DOINGS OF THE VAN LOONS
¡The (in festi
of a Ger
Deserter
Written by a. Prussian O fficer
Who Participated in the R avag& Z ^
!fng and Pillaging o f Belgium,
-
Copytjht to Detroit Fra Prat j
(C ontinued from T uesday)
a n a tn e n oise of th e explosion, sound
alm o st a t th e sam e In sta n t. T hese
"Ja ck asses” a re g re a tly fe a re d by th e
T he e n tire fo re st o f A rgonne w as G erm an so ld iers because th e y a re k ep t
fclown to pieces w hen w e arriv ed . w orking day a n d night.
I t w as w in te r an d very cold. T he
E v ery w h ere w as a rtille ry , w hich m ain
ta in e d a Are on th e v illag es behind th e tre n c h e s h ad been filled w ith w ater
and w ere now n o th in g ex cep t deep
en em y 's positions.
d itc h e s o f m ud. U nder th e se condi
One of th e m any b a tte rie s w hich w e
tions, th ro u g h th e ice-cold nights, our
C onstantly h ad to p a ss on o u r m arch
ro u tin e consisted o f 48 h o u rs duty
fro m th e cam p to th e fro n t, w as In ac
and 12 h o u rs re st. E very w eek a sto rm
tio n w hen we re ach ed It.
ing a tta c k w as m ade, th e success of
I asked one of th e g u n n ers w h at his
w hich w as e n tirely o u t of prop o rtio n
o b jectiv e w as an d he rep lied th a t It
to th e enorm ous losses. In all o f th e
w a s any village w ith in range.
fo u r m onths I w as In th e A rgonne fo r
A s u b s titu te first lie u te n a n t, In ests we gained 400 m eters. T h e fol
c h a rg e of th e b a tte ry , stood nearby. low ing d a ta w ill In d icate how h eav y a
O n e of ray com rades ask ed him If he p rice w as p aid In lives fo r th is little
d id not th in k th e re m ight be women piece of F ran ce.
land children In th o se villages.
E ach reg im en t h a d Its ow n cem e
" T h a t w ould m ak e no difference,” tery . T h e re w as th e One H u n d red and
th e first lie u te n a n t replied. "W om en 1 F o rty -fifth In fa n try reg u lars, th e Sixty-
a n d children a re T rench, so w h at does seventh, and O ne H u n d red and Seven
I t m a tte r? T h is b reed h as to be ex ty -th ird In fa n try re g u la rs an d the
te rm in a te d In o rd e r th a t th is n ation i One H u n d red
and
F ifth H lrsch-
shall not th in k of w a r ag a in fo r a cen berg b attalio n . On th e d ay we w ere re
to rv."
lieved from d u ty In th e A rgonne for-
T h is day w as d e sig n a te d fo r a , e sts th e re w ere m ore dead In th ese
•te rm in g a tta c k and we w ere obliged cem eteries th a n th e re w ere surv iv o rs
to be In o u r p o sitio n s a t seven o’clock ! of th e sev eral regim ents. T h e Sixty-
In th e m orning. P ro m p tly a t 8 :30 reg i seventh regim ent had m ore th a n 2,000
m ent No. 67 w as o rd e re d to a tta c k . dead. All th e victim s w ere m em bers
P io n eers led th e way. T h ey w ere su p o f th a t u n it except a few pioneers,
plied w ith hand g ren ad es. T h ese w eek w ho h a d been Assigned to d u ty w ith
ly a tta c k s w ere opened h a lf an hour I t T h e re w as n e v er a day w ith o u t
b efo re th e In fa n try w e n t o v er by a ' som e loss of life, and on th e d ay s when
Storm of a rtille ry fire. T h e a rtille ry th e sto rm in g a tta c k s w ere m ade, d eath
action req u ired very carefu l calcu la ' had an ex trem ely larg e h a r v e s t
tion because th e d ista n c e w hich se p a
C H A P T E R XV.
ra te d our position from th e enem y’s
w as very slight. It v aried from th re e
E ach day In th e A rgonne levied its
to one hund red m e te r s ; n ev er any
m ore. A t th e p o in t w here we a tta c k e d toll of victim s, som etim es m any, som e
tim es only a few . It Is only n a tu ra l
th e d istan ce w as 20 m eters.
