training and beliefs.
The third year of the war entered
with two great battles already in
progress each representing a differ
ent form of warfare and n form which
the Germans themselves by their su
perior preparation had been able at
will to impose on France. At Verdun
it was the war of siege; on the Somme
the war of trendies.
For five months and a half preced
ing the third anniversary of the war
the French at Verdun had held out
against the Germans' perfected meth
ods of siege warfare, such as they
might have employed at Paris, but for
the battle of the Marne. The first
of August, 1916, marked the passing
there of Germany's greatest effort
and the gradual retaking by the
French of the offensive. For the
first four months of the third year of
the war the Germans were slowly
driven back from the points where'
they had nearest attained Verdun, and ,
then in two astounding assaults, one.
on November 24 and the other on De-
cember IS, in which not only the '
genius of the democratic military!
commanders of France but the glory I
of her democratic armies as well,:
reached their highest expression of the
entire war, the French completely lib
erated their fortress. It was the first
liberation .of its kind in the world's ,
history. The Forts of Douaoumont
and Vaux were retaken, the Germans
thrown back pretty much on the po
sitions from which they had begun
their siege, and the ten month's effort
of the Imperial Crown Prince reduced
to the useless sacrifice of 700,000 men.
In the meantime on the Somme,
France had accepted another great
battle in another great form of war
fare the warfare of trenches, selec
ted and imposed by the Germans at
the moment that the French lack of
munitions rendered it impossible to
complete the victory of the Marne.
The battle of the Somme had al
ready been in progress for a month
when the third year of the war began.
It wag continued for another three
months, on down till the first of De
cember, when the advent of winter
forced a temporary suspension till
spring. In this form of warfare which
the Germans boasted with imperial
istic arrogance to have perfected to
such a degree that their lines of
trenches and barbed wire were abso
lutely invincible, the democratic arm
ies of France not only demonstrated
that the lines were vulnerable but that
their defense could only be maintained
at a cost of life and material that in
the end would moan defeat.
The full fruits of the victory of the
Somme were . only harvested this
spring. The necessity of suspending
the operations for the winter give the
Germans a respite at a moment when
another month of favorable weather
might well have forced a retirement.
Preparations were immediately be
gun by the French for the resump
tion of the Battle of the Somme this
spring on a vastly extended front.
Facing irreparable losses and certain
defeat in this event, Hindenburg chose
to avoid the danger by his retreat of
February and March, abandoning the
trench warfare which the Germans
themselves had previously chosen,
and seeking to impose on the French
the open, strategic warfare of ma
neouver.. Just as the French had ac
cepted the warfare of siege imposed
at Verdun and the warfare of trench
es imnosed on the Somme, they ac
cepted likewise this new form of war
fare with the exception of one point.
Instead of ;accepting battle .before
Jjf Hfc? 4? J? ? fc 4? H? Jfr
BUSY
DAYS
WITH
Vacation
Period
t
AT HAND
and the Weather at its hottest, no thoughtful woman will busy
herself with sewing when
Tasteful Summer Garments
can be bought here at lower prices than at which they can be
made. ; ' '
Our Prices Will Convince You
X E. KIRTLEY
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From a little talk by Don
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" A NY man who has any
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vitation to buy before the
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tising is the quickest and
least expensive method, and
this holds true whether your
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food, buy automobiles or
attend a masquerade."
i
j
the Hindenburg lino on the ground
prechosen by the imperial German
strategists, the generals of France
with the superior strategy inspired in
men who are fighting for the demo
cratic ideals of their own land, forced
the Germans to accept battle on the
ground prechosen by them on the
Aisne and in Champagne. That bat
tle still continues, with an ever in
creasing ascendancy on the part of
the French that gives the utmost hope
of precipitating a definite German retreat.
These three efforts of imperial Ger
many during the past year to demon
strate the superiority of imperial forc
es, imperial ideals, and imperial in
stitutions over those of democracies
has cost her over 1,000,000 men. The
losses at Verdun from the moment the 1
French took the offensive there with
the opening of the third year of the
war and on down to the final victory
of December 15, are authoritatively
placed at 300,000. The losses sus
tained during the five-month battle of
the Somme aggregated over 500,000,
The battles of the Aisne and Cham-
Da erne have already consumed over
300,000. The total indeed is far over
1,000,0000.
France would have been glad to
have spared humanity this cost of
demonstrating the superiority of de
mocracies, but the choice was not giv-
on her. She accepted the gage tnat
was forced onto her, and has given
her Wood freely to sustain her ideals.
But if those ideals are established for
'humanity once and for all time to
come, her own losses, heavy as tney
are, she will consider as not in vain.
APPEAL IS MADE
FOR FUNDS TO HELP
Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Amer- minstrels, reading circles, library fa
lcon Lake, Wash. 1 cilities, athletics and , sports of all
These recreation 'halls will bo 60 by kinds.
