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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1915)
THE MORNING OR EG ONI AN. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1915. RUSSIA AS EASIEST OF ALL TO CAPTURE Turcos, When Officers Are Gone, Are Next; English Un deniably Plucky. PRISONERS PUT TO WORK Germany Pushes Work on Elbe Ca nal, Whitli Is to Cost $150,000, OOO, and Men Are Well Paid. Lesson in Fortitude Taqght. BT JAMES O'DOXXKLL BENNETT. fCopvriitht, mi.-., ly the Chicago Tribune. Published by Arrangement.) VAALS, Holland. April 11. The only happy Russian prisoners I have seen are the wounded ones who lie in Ger man hospitals near the front, free from vermin at last, and Dy their beds a pot of ointment which will insure their continuance in that blissful state. It takes more to make a Russian happy than it does a Frenchman. For the rest the Russian prisoners are swarthy men in uniforms of a dirty grayish brown the least dressy color imaginable and always they are clearing away the debris of bom bardment, mending the roads, or peer ing out from beneath the bars of churchyard pates, the national word that is forever on Russian lips Nitchevo" ("It doesn't matter") in their patient eyes even when their tongues do not utter It. . tenon in Fortitude Tuoght Thousands of the Russian prisoners who have been transported to Ger many have been put to work on the Kibe canal, which is being built at a cost of 1 150,00.000. They are well paid. I never saw a. Russian prisoner give a sisrn of resentment nor heard one utter a word that sounded like com plaint. "Nitchevo" tells their whole utory. and the Germans have caught it P from them, applying it to many an irksome situation that is most easily borne by pretending that "it doesn't matter." Thus the, sad men in dirty brown have taught us all a lesson in forti turc. The plight of the wounded pris oners in transit is often so bitter hard that only a Russian could say "Nit chevo" and mean it- Prlmiicrs' Stories Valueless. The stories of prisoners of war are of value, as a rule, only as indicating a state of mind. As information they amount to nothing;, and a correspond ent soon learns to discount them by more than half and then throw aside his notes of them. Sometimes prisoners lie to save their pride, sometimes to ingratiate themselves with their captors by telling things they think their captors want to hear, and sometimes just to while away the time. A favorite remark of extenuation by prisoners is: "Your artillery was too much for our nerves. We could have fought you hand to hand, but we could not stand the eternal pounding of your long range guns." -And again: "We were so hungry we had to let you take us. Nothing to eat for four days. Hunger beat us." Diabolical Plot Rumored. In connection with the hard fighting in and around the Polish-Prussian town of ltalisch there was, a story, told lirst by natives and later repeated by pome prisoners, that Russian com manders had sent in soldiers in civilian dress to fire from windows on the ad vancing enemy to the end that such measures of reprisal as the Germans took ngainst the Belgian frnnctlreurs should be taken against the Polish civil population. Thus would the Russian Poles, who in these border towns have been pretty well disposed toward Ger many, be alienated. The plot seems too diabolical to be credible. The only established fact is that up to and sinco the Kalisch business there has been almost none of the franctireur madness on the part of the Russian Poles. Russian officers cay that Russian soldiers caught in a tight place throw down their arms with the cry, "Prus sian comrades, don't shoot." and seem thoroughly glad to have their trouble over. I don't know this at first hand. Tnrcos Next Crudest to Capture. Next to the Russian the Turcos, who cannot speak French, are perhaps tho mast easily taken prisoner, but for a reason that is no discredit to them. Vhen the officers who can give them their orders in their own dialects are killed these soldiers are doubly lost because they cannot Instantly compre hend the orders of officers who speak only French. It was also their conviction in the early days of the war that no quarter would be given and that they would, be killed instantly if they were cap tured. This thought, far from making them fight more desperately, was only a source of demoralization. Their helplessness in the event of the loss of their officers and their tendency to panic frequently cause the German of ficers to remark: "These Algerians are only food for cannon." in aspect the Turcos are extremely ferocious. Many of them are dread fully scarred by smallpox, which adds