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About The Polk County post. (Independence, Or.) 1918-19?? | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1918)
DOINGS OP THE V A N LOONS The Confeti ofaGer Deserter Written by a Prussian Officer Who Participated in the Pavag'-. jng and Pillaging of Belgium.. Copyright by Detroit Free heat j j j e m (Continued from Friday.) * eaten with ravenous appetites. Corn ing mattered how our stomachs were filled If only our hunger might be ap The enemy’s shelling to reduce our peased. Night now came, yet no sleep nor position gradually grew stronger, but without effeet. Some houses caught rest was in sight. No one knew how Are. Enemy cavalry patrols In strong much farther we would have to retire before there would be a respite. The force appeared and disappeared again. Everything became quiet. Within ten unfamiliar surroundings Indicated to minutes matters again became lively, us that we were not returning over the road which we had traversed when, as as large hostile columns approached. victors, we marched to the Marne. W e retired some distance without fir With this and similar thoughts, hour ing a shot. The artillery took a posi after hour passed. Some of us ran tion behind a village and began shell along, others actually walked In their ing the approaching enemy. A cavalry sleep. Our boots were filled with wa patrol galloped across an open field, ter, yet we had to keep on. Thus the the horses covered with foam. We night passed. heard the commander of the patrol tell The next morning troops of the a cavalry officer that the enemy were main army were placed In the rear approaching from a'l aides. AVe quick guard. They formed long columns ly left the village. The artillery re which they opened to let us pass mained and the cavalry detachments through, after which they closed occupied a position while the cannon ranks. W e gave a sigh o f relief, for were trained on the enemy. Toward we were at last free of hostile artil noon shrapnel shells* again began lery fire. A fter marching about five bursting over our heads, but they ex more hours, we joined a company of ploded too high In the air to do us any Infantry which fortunately had saved damage. Yet this served as a serious Its field kitchen. It was not quite reminder to us that tha enemy kept' dark when we reached the village. Here we were billeted in order to right on our heels, a realization of which caused our retreat to become a get as much rest as possible. But we rout. The numbers who dropped ex- all knew that we could rest only as hausted constantly increased. It was j long as the rear guard was able to impossible to render them unji assist- keep back the enemy. AA’ e were placed ance, for there were no more wagons. 1 In the village school. Because of the Many soldiers used their last atom shortage o f provision* we were al- o f strength to drag themselves to the i lowed to use our tinned supplies, but side of the road. Others fell where J none of us bad any left. This consist they were marching to be crushed soon ed o f some meat and hardtack. It had afterward under the horses' hoofs or long since been eaten up and so we were compelled to lie down with our the wheels of any vehicle that might hunger still unsatisfied. pass. The road was strewn with equipment thrown away by the sol diers. Our detachments had long since CH APTER XI. cast aside all unnecessary impedi menta. We were once more aroused at eleven o'clock that night, and with the In this way we proceeded until we utmost haste made ready to resume reached a forest which was filled with our march. The night was pitch dark fugitives. Many of these had stretched and the rain continued. At daybreak some sort o f cloth from tree to tree we passed the city of St. Menehould. as a protection from the rain. There This had not been harmed. From here they lay, men. women and childreu and old men, some in unspeakable mis we turned to the east, closely pressed by the French and in the afternoon we ery. This fugitives’ camp was spread Once over the forests to the edge of the reached Clermont-en-Argonne. more we managed to get a rest o f sev road and as we passed we could see eral hours. Toward evening we pro the furroArs woven Into their faces by ceeded again and maintained a forced the terrible sufferings they had been march through the whole night. AVe through. They looked at us with weary were now more exhausted than ever, and saddened eyes. The children yet could not halt. begged for bread, but we had none The rain had stopped before ten fo r ourselves, even though we were tortured by hunger. The enemy’s o’clock in the morning at which hour we left the road and made camp. shrapnel continued to accompany us. There was a general sigh of relief, for Scarcely had we passed through the this long-continued, wearing retreat forest when shrapnel burst In It. As a consequence a camp of fugitives, now had brought our troops Into a state now become unendurable. AVe began exposed to trench