120 feet in dimensions, and built after The athlotics, it is pointed out, will
the style of the old missions, making be organized on a competitive basis,
theni distinctive from all other build- with a viow to injecting a great spirit
ings on the reservations. .of rivalry.
Over the entrance will he inscribed: These recreation halls will be com
"K of C Hall ' pleted and fully equipped when tne
EVERYBODY WELCOME". National army assembles; the plana
In a recess at one end of the build- for entertainment will 'be operative
ing the altar will be erected with he first day the cantonment opens,
rooms on each side to be used as a I
sacristy. This can be closed from the
main hall bv means of slidine doors,
The halls will contain a stage for en- 4
tertainment purposes, a gallery for 4
moving picture m&cYiines, a room, tor 4
the secretary, desk, chairs and sta-
f 4 4 4 i" "4 4
WIT AND HUMOR
J "S f f f f $ "J
The
tionery in abundance; showers, etc., "i" """i Dm"w Vi In
tvi tv. im. . - out by hour n his cockleshell
4. VMl VUV VVIlllVI V VI IrllV 7Wuawa 1 1. A. ltn Lamm V J V . 1
It is planned to have the K. of C."" "c!" """l"
Fellows of the Catholic University of TvTT
a. a.r,iBa t v. wh had 3ut eome down for the day.
ous halls, who will be in charge at 1 JU8t I
all times, and will be the camp di- 5Bt hen to lea1ktThe ,d
rector of all Knights of Columbus ac- however, reassured the party-told
tivities for the men. . them tha " was, no anf
Lecturers and entertainers are to wag confident that they would reach
make a chautauqua circuit of the 16 sh,ore Wor? !? leak developed. To
cantonments, as part of the recrea- a,Iav ?T uThermeBM J1 handed,
tion program now being arranged by aJnd Wf belts. The party consisted
the Kniirhts of Columbus at the r na- OI I've ana "crv werB on,y Iour
YOUNG MEN IN ARMY
RECREATION CAMl'S AT CAN
TONMENTS WILL BE rJUlLi
FROM FUNDS SOLICITED
COLUMBUS KNIGHTS AID
Catholic Church Expects to Raise Mil
lion Dollars in Campaign Through
out United States
tional heatrquarters "for the war" in
Washington. The lectures will be by
men of national prominence, either in
business life, as educators, in tech
nical fields, world travelers and occa
sionally some army officer of high
rank. ' Other entertainment features
will include moving pictures, concerts,
"Hi! Where's mineT" asked th
terrified cockney, who had dropped
all his cheerful chipping of the old
salt,
"Don't you worry, my lad J" said
the boatman. "Yon don't need no
life-belt! ; A feller with an' ead as
'oiler as yourn can't sink."
Hb fH? fl? ffr ffr fj? ffr ffr 4? ffr
LET TJS DESIGN BUILD AND ERECT
YOUR MONUMENT OR MARKER
Vermont Marble & Granite Works
Corner Cove and Jeff. Ave. Phone Red 61
Appeal is being made to the Cath
olics of the country to furnish $1,000-
000 to care for Catholic young men
in the army and navy. The Knights
of Columbus have designated the pres
ent week as the pdriod for raising the
sum and the La Grande order has been
quick to take up the work.
Archbishop Christie has appealed to
every parish in the diocese where
Knights of Columbus are located, ask
ing them to support the campaign.
Each parish has in, turn appointed a
committee to solicit funds.
The La Grande committee, to whom
donations may be given are: J. H.
Pcare, Fred L. Meyers, R. J. Sullivan,
De Lile Green, Mirs. T. N. Murphy,
and Mrs. J. E. Foley, M. H. Turner,
and Will Vogel of Union.
The purpose of the fund Is to build
.Tecreatiort camps at the 16 army can
tonments to care for the comfort and
spirituar needs of the men. it is esti
mated by the church authorities that
30 per cent of the men in, the army
and navy are Catholics. Similar work
was done by the Knights of Columbus
during the Mexican trouble, with such
success that the war department has
accepted their help in this case.
The recreation halls will be built
at Ayer, Mass.; Long Island, N. Y.;
Wrightson, N. J.; Petersburg, Va.;
Annapolis Junction, Md.; Columbia.S.
C; Atlanta, Ga.; Little Rock, Ark.;
Chillicothe, Ohio; Louisville, Ky.;
Battle Creek, Mich.; Rockford, 111.;
Dea Moines, Iowa; Fort Riley Kas.;
Look for this trade
mark on your fan.
Millions of American homes and offices
are cooled with electric fans
Millions more should be! Is yours?
If not make us a visit today. For a small
outlay you can buy a, fan that will last a life
time and cost but a trifle to run. Why deny
yourself the comfort your neighbor is enjoying?
Let us send you a G-E fan on trial.
Eastern Oregon Light
and Power Go
.'-60