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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1918)
WORLD HAPPENINGS OF Brief Resume Most Important Daily News Items. COMPILED FOR YOU Events of Noted People, Government and Pacific Northwest and Other Things Worth Knowing. American expeditionary forces in France have ordered 1,000,000 watcheB from Swiss firms. Oswald Kunhardt, ex-German consul- general in Boston, was Wednesday ordered Interned at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. After burning over 65 square miles of grazing and brush land, the Cohas set ridge fire in the Lassen national forest, 35 miles northwest of Chico, Cal., has been finally extinguished. Three aviators attached to the train ing school at Pensacola, Fla., were killed late Monday in a collision of their planes above the clouds. A fourth student in the plane escaped death. Directors of the Canadian Pacific railway have declared a 2 per cent dividend on preferred stock for the half year ending June 30, and a divi dend of 2 per cent to common stock holders for the quarter ending June 30. Mrs. F. Sheehy Skeffington, who, since her deportation from Ireland, had been detained in Holloway prison, has been released. The English au thorities informed her that she must not return to Ireland without their permission. A 10 per cent tax on all soft drinks sold by manufacturer, producer, bot tler or Importer and a tax of from 1 to 2 cents on soda fountain drinks were written into the $8,000,000,000 revenue bill by the house ways and means committee. The long range cannon with which the Germans have intermittently bom barded Paris, has now been silent for two days. This may be explained by the allied advance toward Noyon and Gulscard, whence the recent firing 1b said to have been proceeding. Canada will be represented by a military unit of approximately 4000 men in the expeditionary force which the allied governments will send to Siberia. This was announced by the Dominion government, whloh promised a more detailed statement within a short time. Recent orders of the war and navy departments suspending voluntary en llstment and applications of civilians for officers' training camps do not apply to the enrollment of physicians in the Medical Reserve corps of the army and the reserve force of the navy, it is announced by Secretaries Baker and Daniels. The supreme court was asked Wed nesday to review foderal court decrees convicting Johann Klatteuhoff and Paul Wierse on charges growing out of the sinking of the German Bteamer Llebenfels in the harbor of Charles ton, S. C, when the United States broke relations with Germany. Klat teuhoff was master of the steamer. Lewis D. Franklin, national director of the government war loan organiza tion, spoke to 250 fourth federal re serve district Liberty loan chairmen at Cleveland, O., Saturday. "Of every $5 earned in UiIb country this year $2.30 will be needed by the United States government to pay Us war bill, and the government has got to get it," Mr. Franklin said. The method by which the federal government plans to aid drouth-strick-en farmers in Montana to the extent of $3 an acre, was not satisfactory to the farm bureau presidents and bank ers who attended a conference In Hel ena, Mont., Tuesday, at which G. II. Christie, assistant secretary of agri culture, and D. O. O'Shea, president of the Spokane laud bunk, oxplalned the plan. Fire Thursday afternoon destroyed six small buildings and two powdor magazines at the Western Cartridge company, in East Alton, 111., with damage estimated at $100,000. No one was injured. Marco Fidel Suarez was Inaugurat ed president of Colombia Thursday, with imposing ceremonies. It is re ported that there Is an increasingly favorable sentiment toward the allies throughout Colombia. Sick and wounded soldiers landed in the United StateB from the Ameri can expeditionary forces and sent to various army hospitals during the week ended August 2 numbered 159, the surgeon-general announced. A call for men not registered in the draft, and draft men who have been given deferred classifications, to en list in the 472d Engineers, was sent out by the western department of the army at San Francisco Thursday. Damage estimated by farmers in the Okanogan valley, Washington, at about $110,000 has been done already by a migratory horde of grasshoppers which have Infested wheat fields, damaged alfalfa, timothy and oats crops. Russian news reaching Stockholm by way of Berlin continues to repre sent the Bolshevikl as preparing for war against the allies. Trotiky, the Bolshevik war minister, is represent ed as having Issued an order, In which the French, English and Czecho slo vaks are declared to be the enemies of Russia. CURRENT WEEK LUXURY TAX 10 PER CENT impost of 20 Percent Proposed on Clothing of Various Kinds. Washington, D. C. A luxury tax schedule was adopted, an official tax advisory board for the treasury cre ated, the tax on corporation capital stock doubled to produce an additional $30,000,000 and a provision was accept ed making liberty bonds security for all government contracts by the house ways and means committee Saturday in framing the $8,000,000,000 revenue bill. The luxury proposal was submitted