P rom ptly a t eight o’clock th e a rtil th a t th e m orale of th e so ld iers should
lery sta rte d . T he first th re e shells not be a t its best u n d er th e se circum
stru c k a ditch, b u t th e follow ing ones stan ces. W ith th e sam e Indifference
h it fairly , th a t Is, rig h t In th e F rench th a t th e men had once gone to th e ir
trenches. Once th e a rtille ry had the work to su p p o rt th e ir wives and ch il
pro p er range w hole salvos of b n tte rie s d ren th ey now w ent into action. T h is
descended upon them w ith ad m irab le bu sin ess of killing had becom e dally
exactness. T h e cries of th e w ounded ro u tin e. W henever we discussed o u r
w ere h e ard pnee m ore, a sign th a t situ atio n , th e crow n p rin ce and th e
com m ander of th e S ix teen th arm y
m any had been h i t
An a rtille ry officer acte d a s o bserver corps. L ie u te n a n t G eneral von Mudra.
In th e fo rem o st sense and d irected th e fared w orst.
T h e tro o p s In th e A rgonne fo re st be-
fire by phone. P ro m p tly a t 8:30 o’clock
th e a rtille ry fires stopped and we a t leug cl to the S ix teen th corps, th e T hir-
tacked. T he eleventh com pany of th e t.v-thlrd and T h irty -fo u rth divisions.
B ixty-seventh regim ent, o f which I N either th e crow n p rin ce n or Von Mud
spoke before, cam e u n d e r th e fire of ra had ev er been seen in th e tren ch es.
th e enem y's m achine guns and 18 of it* One of th e m em bers on th e V row n
men w ere killed a fte r th ey had only p rince’s sta ff w as th e old field m a r
proceeded a few ste p s o u tsid e the shal. f o u n t von llu e -e le r, fo rm er com
m an d er of th e S ix teen th corps, who.
trench.
Dead and w ounded men lay nmong before th e w ar. w as considered a h u
th e bran ch es atid th e tre e s everyw here man fiend. T hese th re e called Clover
on th e ground. E very m an w ho w as Leaf by th e soldiers, w ere fa r m ore de
ab le to run sped fo rw ard to reneh th e spised by m ost of th e men th a n w ere
enem y tren ch a s quickly ns possible. A the F ren ch cannon, w hich sou g h t our
p a r t of th e enem y d efended Itself d es m iserable lives.
T h e H obenznllern h e ir did not find
p e rately In n tren ch filled w ith w a te r
and mud A te rrib le hand-to-hand fight ife h a rd a t Ids h e a d q u a rte rs several
resu lted . Wo stood In w a te r up to our kilom eters behind th e h a tt'e fro n t. It
>vas easy fo r him to m ake him self
knees.
Men, severely w ounded, lay In th e j popular w ith his o rd e r to go ah ead at
m ud, holding th e ir m o u th s a n d noses ffie co st of th o u san d s of lives. H e w as
above th e w ater. D uring th e fighting rery well liked am ong th e high officers,
they w ere tram p led m ore deeply Into
whom he sa t behlud a stove al-
th e d irt u n d er o u r fe e t fo r we could though th e p ro g ress w as not fast
not see w here w e w ere g o in g ; we could enoUgh fo r them .
only “roll up th e e n tire tre n c h .
j H e honored Von M udra w ith th e or-
T h e section w on w as fo rtifie d w ith J q Pr “p o u r Ia M erite,” b u t of th e sol-
all possible haste. Once m ore we had d lers he n ever had a thought,
acquired a t a heavy co st In h um an life
T hey had not seen a bed fo r m onths.
a few m eters of th e A rgonne fo rest. T hey w ere n ever given a ch ance to re
T h is trench, w hich w e took, had move th e ir clothing.
changed h an d s m any tim es and even
T hey received only sh ells and steel
now we w ere p rep arin g fo r th e usu al
and w ere alm ost eate n up by verm in.
c o u n te ra tta c k s .
