The most dramatic letters come from the French. On one of the fields
of battle, when the Red Cross soldiers were collecting the wounded
after a heavy engagement, there was found a half sheet of notepaper,
on which was written a message for a woman, of which this is the
translation:
Sweetheart: Fate in this present war has treated us more cruelly
than many others. If I have not lived to create for you the
happiness of which both our hearts dreamed, remember that my
sole wish is now that you should be happy. Forget me. Create for
yourself some happy home that may restore to you some of the greater
pleasures of life. For myself, I shall have died happy in the
thought of your love. My last thought has been for you and for those
I leave at home. Accept this, the last kiss, from him who loved you.
Writing from a fortress on the frontier, a French officer says the
Colonel in command was asked to send a hundred men to stiffen some
reservist artillery in the middle of France, far away from the war
area. He called for volunteers. "Some of you who have got wives and
children, or old mothers, fall out," he said. Not a man stirred.
"Come, come," the Colonel went on. "No one will dream of saying
you funked. Nothing of that kind. Fall out!" Again the ranks were
unbroken. The Colonel blew his nose violently. He tried to speak
severely, but his voice failed him. He fried to frown, but somehow
it turned into a smile. "Very well," he said, "you must draw lots."
And that was what they did.
* * * * *
Twenty-two grandsons and great-grandsons of Queen Victoria are under
arms in the war, and all but five of them are fighting with the
Germans.
* * * * *
The Cunard liners _Saxonia_ and _Ivernia_ were converted into prison
ships by the British. The German prisoners were delighted with the
transfer to the roomy cabins, where they could keep warm and dry in
contrast to the unfavorable conditions under which they lived in the
camps at the Newbury Race Course.
* * * * *
Reindeer meat and lamb, imported from Iceland, found their way into
the markets of Berlin since the war began. The reindeer meat is
a novelty and the supply is plentiful. The supply of game in the
markets of Berlin ran short long before, since hunting had almost
ceased. Poultry in the markets was still in great quantities,
although eggs were not so plentiful, as the supply usually comes
from Galicia, which was then overrun by the Russians.
* * * * *
A sale of small Belgian flags in Paris and throughout France brought
about $40,000 for the benefit of the Belgian refugees. The sale was
prolonged in the outlying provinces. There was every manifestation
of enthusiasm.
* * * * *
Once gay Ostend is desolated. The city lives in an atmosphere of
fear. The spectre of famine is continually before the inhabitants,
who subsist on wounded, emaciated horses purchased at $4 a head from
the Germans. They are the only meat the people can buy. There are no
vegetables, and scarcely any coffee and no tea. Many convicts from
prisons in Germany, distinguished by their shorn heads, are employed
in grave digging work about the city.
* * * * *
The hygiene committee of the French Chamber of Deputies has won
over the veto of General Joffre that a number of committeemen be
allowed to inspect the hospitals at the front with a view to certain
reforms. General Joffre opposed the proposal. The Minister of War,
however, agreed that twelve of the committee should go on the
inspection trip.
* * * * *
That the battle of Crouy was one of the bloodiest engagements of the
war is demonstrated by the stories told by wounded soldiers reaching
Paris to-day. An officer gives this thrilling account of the affray:
"After our successful advantage the Germans counter attacked with
fearful violence. How strongly they were reinforced is shown by
the fact that they were 40,000 against less than 10,000 French.
They first drove us from Vregny to Crouy, then, because further
reinforcements were still reaching them, we were compelled to quit
Crouy, Bucy, Moncel, Sainte Marguerite and Missy.
"These attacks certainly hit us hard, but our losses are not
comparable with those of the Germans, for we killed an inconceivable
number of them. A battery covering our retreat alone annihilated two
battalions of Germans who advanced, as usual, in a mass. We could
not resist, so we left a small rearguard force with the mission to
hold on to the last man so that the bulk of our 10,000 men could
recross the Aisne.
"This force took cover behind an old wall and belched fire on the
advancing Germans until its ammunition was exhausted. The Germans
managed to reach the other side of the wall, and even grasped the
barrels of our rifles thrust through gaps. 'Surrender!' they cried.
'We won't harm you.' But we continued mowing them down with six
mitrailleuses. The carnage was frightful, and that moment a shell
splinter struck me.
"A shell fire directed on our positions in the Valley de Chivres was
fearful. Those of our troops who escaped said it was a continuous
rain of Jack Johnsons, which are impossible to dodge.
"Next day the Germans tried to pursue us across the Aisne, but
our artillery repulsed two determined attacks, decimating several
regiments, which were forced to retreat to Moncel."
* * * * *
It is a curious thing that shell explosions always make hens lay.
Just whether it's shock or not no one is able to say as yet, but as
soon as the soldiers see a stray chicken after a fusillade they make
a dash for it in hopes of finding an egg. Some of the soldiers are
suggesting running a poultry farm on the explosion system.
