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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1916)
TTIT2 arOUNlXO OHEGONIAf. MONDAY, AlKIL. 3, 1910. 5 KILLING OF WOMEN INCIDENT OF RAIDS Captured Zeppelin Commander Says Chief Aim Is to De stroy Armed Works. PERSONAL HATRED DENIED 'Iiity as Officer" Done Gladly anil Ttisks Accepted i-I'lve Men of ( Crew of 1 8 Slightl y Injured and One Drowned. OFFICIAL WAR REPORTS state-Office LONDON", April 2. "I do not think you would find an officer of the Ger man navy or army who would willingly participate in the killing of women and children." Lieutenant Commander Breithaupt. commander of the Zeppelin L-15, which was hit by shellfire in the raid Friday night on English towns and later sank in the Thames estuary, replied thus to the Associated Press when requested to explain the psychology of German air raids on defenseless cities and the kill ing of harmless civilians. "I am well satisfied at the treatment here." he said, "but naturally feel the loss of my freedom. As to air raids. we have a much more important object in view than the killing of women and children, namely, the destroying of the enemy's armed positions, warships and factories. Women and children become the victims of our operations, but not because we kill them intentionally. It is war." Detailed Information Refused. The commander declined to express himself as to whence the airship came. nor would he reply to questions re- garaing the length and duration or the raid or whether he had participated in previous raids. But the iron cross with which he was decorated bore the date of the air raid of October, 1915, and he Informed the interviewer that he. had Taeen in the Zeppelin service since the outbreak of the war. Commander Breithaupt. who was a regular naval officer before the war, served in Australian waters and also in South America. He said he was ac quainted with numbers of British naval men and did not feel any hatred for them, but Was doing his duty in fight ing the enemies of Germany. Asked whether he participated gladly in air raids, he replied: "Yes, I do my 3uty as an officer gladly. As to the risk in air fighting, we know the chances we run and are prepared to take them. Our air craft was hit three times by shrapnel and we came down rapidly into the water." Great Height Declared Necessary. With respect to the altitude at which the raiding Zeppelins flew, he admitted that the height was usually great, but evaded more definite particulars, mere ly smiling when 5000 feet was suggest ed, and saying: "We should not reach England if we flew only at that height." All the members of the airship crew, when interrogated, expressed satisfac tion at the treatment they had received. Some members of the crew had vis ited America before the war and one has relatives there, but most of them are unable to speak" English. The greater part of the men lost most of their clothing when wrecked, but were warmly clothed by the British seamen and provided with thick blankets. Five men of the total crew, now known to number 18 officers and men were slightly injured before their res cue. One of the men was drowned. The airship was flying at about 3000 feet over the Thames estuary when suddenly, according to the crew, the craft dashed down to the surface of the water. None of the men would admit that bombs had been dropped during the raid, probably from the un founded fear that any such admission would entail punishment. The prisoners will be kept apart for the first few days in the same manner as British soldiers undergoing punish ment for military offenses, but as soon ss details of their identity are estab lished they will be placed with the other German prisoners and no dis crimination will be made in their- treat ment. French. PARIS, April 2. The official ment by the French War tonight says: "Between the Somme and the Oise our artillery was particularly active in the region of Parvillers, Foquescourt and Lassigny, where German trenches were shattered by our fire. "West of the Meuse the Germans launched several powerful attacks on a corner of the Avocourt wood. All the assaults were repulsed by our barrier fire and the fire of our machine guns. "To the East of the Meuse, the ac- tion was spirited throughout the day j in the region of Douaumont and Vaux. The Germans, after a. bombardment of extreme violence with shells of heavy caliber, directed four simultaneous at tacks with effectives of more than one division on our positions between Fort Douaumont and the village of Vaux. Southeast of Fort Douaumont they penetrated Caillette wood, . but our counter-attacks, delivered immediately, drove them back In the Northern