to their sinister appearance. In disposition as they reveal them selves in the prison trains and prison camps they seem first cousins to Mis sissippi River roustabouts. IlrlclniiH Pleasant and Chatty. Once they calm down, the Belgian prisoners are pleasant, chatty fellows with a good deal of manner, and once they get over the sulks the Knglish are agreeable and communicative and undeniably of good pluck. I never saw but one pusillanimous one and he was growling about ill usuage in the manner of a letter to the Times with rude Cockney trimmings. "You wyte!" he muttered. "You wyte till they 'ear about this in England' Nothink to eat! Nothtnk to drink! B y, blasted country! you wyte." He was making rather a pitiable tliow of himself, and his comrades did aiot at all care for it. "Stow it." said one and the proud Briton stowed. b'till he was bedraggled and weary. For one man of that kidney you will reme upon 20 Knglishers of" the right sort like a battered youth from York shire, with whom I visited from the free side of the freight car door. "Any of you heavily wounded?" 1 asked. "Nose Conr, But He's All llleht." "O, no! Well, yea, one. Ilia nose is g-one, but he's all right." This talk was on the French fron tier of Belgium, and considering the weary miles the man had yet to be trundled In tho evil-Wmelling freight car. the next thing he said was sad enough, or rather the answer to it had to be. What he said was. "Are we in Germany yet?" Nay, they were not. but nobody had the heart to tell them that, what with sk!e trackings and delays for the dress ing of wounde It probably would be CHRONOLOGY OF CHIEF EVENTS OF WAR TO DATE. PROGRESS OF THE PASX WEEK. May 2 American tank ship Gulflight sunk by German submarine, captain and two sailors dying. British destroyer, two German torpedo-boats sunk in North Sea. May 3 Austro-Germans defeat Russions in West Galicia, Russian retreat from Carpathians following with loss of 100,000 captured. May 7 German submarine sinks without warnlns British pas senger liner Lusitania on Irish coast with loss of 1198 lives, 120 being Americans. Germans capture J-Jbau, Russian Baltic port. EARLIER EVENTS OF TBE WAR June 2S, 1914 Grand Duke Francis Ferdinand, heir to Austrian throne, and his wife assassinated In Sarajevo, Bosnia, as result of Pan-Slavic propaganda. July 23 Austria sends ultimatum to Serbia: 28, Austria declares war on Serbia. Russia mobilizes against Austria; 29, Austria bombards Bel grade: 31, Germany demands that Russia demobilize, Belgians and Ger mans order mobilization. August 1 Germany declares war on Russia; 3, German troops enter Belgium; 4, Great Britain, sends ultimatum to Germany demanding re spect for Belgian neutrality; Germany declares war on France and Belgium; Great Britain, declares state of war exists with Germany;---6, Austria declares war on Russia; 7, French enter Alsace; 10, France declares war an Austria; 12,. Montenegro declares war on Austria, Great Britain announces state of war exists with Austria; 15, Japan sends ultimatum to Germany demanding that she withdraw ships and exacu ate Kiau-Chau, China; 17, Belgian capital moved to Antwerp; 20, Ger man army enters Brussels; 23, Japan declares war on Germany: 23, Austria declares war on Japan; 2S, British fleet victor in sea fight in Heligoland Jjiiit, Germany losing cruisers and torpedo - boat de stroyers. September 5 Great Britain, France and Russia sign agreement to make no peace save together; 21, German submarine U-9 sinks British cruisers Cressy, Hogue and Aboukir In North Sea. October 9 Antwerp capitulates to German forces; 17, four German destroyers sunk by British cruiser in North Sea; 20, Japanese occupy Ladronne Islands, in Pacific Ocean: 27, British super-dreadnought Au dacious, third in tonnage and armament in British navy, sunk by tor pedo or mine off north coast of Ireland; 31, Turks annex and invade Kgypt; German submarine sinks British cruiser Hermes. November 1 British squadron defeated by German fleet off Chilean coast; 3, Great Britain and France formally announce state of war with Turkey; 7, Tsing-Tau, German stronghold in China, falls: 10, Ger man cruiser Kmden destroyed by Australian cruiser Sydney; 26, British battleship Bulwark blown up and aunk near mouth of Thames from ex plosion of own magazine. December 8 German commerce destroyers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipsic and Is'urnberg destroyed off Falkland Islands by British fleet. Cruiser Dresden escapes; 16. German fleet raids east coast of England. Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby bombarded. January 1, 1915 British battleship Formidable sunk in English Channel by German submarine; 19. German fleet of airships raid Sand ringham and other cities in Kngland; 24, German cruiser Bluecher sunk and three sister ships damaged trying to raid English coast. February 12 British fleet of 34 aeroplanes raids German bases in Belgium: IS, German submarine blockade of British waters begins; 19, Great Britain justifies use of United States flag by British merchant vessels; 23, Kaiser and all Germans go on limited bread allowance; 25, Anglo-French fleet begins bombardment of Dardanelles forts; 26, Boers invade German Southwest Africa. March 1 Great Britain declares absolute blockade; 4, allies' fleet .bombards coast of Smyrna; Germans offer to recede from "war zone" policy if permitted to import food; 10, arrival at Newport News of German raider Prinz Eitel Friederich discloses she sank United States ship William P. Frye in South Atlantic January 28; 15, German cruiser Dresden sunk after attack by British squadron in Chilean harbor, Bri tain declares blockade against all shipping to and from Germany; 16, British liner flies American flag; 17, German Consul arrested at Seat tle on charge of trying to buy submarine information, German cruiser Karlsruhe unofficialy reported sunk by hitting reef in December: 18, two British battleships and one French battleship. sunk by mines while bombarding Dardanelles; 21, Zeppelins raid Paris; 22, Russians capture Frzemysl, Galicia, and 120,000 Austrians; 24, members of German cruis er Emden'a crew raid Dutch colony port; 28, American and 117 other passengers die when German submarine sinks British liner Falaba. April 2 Great Britain establishes blockade against cablegrams re garding business of enemy nation; 4, Gifford Pinchot, special repre sentative of United States in Belgium, expelled by Germans; United States refuses to admit right of British embargo on foodstuffs for Ger many; 9, German note declares United States is lax in regard to neu trality; 11, German commerce raider Kronprinz Wilhelm slips into Newport News, Va, later interning; 13, Italy agrees to support Ser bia's claims to outlet to sea: 14, German aircraft . make three-day raid on English towns; 19, two Turkish destroyers sunk by Russian mines at entrance to Bosporus; 22, United Slates replies that Ger man charges of lax neutrality are groundless; 25, allies land armies on both sides of Dardanelles; 28, French cruiser Leon Gambetta sunk by Austrian submarine. another 48 hours before they would be across the little kingdom and into the Rhineland. It is beyond question that in the early days of the war the days of their disasters in Belgium and France the English had a poor opinion of their French allies, an opinion the Germans then shared. They will not accept battle." said a Gorman officer to me at Beaumont. Today.' we say. 'it come, and we have been saying It for three days. But they fall back. You yourself have seen the highway and. the signs of wild withdrawal. As individuals, there are no braver men. As an army they are scared." F.nKllnh Complain of French. An English prisoner spoke in the same strain of the French, though, as has been hinted, the narratives of pris oners of war must be taken with a whole handful of salt. What this Englishman a mannerly, clean speaking private said was this: "We have been 17 hours on our feet. Most of that time in the trenches, with the water up to our knees. The French withdrew, leaving our wings unpro tected. The movement was not known by us. They are always doing that. They withdraw without warning and leave us to face the music." The soldier embellished the terrible arraignment with no epithets. He did not have to. The only unsoldierly aspect T have observed in the relatively 1'ew English prisoners who have com under my eye is the condition of their teeth. It Is shocking, and in sharp contrast to the gleaming teeth of the Saxons whom I have seen guarding the English. Such a thing is important, as every German soldier knows. That is why dentists all over Germany are giving their Sundays and holidays to treat ing without charge the teeth of the wounded soldiers in the hospitals and the soldiers who are training. BERLIN FOOD IS HIGHER Decrease In 1914 Is in Contrast With Striking Rise in 19 15. BERLIN, April 17. (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) A striking resume of how generally foodstuff prices have risen in Berlin during the three months, January, February and March, 1915, in comparison ith the same period a year ago, is contained in a chart just compiled by the Berlin Cattle Market. The prices given are in marks for 30 kilograms live weight and are esti mated for January 1, February 1. March 31, 1914, and for the same dates in 1915. Jan. Keb. Mar. Jan. Feb. Mar. fowl 43 3 38 44 43 ' 4 Sheep 44 41 41 ,-. fl4 07 Bulls 45 41 :!! 