by a sub-committee. It levies 10 per cent tax on all jewelry, to be paid by the manufacturer, producer or import er. Covering approximately 1200 items of jewelry, it supplants the present low tax of 3 per cent on the manufacturer, producer or importer. The 10 per cent tax is also to be levied on art. objects, pianos and pipe organs, furs, cash registers, typewrit ers, photographs and tapestries. In view of the wide public demand for a tax on the price paid for certain other articles, not deemed luxuries by reason of their nature, above a cer tain price, the subcommittee proposed and the full committee accepted a limited number of other groups of such articles, with suggested basic prices paid for them by the consumer, above which a 20 per cent tax is to be as sessed against the seller to the con sumer or user or to a person not for "re-sale." This second group and the amount excess over which will be taxed fol lows: Men's and young men's suits or over coats, $50; men's and women's hats, bonnets and hoods, $25; women's and misses' dresses, $40; women s and misses' suits, cloaks and coats, sold at over $00; boots, shoes, pumps and Blip overs for men, women and children $10; men's and boy's hats, $5;- men s and boys' caps, $2; picture frames $10; fans, $1; men's waist coats, sold distinct from suits, $5; silk undercloth ing and hosiery, pure and mixed, $10; men's and boys' neckware, $2; trunks, $50; valises, traveling bags, suitcases and hat boxes, $25; ladies' purses. pocketbooks, shopping and handbags, $7.50; carpets and rugs, fiber, $5 per square yard; umbrellas, parasols and sunshades, $4; men's shirts, $3; house or smoking jackets and bathrobes, $10. The luxury schedule provides that articles taxed under one or these gen eral groups shall not be taxed under the other group. MANY PRISONERS AND GUNS TAKEN London. An official communique Is sued Saturday evening says that 17,- 000 prisoners and between 200 and 300 guns have been captured on the Somme-Ancre front. The Canadians, the advices state, have taken the town of Beaufort, two and a half miles southwest of Ro sleres. The Australians are fighting farther north, along the Somme. Small parties of Germans are re ported to be still in RoBieres, three and one-half miles west or Chaulnes but the British are all around them and their life as fighting men probab ly will be short. The figure of 17,000 prisoners taken embraces the number that had been counted. Of these the French report ed that they had taken more than 4000 while the British total at noon was more than 13,000. The French have been doing good work on the south of the new drive and probably have taken many additional prisoners there. Most of the prisoners and guns cap turcd by British troops have been taken in the narrow triangle between the Roye and Peronne roads. British tanks advanced with great rapidity tin these highways. They were fol lowed promptly by infantry, and thou sands of Germans within the triangle found themselves well behind the Brit ish line when the attack reached them, so laid down their arms. The triangle contained some of the best German gun positions in the whole front facing Amiens. Paris. The official communication from the war office says that the Brit ish and French troops continued their advance Saturday and won new vie tories after breaking the enemy's re sistance. The French troops took 4000 prisoners besides a great quan tity of war materials, and captured sevoral Important towns on the south ern end of the battle zone. With the British Army in France. It Is reported that a German divisional geuoral has been captured in the drive. Allied airmen have blown up many of the bridges over the Somme river and the enemy's retreat is seriously embarrassed. The British cavalry has rounded up many prisoners, but the larger part taken wore captured by Australians and Canadians. Work Found For Cripples. San Francisco. The days when vagrant would escape both jail and work because of a missing arm or leg are gono. Saturduy Michael Sullivan assistant probation officer, was about to let three one-armed men go free after placing 150 other vagrants at work, when Probation Officer William Nlrhol received a call for two one armed men from the Pacific Steel com pany at South San Francisco. The company Baid the men were wanted as checkers and that there was no use placing two-armed men in one- armed men's jobs. Passports Are Denied. London. Arthur Henderson, Charles W. Bowerman, secretary of the Trade Union Congress, and other members of the House of Commons have appllod for passports to Switzerland to confer with Pletor Troelstra, the Dutch So cialist leader, regarding letters re ceived from Socialists in enemy coun tries. The War Cabinet declined grant them passports. The parlia mentary committee of the Trade Union Congress and the executives of the labor party protested this refusal strongly. I IN FLIGHT: I British and French Continue Advancing on Somme. AKE GUNS, STORES Transports and Men Streaming East ward In Full Retreat HighlGer man Officer Is Killed. .With the British Army in France. The British and French divisions have eained more eroiind Saturday in the great battle raging in the Amlens- Somme district. The latest