part of the wopd. South of Vaux our line runs along the immediate outskirts of the village, the -last ruined houses of which we have evacuated. "In the Woevre there has been Inter mittent artillery activities in the Bois le Pretre. An aviator, brought down by our special guns, fell within the German lines. "In the Vosges the fire of our bat teries caused the explosion of a muni tions depot east of - Reich Akerkopf. west of Muenster. "Last night a bombarding squadron dropped 28 shells on the railway sta tion at Etain and the bivouacs estab-' lished In the outskirts of the village of Mantillols, The, same night three of our aeroplanes dropped in 22 shells which caused numerous fires in the vil lages at Azannes and Brisulles, on the Meuse. Today (.ril 2), our aviators brought down three enemy machines on the Verdun front. The other German aero planes were compelled to land precipi tately In the same region. Finally a Drahcen was brought down In flames by one of our aeroplanes. aerial battles were terminated in our favor. . "In addition to enemy aeroplanes brought down beyond our lines, an English biplane was shot down near Hollebeke. The occupants of the ma chine were captured. . Lieutenant Ber thold thus put out of action his fourth enemy aeroplane. Southwest of Jens an enemy aeroplane was brought down in flames by a direct hit fronour anti air craft. "Bombs were freely dropped on Dom-balsen-Argonne. Western Verdun, which is strongly garrisoned with troops, and upon the aerodrome of Belfort." ZEPPELINS RAID AGAIN (Continued From Kirst Fage. Belgian. PARIS. April 2. Today's Belgian of ficial communication reads: "The Belgian artillery bombarded during the night the German position at Mercken. Today4 there was a vio lent artillery action in the sector east of Ramscapelle and in the direction of Dixmude." Sunday's War Moves German. BERLIN, via London, April 2. To day's official statement by army head quarters says: Western theater Near Fay. south of the Somme, an enemy attack began after short artillery preparation was checked by our fire. Through the bombardment of Beth- eniville, east of Rheims, the French caused considerable losses to their countrymen. Three women and one child were killed and five men, four women and a child seriously injured. 'In addition to the position taken March 30, French trenches northeast of Haucort extending over about 1000 yards have been cleared of the enemy. On the eastern bank of the Meuse our troops on March 31, after careful preparation, took possession of the enemy defenses and flanking works northwest and west of the village of Vaux. Yesterday morning after the French fire had reached its highest intensity in this region, the expected counter attack which took place broke down completely under the fire of our ma chine guns and the curtain of fire of our artillery. Apart from the san guinary losses sustained during our attack March 31, the enemy left in our hands unwounded prisoners amounting to 11 officers and 720 men and five machine guns. Great activity was displayed by aviators of both sides, and numerous THE Germans are still carrying on strong offensive operations north east and northwest of Verdun. About four and one-half miles northeast of the fortress they penetrated the Cail lette wood, just outside 'Fort Douau mont, after a violent bombardment. From part of this wood the French, in an immediate counter attack, drove back the invaders. Another powerful attack was deliv ered against that portion of the Avo court wood held by the French, but here the French barrier fire and ma chine guns held the Germans without gain. The French now have entirely evac uated the village of Vaux and have drawn their line south of the town. but in lta immediate outskirts. Berlin savs that northeast of Haucourt, be tween Malancourt and Le Mort Homme, the Germans have entirely cleared the French from about 1000 yards of trenches, where they had remained since the German victory on this sector, March 30. Aircraft have been active around Verdun. The French brought down three German machines, but Berlin asserts that the aerial combats have resulted in their favor. Both sides have been busily engaged in dropping bombs on military' establishments at various points. Greater activity that usual has been displayed in the fighting between the Germans and Russians in the region of Baranovichi, southwest of Minsk. CZAR BLAMED FOR STARVING POLAND Germans Deny Charge That Own People Are Consum ing Grain Crops. REMOVAL IS EXPLAINED Three British and one Norwegian steamer have been sunk by submarines or mines. Two of the British boats, the liner Achilles and the Ashburton, were on their way to London from Australasian