fire, was abandoned and Its numbers sought safety In the to dig ourselves In. Before our open fields. Many tried to accompany t-enches were even half completed a us until the order came forbidding literal hailstorm of shrapnel fell them the road, as their advance hin among us. Our losses were so great dered troop movements. The fugitives, that ft be-nme Irr,possible to remain. therefore, were forced Into the rain- AA’ e received on) rs to ri lire at once. soaked fields. We marched over the fields until dark, Toward evening we reached a vil when we began once more to dig In. lage which had previously been sacked AA’e were now near the village of Cer- and here we found some rest. The nay-en-Dormois. It was pitch dark and mayor and two citizens o f this village a heavy fog lay over everything. Of had been seized by the Germans and the enemy we knew nothing. AA’ ith the taken away under cavalry escort. Just utmost silence and speed we dug our why this had been done we were un selves In deeply, stopping frequently able to find out. AVe did know, how to listen as hostile raiding parties ap ever, that almost every town was proached, only to disappear quickly. obliged to give hostages. Most o f the Here we received our first re- cattle were taken along and large herds were transported to the rear by enforcements. They arrived In long columns In the darkness. All were cavalry. fresh troops— most of them reserves. We belonged to the rear guards, which explained why we were unable The majority wore blue uniforms. This as well as the nature o f their equip to find anything to eat. There was ab solutely nothing to the village where ment, Indicated to u* that they had we were now quartered. After half been hastily fitted out and transported. an hour with our hunger still unap None of them had ever heard the peased we resumed our inarch. After whistle of a bullet and many asked weMiad marched about three kilome anxiously whether It was dangerous They brought numerous ma ter* we arrived at a spot which had here. formerly been a bivouac. Advancing chine guns, and In an Instant we had armies had camped here perhaps eight everything prepared for defense* At daylight the French began the at days before. Bread, which had been plentiful then, lay strewn around on Che tack. They made several onslaughts ground. In spite of Its water-soaked throughout the day hut without sue- cats, for our re-eaforcemeats were condition It had been gathered up la m . CH APTER X. and It lo«ks as BUY W. W. S. No one realized at this stage o f the | battle that It was the beginning o f a murderous, exhausting struggle fo r po sitions. We were to fight here from the same trench, month after month, without gaining territory. The wounded, who lay in No Man’s Band between the trenches, were left to perish. The French tried to' rescue them un der the protection o f the Geneva flag, the emblem o f the Red Cross, but we only sneered at them and shot It to bits. The Impulse to shoot down the enemy surpassed every human feeling. The Red Cross flag had lost all its value for us when it was raised by the French. Mistrust was nurtured among us. We were told that the enemy mis used the flag and that we must shoot down the men that bore it. W e repulsed all attacks until they gradually ceased. We were now able to fortify our position, which we did with the greatest care, making it as strong us possible. H a lf the men re mained on guard while the other half deenened and widened the trenches. A lively fire was maintained continuous ly by both sides. The losses were very large. Most o f the men killed were shot through the head, the trench pro tecting the remainder o f their bodies. Firing Increased in Intensity as night fell. Although nothing could be seen we continued firing all the time because we thought this would prevent the enemy from making any attacks. Through the nights munitions and ma terial were brought up and new men arrived. Great quantities of sandbags The Red Cross Flag Had Lost All Its Value. were sent us, which were filled and used as a protection against bullets. The ploueers were relieved toward morning and gathered In a farmyard | behind the firing line. The farm had been spared by the cannon, and even all the stock remained. This booty was soon to be consumed. Several hundred soldiers came and a wild hunt ensued for ducks, chickens, geese, pig eons, etc. About five hundred of these were caught, after which everybody began cooking. Not far away 80 cows and heifers were seized and turned over to the field kitchens. Hay and grain were carried away, even the strawstacka and harns were torn down and the lumber used for firewood. In a few hours a beautiful farm had be come a ruin and the proprietor a beg gar. I had seen the owner in the morning, but he had suddenly disap peared with his w ife and (ffilldren, and nobody knew where he waa. The next night we were sent Into the trenches again. There was little to do, so we talked with the men who had re-enforced us from the