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About The Stanford World (Stanford, Mont.) 1909-1920 | View This Issue
The Stanford World (Stanford, Mont.), 03 Oct. 1918, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053199/1918-10-03/ed-1/seq-2/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
THE STANFORD WORLD Albert .1\1.Depe meek I I - orto N ,EX•GUNNER . Ar) CHIEF PETT JOFF CE1J. --NAN/1„, MEMBEN OF THE FOREIGN LEGION OF FRANCE CAPTAIN GUN TURRET, FRENCH BATTLESHIP CASSARD WINNER OF THE CROIX DE GUERRE Iil, bi. WY Ind Breen C.- 'newel+ Sc , .ei Ameeleeni WE. in• Gorr rushy. Abdo Sevin, DEPEW IS CAUGHT IN ZEPPELIN RAID AND HAS EXCITING EXPERIENCE Synopsis.—Albert N. Depew, author of the story, tells of his service In the United Staten navy, during which he attained the rank of chief petty officer, first-class gunner. The world war starts soon after he receives his honorable discharge from the navy, and he leaves for France with a determination to enlist. He joins the Foreign Legion and Is assigned to the dreadnaught Cassard, where his marksmanship wins him high honors. Later he is transferred to the land forces and sent to the Flanders front. He gets his first experience in a front line trench at Dixmude. lie goes \over the top\ and gets his first German in a bay- onet fight. CHAPTER V I I—Contlnued. —6-- I surely wished I was the gunner officer. I would have enjoyed it more if I could have got back at Fritz somehow. But I was not the gunner officer and I told him so. I had to shout at him quite a while before he would believe me. Then he wanted me to find the gunner officer, but I did not know where to find him. If I could have got to our guns I guess I would have had another medal for working overtime, but I missed the chance there. About this time another bomb came over and clouted out the beat friend I had in n1S , company. Before the war he had been one of the finest sing- ers in the Paris opera houses. When he was with us he used to say that the only difference between him and Caruso was $2,500 a night. A poliu and I dragged him Into a dugout, but it was too late. One side of his face was blown off; the whole right aide of him was stripped off and four fingers of the right hand were gone. I stuck my head out of the dugout and there was the captain discussing the matter with himself, cursing the Germans from here to Helgoland and putting in a word for the bombs every once in a while. All up and down the trenches you could hear our men cursing the Germans in all kinds of languages. Believe me, I did my bit and I could hear somebody else using good old United States cuss words, too. It certainly did not make me feel any better, but it gave me something to do. I think that was why all of us cursed so much then, though we were pretty handy with language at any time. But when you are under heavy fire like that and cannot give it back as good as you get, you go crazy unless you have something to do. Cussing is the best thing we could think of. Tip the trench the third bay was Pimply smashed in and the Germans were placing bomb after bomb right In it and in ours. The captain yelled out that he was going up to the next hay to examine it, but no more had be got there than he had his head taken clean off his shoulders. I. At daybreak our trenches were all pounded in and most of our dugouts 'were filled up. Then Fritz opened up with his artillery fire right on us. We thought they were going to charge and We figured their barrage would lift and we could see them come over. We received orders to stand to with fixed bayonets. Then the man at the periscope shouted, \They comet\ A battery directly behind us went into action first and then they all 34:Ailed in and inside of five minutes about eight hundred guns were raising Cain with Fritz. The Boches were caught square in No Man's Land and our rifles and machine guns simply mowed them down. Many of them came half way across, then dropped their guns and ran for our trenches to give themselves up. They could not save got back to their own trenches. It was a shame to waste a shell on these poor fish. If they had been civ- vies the law would prevent you from hitting them—you know the kind. They could hardly drag themselves along. That is the way they look when you have got them. But when they have got you—kicks, cuffs, bayonet jabs— there is nothing they will not do to add to your misery. They seem to think that it boosts their own courage. An artillery fire like ours was great tun for the gunners, but it was not much fun for Fritz or for us in the trenches. We got under