ports. The British steamer Gold Mouth was on a voyage to London from Texas with oil. The Norwegian boat was the Peter Hamre. She was sunk while at anchor. Of her crew of 15, only one man escaped. Four members of the crew of the Achilles are missing, two of the crew of the Gold Mouth were wounded when landed and five members of the crew of the Ashburton were taken to a hos pital suffering from shrapnel wounds. Scotland and the northern and south eastern counties of England have re ceived visitations from Zeppelin air ships, which dropped bombs at various places. In the air raids on the northeast coast of England Friday and Saturday nights 59 persons were killed and 166 wounded. MORE ARRESTS DOE Case of Stowaway Who Cap tured Steamer Is Complex. CASH SUPPLIED BY WOMAN tacked, dropping several bombs, three of which he believes took effect. "Later he got over the airship again and let off two more bombs over her nose. His own machine was hit many times bv machine gun bullets. This may have been the Zeppelin which dropped a machine gun, ammunition petrol tank and machinery, or possibly that which came down off the Thames Kstuary." The correspondent of the Daily News who visited two small villages with an aggrrtgate population of 100, three miles apart, says a Zeppelin on Friday dropped a whole cargo of 40 explosives :ind incendiary bombs in the area of the villages without injuring a soul end merely ploughed up the fields. Cargo of Bombs Dropped. The inhabitants say the raider ap peared at 7 o'clock in the evening and Meered toward the west, but did not go far inland as the noise of the pro pellers was heard until it returned three hours later, when it dropped the cargo of bombs. It then raced sea wards. Lloyds Weekly News says 23 mem bers of the crew of the sunken Zep pelin L-15 were drowned, but this is not confirmed by any other source. It is said that several persons who were injured in the Zeppelin raid were rendered unconscious by asphyxiating bombs. This is the first mention of the use of these bombs in air raids over England. A correspondent who visited a por tion of the raided area says that eye witnesses concur in a declaration that Zeppelin raiders T-ever previously have met with such a cannonade from anti aircraft guns. The raiders, individual ly and in concert, attempted to pro gress inland during a greater part of the night, but were repeatedly checked by a tornado of shells. The inhabitants of one east coast town at 10 o'clock in the evening dimly circerned an en gagement in the air well out at sea. The airship apparently scaped, as the battle faded sl-jwly from view. The civilians of another small town cheered excitedlv when a raider over head met a deadly cannonade in which the gunners s i.d they scored several hits. It was here app irently that the L-15 was damaged, as the airship's tail was seen to be coreening. It was tip-tailed several mi.iutes. when it again regained an even keel and turned northeastward in the' direction of the Hudson. Alias Schiller, Confesses to Other Plots In Endeavor to Es cape Being Sent to Eng land as a Spy. NEW YORK, April 2. Important ar rests are expected within 48 hours, the police announced today, in connection with the case of Clarence Reginald Hudson, also known as Ernest Schiller, the German stowaway, who, single handed, captured the British steamship Matoppo at sea and cowd her crew of 56 men. He was arraigned today on a charge of "suspicion of conspiring to dynamite the funard line teamship Pannonla." The District Attorney's office requested that his examination be deferred until tomorrow, explaining mat imponum developments were expected any mo ment. To save himself from deportation to England and the possibility of being executed there as a spy. Hudson has "confessed'" to planning explosions on manv munition boats bound for ports of the entente allies, the police say. He has repeatedly asked detectives to assure him he would be held In the United States. According to the story told by Hud son, his efforts to cause the destruc tion of steamers were financed by a young woman living In Salem, Mass.. who Is a German sympathizer. He as serts he went to Palem after escaping from a training camp for the British army In England, where he was em ployed in a textile mill at the outbreak of the war. George Haller. 