T hey w ere covered w ith lice. T h ere
P resen tly th e “Ja ck asses” w en t Into ,
,
. . . . . .
action. T h e “Jack asses ” a re th e guns I w as sc a rcely
w a te r fo r drink-
o f th e F ren ch m ountain a rtille ry . T hey lng purposes, to say n o th in g o f w ater
were so named becau se th ey w ere fo r w ashing th e ir clothes.
O ur h a ir and b e a rd s w ere long and
drawn by mulea. T hey are g uns o f flat
trajectory, kept from 50 to 100 meters w hen we w ere given som e h o u rs of
behind the enemy lines. T he sheila r**t «>«
wouI<1 00t
ua sleep,
from these cannon flew directly over i W hile w e were In the trenches the bul-
our heads and cut their w ay through i let* Gld not do much damage but dally
the branches at a high rate o f speed. n,* ° were killed by Indirect fire. The
Because e f the high velocity o f the thousands which whlaaed through the
shell and the short distance It travels air every minute flew over our heads,
the detonation when the sh ot la Arad j
They struck trees or branches sad
C H A P T E R XIV.
Y W | F a th e r w as unnecessarily alarm ed
The prisoners were assem bled in
Apremou. Several of them had come
from th a t tow n. T h eir fam ilies w ere
still In th e ir hom es and m any prisoners
asked perm ission to visit them . I had
occasion to w itness such a v isit In Ap-
rem ont. Tw o reserves led one of the
p riso n ers to th e house, which he had
pointed o u t as his. T he p riso n er’s
young wife w as In the kitchen w ith her
th re e children. We follow ed them Into
th e house.
T he woman tu rn ed pnle as she sud
denly saw h e r husband. T hey em
braced. W e w ent outside fo r w e felt
out of place there.
T he woman had not had a le tte r
from her husband fo r five m onths be
cause the G erm ans w ere betw een her
and her h u sb an d ’s arm y. H e had been
In the tren ch es fo r a m onth, realizing
how nearby h is wife an d children were,
yet unable to reach them and w ith no
way of know ing w h eth er they w ere
alive or dead.
How he m u st have fe lt as th e F rench
shells flew over his head on th e ir way
to A prem ontt
T h ere w as no w ay of know ing
w hether th e glow In th e sky caused
by th e burning of a house w as fu r
nished by his hom e o r not. E very
thing becam e a to rtu rin g u n certain ty
and all of life w as a hell.
H om e again fo r a few h o u rs ; then
away, a p riso n er I A t le a st he would
be ab le to get w ord to h is w ife by
le tte r through th e field posts.
F inally he said good-by. H is w ife
had nothing to give him , no laundry,
no food.
E v ery th in g had been lost and she
lived on th e so ld iers' bounty. She gave
him h er la s t m oney and he refused to
ta k e It. She accepted the m oney back.
It consisted of a few 5 and 10 pfen
nig pieces and som e coppers, all she
had
ikcu seizeu.
x u ese u ire e men reruseu
to w ork any longer fo r th e G erm an
m ilitary officials because th ey could
not live on w h at they received.
“T hey w ere a rre ste d and a re being
sent to G erm any. No one know s w hat
th e ir fa te would be th ere. T h e men
w ere being taken aw ay by th e G er
m ans and Interned In G erm any.”
We received o rd ers to m arch to
V arennes and ieft th e next m orntug.