cover almost las much as Fritz and held thumbs for the gunners to get through in a hurry. Then the fire died down and it was DO quiet it made you jump. We thought otr parapet was busted up a good deal, hut when we looked through i the periscope we saw what had happened to Fritz' trenches and, believe me, they were practically ruined. Out in No Man's Land it looked like P7aolworth's five-and-ten; everywhere were gray uniforms, with Unclips and accouterments that belonged to the Germans before our artillery and ma- chine guns got to them. Our stretcher bearers were busy, carrying the wounded back to first -aid dressing station, for, of course, we had suffered too. From there the blesses were shipped to the clearing station. The dead lay in the trenches all day and at night they were carried out by working parties to \Stiff park,\ as I called it. A man with anything on his mind ought not to go to the front-line trenches. He will be crazy inside of a month. The beat way is not to care whether It rains or snows: there are plenty of important things to worr: about. CHAPTER VIII. On Runner Service. One night a man named Bartel and I were detailed for runner service and were instructed to go to Dixmude and deliver certain dispatches to a man whom I will call the burgomaster and report to the branch staff headquar- ters that had been secretly located in another part of town. We were to travel in an automobile and keep a sharp watch as we went, for Dixmude was being contested hotly at that time and German patrols were In the neigh- borhood. No one knew exactly where they would break out next. So we started out from the third - line trenches, but very shortly one of our outposts stopped us. Bartel car- ried the dispatches and drove the car too, so it was up to me to explain things to the sentries. They were convinced after a bit of arguing. Just as we were leaving a message came over the phone from our commander, telling them to hold us when we came. It was lucky they stopped us, for oth- erwise we would have been out of reach by the time his message came. The commander told me, over the tele- phone, that if a French flag flew over the town the coast would be clear; if a Belgian, that our forces were either In control or were about to take over the place but that German patrols were near. After this we started again. When we had passed the last post we kept a sharp lookout for the flag on the pole of the old fish market, for by this we would get our bearings— and perhaps, if it should be a German flag, a timely warning. But after we were down the road a bit and had got clear we saw a Belgian flag whipping around in a good, strong breeze. But while that showed that our troops or the British were about to take over the place it also indicated that the Germans were somewhere near by. Which was not so cheerful. As we went through the suburbs along the canal which runs on the edge of the town we found that all the houses were battered up. We tried to hail sevetal heads that stuck themselves out of the spaces between buildings and stuck themselves back just as quickly, but we could not get an answer. Finally we got hold of a man who came out from a little cafe. He told UR that the Germans had been through the town and had shot it up considerably, killing and wound- ing a few inhabitants, but that shortly afterward a small force of Belgian cavalry had arrived and driven the Boches out. The Germans were ex- pected either to return or begin a bom- bardment at any moment and all the inhabitants who sported cellars were hiding in them. The rest were trying to get out of town with their belong- ings as best they could. On reaching our objective we made straight for the Hotel de Ville, where we were admitted and after a short wait taken to the burgomaster. We questioned hint as to news, for we had been instructed to pick up any Infor- mation he might have as to conditions. But we did not get much, for he could not get about because of the Germans, who had made it a policy to terrorize the people of the town. We had just got into the car and - - were about to start what the burgo. master himself came running out. He ordered us to leave the car there and said he would direct us where to go. He Wrested that we go on foot, but I could ndt understand when he tried to explain why. We soon saw the probable reason for the burgomaster's refusal to ride in the car. All around for about a mile the roads were heavily mined and small red flags on iron staves were stuck between the cobblestones, as warnings not to put in much time around those places. Also, there were