24 years old. a Ger man, who admitted having met Hudson several times at hotels in Hoboken, was arrested In that city tonight by de tectives and a special agant of the De partment of Justice on a charge ot being a. disorderly person. , TEUTONS WIN A FIGHT (Continued From First Fage. Civil War Veteran Killed in Auto. SAN DIEGO. Cal.. April 2. Colonel F. L Mooney. of I,ns Ansrelep, 80 years old. and a vet- ran of the Civil War, was killed today a f-i- miles north of Oceanside when oho of the wheels of the automobile in which he was riding with five other persons broke, caus ing the machine to swerve into the ditch. "What, Herr Oberstabsarzt?" "Write with your left hand?" "Always," I answered. "Very unusual." he said. "Left hand ed persons hammer, cut. eat. and per form many other mechanical acts with the left hand, but seldom write with the left hand." He then wanted complete data on the case and he talked unceasingly on the possible causes of the peculiarity, causes, he said, which were a matter of speculation only. America's Attitude Discussed. Having warmed to a conversational mood he asked numerous questions aDout the stimmung ' (general feel ing or mood) in America. "So far as Germany is concerned," I said, "I don't see how it could be worse." He did not wince at that, but nodded his head and said. "I know. I know. And they believe the worst about us. don t they? "They seem to wish to." I said, "and the worse the things they hear and read the more they believe them." "And you," hu asked, "do you believe those things about atrocities and the baroanans? Then I told him how, from time to time. I had written articles which showed how in a year and a half of wanderings on all the fronts except the Italian and the Turkish, I had been unable to find any atrocities or any bar barians. Troops in Good Health. Then we got to the subject of the health of the troops. Their condition is a matter of amazement even to the officers who are entrusted with the task of getting them well. The superb sys tern cf field fortifications on all the fronts is an important factor in keep Ing the troops well, because that sys tem makes it possible in many places ror a, mere handful of men to hold lm portant positions. This permits generous leaves of ab sence. The men can go home and enjoy physical and mental refreshment. From the great area of the Pripet marshes they go back to Germany via Brest Litovsk, Warsaw. Thorn and Berlin. On my way to Pinsk I passed hundreds of them going back home. In our terms of distance this means a ride from Chicago to, say, Rochester At nome and at peace time & man would take such a ride without mind ing the lack of a sleeper. But when the route lies in . Russia, Poland, and Germany, and the time is wartime, there are delays. Health Insurance System Credited. Though many of these are men of 60 years old they are as sound as the laxla, and many officers credit the amazing health ot the soldiers who are far be yond middle age to the fact that not only is the sanitation in the war zoned most scrupulous, but also that for a generation the humblest man in Ger man could, though the German system of health insurance, obtain medicines and the advice of excellent doctors for practically nothing. Nor is the health of aged officers. such as the men in exalted commands. I less remarkable. One morning old Count W. took a party of us out to some positions which could not be reached by automobile. The tramp was through deep snow and crevasses formed by the blowing up of a fortress, and it involved some stiff climbing. The General threw aside his overcoat and made better time and did less puffing than most of the young en in tne party, to look at him you would say he was feeble. Not at all. He enjoyed the walk. Men Inured to Winter. The troops have been spared the tra ditional rigors of the Russian Winter this year. "All Winter." one officer said, "we have been waiting for the bad weather to come, but It comes not. So we have been comfortable." Furthermore, two Winters of cam paigning have wonderfully inured the men. In Mlawa, where I was last Win ter for a time, nearly everybody was coughing and sniffing. There was- al most no Influenza now. "Und das 1st die Hauptsache, meine Herren," a German officer said in wind ing up his remarks on the situation in the Pinsk marches, and what he espe cially referred to was the health of the men. It is Indeed "the main thmg." and it has been attained by the infinite capacity for taking pains which is the supreme attribute of the medical arm of the German military service. Schwab Buys $3,000,000 Plant. BALTIMORE, April 2. Charles M. Schwab, chairman of the board of di rectors of the Bethlehem Steel Com pany, has bought the Baltimore Sheet & Tin Plate Company, the J3.000.000 enterprise recently promoted by J. E. Aldred. Owen Indorsed for Vice-President. OKLAHOMA CITY, April 2. United States Senator Owen was indorsed for Vice-President of' tne United States by practically all of the 75 counties in which Democratic county conventions were held yesterday. More Careful