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About Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1903-1919 | View Entire Issue (June 29, 1918)
THE DAILY CAPITAL JOURNAL, SALEM. ORE. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, f918. "' mtw tx i neu Brunsbuttal BY HERMAN HAULER. '(&?eond Lieutenant Until Recently ta Officer in the German Naval Service - and who has deserted and is bow in Holland Brunsbuttal Barracks was commonly known as the "torture-house", and it lived up to its reputation as well as to its name. Aceordiig to the conception, however, of my superior officers, the barracks was an institution of example 'in order to forewarn and caution would be weak spirits in the ranks to the serious consequences of what would befall .them should they follow or emu late the example set by treacherous in stigators." I quote these words, as ac curately as I ean remember them from a lecture delivered to us officers by a superior officer, by the name of Captain Ariian, whom the admiralty authorities jound necessary to send to us to jus tify the brutal Brunsbuttal torture methods. At this locture there were over thir ty officers like myself, who, at least many of them, were invited, or rather permitted, to put questions to Captain Anian, the torture justified. I modestly claim that I was the only officer who took an aggressively opposing attitude towards Captain Aman's questionable military doctrine. Ho is an experienced speaker and answered my questions with acorn, sarcasm and contempt. To the ser ious and dignified question I put him. "Hflrr Captain, is it not true that such 'terror methods' would eventually undermine the fighting morale and in dividual reliance of our troops t" he replied, contemptuously. "Yes, it would to a great extent, when led by men like you." This insulting retort Drought glee ito the majority of my fellow-officers which was evident in their faces, while a few of them appeared resentful.. I. thereupon, left my seat, took a few steps toward the speaker, and in a curtious tone, informed him that it was for him to test my soft heart. Upon this, one of my fellow-officers, himself a lioutenant demandod of the captain that he im mediately apologiso for the uncalled-for insult h.e bad offered mo whilo a great many other fellow-officers shouted at me, to retract and withdraw the chal lenge. I took my seat and niado no an swer to the cheap shoutings of my fellow-officers while Captain Aman behind his table kept silent and also kept his seat. Captain Arnan refused to accept my challenge with an improvised plea that "duals iii' -times of war were against the interests of the fatherland." Such an attitude was exceptional. I am thirty eight year old and the captain is 44 therefore, our ages were not in great variance. I was a second lieutenant, in hazardous active service since the war while the captain had been constantly on short duty. For that reasoij his high er rank could not justify his rafusin"? my challenge for any reason. On the following morning, baore breakfast, while taking a walk at the parade grounds, I mot Captain Aman alone, and approaching, demanded of him to test my "soft heart." He look ed me over from my head down to my foot, smiled contemptuously and was about to walk away from me without even one word of answer. Thereupon I slapped his face with the back of my right hand, very lightly, of course. Two days later I received a summons to appear-before the ranking officer of the region. I was reprimanded severely for having insultd Captain Aman, and was ordered to report to Wilhclmshaven im mediately to serve a sentence of ww week's confinemnt. During the last year or so our higher admiralty com mand has been permitting ranking of ficials to apply disciplinary measures to subordinates without the process of trials. In my case, however, a degree of leniency was employed. I was not dispatched to Wilhelnihaven in charge ef guards, but was permitted to pro ceed to that place unacocmpanied. On reaching Wilhclmshaven I learned that the ranking officer to whom Iwas ordered to report was a certain officer with whom I had fought a duel in 1913. I had chastisedhim severely. And know ing that his soul dwelt in very small space-1 fully prepared myself for the treatment that 1 expected would be meted out to me by this man who had letter connections, family connections, and still louder talk and bluster thai manly courage or brains. On presenting my letter-my old en emy, in a terse voice and without fur ther comment, assigned me to a room where I should serve my week's disci plinary confinement. At the end of the week, a fleet of submarines having just returned from long service in the North sea, and their ctews being in groat need of recupera Scenes Western