Advertising The Athena Press circulates in the homes of readers who reside in the heart of the Great Umatilla Wheat Belt, and they have money to spend mm Subscription Rates One Copy, one year, $1.50; for six months, 75c; for three months, 50c; payable in advance, and subscrip tions are solicited on no other basis Entered at the Post Office at Athena, Oregon, a Second(.Masa Mail Matter VOLUME XXX. ATHENA. UMATILLA COUNTY. OREGON, FRIDAY. JULY 26, 1918. NUMBER 30 Quality Always Service First A Problem Just at this season of the year, every woman in town and country is confronted with the ever-present Grocery Problem. To buy something that is palatable full of nourishment and that will meet the constantly changing government food regulations, surely" is con fusing, and only experts can meet all exegencies. We are puttieg our best endeavors into these problems and have a choice, well selected line of Staple and Fancy Groceries, including the various wheat and other sub stitutes. Your telephone order will have prompt and careful attention. THE ECONOMY GASH GROCERY Phone 532 Quality Always Service First 0t W-WtMMf tltttllltlMIIIIIIIIIMII Reed's Plain and Anti Rust Tinware Reed's Tinware is so well known in every locality that it is needless for us to dwell upon its merits. In this line we are now showing Wash Boilers, Striners Dairv Pails and Laundry Dippers Watts & Rogers Just Over the Hill mini i M I in WSS Show Your Patriotism! Buy a War Savings Stamp and Help Win the War For Sale at The First National Bank of cAthena tiMiiitniiiMinitinMiiiiiiiMiiinMinMiiiM order your coal now- get it out of Uncle Sam's way- he needs the railroads Tum-a-Lum Lumber Co. HIIMIMMinHIIIMIIIMMIIIMMMIMMIMMMtt LETTERS FROM OUR LADS "OVER IHERE" "In France, June II, 1918. "Mrs. A. A. Fobs: Just received your letter aid I assure you that I was sure tickled to hear from you, so here goes for a few lines to my Athena friends. "Hullo Folks: How goes the war over there? I am now with the Fight ing Tanks, the highest branch of the service, and folks, these Tanks are the stuff. I assure you all that this life is much more exciting than the Avia tion; but, on the other hand, if they ever let the enlisted men fly over here, will endeavor to transfer back as I would rather fly than eat. Have been driving one of these tanks for a month now and I like it fine. Have been over here six months now and 1 have already been over the greater part of France. Had the pleasure of seeing Paris some time ago and it sure is a beautiful city. "Folks, 1 am 'there' in French now, for with the help of a dictionary and a couple of hundred stock gestures, 1 can Bay nearly anything. I have even tried to talk to a friend Mademoiselle about the war, but that is pretty diffi cult, because she gets so excited and the words go by so fast that only old friends are recognized. When she starts on that theme I stop listening and concentrate on her expression, and 'oat, ami,' or 'non, non,' as 1 think the occasion demands. "Am writing this letter on an old table, battered and dingy, '.vhich was no doubt used a couple of centuries ago by some fat old monk, as he sat and 'thunk,' and later by some petty offic er of Napoleon's army. "Folks, the French are a wonderfel people. Their education, courtesy, dignity and reserve are a revelation. Their open-hearted friendliness, their admiration for America and their sense of humor have captivated the hearts of every one of us, who have had any thing to do with them They fight and fight like hell. After over three years of defeat and disappointment and terrible losses, their spirit and morale are unbelievable. I have been over here six months, as I told you before and have been over the greater part of France, only I would love to have seen France before this great catastrophe. Then I could have seen miles of trees that lined the roads: would have remembered the little white houses that were every where, and the beautiful fields and gardens ; and we could also have seen the little kids going to school, But, alas, we have come to the end of that beautiful world. The sword has gashed the face of France. The trees are withered and blasted, the avenues are no more; the roofs of the houses are broken, the walls are falling down, the rooms are heaps of rubbish, the people have gone. Think of the people who live on the fringe of the war the poor people on the stricken edge of France the old Mother whose days are nearly over, pulling cabbages in her garden almost at Ypres; the old man who picks up petrol cans, flattens them out and patches up his broken house with them. The French have nerve and are very patient and, fur thermore, they take us boys into their homes and treat us as though we were one of the family. "I am a very busy tanker these days. If there are any of my Athena friends who want to ae; Berlin, join the Fighting Tanks, as these creeping, snorting devils are the stuff. Friends, write me a letter now and then and I assure you all that same will be great ly appreciated. Very truly yours, Roy L. Zerba, 811th Tank Center, A. P. 0. 