Milling Declared Pos sible In German Mills, and It Is Declared Tills Is Re turned to People. BY CAROLYN WILSON. (War correspondent of the Chicago Tribune. returned from Europe. Copyright, 1'JIG. by . the Tribune. Published by arrangement.) My purpose In going to Germany, other than to get a general Impression of the country during Its 20th month of war, was to go to Poland. Various witnesses had come with terrible stories of suffering and death, state ments that no children under 7 yeara were alive in many of the towns, and also statements that the Germans were bringing out of Poland all the raw ma terials which might help toward the relief of Poland. They said the grains which the farm ers had harvested and the raw products of the country were sent to Germany instead of being used to give the native Poles paying work. Various Influential persons In Amer ica interested themselves In convincing the German government that I was a kindly disposed individual and could be trusted to roam about Poland a bit. When I arrived the foreign office was already in possession of telegrams from the German Ambassador at Washing ton asking that I be allowed to go to Poland. Admission to Poland Refused. Mr. Gerard said to me: "Don't let them fool you with promises of fixing it up by next week. They'll never let you go. The German government lets no one into Poland today." But there was no question of prom ises. Without beating around the bush at all, the secretary of the For eign Office, Freiherr Mumm von Scnwarzenstein, said: "It will be ab solutely impossible for you to go to Poland. ,No one can go there, least of all a woman." I mentioned Casper Whitney, who was even then making his tour of in vestigation about establishing a relief committee similar to that of Poland. "It is quite useless, my dear -young lady. Other things we can do for you, but it is quite impossible to think of Poland," he reiterated. So I put it out of my mind and started to work on something else. It was a situation you couldn't get away from. xou met it. in so many places. You met high-class Jews who had relatives there, you ran into the poorest of the poor down at the Ameri can Consulate waiting for letters to come from America with money in them to take these ' harmless people to the United States. Then Mr. Whitney came back from his tour and his eagerness to get im mediate aid was more convincing than his guarded remarks about conditions. Kussla Blamed for Conditions. ' At the time he made the statement that it was the Russians who had caused practically all of the damage and destitution I remember thinking that Mr. Whitney had successfully absorbed the idea that Germany was most anx ious to give out. But afterwards I met men who had been there at the time of the campaign and they all backed up this statement. Mme. O'Gorman. head of the clan of that name, who has Just come to Amer ica to raise money for French hospitals, said to me on the boat: "It was most unfortunate- that Mr. Whitney mentioned the fast that the Russians had done most of the devas tating. Of course, we all know It, but It makes it harder to get money. Eng land is in a hard position today. "If it lets the grain in it can be con scious that every pound is going to strengthen some man to work In a fac tory manufacturing ammunition to be used against the English. Every ounce Is making a stronger servant for Ger many. We are killing our own men with every bit we send. But If we won't allow It to go In we gain a name for harshness and barbarity." Asquith told the American Poles who were anxious to send help to their brothers in Poland that if Germany and Austria ceased taking grain and food for their own uses all danger of starva tion would be over. Germans Deny Food Seizures. According to the Germans - with whom I spoke about this mattef, the Teuton 'population has never been fed on the products of rolish soil. In the general government 'of Warsaw, be sides the 5,000,000 innhabitants on farms or small estates, there are not fewer than 2,500.000 persons working in Industries or city work in the four industrial cities of Warsaw, Lodz, Bendzin and Czentochau. In peace times the centers were never fed from the country, but from the interior of Russian Now, during the war. with the less ened food demand. It would be. possible to get along Jf the harvests and the farms had nof been so seriously dev astated by war. and particularly by the retreating Russians, who, acting under orders, burned everything, even last year's haystacks. In answer to the charge that they are taking all the grain out of Poland, the Germans say that due to the con ditions of the mills, and also to the poor state of the railways, which