notices stuck up all around warning people of the mines and forbidding heavy carts to pass. When we got off the road I breathed again! After a great deal of questioning we finally reached our destination and made our report to the local command- ant. We told him all we could and in turn received various information from him., We were then taken over to the hotel. Here we read a few Paris newspapers, that were several weeks old, until about eight, when we had dinner, and a fine dinner it was, too. After we had eaten all we could, and wished for more room in the hold, we went out into the garden and yarned a while with some gendarmes, and then went to bed. We had a big room on the third floor front. We had just turned in, and were all set for a good night's rest, when there was an explo- Mon of a different kind from any I had heard before, and we and the bed rocked about, like a canoe in the wake of a stern -wheeler. There were seven more explosions, and then they stopped, though we could hear the rattle of a machine gun at some distance away. Bartel said it must be the forts, and after some argu- ment I agreed with him. He said that the Germans must have tried an ad- vance under cover of a bombardment, and that as soon as the forts got into action the Germans breezed. We were not worried much, so we did not get out of bed. A few minutes later we heard foot- steps on the roof, and then a woman in a window across the street, asking a gendarme whether it was safe to go back to bed. Then I got up and took a look into the street. There were a lot of people standing around talking, but it was not interesting enough to keep a tfted man up, so back into the hay. It seemed about the middle of the night when Bartel called me, but he said it was time to get out and get to work. We found be had made a pool' We Were Constantly Finding the Muti- lated Bodies of Our Troops. guess, for when we were half dressed he looked at his watch and it was only a quarter past seven, but we decided to stay up, since we were that far along, and then go down and cruise for a breakfast. When we got downstairs and found some of the hotel people It took them a long time to get it through our heads that there had been some real excite- ment during the night. The explosions were those of bombs dropped by a Zeppelin, which had sailed over the city. The first bomb had fallen less than two hundred yards from where we slept. .No wonder the bed rocked I It had struck a narrow three-story house around the corner from the hotel, and had blown It to bits. Ten people had been gilled outright, and a number died later. The bomb tore a fine hole and hurled pieces of itself several hun- dred yards. The street itself was filled with rocks, and a number of houses were down, and others wreck- ed. When we got out into the street and talked with some army men we found that even they were surprised by the force of the ex - plosion. We learned that the Zepp had sailed not more than five hundred feet above the town. Its motor had been stopped just before the first bomb was let go, and it had slid along perfectly silent and with all lights out. The purr that we had thought was machine guns, after. the eighth explosion, was the starting of the motor, as the Zepp got out of range of the guns that were be- ing set for the attack. The last bomb had struck in R large square. It tore a hole in the cobble- stone pavement about thirty feet square and five feet deep. Every win- dow on the square was smashed. The fronts or the houses were riddled with various sized holes. All the crockery and china and mirrors in the house were in fragments. Not much more than an hour before the Zepp came, we had been sitting in a room at the house of the local mill - Lary commandant, right under a tds glass -dome skylight. This house was uow a very pretty rein, and It was just as well that we left when we did. You could not even find a splinter of the big round table. The next time I sit under a glass skylight in Dixmude, I want a lad with a live eye for Zeppe• has on guard outside. Something about the branch head- quarters ruins made us think of break. fast, which we had forgotten, so back to the hotel. Then we started back to our lines. We were ordered to keep to the main road all the way back, or we would be shot on sight, and to re- port to headquarters immediately on our return. I thought if the sight of me was so distasteful to anybody, I would not take the chance of offend- ing, being anxious to be polite in such cases. So we stuck to the main road. Fritz did not give us any trouble and we were back by