As we reached th e heights of V arennes
about noon we saw th e w ide country
before us and th e city n estling In the
vulley. F a rth e r up on th e h eights w as
Vauquols. N othing could be aeen of
any houses but through our field glasses
we could m ake out un enorm ous ash
heap. Shells fell th ere continuously
and we w ere frig h ten e d a t th e pros
pect of having to go to th a t spot.
Scarcely had we crossed th e heights
when some shells b u rs t behind us. The
F rench a rtille ry even singled out Indi
viduals. W hile '•’duquols w as In th eir
possession they could co-ordinate the
en tire neighborhood. We understood
now why th is ash heap hud been con
tested fo r so b itterly .
(C on clu d ed N ex t W eek .)
Each D ay Levied Its T oll of V ictim s.
The cordial an d courteous d ru g g
g iancea otr, strik in g tn e m en in tn e
ist,
Mr. W illiam s, is alw ays pleas
tren ch es. F a llin g to p ierce th e ir ob
ed to play you the latest records on
je c t d irectly th e y to re te rrib le gaping
the grafanola. Concerts are going on
w ounds a s th e y en te re d th e m en’s
most the time.
bodies sidew ays. W h en ev er we h e a rd
ch arg es concerning dum -dum bullets,
w e th o u g h t o f th e se cross-shots, a l
Elsie Ferguson is one of the most
though w e n ev er doubted th e existence
pow erful box-office attractio n s of the
o f th e dum -dum s.
A m erican th eatre. She will be a t
W h e th e r o r n o t dum -dum b u llets
the ISIS on S unday evening, Ju n e
w ere m ade in th e m u n itio n s facto rie s
30,
in “B arbary Sheep”, a picturiza-
I can n o t say. I su sp ect th ey w ere. H ow
tion
of the fam ous novel of the sam e
ever, I did see m any dum -dum b u llets
title.
m ade by th e so ld iers them selves. T he
p o in ts w ere filed off from G erm an m us
N o tice of C ertain S treet Im p ro v e
k e t sh ells so th a t th e nickel covering
w as p e rfo ra te d , b arin g th e lead filling.
m e n t B on d s W ill B e T a k en U p.
T h e b u llet flatten ed w hen It stru ck
Notice is hereby given th a t there
Its object. If, fo r Instance, it entered
are
sufficient funds in the street
a m an ’s arm , th e explosive ch arg e In It
paving fund of the City of Independ
w ould so s h a tte r th e arm a s to blow It
ence, Oregon, to take up for pay
e n tirely off an d leave It b anging by th e
skin.
m ent and cancellation Bonds No.
G erm an soldiers w ere freq u en tly
8, 9, 10 and 11 beuring date Ju ly 1st,
seen supplying them selves w ith dum
1914.
dum b u llets In th e tren ch es, p rep arin g
T h at on July 1st, 1918, each of
to Inflict te rrib le wounds.
said bonds will be taken up and
On Ja n u a ry 5. 1IJ15, th e G erm ans a t
cancelled and paid in full, principal
tacked on th e ir e n tire fro n t o f th e A r
anil interest to said date and there
ginine fo rest secto r and several hun
after said bonds w ill cense to bear
dred p riso n ers w ere tak en . T he hand-
interest.
to-hand fight continued u n til six o’clock
In th e evening.
Dated and first published May 31,
A fellow p ioneer and m yself found
1918.
W , S. KURRE,
ourselves in a b it of tre n ch held by
City T reasurer.
eight F renchm en. It wus Im possible to
re tire so we accepted th e unequal fight.
W ood S a w in a P rices
F o rtu n a te ly w e w ere well supplied
w ith h and grenades.
H ereafter the following [trices will
We c u t th e fu ses sh o rt so th a t they
be charged for cu ttin g wood.
would explode as quickly as possible.
Ash, M aple an d F u r, one cu t 60c.,
I threw one am ong th e eight soldiers.
2 cuts 75c., 3 cuts $1 ¡Slabs a n d Oak,
B efore th e men could get out of the
1 cut title., 2 cuts 85c., 3 cuts $1; By
w ay of th e first, th e second one fol
the ho u r $2.
lowed, w hich exploded In th e ir m idst.