are common in who have accepted Canada's generous oner to mi steads or buy farm land in her provinces have been well repaid by bountiful crops of wheat and other grains. bushel to th's acrs what you can do in western inua. In the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatch-1 ewan or Alberts you can get a Homestead cf 163 Acres Free and other land at very low prices. L- . T AV; .ti-i '.1,1 i 1 i fields have averaged 20 bushels to the acre many yields as high as 45 busneis in tua WnnHerful fTOOS also Ot Oats, BiynariB. i inc is M profitable an indurtrj grain rmw ir Good Kbooli. church, mnrkeu eonmnv S sua particulars . " gape M innuifiKNfli WtM&tty J. ft C Avftfa 5 vj Cor. 1st ana Post S6TWT Punishment Camp: Lectures tion, I was assigned to one of the eraft for regional duty. Two days later, hard ly before making myself familiar with the type of the under-sea-boat put in my command, I was ordered to report to Cuxhaven. As the cruise from Wil hclmshaven to Cuxhaven was a surface cruise I found my commission not 80 difficult. On reaching Cuxhaven I heard so many accounts of terrible, yes, hor rible conditions prevalent in that base that I made up my mind then and there to desert at the first favorable oppor tunity that presented itself. I learned that our higher admiralty command had completely lost its head and was treating every common soldier ! inoi. icu uuuer insir uniavoraoie sus picion with nndescribable barbarities. Let me state here very strongly, how ever, that there is not ths slightest pos sibility of an organized or near-organized mutiny in our ranks. In the first place an organized mutiny is beyond any conception of possibilities. In the second place, the discontent is not aimed against Imperial foreign policy or against Imperial war policy. It is sim ply caused by the admiralty's barbar ous treatment of the common seamen. The admiralty authorities have not the slightest fear of a war vessel crew turning against tho Imperial forces dur ing inaction or during a battle against our enemies. The admiralty's uneasiness is simply actuated by a fear that dis content when generally spread in the ranks would eventually undermine the goneral morale of the entire fighting forces. For that reason, instead of study ing tha deep-rooted causes of discontent in the ranks and reforming itself, it is now engaged in crushing the suspect ed inspircrs of dissatiafaction through cruel and barbarous methods. As an example, I was told at Cux haven that a few weeks earler, two un-der-officers were subjected to lash pun ishment at tho hands of punishment au thorities in the presence of a large group of marines. One of tho unfortun ates died after the second application of tho fifteen lashes, while the second victim was in the hospital in a very precarious condition. No one doubted that the murders of the four higher officers who had tuken part in tho lash punishment ceremony, only the night before my arrival at Cuxhaven, was the direct result of such procedure. These four officers were shot by bullets that came mysteriously from the direc tion of tho barracks at which the crews of many war vessels are stored during inaction. Four shots fired from amongst the 3,000 men could not be located. Many of these 3,000 common seamen knew the guilty persons in their ranks but naturally could not be persuaded to voluntarily betray their fellowmon. Be sides such a betrayal being considered highly dishonorable, there was a still stronger motive in their reticence. No betrayer under sua circumstances would survive tha revenge of the others. So a proclamation was issued that unless the men at the barracks in formed the authorities "secretly" every seaman in tha barracks would be sub jected to six lashes each. The result was that such tactics simply proved the stu pidity of the high ranking officials sta tioned at Cuxhaven. No less than four hundred namos wore reported secrotly, under a secret ballot scheme. And even then, instead of regarding this as a good joke perpetrated in their expense, they summoned all these nion, and in groups, submitted them to sevore examinations. The final result proved thaUthe common seaman had little honor and were anx ious to betray each other for the sake' of escaping from the threatened six lashfis. It proved that among the, sea men there was not solidarity. Besides betraying tho four of their fellowmen who had mysteriously snipped at four officials of the punishment dignitar ies, they further betrayed nearly fifty others and testified against them,involv- in2 them with plots of serious upris ings, most of which found credence only in their own imaginations. At the end of the investigation the naval author ities had a lew more man sixty eeameu in their hands who were accused