reports appear to show that the Germans are retiring in great haste; The scenes on the battleground over which the allies already-have passed gave evidence of this haste in aban doned guns, stores, and even regi mental and artillery maps and papers. Aerial observers report large streams of transports and men hurry ing eastward in full retreat. Beaucourt fell to the allied forces and Lequesnel also was taken after hot all-night fighting.. The cavalry is working far back to ward the Somme and is still rounding up villages, while tanks and armored cars are running over the country clearing a way for the troops or kill ing horses drawing heavy enemy sup--plies. The drivers of motor trucks and lorries are chasing parties of Ger mans and either scattering them or running them to 'earth,. The details of some of the wprk of these armored cars show that they have performed valiant service's. One of them ran into a town whije a Ger man corps was having lunch. It turn ed its guns through the corps' quarter windowB, killed some of the staff and then chased others who escaped from the house. At Rosieres another car set an enemy train on fire. A group of cars met, far inside the enemy lines, a German Bupply column and halted it. Four mounted German officers came up to see what the trou ble was and were shot from the cars, which then proceeded to make quick work of the column. .. At Framerville the cars engaged a train loaded with the enemy and final ly set it afire. Tanks entered this town soon afterwards, helped the ar mored cars clean it up and then hoist ed flags on the roof of thebullding which had been German corps head quarters. One car met a high German officer riding in an automobile along the road. The officer was killed and his machine captured. , All along the line, snipers and iso lated machine gun billets were ex tremely busy, but these were being silenced one by one as the advance proceeded. It is reported that two regimental commanders have been captured in one sector. ENLISTMENTS IN ARMY SHUT OFF Washington, D. C. Voluntary enlist ment in the army and navy will be suspended completely to prevent dis ruption of Industry pending disposition of the bill proposing to extend draft ages to include all men between 18 and 45 years. Orders were issued by Secretaries Baker and Daniels directing that no voluntary enlistments be accepted af ter August 8 until further orders. The orders also exclude civilians from appointment to officers' training camps until further notice. The orders were issued after a con ference between Secretary Baker and Secretary Daniels and were made pub lic after. President Wilson had visited the offices of both secretaries. It is not known whether his visit had to do with the enlistment situa tion, but just before he conferred with the cabinet offlcres there was no indi cation that a step of such drastic na ture was anticipated. It was explained that the view of the government is that many of the older men are indispensable in their present occupations, but the natural result of the debated draft age ques tion is certain to lead to a rush to the recruiting offices. : It is regarded as essential that men greatly needed at home should be pre vented from rushing into the army under the mistaken idea that they are certain to be drafted anyhow and pre fer to join the service voluntarily. Heavy Wind Hits Dakota. Aberdeen, 8. D. A wind that ap proached cyclonic proportions swept a strip of country a mile wide across Day county Friday night, leveling barns and haystacks and doing much damage to grain in shock and stand ing. Most of the damage was between Andover and Bristol, 40 miles east of Aberdeen. Fargo, N. D. A high wind caused considerable damage to standing grain south of Moorhead, Minn., Friday night. Slight damage in the vicinity of Fargo also was reported. Bio Gun Plant Ordered. Washington, D. C. Approval of plans for a big gun rellnlng plant to be built in France at a cost of from $25,000,000 to $30,000,000 was an nounced Saturday by the war depart ment. It is said engineering work for the great project, which will compare in size to the Krupp works at Essen Germany, were completed and orders for equipment actually Issued wlfhr 30 days after conception ot the plan by the ordnance officers. N F M PURSUING ov By Am American Arthur Guy Empey Soldier WhoWeot Machine Gunner, Serving in France EMPEY GIVES A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK ON 0BSER 1 VATI0N POST DUTY. Synopsis. Fired by the sinking of the Lusltanla, with the loss of American lives, Arthur Guy Empey, an American living in Jersey City, goes to England and enlists as a private in the British army. After a short experience as a recruiting officer in London, he is sent to train ing quarters in France, where he first hears the sound of big guns and makes the acquaintance of "cooties." After a brief period of training Empey's company is sent Into the front-line trenches, where he takes his first turn on the fire step while the bullets whiz overhead. Empey learns, as comrade falls, that death lurks always In the trenches. Chaplain distinguishes himself by rescuing wounded men under hot fire. With pick and shovel Empey has experience as a trench digger . In No Man's Land. Exciting experience on listening post detail. CHAPTER XVI Continued. 