P. O. BLACK.
W e took ad v a n ta g e of th e confusion
th u s c reated to hurl five m ore. O ur
enem ies w ere now reduced to fo u r men. j
W e opened fire w ith o u r m uskets, clos- :
lng In on th e four. T h e ir bullets
M a x G o ld m a n
w hizzed aro u n d o u r heads. One man
w as shot In th e m outh. T h a t le ft three. I
D e a l s in
T hey tu rn ed and tried to flee.
In such m om ents as th e se one Is In a
H ID E S
g re a t rag e and fo rg e ts d a n g er entirely.
We w ere very close to o u r enem ies T his Village H ad Changed Hands
PE L T S
now. rig h t on th e ir heels w hen the last
WOOL
More Than Fifteen Times.
m an stum bled an d fell.
U nable to en d u re th is we took a col
FURS
I sprnng on to p of him . H e d efend
lection am ong ourselves. W e m ade up
M OHAIR
ed him self w ith h is fists. My com rade
m ore th a n 10 m arks, w hich we gave
w ent a fte r th e o th e r two. B leeding at
CASC AR A BAR K
to th e young w om an. She refused It a t
th e m outh, th is m an fo u g h t on. A fter
first, then looking a t h er husband, she
V EAL
I had knocked sev eral o f h is te e th out
took It and tried to kiss our hands.
PORK
he raised his h a n d s and surrendered.
W hen we refu sed to let h er do th is
I released him from my grip and
BEEF
looked him o v er carefu lly . H e was she ra n to a sto re nearby anil retu rn ed
PO U LTR Y
ab o u t thirty-five y e a rs old. H e showed w ith cigars, tobacco, m atches and sau
sage, w hich she gave to her husband.
BUTTER
m e his w edding rin g and talk ed to me
She sm iled p erh ap s fo r the first tim e
I knew w h at he w anted, he w anted his
EGGS
I d a long while.
life.
FAR M PRO DUCE
T h e children w ere w ith th e ir fa th e r
He gave me h is can te en th a t I might
WOOD
and they kissed him as he left. H e had
d rink som e w ine and w ept. P erh ap
he th o u g h t o f h is w ife and children. 1 one child on each arm and b is wife
WOOD
p ressed his hand and he show ed Da ca rrie d the th ird .
GROCERIES
hls bleeding teeth . I called him a fool ! W ith th e g re a te st h appiness the
SH O ES
fam ily w alked along betw een th e tw o
and told him he w as lucky to have got
te n aw ay w ith th e loss o f only a few arm ed soldiers. W hen the m om ent of
F U R N IS H IN G S
m olars. I w as glad I had not killed | p a rtin g cam e all began to cry.
DRY GOODS
T h is w as th e fa te of thou san d s of
him. I took him back m yself, In order
to p ro te c t him a g a in s t'b e in g m isused , poor F ren ch an d Belgian men and
As I delivered him over to w here the 1 women, q u artered n e a r th e ir homes
p riso n ers w ere being assem bled, he y et unable to know who w as dead or
CASH OR T R A D E
alive.
pressed my h and and sm iled.
While we stood a t the depot ten G er
man soldiers arrived with fixed bayo
C H A P T E R XVI.
nets. Betw een them were three French
SWOPE & SWOPE
The next day we received order« to citizens in civilian clothing, whom they
march to an unknown destination. We escorted. All were elderly men. We
aaked an old Frenchman what thla waa
LAWYERS
soon arrived at the depot o f Apremont
•b o a t and he s a id :
where w e were obliged to w a it The j
I. O. 0 . F. Building
“W e receive onr food from the Ger
depot had been destroyed. The next
man military ofllclala bnt It la not «ef
station waa Chatel. Both of theae
Independence, ,-
Oregon
places are a boat five kilometer« bekind ■ ficient to live on. T he people have
nothing
le
f
t
AH
stock
and
flood
had
the front.