* * * * *
Petrograd reports that the German officers in command of the Turks
induced the temperate Osmanlis to drink cognac before going into
battle. Russian soldiers assert that many Turks fell from dizziness
before reaching the Russian bayonets. So unused are many of the
Turks to alcohol that small quantities of the cognac completely
befuddled them.
* * * * *
Kaiser Wilhelm has presented the Turkish Government with a series
of motion picture films of the Germans in battle along the Western
front. These pictures will be reproduced in Constantinople in public
and are hoped to be a stimulant to enthusiasm in the Turkish capital.
* * * * *
Switzerland's neutrality has thus far cost her $22,000,000. This
includes the expenses of mobilization along the frontiers and other
purely military expenditures. It is an enormous sacrifice for the
Swiss people, but the spirit in which it is being borne is the most
striking proof of the determination of the country to remain neutral.
* * * * *
Efforts are being made by the Washington Humane Society to have laws
enacted prohibiting the exportation of horses and mules to the war.
The life of a horse or mule at the front in Europe varies between
three days and three weeks. The life of the beast depends upon the
service to which it is put.
* * * * *
Eight Belgian heroes prevented the Germans from piercing a weak spot
in the Allies' line near Dixmude. A patrol of eight Belgians with
a machine gun saw a column of Germans advancing. The patrol took
shelter in a deserted farm house. Not until the German column was
one hundred yards away did the Belgians open fire. Then the machine
gun shot a spray of death into the column, whose front rank just
seemed to melt to the ground. The Germans pressed on bravely, their
officers urging them with hoarse cries. But discipline had to bow to
death, and the first rush was stayed. Behind their rough shelter the
Belgians fired steadily, though outnumbered twenty to one. For two
hours the unequal fight continued, and still the Belgians continued
to pick off individual Germans or melted down any threatening rush
with a shower of flame and death from the machine guns. When relief
finally came three of the Belgians were dead and the other five
desperately wounded.
* * * * *
An order has been issued expelling all German and Austrian subjects
between the ages of sixteen and sixty from Petrograd and its
environs, and from those Russian provinces bordering on the Gulf of
Finland and the Baltic, including the Gulf of Riga. Drastic measures
will be taken with those who evade this order. All Germans and
Austrians found in the forbidden districts will be dealt with as
spies.
* * * * *
The British War Office is now urging the women of the Empire to
send their husbands to war. London newspapers printed the following
advertisement: "To the Women: Do you realize that one word, 'Go,'
from you may send another man to fight for our King and our country?
When the war is over and your husband or your son is asked, 'What
did you do in the great war?' is he going to hang his head because
you would not let him go? Women of England, do your duty! Send your
men to-day to join our glorious army. God Save the King!"
* * * * *
A brave young wife travelled from Paris to the Belgian firing line
to see her husband, but was told that such was impossible because
he was in the trenches. Noticing that she wept, a Belgian officer
nearby told the woman to dry her tears. He then telephoned to the
trenches. In an hour the French artilleryman appeared and rushed
into his wife's arms. "You must thank that Belgian officer--he has
a heart of gold," said the wife to her husband, pointing to the
officer who had befriended her. "Hush," whispered the soldier, "he
is the King of the Belgians."
* * * * *
One of Italy's best known military critics, while manifesting
high esteem for the strategy of General von Hindenburg, severely
criticized a certain feature of the Marshal's tactics. Some days
later he received a parcel from Germany containing a fine fac-simile
of the famous General's baton, accompanied by a note asking the
critic to accept the baton and come and have a try at the job of
beating the Russians if he thought himself more capable of doing it
than Von Hindenburg.
* * * * *
A British soldier made somewhat of a name for himself by refusing to
allow General Joffre to enter the house used as headquarters owing
to the fact that the famous French General had no permit from the
English General, whose orders were to allow nobody whatever to enter
without it. General Joffre was not upset, and went off with his
aide, who obtained the necessary permit.
* * * * *
The official aviation reports show that 135 deaths occurred in the
French aero service between the beginning of the war and January 1.
This number includes observers, passengers, pupils and pilots.
* * * * *
Every precaution has been taken to guard against possible attack
by German aeroplanes on the Palais Bourbon during the session of
Parliament in Paris. Three French aeroplanes flew constantly in the
vicinity of the building during the session.
* * * * *
A brilliant charge by French Alpine troops on skis down the
snow-covered slopes of Bonhomme, on the Alsatian frontier, is the
latest thing in warfare. Under a heavy fire from the Germans the
Alpine troops climbed to the summit. Then they charged down the side
of the mountain with the speed of the wind, firing their rifles as
they sped along. These Alpine men are so skilful on skis that they
can fight as they slide along at breakneck speed. Many of them were
dropped by German gunfire during the charge, but as the outrunners
drew near the Germans broke and fled.
* * * * *
That the Kaiser has Breton blood in his veins is the latest
assertion of Paris newspapers. To prove their assertion the Kaiser's
ancestry is traced back to 1547 to the head of a princely Breton
family.