42 43 44 Oxen 00 4tt 45 SI fto .VJ Calves 71 6.1 HO ttii .17 S2 Swine 57 J2 43 67 7S ST With a few intermittent recoveries, the price of animals one year ago fell steadily as the year advanced. In the same period of 1915 they rose quite as consistently, with the sirrgle exception of calves. Of the other five, only sheep showed a tendency during January and part of February to lapse back to lower prices, and they eventually soared straight upwards to the high price of 67. G. W. HADLOCK FOUND DEAD Native Son Succumbs to Heart Dis ease on Streets. The body of George W. Hadlock, 51 Sears old, was found at the foot of Center street early last night. Air. Hadlock evidently had died of heart disease, although there was a slight abrasion on his right temple. This, it is believed, was due to a fall. The body had not been disturbed after death and Mr. Hadlock's watch was found in his pocket. Mr. Hadlock was born in Oregon City. He lived with his daughter, Mrs. L. S. Taylor, 553 Mall street. He had been in poor health for some time. Mrs. Taylor is his only surviving relative. Deputy Coroner Smith took charge of the body. In tho Falkland Uiands there are five men to cery wuman. CZAR LOSES 100,000 Austro-Germans Add to Cap tives Taken in Galicia. OFFENSIVE IS CONTINUED Chief Activities, However, Are Transferred to Carpathian IVont, and Russians Keport Local Success Near Baltic Coast, LONDON, May 9. Having captured 100,000 Russians by the West Galician victory achieved last week, the Aus-tro-German forces have transferred their chief activity to the Carpathians, between Uzsok and Lupkow Passes, according- to an official dispatch to Vi enna from the field press bureau. The dispatch adds that "the rapidity of the Austro-Hungarian advance has necessitated a pause for General Von Mackensen's troops (in West Galicia) in order to assemble the various commands and to bring up supplies." The official German dispatch says the Russians are retreating across the Vis tula from Galicia. The official Petrograd communication says that the Austro-German attacks, while undiminished in vigor, became less frequent Friday. A counter-attack by the Russians at the point where the Austro-Germans made their principal assault resulted in the capture of four machine guns, says the dispatch, which adds that the Austro-Germans were re pulsed successfully in the Carpathians in the region of Mezolaborcz, as well as on the right bank of the Lomnitza. Quiet is reported on the Nida. Russia reports the success of attacks against the invaders of the Baltic prov inces south of Mitau, Berlin saying that the German advance-guards "are avoid ing the enemy." The railway between Vilna and Saarle. northeast of Kovno, has been destroyed by the German invaders, who report having captured large quantities of war materials when Libau was occupied. HOMESTEAD RULES GIVEN Land Officers Instructed Regarding Knlarged Entries. OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU, Wash ington. May 9. Instructions have been issued by the Commissioner of the Gen eral Land Office to local land officers directing them as to the enforcement of the act of March 4, 1915. which con fers a preference right of entry un der the enlarged homestead act on any person pursuant to whose petition land is designated for enlarged homestead ing. The Commissioner says that where a preference right is sought the pros pective entryman must file the usual application for entry, pay the legal fees and commissions, and also must sub mit a corroborated affidavit setting forth the character of the land in volved. This affidavit must give the name and address of the applicant and description by legal subdivisions of all land souprht to be designated. It must set forth fully conditions governing the irrigability of the land and other pertinent facta tending to show the land is of a character to be designated under the enlarged homestead act. "The filing- of an affidavit of the character described will not be con clusive as to the character of the land therein described," pays the. Commis sioner, "and the applicant may be re quired by the Geological Survey to fur nish additional evidence." NEW BRITISH ARMY OF DIFFERENT TYPE Men Now Going to Front Are Brave, but Less Wedded to Traditions of Old. WAYS OF SAFETY LEARNED Tner Is a movement amoner the Boers of South Africa to have an eiitlnn of the Bible in their n patois, the "Taal," At present they read the. Bible in tha Dure Dutch of Holland. Trench-Digging Important Part of Training1 German Spy System Is Important ini Results Achieved on Western Front. BY CAROLYN WILSON. (Copyright. 