K IN G S VALLEY
Mrs.
H arter
Albany
eral of
E stalla Dodele, Mrs. II. C.
and Mrs. B. F. West w ent to
S atu rd ay to attend the fun
W illiam Dodele.
Several cars went from here S un
day to atten d the funeral of W iliam
Dodele.
Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Ayers an d Mr.
and Mrs. Andy Ayers w ere C orvallis
visitors S aturday.
Mrs. J. P. Logan went to Inde
dependence S aturday.
Miss Lillie Townsend w en t to
D allas F rid ay an d h ad her tonsils
removed Saturday.
Mrs. M artha C hristenson visited
several days w ith Mr. and M rs, Tip
Maxtield.
Mr. and Mrs. John Senger arriv ed
in th e valley T h u rsd ay evening to
visit a t the home of th eir son, A. B.
Senger, and re tu rn e d to their hom e
in Corvallis Friday.
The Red Cross gave an ice cream
social a t H oskins S atu rd ay evening.
Rev. Mumy of Salem preached a t
the church S unday m orning.
The m issionary society will m eet
a t the ch u rch T hu rsd ay afternoon.
F ra n k and Bruce M iller w ent to
Albany Sunday to atten d the funeral
of th e ir nephew, W illiam Dodele.
W IG R IC H IT E M S
Mr. and Mrs. R alph Porterfield
spent S unday w ith (lie form er’s p a r
ents, Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Porterfield.
Mr. a n d Mrs. E. M. Lichty an d
Misses Thelm a and Alice Moe of
Buena Vista were S unday guests a t
the hom e of Mr. and Mrs. F. L.
Chown.
Mr. and Mrs. T. A. W ilson an d
son, Alvin, and Mr. and Mrs. Adam
G rauer of S heridan w ere S u n d ay
guests td Hie home of Mr. and Mrs.
F. L Chown.
Be sure an d keep your eyes open
for the date of the Red Cross social
at W igricb.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert of H ighland
visited S unday w ith the la tte r’s
parents, Mr. and Mrs. McComas.
W ILLIA M S. K U R RE P A S S E S ;
FUN ERA L W ELL ATTENDED
(C ontinued from Pnge 1.)
tist cliiireli the following afternoon
and the edifice w as well filled w ith
friends to pay th eir Iasi respects to
the departed. The services w ere
held un d er the auspices of Hom er
Lodge, K nights of P ythias, of w hich
the deceased w as a loyal m em ber.
l)r. II. C. Buusm ore, as w as re
quested by Mr. K urre heforrf, bis
death, spoke briefly to those a s
sembled at such a sad occasion, an d
after two selections by the choir an d
a solo by Mrs. G. \V. Conkoy, I bo
rem ains w ere taken to P ortlan d
and crem ated, as the departed bad
also requested.
The father, Peter K urre, w as ii I h
sent on a fishing trip at the tim e of
bis son's death and w hen he learn
ed of it, m ade a terrific drive of
m any m iles in bis autom obile to
get home. He feels the loss of his
son keenly.
W illiam S. K urre w as Isirii on a
farm south of Independence in 1881
and w as raised to m anhood h ere
w here b\ his th rift an d proficiency
finally becam e cash ier of the In
dependence N ational Bank. Before
Ins advancem ent he w as bookkeeper
in the sam e Institution for a n u m
ber of years. He w as nlso city
tre a su re r a t the tim e of Ids death.
A few m o n th s ago he attem pted to
gel into th e service of his country
but w as rejected because of h is
weight.
Will K urre enjoyed the acq u a in t
ance an d friendship of a large n u m
ber of people and m any besides bis
num erous relatives will m ourn h is
dentb an d m iss him . He is su rv iv
ed by his fnther and four brothers,
C laude of Cottage Grove, F rank o f
P ortland, George of Dallas an d
C harles of Salem and one sister, Mrs.
Nellie T itu s of W ashington.
,