11 "I came out with the first expedi tionary force, and, like all the rest, thought we would have the enemy licked in jig time, and be able to eat Christmas dinner at home. Well, so far, I have eaten two Christmas din ners In the trenches, and am liable to eat two more, the way things are pointing. That Is, if Fritz don't drop a "whizz-bang' on me, and send me to Blighty. Sometimes I wish I would get hit, because it's no great picnic out here, and twenty-two months of it makes you fed up. "It's fairly cushy now compared to what It used to be, although I admit this trench Is a trifle rough. Now, we send over five shells to their one. We are getting our own back, but In the early days It was different. Then you had to take everything without reply. In fact, we would get twenty shells In return for every one we sent over. Fritz seemed to enjoy it, but we British didn't; we were the suf ferers. Just one casualty after an other. Sometimes whole platoons would disappear, especially when a Jack Johnson' plunked Into their middle. It got so bnd that a fellow, when writing home, wouldn't ask for any cigarettes to be sent out, because he was afraid he wouldn't be there to receive them. "After the drive to Paris was turned back, trench warfare started. Our general grabbed a map, drew a pencil across it, and said, 'Dig here.' Then he went back to his tea, and Tommy armed himself with a pick and shovel and started digging. He's been dig ging ever since. "Of course we dug those trenches nt night, but It was hot work, what with the rifle and mnchlne-gun fire. The stretcher bearers worked harder than the diggers. "Those trenches, bloomin' ditches, I cnll them, were nightmares. They were only about five feet deep, and you used to get the backache from bending down. It wasn't exactly safe to stund upright, either, because as soon as your napper showed over the top a bullet would bounce oft It, or else come so close It would make your hair stand. "We used to fill sandbags and stick them on top of the purnpet to make It higher, but no use; they would be there about an hour and then Fritz would turn loose and blow them to bits. My neck used to be sore from ducking shells and bullets. "Where my bnttery was stationed a hasty trench had been dug, which the boys nicknamed 'Suicide ditch,' and, believe me, Yank, this was the original 'Suicide ditch.' All the others are Imitations. When a fellow went Into that trench It Was an even gamble that he would come out on a stretcher. At one time a Scotch battalion held It, and when they heard the betting was even money that they'd come out on stretchers, they grnbbed all the bets In sight. Like a lot of bally idiots, sev eral of the battery men fell for their 4 rvrrx. Wv' Ik r$. On of the ... iiiiiiim,... ER THE Copyright 1017, by Arthur Guy Empey game, and put up real money. The 'Jocks' suffered a lot of casualties, and the prospects looked bright for the battery men to collect some easy money. So when the battalion was re lieved the gamblers lined up. Several 'Jocks' got their money for emerging safely, but the ones who clicked it weren't there to pay. The artillery- men had never thought It out that way. Those Scottles were bound to be sure winners, no mutter how the wind blew. So take a tip from me, never bet with a Scottie, 'cause you'll lose money. "At one part of our trench where a communication trench joined the front line a Tommy had stuck up a wooden signpost with three hands or arms on It. One of the hands, point ing to the German lines, read, 'To Ber lin;' the one pointing down the com munlcntion trench read, 'To Blighty,' while the other said, 'Suicide Ditch, Change Here for Stretchers.' "Farther down from this guide post the trench ran through nn old orchard. On the edge of this orchard our bat tery had constructed nn advanced ob servation post. The trees screened It from the enemy airmen and the roof was turfed. It wasn't cushy like ours, no timber or concrete re-enforcements, just walls of sandbags. From it a splendid view of the German lines could be obtained. This post wasn't exactly safe. It was a hot corner, shells plunking all around, and the bullets cutting leaves off the trees. Many a time when relieving the Blg- naler at the 'phone, I had to crawl on my belly like a worm to keep from being hit. "It was nn observation post-sure enough. That's all the use It was. Just observe all day, but never a message back for oui battery to open up. You see, nt this point of the line there were strict orders not to fire a shell, unless specially ordered to do so from brigade headquarters. BUme me, If anyone disobeyed that command, our general yes, it was Old Pepper would have court-martialed the whole expeditionary force. Nobody went out of their way to disobey Old Pepper in those days, because he couldn't be called a parson; he was more like a pirate. If at any time the devil should feel lonely and sigh for a proper mate, Old Pepper would get the first call. Facing the Germans wusn't half bad compared with an interview with that old firebrand. "If a company or battalion should give way a few yards against a su perior force of Boches, Old