The Saxon Minister of the Interior has been obliged to direct the
following warning to farmers of the south German kingdom, according
to a Dresden dispatch in the _Frankfurter Zeitung_:
"The farmer has especial cause to thank the German army that he can
still gather in his harvest and cultivate his fields, that his
fields have not been laid waste, and that the walls of his farmhouse
still remain standing and intact. For this reason, however, he ought
all the more to show his gratitude by his acts and not grumble when
sacrifices are demanded of him, as of all others.
"Thus, for instance, we hear of individual cases, such as at the
time of the mustering of horses, when certain farmers demanded
angrily why they were called upon to sacrifice anything, and gave
expression to their anger because, in the interests of the common
weal, they were asked to refrain from demanding exorbitant prices
for their products. In this manner the patriotic sentiments of many
farmers seem rather confusing.
"It is indeed not enough merely to belong to a military society
and wear a festive black coat on the occasion of celebrating the
birthday of the Kaiser and King, or to drink at comfortable ease
in a cosy tavern an occasional glass of beer, pledging the health
of our troops. The main thing is to give freely and gladly also of
one's property and fortune."
"WILLIAM AS JOVIAL AS EVER."
"If the Emperor does not happen to be elsewhere, he is present at
nearly every council without, however, showing the slightest desire
of asserting his personal views," says Cabasino-Renda, an Italian
newspaper correspondent in a letter in the _Giornale d'Italia_.
"He takes part in the council as any other General does, without
laying claim to any decisive voice even in questions in which he is
specially competent.
"It is well known, for instance, that William II. is a
distinguished tactician. At a recent meeting of the Great General
Staff a purely tactical problem was discussed and was solved in
opposition to the Kaiser's views. His Majesty simply remarked: 'I
think differently, but, after all, tactics are a matter of opinion.'
"Very frequently he goes to see the first line troops, and in such
days and nights he has to suffer a great deal of privation, for he
takes nothing with him and moves about like a simple General. His
retinue comprises only eleven aides-de-camp and functionaries, and
his physician in ordinary, Dr. von Ilberg. Small, too, is the number
of his riding and carriage horses, and of his autos, which are
painted gray.
"The Kaiser and his villa are under the strictest police protection,
yet William II. likes to go out unattended, as if he were in
Potsdam. Repeatedly I saw him having fun with the children, and he
looked as jovial as ever."
* * * * *
The Kaiser has published the following injunctions for economy in
the use of food, especially bread: "Respect your daily bread; then
you will always have it, however long the war lasts. Eat war bread
known as Letter K, which is satisfying and as nourishing as other
kinds. Cook potatoes in their skins. Give animals no bread or corn,
but save them the scraps."
* * * * *
According to a person who has the confidence of the Belgian
officials, a number of the art masterpieces of Antwerp were placed
in waterproof containers and sunk in the Scheldt by the Belgians
before the capture of the city by the Germans.
* * * * *
North of Rheims the Germans have built an underground town. Ten
thousand men live there and have constructed long corridors, huge
halls, bedrooms, fully equipped offices, with typewriters and
telephones, and a concert hall where Wagnerian music is played daily
for the officers.
* * * * *
At some points during the German retreat toward Strykow, the German
dead were piled not less than a yard high. Polish peasants spent
days burying the bodies. Most of the dead were frozen. Thousands of
wounded Germans froze to death before help could reach them.
* * * * *
The State of Georgia has been stripped of mules for the British
army in France. Every negro who has a long-eared mule, not too
antiquated, has offered the beast for sale to the agents of the
British Government. Some Southerners foresee danger in the heavy
draft of mules from the South.
* * * * *
A French infantryman writing to a friend in this country says: "At
night we crawl forward and dig ourselves in. During the day we hide
behind the mounds of earth we have thrown up and we fight foot for
foot any attempts they make to advance. They do not like our cold
steel, and many times we must give it to them. I cannot write any
longer; I must relieve a sentinel."
* * * * *
The Belgians adore their brave King, and he adores them. The
democratic friendship between King and the common soldiers is
amazing. It is quite customary for him to hand his cigarettes to
them and take a light from them in return. He spends a portion of
each day in the trenches with them.
* * * * *
A cigar presented by the German Emperor and by him to a gentleman
living at Hambledon, England, was sold by auction in aid of the
local Red Cross Hospital. The cigar brought $72.50, and is now the
property of a firm of local butchers.
* * * * *
Wounded Russian officers in the Tiflis hospitals describe the
extraordinary endurance of the Turks, who march barefooted through
the snow and shoot standing and kneeling, but rarely from trenches.
They only dread bayonet charges. The Turks are said to have lost
very heavily.
* * * * *
Great Britain is provisioning Gibraltar on a large scale. The
shipments from this port of late include 141,265 bushels of wheat,
2,240 bags of refined sugar, and 1,400 bags of wheat flour. As yet,
no explanation has appeared why England should make such plans.
* * * * *
A court-martial in France sentenced Louise Zach, a German woman,
to serve six months in prison and pay a heavy fine, on the charge
of using an American passport, which was obtained by a fraudulent
declaration. The woman was a governess in the employ of an American
family. She got a passport at Geneva by representing herself as the
wife of an American named Appel, and on the strength of this came to
Paris.
* * * * *
Russia has awarded the St. George cross to three boys, aged
seventeen, fourteen, and thirteen. The youngest is the son of an
engineer in Warsaw, who has followed the army since the fighting at
Lublin and carried cartridges under fire to the men in the trenches.
He finally became a wonderful scout, and his reconnoitering resulted
in the capture of ten heavy guns.
* * * * *
The ledger of the national debt of France listing the names of the
bondholders as distinguished from bonds payable to bearer, was
brought to Paris again to-day from Bordeaux. It required ten cars
to transport the ledger. The Germans had planned to seize this vast
book and use it to exact indemnity.
* * * * *
The International Sunday School Association plans to send a Bible
to every soldier in the warring armies in Europe. An appeal will be
sent to every Sunday school in the country, each scholar being asked
to contribute five cents he has earned.
* * * * *
The Prince of Wales often goes incognito among the soldiers. He
likes to get among the men, and the other day he was found talking
to a wounded sergeant and half a dozen privates to whom the sergeant
was explaining the methods of snipers. A messenger came up and
said something to the Prince, who turned round and wished the men,
"Good-by and good luck!" and then went off.
A minute later the soldiers who had been standing near by came up.
"Who was the grenadier chap?" asked the sergeant of one of the new
arrivals.
"Why," replied the man, with a grin, "don't you know? It's only the
Prince of Wales."
* * * * *
Three of the Foreign Legion with the French Army, all Americans,
were doing sentry duty in front of the trenches when some cows came
along. In the darkness one of the Americans crept forward to attack
the cows, thinking they were Germans. Another section began firing
and almost hit the Americans, who made their way back. They were
greeted with laughs.