of var ious crimes, bordering on high treason. These men were given six hours to make a complete confession as to their parts in the various plots. In two hours the authorities had 27 men as candidates for execution. While at Cuxhaven I noticed how in tensely busy our fleet was making pre parations tor the coming day. isatuo shins entered the inner harbours, bat tleships left tlw harbour, torpedo-boats of all descriptions and destroyers of all sizes and types cruised hither and thith er, while every measure was being taken to man our entire reserve under-sea craft with new crews. Cuxhaven being the nearest one of our principal naval of l&ospeHiij Canada. The thoctandi of U. S. farmer you are bound to main money-that Canadian wheat I o11"" GRIEVE St. Spokaae, Was. 3 i He Became Disgusted With the "High Command's" Brutality $ t t base to the month of the Kiel canal J On thfl Elbe, i VH nnttirnl ttiot thm in. . . -fc ' ...V . I tensity of our naval movements was most obvious at that region. Near the Medam Sand where thene is a clear channel about six fathoms deep, more than twenty mighty dredges were busy day and night, broadening the water way. . Hundreds of scientifie divers wens engaged in removing certain vessels mysteriously sunk in the channel. I have heard many versions regarding the sinking of these ships. I was told, once by an officer stationed at Cuxhaven since the war, that eight ships of heavy displacement were sunk in the road- way. But nobody knew to a reasonable certainty how many ships went to the bottom or how they went. I am under the impression that thera has been some kind of a serious disorder some ships were sunk, but as to the identity of the number of the sunken vessels only the very highest officials knew the whole truth. If it is true that such a serious disorder took place it is natur al that none of the seamen who took part in it would be available to tell the talc. But this much is fact, that during my commission at Cuxhaven hundreds of divers were at work mining objects under water and mighty dredges were employed in removing obstacles thus scattered about below the surface. Af ter every explosion following the min ing of these objects under water the surface of the. water would be covered with woodwork that goes into tho fur mailings of a ship's interior. Immed iately a fleet of heavy-bottomed drift ers with wire nettings would sweep the area between Flatenerdau and Cux haven, a width of about nine or ten miles. . Altogether I stayed at Cuahaven only one week. During this period I spent my mornings on board my submarine, superintending the very necessary re pairs to her machinery while one hour of my afternoon I spent at the officers' lecture room, addressing younger offi cers of our undersea craft on submarino cruising, and following on the chart map the areas through which the navi gating of submarines is the most criti cal and hazurdous proposition. I spentthe r,est of my afternoon In making visits to the various works at the harbor. It must be kept in mind that certain inner portions of the harbor, repair dockyards, assembly docks and experimental Btations are closed to all naval men in active duty. Tho offi cers on active Bea duty are not per mitted to know much. The reason, for such a precaution is that in case of de sertion or capture by the enemy these men would know very little that is e sential to impart to our enemies. But too many things are happening at our bases to be successfully kept se cret from the officers' mess room. For instance, one of the divers employed in mining a certain Bunken vessel at the mouth of the ElLe' told a fellow-officer that the war vessels that were sunk wore the "Wittelbach" and "Mark garf . '-' The wood-worJt that came to tha surface after the mining of the ships were the uncontrovertible evidence of identity. 'Yet every naval officer at any one of our bases knows, that two of our battle cruisers this very day- bear these names. The natural conclusion is that immediately after the destruction of the two war vessels that originally bore these names our admiralty must have renamed others with these titles. It is common knowledge among the nm.nl nUnlno d f nil. honft. i h Q f TlOflrlv Qfl many- of our war vessels that took part) iu the battle of Jutland wcra lost to us later as wcro admitted by our admir alty. Therefore it is possible that it is some of tho vessels that made- for our home ports after the battle of Jutland that sank in the waters of Weser. During my short submarine commis sion at Cuxhaven I was perfectly aware of th,e fact that at any time an order would transfer me to another commis sion. Once or twice I even received in timation that I would bo sent to Emrten where I would be put in charge of a station