714, 326 Battalion, Co. A., A. E. F. Gas, Sam's Onlv Dread. Writing to an Athena friend, Sam Starr sayB: "June 21, 1918. "We are billeted out in a large city and sure have some time. The streets are paved with cobblestones and are very nariow and the buildings are all so old fashioned that you would admire their historic beauty. In every direc tion as far as eye can see, there is nothing but vineyards. On nearly ev ery hill is an old castle, some of them almost a mass of ruins and old stone walls that are fast crumbling to piec es. It is a very beautiful country, a large valley with a fairly large river running through it, almost as large as the Columbia. "All of us boys are together again now, that is in the same town. George Winship was up this afternoon looking for news from home. He said that he had not heard from Athena lor some time. I haven't seen Harry Keller since Saturday, and he lives on the same block at that. He has been drill ing and I have been out on telephone construction work between here and another city. You know when I en listed I seemed to have a certain fear of meeting the Germans in battle; but it has strangely left me since 1 came over here where I could really see what was taking place. About the only fear that I have left is for gas. and they're going to have to be pretty speedy if they catch me with it, or at least I am confident of myself since going through the gas chamber. "We are having beautiful weather at present although it is rather hot. Some of the boys went fishing yester day, the river is just alive with fish and clama. Swimming seems to be a great sport among the Americana here. I have yet to see my first Frenchman in swimming, also to see them take a drink of water; they drink vin blanc, (white wine instead. It i( siue a good substitute but ono -.an't drink it as freely as he would water. Sam F. Starr, Bat. D, 148 F. A., A. E. F. Hallv With James Sturgis. "June 11, 1918. "Dear Mother: I will just drop a line this evening to let you know I am alive and feeling fine, in this French village. We are drilling hard every day. Are camped in French houses. James Sturgis is here with us. He is a 1st Lieutenant. He is a fine fellow. He gives me good advice whenever he talks to me. I never have heard from Russell when you write to him tell him to write me here. I haven't got much mail since I have been here, just got your letter a few days ago. I don't have much time to write now. Tell everybody 'hello,' for me. "Hally Piersol, 140 U. S. F. A., Bat. F., A. E. F., via. New York. LAKE YIELDS TONS OF SALT Natural Phenomenon in South Austra lia Constant Source of Revenue to Its Owner. On Yorks peninsula, in South Aus tralia, says a writer In the Wide World, is a wonderful lake of pure salt. It is a huge depression In the earth which Alls up In the winter months. In the hot summer sun the water quickly evaporates, leaving a thick deposit of almost pure salt Seen from a dis tance the surface of the lake has all the appearance of being covered with a sheet of Ice. That salt crust is so thick and strong that men and even enrts and plows can traverse It with perfect safety. Yet below the crust there Is a considerable Jbody of slug gish water. After the rays of the summer sun have played their part, the salt Is gathered. It Is Just raked into heaps, and these pyramids of salt are a strik ing feature of the landscape. The salt Is now shoveled Into carts and con veyed to various works on the sea board, to undergo the process of re fining. Gathering the salt Is trying work on account of the great heat and the dazzling reflection. Often it is necessary for the men to wear colored glasses to protect the eyes. After the loose salt has been collected from the surface a special kind of plow is run over It, when another harvest of the valuable material can be reaped. The yield of salt from this strnnge lake amounts to several thousand tons a year, and it is among the finest ob tainable. The lake is several square miles In area and is naturally a very valuable property. WILL SPLIT BIGGEST ROCKS Seemingly Nothing In Nature It Able to Withstand Expansive Force of Tree's Roots. This might very well be considered a nature puzzle. Why should any sen sible tree apparently select a dry rock for a home when there Is plently of good soil all about in which to grow? As a matter of fact there Is so little rainfall where one tree grows, In New Mexico, that It Is something of a won der to an eastern traveler how any tree, even with its roots spreading through the soli In every direction, can stand the long drought of months' dur ation. When a cedar tree, however, Is seen to bo growing out of a crack In a rock In nn almost desert region the matter becomes a veritable mystery. Even under such ndverse conditions, trees will split the hardest of rock. No rock can withstand the expansive force of a growing tree. Sometimes the rock is cracked off in pieces gradu ally, but oftentimes a big rock Is split fairly In two, the tree roots relentless ly forcing their way downward. Time is no consideration to the tree nnd every spring it returns to the attack, as the new sap Invigorates Its roots and trunk, never giving a fraction of nn Inch of what It has once gained. The fight is a slow but entirely one sided affair. Give Your Child