1915. by the Chicago Tribune. Published by Arrangement.) PARIS, April 25. Kitchener crypti cally remarked to an Inquiring some one: "I can't tell you when the war will end, but I can tell you when it will begin the first of May." There are several hundred thousand Frenchmen, who, if they could talk. would say the war began and ended for them many months sooner. How ever. Kitchener doubtleiis meant the English end of it, which began with Neuve Chapelle. Sir John French's re port, published recently, makes slight reference to the fatal delay of the Fourth corps, which prevented the in vestment of Lille. For some reason ' or another Lille has been practically emptied. German officers had gone and it was only a question of breaking through the line to make this most important northern French town. French Bitter Over Flan Gone Wrong. "I am of the opinion," says Sir John French, "that this delay would not have occurred had the clearly-expressed or der of the general officer commanding the first army been more carefully ob served. "The difficulties might have been overcome at an earlier period of the day if the general officer commanding the Fourth corps had been able to bring his reserve brigades more speed ily into action." But not a word about the deadly fire which killed off thousands of their own men. The French are bitter about it. This morning's paper held some sarcastic remarks about the commanding officer who, in spite of orders expressed so clearly that even a subaltern could en force them, were muddled by a general at the one moment of the war when a large prize was easily within grasp. Of course the French feel all the more keenly about it, since General Koch, their own General, is above all the British troops in France, and everything that is carried out must either be suggested or approved by him. You couldn't get an Engiisnman to admit this, but it is so. Conse quently they feel that just one more splendid plan of General Foch's has gone to waste. British. Wait For New Army. "But just you wait." a retired Scot tish officer said to me. He is a man who has written a great deal on the theoretical training of conscript armies and who is immensely interested in the present new Kitchener army. "You just wait until our new army is over here. They are bringing them over by the thousands now. That is why the British army isn't showing itself up in the newspapers these days. Up to now, or just a little back, there was not a member of the new units on French soil. "They had used men to fill in the vacancies, but no unit had been sent over. Now they are here, and they have had better training than any conscript army has ever had in this world. "O. I know what you Americans think of the usual English officer. And it has been true. The brilliant member of the family went into the Indian civil. the next took to law, the third, who wasn't too incumbered with brains, took to tne army. "That officer knew he was called a brave man and a gentleman, and he learned all the traditions of his regi ment and revered them. He has always done the same thing. In the Crimean war they walked up and down outside their trenches with a cavalry swagger, smoking a cigarette and died. Here they do the some thing and they've died. it Mm Want to Finish War. "But the new lot that are coming over are a different type. They aren't in tne army for a business, and they don't care a thing about dying like gentlemen, smoking a cigarette. They have businesses at home to which they are anxious to get back. They most awfully want to finish the war and preserve themselves healthily alive. "They have learned just three things, these new men to dig a trench, to shoot a gun, and to obey. That's all they need to know, but, by gad! they know that. "Because the English thought for a while that discipline was synonymous with goose step, they were tempted to rely on what they called the native genius for fighting. But obedience and discipline is as much a part of the soldier's technique as scales are the basis of the musician's perfection. An army is not an army, but a mob. until every unit in it is sure to do the same thing at the same time. "And these men have had a special training in discipline. They can face danger in the same way that they form fours." That one requisite of being able to dig a trench may seem superfluous. Perhaps you think that any one can do it. But any one can't. And that was why the French lost so many merl during the first weeks of the war. Their men didn't know how to dig trenches, nor had they the strength, the endur ance, or the patience. Severe Training Is