training raw remits in the under-sea service. But instead, one day I received an order that I would board a certain destroyer and sail for Heligo- ROAD INFORMATION FOR MOTORISTS This bulletin contains general informa tion concerning road conditions in or uear the National Forests of Oregon and Washington, ba?ed on data furn ished by tho field nv.'n of the Forest Un serve. TAKE NO CHANCES WITH FIRE. DROP NO BURNING MATCHES OR TOBACCO If you have a camp fire, build it away from logs; trees, or rotten wood... Scrape a clean strip arouSd it, digging down to dirt. When you leave, PUT IT OUT. If no water is available use dirt. OREGON ROADS. Western Oregon ...Willamette Valley-Cascade Mountain Wagon Road This road is open and in fair condition Foster to Fieh Lak3. Closed betwen Fish Lake and Summit of them ountains. By making detours pas sage is possible. The road should be open for travel July 1. At present soma of the bridges are unsafe and sev eral fords must be made. Hebo-Neskowin Open and in perman ent condition for the summer between on Brutalism I IHM M land I had only twelve hours notice in u. - !..). n ammm tn mv naw inmmia. I" 1. . W ,1UJ-WV v J " sion. I had very slight intimation in what capacity I would be employed while at Heligoland. A bout three hours before the time set for my departure to our island base 1 hc&rd that certain American who was not of German blood wag visiting the ouur harbor works, -naturally 1 was curious to inquire ia the mess room about this Herr Pastor from America. 1 was viery curious indeed to meet him as I had heard so ranch about him and ins great zeal lor our cause, l had a gr?at esteem for this man although 1 had never seen him. It was difficult to obtain a short in terview with him. On meeting him, how otc', I felt ashamed that our high civil, mili'ary, and naval officials had wasted energy in paying this mean absurdity wch homage. My only purpose in meet ing him was to ask him personally how tho Americans really felt about this war. Notwithstanding the fact that I had pledged my honor as an officer to hear Irom an American's lips the real feeling of bis people towards us and especially towards thig war. I was very disappointed to hear from fnra such cheao talk as he bad been in the habit of unloading to "our gutter elements both in the fatherland and America. The reaoon of the authorities in bringing sii'.h a grotesque imposter to Cuxhaven to address our naval men was to ue- iittie America's war possibilities in the eyes of our men and crew. "Here is an Aincritun wthout a drop of Gorman blood in him I Listen to what he has to say about America as a war-making power." I know that the effort of the renegade American. Herr Pastor was wasted. Every one who heard him speak resented the insult t'lus flung on their faces by the authorities in tiiinking that our German naval men were such idiots as to take the Herr Pastor serious ly. - , ' T boarded the destroyer No. 84, and thin one hour and fifteen minutes reached Heligoland, traversing a dis tance of 38 or 40 miles. At our island base I found our pre parations for the coming North sea bat tle more intensive. Down to the com mencement of tho war we had spent nearly 100,000,000 marks on thig island which is hardly one mile long from tip to tip and much less than a half mile at its widest portion. On the southeast ern slant of the island we have built a marine wall 40 fcet wide and half a mile long, which runs straight from 1101 th to south. To the east of this grout wall wo built a mole which is to-fifths of a mile long and one-third of a mile wide, and at the southwestern tip of thig mole we have enclosed an expanse of water protected by sea-walls 40 feet wide and with an entrance about 300 feet wide. In this artificial harbor which is heavily fortified and mined we have four submarine stations, while in the inner harbor that is bounded by th6 mole in the northeast and west, we iiucv oaa of the mos complote undersea have onfl of the most complete undersea experimental stations, I moan, experi ments in. cruising. A double-tracked nar row gage railroad circles the sea-walls from end to end. From end to end a tun nel also runs though the sea walls. At about fifty yard intervals along the wall there are openings to the tunnel, thru which openings any one of our he'avy calibre guns may bo elevated. Of course it must bo understood that the railroad that runs under the seawalls runs also throui a connecting scries of tunnels that encircle th.s island proper. Besides tho island encircled, with tunnels and railroads, there are four staicht un' derground passages that run from tlw northern rip of the island to the south cm, and there are sixteen other tun nels that run across the width of tho island. Any number of the