His Own Room. In Farm and Fireside, a woman writing about children says : "The craving for companionship Is a powerful factor In the life of every boy or girl, but a certain amount of privacy and wholesome quiet is Just as necessary to the child's develop ment and happiness. I have known families where life was made mis erable for everyone because of the constant bickering nnd quarreling among the children. When the house was enlarged so that each one could have his own room, they suddenly lost their fretful ways, and Improved rap Idly in disposition. "It means a great deal to a boy or girl to know that his small possessions are sacred from the unsympathetic eyes and hands of the grown folks. I have always trained my children to respect each other's rights. Even If he hasn't a room to himself, each child has certain shelves, drawers and cooks sacred to his own use." Scripture and Profanity Mixed. The Bible and profanity were strangely intermingled in the congress a few days ago. Senator Overman made the statement that President Wilson "has been criticized In many Instances, for Instance, for not taking senators Into his confidence." To which Senator Reed remarked : "Oh hell !" Senator Overman expressed the hope that this expression would go Into (lie Record. Subsequently Senator Over man read Into the Record a section of the eighteenth chapter of Exodus, de scribing how Aaron and Hur sat by the side of Moses and held aloft his hands throughout the day while the conflict between the army of Israel and the army of Amalck was lu progress. COUNTY WIDE SOLDIER ROLL IS WANTED NAME AGE..,, HOME ADDRESS (Street) (City) OCCUPATION BEFORE WAR MARRIED. ENTERED SERVICE, WHEM? .WHERE BRANCH OF SERVICE TRANSFERS RANK , (Include promotions and dates) nearest relative address relationship .... present address SIGNATURE of INFORMANT .... ALFRED E. FRANZ T Friends and relatives of boys in service are asked to fill out above and to M . R. Chessman. Sec. Pendleton, ore., Phone 123. WAR NURSES NEEDED NOW THAT RESERVE IS DEPLETED The East Oregonian reports that word received from the Council of Na tional Defense by the Umatilla County Patriotic League states that because the nation's reserve has been depleted by the calling of literally thousands of graduate nurses for service in military and naval hospitals, it is absolutely necessary immediately to cbII aS.OOO student nurses for training in Amer ican hospitals. These young women are to be enrolled in the United States Student Nurse Reserve ard enrollment will begin July a9. The call is for women between the ages of 19 and :i5, and they must be intelli gent, responsible women of good edu cation and sound health. They may enroll as engaging to bold themselves in readiness until April 1, 19111, to accept assignments to nurses' train ing schools, or may enroll as candi dates for the army nursing school es tablished by the wai department. A third alternative is given in which' women may enlist to hold themselves in readiness UT.tll April 1, 1919, to accept assignments in either a civilian or militarv training school. The lat ter offers the greatest chance to see immediate service. Further particulars may be obtained by writing to the Women's Committee of National Defense, Washington, D. C. Machines Run All Night. From ill over the Inland Empire come reports to Spokane of an unex pected eaily harvest due to the un usual spell of hot weather which rip ened grain at a most alarming rate. Every labor agency, commercial club and employment bureau is besieged with calls for field workers. Thresh ing ontfits are in such demand that crews are working double shifts and in some Instances machines are run ning all night. Installs Pumping Plant. A. A. Foss has come to tho rescue of his lawn by installing a pumping plant, and now he can use all the water he wants for irrigation purpose?. To a force pump, an ordinary hot water lank is attached, and from this the hose carries the water to the sprinkling nozzle. .The use of the tank does away with the vibration that would result wero the hese connected directly to the pump. A gasoline en gine is used for power. Fourteen of the men who reported at Pendleton Tuesday for entrainment for Camp Lewis, were exempted until the next draft, there being that num ber in excess of the call. From Ath ena, Jesse Myrick, Roy Read and Charles Payne were left over. They will work in harvest. PEOPLE OF ATHENA TO AOOPT FRENCH ORPHAiv The local committee for the Adop tion of Fatherless Children in France, have received a list of French orphans, which it is earnestly desired may be adopted at once by the people of Ath ena. Ten cents keeps a child a day, 13.00 a month, and $!IO'.!0 a year, in its mother's home in France. Upon receipt of your pledge to support a child for a year, and first payment, the name and address will be given you.. Further particulars may be re ceived of the committee. Mrs. H. I. Watts is chairman, and Mrs. F. S. Le Grow secretary, both of whom hold a list of the names given below. The Athena Girls' Honor Guard has already adopted an orphan and pledged support for one year. The name and address of the child is Lucienne Blot tiere, 4 rue Mazagran, Elbeuf, Seine Inferieure, France, born December 8rd 1911. The list assigned to At'iena for adoption follows: Boys Mathurin Le Meyec, born June 28, 1914; Josehp Le Muitec, born June la, 10 1 M : Jean Le Nabat, born July 24, 1909; Jean Le Pare, born Feb ruary ill, 1901; Louis Le Pare, born July IS, 1907; Etienno Le Pen, born February 20, 1909, (spoken for;) Pierre Le Pennac, born September 9, 1914. Girls Marie Le Navcnec, born May 18, 1900; Maria Le Navenec, bo-n Sept. 9, 1908; Jeanne Le Pallec, born March 21, 19U; Simone Le Pall ec, born April 8. 