five, with all hands out to greet us when we hove in sight, and a regular prodigal son welcome on tap, for we were later than they had expected us, and they had made up their minds that some accident had happened. While I was around Dixmude, I saw many living men and women and chil- dren who had been mutilated by the Germans, but most of them were wom- en and children. Almost every one of the mutilated men was too old for military service. The others had been killed, I guess. But the Belgians were not the only ones who had suffered from German kultur. Many French wounded were tortured by the Huns, and we were constantly finding the mutilated bodies of our troops. It was thought that the Germans often mutilated a dead body as an example to the living. The Germans had absolutely no re- spect whatever for the Red Cross. For instance, they captured a wagon load- ed with forty French wounded, and shot every one of them. I saw the dead bodies. When the Germans came to Dix- mude they got all the men and women and children and made them march before them with their hands in the air. Those who did not were knocked down. After a while some of them saw what they were going, to get, and being as game sports as I ever heard of, tried to fight. They were finished off at once, of course. The former burgomaster had been shot and finished off with an ax, though he had not resisted, because he wanted to save the lives of his citi- zens. They told me of one case, in Dix- mude, where a man came out of his house, trying to carry his father, a man of eighty, to the square, where they were ordered to report. The old man could not raise his hands, so they dragged his son away from him, knocked the old man in the head with an ax, and left him there to die. Those who were spared were made to dig the graves for the others. There was a doctor there in Dix- mude, who certainly deserves a mili- tary cross if any man ever did. He was called from his house by the Ger- mans at 5:30 one morning. He left his wife, who had had a baby two days before, in the house. He was taken to the square, lined up against a wall with three other big men of the town. Then he saw his wife and baby being carried to the square on a mattress by four Germans. He begged to be al- lowed to kiss his wife good -by, and they granted him permission. As he stepped away, there was a rattle and the other men went West. They shot him, too, but though he was riddled with bullets he lived, somehow, and begged the German officer to let him accompany his wife to the prison where they were taking her. This was granted too, but on the way, they heard the sound of firing. The soldiers yelled, \Die Franzosen I\ and dropped the mattress and ran. But it was only some of their own butchers at work. Doctor Laurent carried his wife and baby to an old aqueduct that was being rebuilt by the creek. There they lived for three days and three nights, on the few herbs and the water that Doctor Laurent sneaked out and got at night. Doctor Laurent says that when the Germans killed and crucified the civil- ians at Dixmude, they first robbed them of their watches, pocketbooks, rings and other things. There was a Madame Tilmans there, who had had three thousand francs stolen•from her and was misused besides. These were just a very few of the things that happened at just one place where the Germans got to work with their \kuitur.\ So you can picture the Belgians agreeing on a German peace, while there is a Belgian alive to argue about it. They will remember the Ger- mans a long time. I think. But they need not worry: there are a lot of us who will not forget, either. Depew Is wounded In a brush with Germans. See next install. ment. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Saws for Cutting Metal. \Not so very long ago the diseevery was, made in Germany that metals could be eawed easier and qnicker with rapidiy revolving smooth disks of steel, than with toothed circular saws. It was found that the cutting was done by the heat generated by the friction of the edge of the disk artinst the metal. The metal is melt- ed 'at the point of contact, while the steel of the disk, being cooled by the air, does not reach the melting point. The disks need no sharpening and do not wear out so quickly as the toothed saws heretofore used for cutting met- al. The faster the disk revolves, the greater the amount of heat generated, and the quicker the job.--PoPular Sci- ence Monthly. SIX BATTLES RAGE ON WESTERN FRONT ALLIES REGISTERING VICTORY AFTER VICTORY OVER DEMORALIZED HUNS tURKEY IS ALMOST ISOLATED In Addition to This, the Back Door of Austria Swings Wide Because of Defection of Bulgaria.