Given. Consequently they have been with drawn, class by class, at different times and have been put through a stiff course of training. Their flabby mus cles have been hardened, they under stand how best to go about their work with the minimum of fatigue and the maximum of protection from bullets. Referring again to what I said at tho beginning about so many English be ing killed by their own fire at Neuve Chapelle, they say that it was numer ous spies in English uniform who did the work, cutting communications with the batteries and giving false signals. The spy question becomes daily more serious as the allies advance into the towns vacated by the Germans. Already three Mayors of French towns have been shot as spies men who were re garded as the heroes of the towns and awarded medals for their bravery in sticking to their posts when the Ger mans came. Then when the townspeople gradually came back, or the town was recaptured by the allies, and the said Mayors were feted and congratulated and decorated, it was found that they were betraying their own people. Whether they were really Germans living long under a French name, or whether German gold jj "SV' What's in the Cup? The flavour may be agreeable, but appetite isn't the only thing to be considered. The average cup of coffee contains about 2V- grains of caffeine, a powerful drug which is a fre quent cause of indigestion, constipation, nervous ness, heart trouble and other ills. Some persons are strong enough to use coffee for a time without apparent harm, but repeated doses of its subtle, cumulative drug, caffeine, sooner or later affects even the strong man or woman. Any coffee drinker will benefit from a change to INSTANT POTSU M This pure food-drink has a snappy tang, very like the Old Gov't Javas, but it contains no caf feine, nor any other harmful ingredient. It is made of selected wheat, a little wholesome mo lasses and is pure, invigorating and delicious. And Instant Postum is so easy to make. Put a level teaspoonful in a cup, add, hot water, and sugar and cream to taste. The convenience of Instant Postum is seen at a glance. Sold in SOc and 50c tins. Some prefer Postum Cereal the original form which must be well boiled, 15c and 25c pkgrs. Grocers sell both kinds, the flavour is equally delicious and the 'cost per cup is about the same. "There's a Reason" for POSTUM 2T LfePls "As sunshine bright, and balmy air Set flowers springing free, So this delicious Campbell's fare Puts spring inside of me." It beats a "spring tonic" In fact this wholesome tomato soup is a natural tonic It contains the invigorating properties which nature has stored up inside the juicy, red-ripe tomatoes from which we make it. They are the basis of Campbell's Tomato Soup And the other nourishing materials with which it is blended increase this healthful effect. You ought to keep a supply of this strengthening soup on your pantry shelf, and enjoy it regularly on your table. You can prepare it easily in a variety of tempting ways. And it is as convenient as it is tasty and appetizing. Your money back If not satisfied. 21 kinds 10c a can minimum n mi mmi mi n n n i it in trim i i n.trw . tempted them to do something which seemed easy who knows? A lieutenant who belonged to a regi ment which has taken back quite a few captured villages said that so thor oughly had the destruction been carried out that an untouched house was at once an object of suspicion. The owner presumably had made terms with the enemy, and nine times out of ten this supposition was right. lie told me of -one nl'-sht seeing a man walking up and down his room In front of the window. Jt excited bis suspicion and he, with four KOldlers. forctd an entrance. They fuund the man hiding under the bed with IiIh wife and two children, and he was nhnt in his own courtyard. His wife was very calm about it and merely r.udded her head conn rmi nwly. "It served him right," was all fche snM. If JCjI amigo moderado es el mas duradero" "Mild friends wear beet-") In 1849 great luck came to you of this country. Gold was found in Califor nia and Cuban Cigars first reached your grandfathers. From then on up to 1879 the cry was for the heaviest, blackest leaf which Cuban land could grow. But in that year there came a wise change. Leaf of lesser strength was sought leaf still from Havana, but of a lighter, more aromatic flavor. Today in your Van Dyck you find a full, rich relish true; but it is like the friend's hand on the shoulder firm in brotherhood but kindly as well! Havana all Havana Spanish made Two for a quarter and up M. A. Ganst $l Co., Inc., Distributors Phone Your Want Ads to THE OREGONIAN Phones Main 7070, A 6095 i