1018; Eugenie Le Pen, born April 14, 1903; Odile Le Pen, born Sept. 2, 19111; Philomene Le Pen, born Jan. 7, 1909; Marie Le Pile, born Dec It), 1911. Soldier Home on Furlough. Virgil Willnby is the first Atliena soldier to be furloughed home from service. He arrived from Camp Lewis Monday evening. He has a mouth's leave of absence and secured it for the purpose of working in thu harvest fields. He looks well and says soldier life agrees with him. He is as hard as nails, as compared to his physical condition when entering the army. He enjoyed a pleasant visit with his mother and brother before coming home, they having gone to Camp Lewis to see him. Sunset in Reserve. From the grouping of the American troops co-operating with the French in the second battle of the Marne, aB given out by General March, it would appear that the Sunset Division, in which are innny Oregon and Washing' ton soldiers, is being held in reserve, although that division is a part of thu first army corps and the commanding officer, General Liggett, is in command ut the American troops on the firing line. Alfred E. Franz, who lived on the LaBrache place near this city until the death of his wife, was Bhot by a detective for the New York Central Railroad, near Erie, Pa., Saturday July 14, and died Sunday night as the result of the shooting. Franz was in the draft from this county and was t,, have reported at Camp Lewis with tho contingent that entrained at Pendleto;;. Tuesday. An Erie dispatch gi rhr following account of the shouting: JCh Earl Mc- J& Four Mile I and started a patter claiming he fi for car-iobbery, led this as found it he would "get" 's story to the po tshooting, McCol t and in self his club, which by McCollum's .,g Had to run, but , .vertook him, upon which King nred. Franz was hurVied to the hospital and was apparently improving when a relapse took place. Agatha Franz, niece of the deceased says her uncle had nothing to do with McCollum or his friends. She said hur uncle his wife and another niece, had gone to the patk to spend the day, as her uncle had been called in the draft and ordered to report this week in Portland, Or. The party was prepar ing to return home when the uncle suddenly exclaimed: "Oh, my God, I'm shot." The niece says besides a mother in Portland, Franz left a father, brother, wife and grandmother, all residing in Erie. An inquest over the body will be held tonight. Inter ment took place todav in Erie. BURNING OF PLANTING BARN THOUGHT TO BE INCENDIARY Recently thero have been several mysterious fires in which barns in tjiu surrounding country have been des troyed. The first was that of the Bar rett barn on Pine creek last fall, when ten head of valuable horses, feed and harness were consumed by flames. The origin of that fire has remained a mys tery. Several weeks ago another barn on a place northwest of Adams burned under suspicious circumstances, and Monday morning the large barn on tho Walter Planting place near Adams was completely destroyed. There is every reason to believe that it was an incendiary lire, and a report that a man wearing a white hat and corduroy trousers was seen to leave the barn and disappear in a wheat field, led to call ing out of tho Oregon military police to assist the county officers in hunting the fellow. At last accounts he had not been apprehended. This fire is said to be the fourth to occur in that section in tho past few weeks. The third was the burning of the Johnson barn, another the destruc tion of a vacant house in Gerking Flat, and the instance of the burning of a machine shed and combined harvester on the Kupers place. Team Ran Away. One of Charles Williams' teams ran away, out at the ranch Monday, and as a result one of the horses was per haps fatally injured. Mr. Williams' young son was driving down a hill when something went wrong with the rig and the horses lunged ahead ut brcukueck speed. The boy escaped in jury. Dr. Baddeley hopes to save the horse. Fall Ginghams J ust arrived, pretty new fall Ginghams in all the new shades, including very pretty stripes, plaids and checks Our prices are always right, as we buv from six months to one year ahead of time, paying spot cash and selling for cash. That's the reason we are always under -other stores in price. Our prices for Fall are very little higher than spring, quality just as good. We have a very" wide range of patterns at 19c per yard Large assortment of bright, rnappy patterns, 25c per yard Many very pretty light and dark patterns, 27 l-2c per yard Girls Gingham dresses, age 2 to 14 years, - - 98c to $2.49 Ladies Gingham dresses, size 34 to 46. - - $1.49 to $4.50 j incorporaiea