—Dark Days for Teuts (War Review for October 1) Bulgaria is definitely out of Ow war and Turkey, virtually cut Ilff (EOM COMMUtill'ill1(111 with her allies and her armies in Palestine almost minthilated, likely soon will be foreed to site for cessation of hostilities against her. Meanwhile the entente allied forces from Belgium to Verdun on six bat- tle fronts aro. registering victory after victory over the Teutonie armies, and the enemy front almost everywhere Is crumbling. notwithstanding the (leaner - II le resistance that Is being offered on ValdOlIS sectors. Seeing eventual defeat staring .her In the fine through the swift progress of the Serbian, Italian, British, Greek and French troops in the reclaiming of Serbia anti the Invasion of Bulgarian territory, the 'Odgers begged for an armistice, reserving to themselves no conditions. All the territory now held by King Ferdinand's [nen is to be evacuated; the Bulgarian army IR to be immediately demobilized and all means of transport inside the king- dom, even along the Danube. is to be given over into allied hands. Open Back Door to Austria. Thus, in addition to the isolation of Turkey, the back door to a direct in- vasion of Ausnia-Huugary is flung :vide open to the allies and doubtless the thne is not far distant when advam tato. will be taken of the new avenue through which the enemy can be reached. With the debacle in Serbia and Bulgaria complete, the Austro- Hungarians in Albania soon will be Put to the test, and when their evacu- ation to their own borders is accom- plished the allies will have welded an iron semi -virile about the central powers from the Black sea to the North sem Some Teutonic Setbacks. Viewing the situation In all its 55- peels—the success of the great offen- sivo. in Belgium and France; the blot- ting 0111 of the wur %One in the Bal- kans; the cutting off of the Turks from intercourse MI It I; ermany and Austria-Hungary, except by the long route through the Caucasus and south- ern Russia, anti the steady gains that are being made by the allies in making [tussle (Mee more a factor In the strug- gle—the darkest days of the war seemingly or efaced by Austro-Ger- mans. Although It has been officially an- nounced that hostilities against the Bulgarians ceased at noon Monday, the French official communication of Monday night said French cavalry had enteroal Uskub. one of the most Important communication centers in Serbia. It is not improbable there- fore that the French are still bard after the Germans who are known to have been fighting with ate Bulgar- ians in this region, acting as rear- guards. Bending Back Foe Front. On all sectors under stack from Belgian Flanders to the region of Ver- dun, the German trout Is gradually bending back under the violence of the attack of the British, Americans, and Belgians. In Belgim» the advance of the troops of King Albert and of Fetid Marshal Haig have pierced se deeply eastward that Germany's sub- marine bases on the North sea are in jeopardy. through the impending, cut- ting of the lines of vommunleation be- hind them. The famous Meseines- Wytschaete ridge has been captured Rnd the allied guns dominate the plains beyond. Both Menitt and Rouiers, im. port ant rail mu junetion points for the supply of the German armies north and south, are virtually in the hands of the Britiell RMI lielgIMIR, and seem- ingly soon must fall.' Germans Stiffen Resistance, From Cembral to St. Quentin the British and Americans have again de- livered successfully hard smashes against the German strong points oh along ti.; front, including the remain- ing portions of the old Hindenburg line. The Germans here are offering most strenuous resistance and in coun- ter attacks compelled the British on one or two sectors to withdraw for slight distances. The British are in the process of cleaning up the town of (\enthral having penetra(el its suburbs front the,northwest and sonth- west. In the melon of St. Quentin, where the Americans are fighting with the British, the old Iliudenburg line has Roosevelt Coming to Billings. Billings. Oct. l. --Seats In the audi- torium tit tile Midland Empire fair- grounds ere being provided for 3,500 persons so all may hear former Presi- dent Roosevelt when he speaks here next Saturday afternoon on \War and Patriotism).