* * * * *
Five dollars for officers and $2.50 for non-commissioned officers
are the bounties placed on the heads of French leaders, according
to German prisoners. The soldiers receive these amounts for every
officer killed. Many bounties have been paid.
* * * * *
General Grossetti, whose name matches his physical proportions, has
won fame by his habit of sitting in an armchair when duty calls him
to the firing line. His contempt for death has become proverbial and
won for him the admiration of a Japanese journalist, who compared
him to the Samurai. Once he rallied a wavering regiment by taking a
seat, amid a hail of shells, before the trenches the regiment was
defending.
* * * * *
There are two plausible explanations of the mystery that still
surrounds the deposal of General von Moltke, former Chief of Staff
in the Kaiser's war council. One story is that when von Kluck was
making his fierce drive to the very gates of Paris, von Moltke was
for having him continue on to the coast. The Kaiser flatly decided
against von Moltke's strategy--which was thoroughly justified by
subsequent events. It places von Moltke, however, in the untenable
position of one whose mere presence is the silent reproach of "I
told you so." The other explanation is that von Moltke was too
lavish in squandering the lives of his men for petty gains, paying
fancy prices in blood for a few yards. The Over War Lord finally
called a halt.
* * * * *
The castle of the Duke de Tallyrand, husband of Miss Anna Gould, of
New York, in East Prussia, has been occupied by Russians. The Duke
is acting as a military chauffeur in the French army.
* * * * *
The new German super-submarine has just completed successful trial
runs in the Bay of Heligoland. This giant submarine is of the type
that carries three months' supplies, which does not necessitate her
putting into port or having recourse to the parent ship. There have
been rumors that the Germans intended landing men on the coast of
Britain by means of this sort of submarine.
* * * * *
The fear of an attack by the Germans has about worn out in Paris.
The gates are no longer closed and the Parisians can hereafter take
their strolls along the avenues of the Bois.
* * * * *
Following a mutiny in the Turkish army seventeen officers who
distinguished themselves in the Balkan war have been shot.
* * * * *
Through inoculation the ravages of typhoid fever among the British
troops have been checked. Not a single death has occurred among
those thus inoculated.
* * * * *
That thousands of Russian women are rejoicing over the fact that
the sale of vodka has been prohibited by the Russian Government
was the news brought by Mrs. Anna Omohundro, who arrived on the
Scandinavian-American liner _Oscar II_. Mrs. Omohundro, who is an
American woman and a widow, has been living for the last three years
in Petrograd and Moscow, where her brother is the agent for the
International Harvester Company.
"For the first time," said she, "many Russian wives find their
homes livable. It appears that the prohibition on vodka has worked
wonderful changes in a short time. I have heard of hundreds of
cases where men became home loving and industrious because they were
unable to get the fiery liquor which turned their brains.
"There was one case in my own home in Moscow. A woman servant
came to me and fell on her knees and said she wished to leave our
service. I asked her why she wished to go and she said: 'For the
first time I am happy in my home and wish to go there. My husband is
no longer made crazy by vodka. He is kind to me and I wish to keep
the home for him.'
"Of course the cases of reformation that I know of personally
are among the men who from one cause or another have not joined
the Russian armies. I believe, however, that the benefit extends
throughout the nation."
_Twenty-seven Miles in Sleighs._
Mrs. Omohundro made a journey of several hundred miles to get out
of Russia from Petrograd to Stockholm, part of which was a trip in
sleighs of twenty-seven miles from Tornio, in Finland, to Korning,
Sweden. This trip took about four hours and the ride was through the
rather weird twilight of midday in the northern latitudes.
An amusing story was told of the stop at Tornio, on the border,
where the members of the party were searched. Even the women did
not escape inspection by the Russian soldiers and all postcards
and suspicious looking papers were confiscated. In the party was
an English Jew who was returning to London after selling out his
business in Moscow. It was noticed by some of the travellers that
the returning merchant, whose name was Cohen, frequently bought
many boxes of matches.
When the search took place at Tornio the many boxes of matches in
Cohen's baggage did not seem to excite any suspicion among the
Russian troopers. After the party had passed over the border Cohen
opened up box after box and from the bottom of each took a compact
roll of money. He had concealed about $12,000 in this way.
"You see," he explained, "I could not afford to take any chances."
* * * * *
A French officer who came under heavy fire while carrying several
cases of champagne across an exposed place in his lines to a
hospital nearby wrote thus to a friend: "For the first time during
the war I was afraid--terribly so. No one could have been more
terrified. I wasn't afraid of being killed, but if I had been hit
while carrying the champagne from a vacant house everyone would have
said, 'Served the looter right.' Who would have believed that I was
taking it to a hospital?"
* * * * *
A German living in St. Louis has twenty-three nephews in the
Kaiser's army, three of whom have been decorated with the Iron Cross
for bravery. Two have been wounded in action. A French Senator has
given his three sons for France. One was killed in Alsace, another
storming breastworks on the Aisne, and another in Africa.