makes It harder to get' the grain from Northwest Poland to the larger cities, and. in accordance with the new laws governing the threshing and treatment of grain. Polish grain is being taken out to the larger German mills, which can give more careful milling. This year, due to the poor quality of the grain on account of the continual rain, it is absolutely necessary for the conservation of the food supply to take this grain to mills which know how to dry, clean and grind it thoroughly, (.rn I n Returned Across Border. Where the English are unfair, they say, is in refusing to mention that this grain goes immediately back over the border to the industrial Polish cities. Since the beginning of September, the beginning of the last harvest, 65,000 tons of wheat, rye and oats have been I brought across the border to Germany. ana ounn live munins time oo.uutf tons were sent back again to feed 2,000,000 persons. No communication is allowed between Poland and the rest of the world. At first an attempt was made to get Polish letters through the American consul ate. Many men have gone to America to make a living, leaving a wife and children or sisters and an old mother behind, apd General Consul Lay In Ber lin attempted to bring these two to gether. The letters came pouring in In such numbers that he couldn't attend to them, so now he has a form made out In which the applicant's name only is written and the forms are sent out to all the Polish and Jewish societies In America in an effort to locate a mem ber of our drifting immigrant population. J XJ Li V l. 3 VJ Ji i VA To little hearts and big ones, too the Wrigley Spearmen are calling, calling, every day: Their message is one of good cheer about this refreshing, beneficial goody that costs so little but means so much to comfort and contentment. Send for the Spearmen's Gum-ption book for young and old, - illustrated . in colors. Address Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., 1603 Kesner Bldg., Chicago f.A ft i (Shew it VA nsoal v r 1 WRAPPED IN against all impurities' PROFIT-SHAPING I 4S& NURSES LOST ON SHIP PETROGRAD DENOl'NCKS SIMtlXU OF HOSPITAL, VESSKI. Act of Germans Declared to Prove Peace Impossible With Enemy Tbat Violate All Laws. PETROGRAD. April 1, via London, April 2. The official statement on the sinking of the Russian hospital ship Portugal ,in the Black Sea last Thurs day readsjas follows: "At 8 o'clock on the morning of March SO, the Franco-Russian hospital ship Portugal, lying in the Black Sea off Eastern Anatolia, having been sent to receive wounded, was attacked by a German submarine. Two torpedoes were fired. The second torpedo hit the engine-room of the vessel and she sank In less than a minute. "Eleven out of 26 Sisters of Charity were saved by boats which accompanied the Portugal. The missing included Count Tatit-tcheff, delegate of the Red Cross; Dr. Pankricheff Tikh'meneva, Baronness Meyerendoref f, sister su perior of the Sisters of Charity: 14 Sisters of Charity, 50 Russian members of the crew and Red Cross and 29 men of the French crew. There were 273 persons aboard the Portugal, of whom 15S were saved. "The Turkish government had recognized the Portugal as a hospital ship. She was painted with the pre scribed colors. The attack was made in broad daylight. The submarine steered around the ship and fired point blank. "This act of the Germans was use less from a military standpoint, and evokes indignation. It proves again that peace with an enemy who insanely violates divine and human laws is i m -possible before his complete destruction." THREE BRITISHERS SUNK Xorwcsian Steamship Also Iiost, Only One of Crew Surviving. IX5NDON. April 2. Sinking of three British steamships was reported today One. the Ashburton, 4445 tons, un armed, was destroyed by shrapnel shells fired by a German submarine. Five of her crew have be?n taken to a hospital. The others were the Gold Mouth, 7416 tons, and the Achilles, 7042 tons. The crew of the Gold Mouth, two suffering from injuries, were landed at Penzance. Four of the crew of the Achilles are missing. Lloyd's reports that the Norwegian steamship Peter Hamre, 10S0 tons, was sunk Saturday nisrht while at anchor. One man, the sole survivor of the crew of In. has been landed from the Kent ish Knock lightship. "Some are so intensely modern that they prefer a Corot to a Rembrandt:" 'If It's a better hill-climber. I don t blame "em. Me for the trench car every time. Puck. As PERFECT" COL .PA L A C El LAUNDRY AN announcement of great importance concerning- the store of A. and M. Delovage at 324 Washington St., will be published tomorrow in The Oregonian and Evening Journal. Don't miss it! WILLIAM SPIELBERG r