\ Delegates from a num- ber of Montana cities will be present. Plans IlltYe been completed for the most extensive decorations the city has ever known, every flag and piece of bunting in the city being used. Mr. I Roosevelt Is touring the west in the Interest of the fourth Liberty loan. PAT HARRISON u imams & EWING 71 2 TerPY - • With a perfect record for staunch Americanism to his credit, Itepresenta- live Pat Harrison Is to succeed James K. Vardaman as United States senator from Mississippi. Harrison defettted Vardaman In a straight cut fight. the main issue being N'artitintan's opposi- tion to the war. been cut and penetrated to a depth of three tidies over tt front of eight In conjunction with the operations of the French northehmt of Soissons the Germans have begun the evacua- tion of the Chemin des Dames and the French now hold half of thls famous defensive position. Likewise there Is an indication that the enemy intends to give up the remaining positions held by him along the Vesie to Rheims. In Champagne the French troops west of the Argonne forest every- where are pressing forward, and like wise to the east of this position the Americans are moving »orthward iii unison. Already the big forest is vir- tually outflanked and apparently soon will be made a part of the Franco- AmerIcan line. From the St. Millie! sector the Americans are heavily bombarding enemy troop trains whielt are being hurried to the front. Reports from Amsterdam are to the effect that Emperor William has ac- cepted the resignations of Count volt liertling and Admiral von Hintze. re- spectively Imperial German chancel- lor mid foreign minister. FOURTH LIBERTY LOAN GETS OFF WITH A RUNNING START Washington, Sept. 30. — Although treasury department officlals yester- day made no attempt to estimate the total sales on the opening day of the fourth Liberty loan campaign Satur- day, nit indications were thut the loan had got away to a good start. Only one district committee, New York, had attempted to estimate its sales Saturday, placing them at S200,- 000,000, or one -eighth of the $1,800.- 000,000 allotted the New York federal reserve district. From Atlanta, Gm, where sales to the third loan lagged, somewhat. came word that the earn- paigu had started \in great shape.\ Among Other communities report- ing oversubscriptions to the treasury department were Great Falls, and Port Huron, Mich. LATEST MARKET REPORTS. Chicago Livestock. Chicago, Oct. 1.—Hogs :Receipts 29.- 000; market closed strong, with packing grades mostly lie higher. Butchers, $19.50610; light, $19.60(1 19.95; packing, 418.50919.35; rough. $18618.50; pigs, good to choice, 917.75(118.50. Cattle: Receipt, 23,000; native steers, steady to 25e higher; medium kinds ad- vancing most; westerns mostly The high- er. Butcher stocks, 10 to 25e higher; calves about steady; beef mile, good. thoice and prime, $15.50V19.80; common to medium. 210615.25; butcher stock, cows and heifers. $6.7513.50; canners and cut- ters. 15.7506.75; stockers and feeders, good, choice and fancy. $10.50e18.75; in- ferior, common and medium, 27@•10.50; veal calves, good and choice, $17.75(0 18.60. Sheep: Receipts 70,000. Killing class and feeding lambs; mostly 25 to 500. lower; extreme botton on lambs Mc lower, some feeding and breeding yearlings. steady. Lambs, choice and prime, 116a 17: medium and good, 114(916; culls. OS V12; ewes, choice and prime. $10.75ei it; medium and good, 19Q10.75; culls. 13.5021 7.50. Omaha Livestock. Omaha. Oct. 1.—Itogs: Receipts 4.800; market higher. Heavy, $18.75q19.10; mixed, 118.75619: light, 118.90(9 19.35; pigs. $15V15: bulk, $18.85t119.00. Cattle: Receipts 16,000. Market steady Native steers, $12.70V19; cows and heif- ers. 17.6511.25; western steer,. $100 , 16.50; Texas steers. $6.75f112; cows and heifers, 27@11.25; canners, 16V7; calves. $8Q13; bulls, stags, etc., 17Q10.50. Sheep: Receipts 57,000; market steady lower. Yearlings. $11.50fi 13: wethers. $10 ?MCA; ewes, $8.50419.50; lambs, $15.504, 16.50. Minneapolis Grain. MInneapolia, Oct. J.—Flour: Unchang- ed. Shipments, 85,930 barrels. Barley: 86094e. Rye: $1.55 , 4 l.56 1 . Bran: $28.77. t Wheat: Receipts 960 cars, compared with 707 cars a year ago. Wheat: Cash No. 1 northern, old, $2.22. Corn: No. 3 yellow, $1.44V1.47. Oats: No. 3 white, 66%0:67 1 / 2 e. Flax: 33.80%. METHODISTS BAN TOBACCO. Portland, Sept. 30.—The distribution of eigerets and tobacco) among uni- formed men was branded as an hilqui- Rout) and destructive practice in a resolution adopted by Oregon Metho- dist ministers in email conference here. Members of Methodist churches are urged to refrain front sending to- bacco to soldiers: The reason given for the crusade to stop the practice, IS that soldiers testify that they have formed the tobacco habit mitt a.resuit of ill . being given to them so freely. • 4, •