Interior of Germany. They knew absolutely nothing of our retreat from the Marne and were astonished when we pictured to them the events o f the last few days. The following morning we left the trench before daybreak and went Into quarter* at Cemay-en-Dormols. AVe were billeted In the middle of the vil lage I d an abandoned houae. Our flald kitchens failed to arrive, ao w * pre pared oureelvee a meal o f fow l aad whatever else w e discovered. When ever anyone espied a chick ao there w^re twenty men racing for It. Toward evening long provision truins arrived, as well as fresh troops. They went to the front In long columns and re lieved the exhausted men. Soon the whole village was crowded with soldiers. A fter a rest of two days the regular nightly pioneer service was resumed. Every night we wers sent to the front-line trenches to build wire obstacles. The French found us out by the noise required to set up the posts, so that we had fresh losses almost every night. AVe completed the task o f setting up barbed wire entan glements In the sector assigned to us in about fourteen days. During this period we rested by day, but at night we went out regularly. But our rest had many interruptions, for the enemy artillery bombarded the village regu larly. This always happened at cer tain hours, for Instance, In the begin ning, every noon from twelve to two o’clock, fifty to eighty shells fell In the | village. Sometimes they were shrap- I nel, sent over by the field artillery. AVe soon grew accustomed to this, despite the fact that soldiers o f other detach- ments were killed or wounded dally. Once or twice during this noon bom bardment a shrapnel shell fell into our room and burst without doing much damage. The room would be filled with dust and smoke, yet no one would think o f leaving. This firing was re pented dally with ever-increasing vio lence. C H APTE R X II. The Inhabitants o f Cernay who had remained, mostly old people, were all ! gathered In a barn because o f the fear i of spies. Here they were guarded by Í soldiers. As the enemy bombardment ; si ways occurred at a certain hour, our I commander thought that somebody In ; the village was In communication with the enemy by means o f a concealed telephone. It was even discovered that the hands o f the church clock had been turned and at one time stood at six and shortly after at five o’clock. The spy who signaled the enemy by means o f this clock was not dlscov- ! cred, neither anyone using a concealed telephone Instrument. In order to catch the right one all the civilians were interned In the barn. These civilian prisoners were supplied In the mme wny the soldiers were, with food tnd drink, but were also exposed, like the soldiers, to the daily bombard ments, which In time destroyed the whole village. Tw o women and one child had been killed In this manner ind yet the people were not removed. Almost dally houses caught fire in the village and -burned down. The shells .vere now falling regularly at eight J’clock in the evening. They were o f teavy caliber. At eight o’clock prompt- y, when the first shell arrived, we left he town. There followed. In short In erváis, fourteen to fifteen shells, the ‘Iron ration.” AA’ e believed that the -’ rench cannon sending these shells were brought up somewhere at night AVhen we returned from our prorae- íade, as we called the nightly excur sion, we were sent to our places In the renches. There we were used for ev- >ry kind of duty. One evening w# were called up to fortify a farm taken 'rom the French the previous day. AV* íad to build machine guns and place hem. an open-air concert every day. Tha ofl*> cers often reoelved women visitor* from Germany. A fter a hard march we arrived at the front positions. In a veritable labyrinth of trenches, filled with water, we had the utmost difficulty finding our way about. Finally we arrived at the very front. The French were only ten meters away and before wq had been there two days we took part In a hand grenade encounter. Some distance hack we established a ploueer depot. Twenty-five o f our mas did nothing but assemble hand gre nades. AVe were soon settled and ready fo r an emergency. In camp we were divided among various troops. They showed us how C H APTER X III. the wnrfnre waged at this front re quired every Imaginable kind o f fight After a march of 15 kilometers we ing. There was mining, sapping, hand reached the town of Jametz. Here grenade throwing, mine throwing and j everything was offered us by the In light patrol battles. This went on day habitants. AA’e were treated with cof after day and night after night, with fee, milk uud meat. AA’ e went on early 48 hours In the trench and a 12-hour the next morning and In the evening reet. The shortage of men made a arrived at Damvlllers, where we heard less strenuous schedule Impossible. that we were about five kilometers be (Continued Fridhy.) hind the firing line. The same evening we advanced to the little village of W avrille, which wns our