heaviest guns can be shifted within a short timo to any given point. The Zeppelin shed which is situated on the northern shore is protected by about 200 anti-aircraft guns that would spell death to any un invited guest. cut 1110 lsianui ine lite therel It is horrible! (To Bo Continued) AND CAMPERS Hebo and Neskowin rough spots. Tlw re aro some Tillamook-WUlimina Open and in fair condition entiro length. Dead'Indian Open between Pelican Bay and Ashland. Passable for autos. Klamath Falls-Crater Lake-Open be tween Klamath Falls and all Crater Lake points. In very por condition between Klamath Falls and Fort Kla matli. All roads to Crater Lake art now open. Craw Lake Road-Open and in good condition between Meuford and tori oviamath. coiumbla River Highway Opcn and in good conditon Portland to Cascade Lock. Closed for construction bet ween Cascade Locks and Hood Rivor. Cars may be shipped between Cascade Locks and Hood Kiver by rail or boat on week days. Eagle Creek public camp and picnic grounds is located 43 miles east of Portland. Here the For est Service maintains a free picnic' and camp ground for recreation use. Tables, benches, fire places running water and other conveniencies are available at this camp ground. Willamette Road Open between Eu- ncrea.se Freight Rates Effect lie prices of Automobiles delivered after July 1st f and Maxwell Cars for immediate delivery that we will also have Samson Tractors that the decreased freight rates will not effect All cars will advance $25 and upwards after the present stock is exhausted. Place your orders now while we have cars and tractors in stock The Valley Motor Co. If Front and State Streets gene and a potnt several miles beyond1 Oak Kidge. Closed to all vehicles bey ond. Oak Kidge. Closed to all vehicles beyond this point. McKenzio Pass Road Open and in good condition Eugene to west boun dary of the Cascade National Forest. Poor condition from west boundary of tho Forest to Sisters. Drain -Scottsburg Open and in good condition entire longth. Klamath Falls-Bend (via Fort Klam ath); Open and in fair condition. Crescent City-Banaou uoast Koaa Open and in fair condition entire route with some rough places. Grants Pass- Crescent city upen en tiro length and in good condition ex- cunt for a few rough places. Pacific Highway Open and in fair condition Koseburg to Grants Pass and Medford. In eood condition OrantB Pass tn Wolf Creek. Barlow-Oak Grave Open and in good condition Portland to .Rhododendron; poor condition Rhododendron to forks of road near uiear Ijokc upen dut rouKh Cedar Lake to Cfidar Burn; good condition Cedar Burn to Wapinitia. EASTERN OREGON. Sparta-Eait Eagle Park Open and in good condition entiro route. Baker-Cornucopia Open and in good condition. Baker-Prairie City Open and pass able for all vehicles but in poor con dition. Milton Tollgate Open and in good condition between Milton and Spring Hill. Closed by snow beyond Swing Hill. No detour possible. Hardman - Bpray Ojnen aud passable for machines entire route. Prineville - Mitchell Passable be tween Ochoco Station and Wheeler Crook county line; open and in excel lent condition county line to Bcav.er Hanger Station. WASHINGTON ROADS. Western Waslujigtosn. Cascade Scenic Highway Open from coast towns to Sultan; closed between Sultan and Tyo for construction work; detour impossible. Sunset Highway Open and in good good condition from Seattle to Sno qualmio Puss. Fair condition Snoquul miii Pima to Luke Keechelus. In good condition Lako Keechelus U Kustou and CUi Elum. Mud Holes near the Pass are drying rapidly uud road should be in good condition entire route soon. Sixty miles out of Seattle on this high way iB tho Denny camp grounds whore the Forest Service muintaius a free pub lic grounds equipped for the uso ot the public. ArUngton-Darington Roadr Is Open and in eood condition Arlington to ii'nrtann. i'air condition Fortsou to I (ii-rillirton. Olympic Highway Open in good condition between Olympia and tiun ault Lako. Open and in fair condition between Olympia and Discovery Bay. Good condition Fairholm to Mora and Forks. EASTERN WASHINGTON. Slate Road No. 4 Open and in fair condition between Republic and Tonas- ket. Blewett Pa Highway Open and in good condition Clo Elum to Wcnatrhee. This road is now in the best condition it has ever been. Several bridges and the heaviest grades on tht old road n the Chelan side of the road have becu eliminated and a large number of new turnouts built. No driver should have any difficulty in negotiating this road. FOREST FIRE SPARKS. Three fourths of the fires in the for ests of the United States, are caused by man. Every forest fire which destroys tim ber or takes men away from productive work helps the Hun. For-the first time in- the history of wars, timber