Pepper would send for the commanding offi cer. In about half an hour the officer would come back with his face the color of a brick, and In a few hours what was left of his command would be holding their original position. "I have seen an officer who wouldn't say d n for a thousand quid spend five minutes with the old boy, and when he returned the flow of language from his lips would make a navvy blush for shame. Big Cunt Barking. rfrj,! ' j TOP "What I am going to tell you is how two of us put it over on the old scamp, and got away with it. It was a risky thing, too, because Old Pepper wouldn't have been exactly mild with us if he had got next to the game. "Me and my mate, a lad named Har ry Cassell, a bombardier in D 238 bat tery, or lance corporal, as you call It In the Infantry, used to relieve the telephonists. We would do two hours on and four off. I would be on duty the advanced observation post, while he would be nt the other end of the wire In the battery dugout signal ing station. We were supposed to send 'hrough orders for the battery to Are when ordered to do so by the observa tion officer In the advanced post. But very few messages were sent. It was ' only in case of an actual attack that we would get a chance to earn our 'two and six' a day. You see, Old Pep per had Issued orders not to Are ex cept when the orders came from him. And. with Old Pepper orders is orders, and made to obey. "The Germans must have known about these orders, for even in the day their transports and troops used to expose themselves as if they were on parade. This sure got up our nose, sitting there day after day, with fine targets in front of us but unable to send over a shell. We heartily cussed Old Pepper, his orders, the govern ment, the people at home, and every thing In general. But the Boches didn't mind cussing, and got very care less, Blime me, they were bally In sulting. Used to, when using a certain rond, throw their caps into the air a a taunt at our helplessness. "Cassell had been a telegrapher in civil life and joined up when war was declared. As for me, I knew Morse, levied it at the signalers' school back in 1910. With an officer in the obser vation post, we could hot carry on the kind of conversation that's usunl be tween two mates, so we used the Morse code. To send, one of us would tap the transmitter with his finger nails, and the one on the other end would get it through the receiver. Many an hour was whiled away in this manner passing compliments back and forth. "In the observation post the officer used to sit for hours with a powerful pair of Held glasses to his eyes. Through a cleverly concealed loophole he would scan the ground behind the German trenches, looking for targets and finding many. This officer, Cap tain A by name, had a hnbit of talking out loud to himself. Some times he would vent his opinion, same as a common private does when he's wrought up. Once upon a time the captain had been on Old Pepper's staff, so he could cuss and blind in the most approved style. Got to be sort of a habit with him. "About six thousand yards from us, behind the German lines, was a road In plain view of our post. For the last three days Fritz had brought compa nies of troops down this road In broad daylight. They were never shelled. Whenever this happened the captain would froth at the mouth and let out a volume of Old Pepper's religion which used to make me love him. "Every battery has a range chart on which distinctive landmarks are noted, with the range for each. These land marks are called targets, and are num bered. On our battery's chart, that road was called 'Target 17, Runge 6000, 3 degrees 30 minutes left.' D 238 battery consisted of four '4.5' howit zers, and fired a 35-pound H. E. shell. As you know, H. E. means 'high ex plosive.' I don't like bumming up my own battery, but we had a record In the division for direct hits, and our boys were just pining away for a chance to exhibit their skill In the eyes of Fritz. "On the afternoon of the fourth day of Fritz' contemptuous use of the road mentioned the captain and I were at our posts as usual. Fritz was strafe lng us pretty rough, Just like he's doing now. The shells were playing leap frog all through that orchard. "I was carrying on a conversation In our 'tap' code with Cassell at the other end. It ran something like this: "'Say, Cassell, how would you like to be In the saloon bar of the King's Arms down Rye lane with a bottle of Bass In front of you, and that blonde barmaid waiting to fill 'em up again?' The next Installment relate how two artillerymen "put one over" on Old Pepper. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Use for Clothespin. Clothespins make an excellent play thing for babies. They can be used for babies or soldiers, or to make fences, trees, log houses and many other inter esting things. Playthings that can be taken apart and put together again are good to have; also blocks with which the child can build all kinds of objects engines that he can push along the floor, balls to bounce and throw, doll carriages, washing sets, etc. Dolls with clothes that button end unbutton and come oft ma; be used to teach the chil dren how to dress and undress them-elves.