destination. Notice of Certain Street Improve ment Bonds Will Be Taken Up. AVe took up our quarters in a house i which had been abandoned by Its In Notice is hereby given that there habitants. AVe were attached to the are sufficient'funds in the street Ninth reserve division and the nc t ! morning went to our position. Fifteen paving fund of the City of Independ j o f us were assigned to duty with an ence, Oregon, to tuke up for pay j infantry company. On the entire line, ment and cancellation Bonds No. us far as we could see, there was no 8, 9, 10 and 11 hearing date July 1st, musketry fire. Only the artillery on 1914. both sides kept up a weak action. We That on July 1st, 1918, each of were aot accustomed to this quietude said bonds w ill be taken up and i in the trenches, but the men who had cancelled and paid in full, principal been there for some time told us that frequently not; u single shot wus fired and interest to said date and there | for days and that no activity was after said bonds w ill cease to bear interest. shown. Dated and first published May 31, Enormous forces o f artillery were being mobilized. New guns continued 1918. AV. S. KURRE, to arrive every day and were Installed City Treasurer. without going Into action. The trans portation of munitions and material Wood Sawing Prices was also very brisk. W e did not sus Hereafter the following prices will pect at this time that this was the first be charged for cutting wood. preparation for a great offensive. Ash, Maple and Fur, one cut 60c., A fter four weeks In this vicinity we were sent to another part o f the front, 2 cuts 75c., 3 cuts $1 ¡Slabs and Oak, once more without being told our des 1 cut 60c., 2 cuts 85c., 3 cuts $1; By tination. We marched away and In the the hour $2. afternoon we arrived at Dun-sur P. O. BLACK. Meuse. Hardly had we entered the town when the German crown prince, accom panied by severul officers and a large pack o f hunting dogs rode by. “ Good morning, pioneers I” he called out to us. i Then he Inspected our unit closely. HIDES H e spoke to our captain, after which PELTS one o f the officers of his staff took us gathered here. Added to tnts tnere was the army field post institute and the executive offices of the railways as well as a number of hospitals. It was very lively in Montmedy. Many wounded men were seen strol ling through the city and an especially large number of officers all at home were attached to single etapes. In faultless uniform, carrying riding whips, they strolled around. This point waa about thirty-five kilometers behind A’ erilun and one hundred kilo meters from our former position. As we marched away shortly after noon | we suspected that we were being taken to the neighborhood o f Verdun. Max Goldman Deals in WOOL FURS MOHAIR CASCARA BARK VEAL PORK BEEF POULTRY BUTTER EGGS FARM PRODUCE WOOD WOOD GROCERIES SHOES FURNISHINGS DRY GOODS Our camp at Cernay-ep-Dermols waa ' -ontlnually under heavy bombardment. ’’Inally rest became Impossible. The íeavy-callber shells struck the roofs >f the houses and penetrated to the •ellars. The civilians were taken away ifter several had been killed by shells. After about ten weeks In this country we were sent to another part of the ’ rent. Our destination was kept from CASH OR TRADE l* . At the depot at Challerange we en tered a train waiting for us. It con sisted o f second and third class ■oaches. The train rolled slowly hrough the beautiful country, and for -he first time since the war began we <aw the light behind the front. All the iepots, crossings and bridges were oc cupied by the military. Everywhere waa activity. Bong trains loaded with agricultural machinery of every vari ety stood at the larger stations. The crew o f our train consisted of officials of the Prussian state railways. They had traversed this country often and told ua that there waa no agricultural machine In all occupied territory. The same thing happened with all machin ery ■* industry that could be spaaed. Everywhere we saw the finest klad o f machinery en routs to Germany. In the evening we passed Sedan. Early the next morning we arrived at Montmedy. Here we had to leave the train and were permitted to go to the city fo r several hour*. Montmedy la the principal base o f the Fifth army, commanded by the crown prince. Enor mous stores o f war materials war* SWOPE & SWOPE LAWYERS I. O. O. F. Building Independence, Oregon Only the Artillery Kept Up a Weak Action. to a Red Cross establishment where we were banqueted and given wine. The headquarters of the Hohtnzol- lara heir were located at I>un-sur- Meuse. The ladles of the Red Cross treated us cordially. AVe asked them if all passing troops were as well treat ed as we had been. “Oh, yes," a young woman answered, “ but only a few come here. The crown prince, however, has an especial at | tachment for the pioneers.” W e ware quartered over nlghL Sol diers told us that Dun-aur-Meuse waa | t M headquarter* o f the r ifth army. T ie r s ware gay times in the town, with