is recognized as an essen tial war munition. Don't let forest fiws destroy it. Knilwav ties and trench timbers from the hand planted French forests helped CAN. YOU DO IT? J Do you know the words of the "fitar Spangled Banner?" From the bulletin board at the Presidio, where he is in training, Eal Baker, of Eugene, Or., copied the following clever bit and sent it home for consumption: "Oh, say can you Blng from tho start to the end, What so proudly you stand for when or chestras play it; When the whole congregation, in voices that blend, Strikes up tho grand tuno and then tor ture and slay it I now valiant they shout when they're f irst sartting out, But thfl (lawn's early light finds them floundering about. 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner they're trying to sing, But they don't know tho words of the precious bravo thing. Hark, the twilight's last gleaming has soino of them stoppsd, But the valiant survivors press forward sercnly To tho ramparts wo watched when soire otlicrs are dropped, And tho loss of tho leaders is manifest keenly. Then 'Tho rockots red glare' gives the braveut a scare, And thero's a 'few left to face the 'bombs bursting in air.' 'Tis a thin line of heroes that manage to save The last of tho verso and 'the home of the brav!." ' . . The Econcmv of a Lfaht "eight Car Important ''Light weight in an automobile moans more than it over did tcforo," says F. Q. Delano of Salem Automobile Company, local dealer in Chevrolet automobiles. , "Less weight in a oar means loss expense for gasoline less expense for oil and less expense for tires. It means linger service for less cost the very thing that is eugurly sought by every motorist. The man who drives a light car isn't carrying around a lot of c:cess weight which ho cauuot to save Paris from the Hun. Forest fires destroyed nearly two hundred million board feet of timber on tho nntional forests of Oregon in 101 7 enough to build three cantonments as larga as Camp Lewis. The sawmills of Oregon cut two and one-half billion board feet of lumber in 1017, valued at $44,000,000. Oregon's forests aro supplying ma terial for ships, airplanes and other war usfis. "Help keep out forest fires. One hundred eighty six fires on the nationol forests of Oregon in 1917 start ed from fires "left burning by careless campers. Be sure your campfiro is out. Fighting 1197 fires in Oregon c0t the federal forest'servicc $133,017.12 in P.U7 help prevent forest fiws and savo this expense. Oigon'g forests will supply four bil lion board feet saw timber annually for ever jf propertly managed. Proper man agement implies elf lcient protection, conservative logging and efefctivo restocking. Your Summer Outing For With resort and mounfain outing9: BTeitenbush Ilot Springs, Mt.' Jefferson, Marion and Pamclia Lakes, Wo have now established a daily pack train and saddle horses. Also have a mountain outfitting and general merchandise store, at Detroit, Oregon. For further information, Boy Newport, S. P. Lunch Counter, Albany, Oregon; or Detroit, Oregon. But we ha?e Overland sell at present prices. We Geo. Vick, Mgr. II mutiuumiiii. utilize but must pay for dearly in ex- .' tra fuel and tire wear. 'The light car not only costs much ' less to operate but is easier to drive, especially in congested traffic. For' long distant driving it is far more dependable.- It can travel with ease over rough ronds and get in and out of places where the heavy, car handicap ped with its own weight could never 1 negotiate. 'But in spite of the many advan tages of the lightweight car, which anyone cCn easily understand, if thev give the subject a moment's thought. tliere are many laboring under tho de lusion thai a light car lacks strength. This is not so. If built right, the light- weight car is just as Btuunch aifd sturdy s the heavyweight car. As a rule it also possesses longer lifo and depreciates less in value from year to ycar--all because there is less woight which nicr ns less strain, less wear and tear. "Anyone skeptical on this point should inspect tho Chevrolet "Four-" Ninety ' touring ear. IToro is a car weighing less than two thousand' pounds yet possessing ninplo strength for all uses to which it could posmiblv .be put to and power enough for all occasions. Hoenuso of its lightweight and famous valve-in-head motor, twenty-five lilies on a gallon of gasoline is a common performance for this car. And a est of tires on a "Four-Ninety " will (jive exceptionally high mileage." The Fiave is a river after our own leart. . CUR SPECIALTY We stand behind every repair turned out of our shop. ij ; Tire service with a smile makes business worth while. Let us sell you your new TIRES BRACKETT & GRAY'S JIRE HOSPITAL . 279 N. Commercial St. Phone 1400 TIRE TROUBLES