Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 166, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1915 — Page 2

The SCARLET PLAGUE

By JACK LONDON

CHAPTER lll—Continued. "But I am ahead of my story. When the great exodus from the cities around San Francisco bay began, and while the telephones were still working, I talked with my brother. I told him this flight from the cities was insanity, that there were no symptoms of the plague in me, and that the thing for us to do was to isolate ourselves and our relatives in some safe place. We decided on the Chemistry building. at the university, and we planned to lay in a supply of provisions, and by force of arms to prevent any other persons from forcing heir presence upon us after we had retired to our refuge. "All this being arranged, my brother bagged me to stay in my own house for at least twenty-four hours -more, on the chance of the plague developing in me. To this I agreed, and he promised to come for me next day. We talked over the details of the provisioning and the defending of the Chemistry building until the telephone died. It died in the midst of our conversation. That evening there were no electric lights, and I was alone in my house in the darkness. No more newspapers were being printed, so I had no knowledge of what was taking place outside. I heard sounds of rioting and of pistol shots, and from my windows I could see the glare on the sky of some conflagration in the direction of Oakland. It was a night of terror. I did not sleep a wink. ▲ man— why and how I do not know — was killed on the sidewalk in front of the house. I heard t£e rapid reports of an automatic pistol, and a few minutes later the wounded wretch crawled up to my door, moaning and crying out for help. Arming myself with two automatics, I went to him. By the light of a match I ascertained that while he was dying of the bullet wounds, at the same time the plague was on him. I fled indoors, whence I heard him moan and cry out for half an hour longer. "In 1’ a morning my brother came to me. I had gathered into a handbag what things of value I proposed taking, but when I saw his face I knew that he would never accompany me to the Chemistry building. The plague was on him. He intended shaking my hand, but I went back hurriedly before him. - ’Look at yourself in thp_ mirror,* I commanded.

“'My God!’ he said. Tve got IL Don’t come near me. I’m a dead man.’ “Then the convulsions seized him. He was two hours in dying, and was conscious to the last, complaining about the coldness and loss of sensation in his feet, his calves, his thighs, until at last it was his heart and he was dead. “That was the way the Scarlet Death slew. I caught up my handbag and fled. The sights in the streets were terrible. One stumbled on bodies everywhere. Some were not yet dead. And even as you looked you saw men sink down with the death fastened upon them. There were numerous fires burning in Berkeley, while Oakland and San Francisco were apparently being swept by vast conflagrations. The smoke from the burning filled the heavens, so that the midday was a gloomy twilight, and. in the shifts of wind, sometimes the sun shone through dimly, a dull red orb. Truly, my grandsons, it was like the last days of the end of the world. “There were numerous stalled motor cars, showing that the gasoline and the engine supplies of the garages had given out I remember one such car. A man and a woman lay back dead in the seats, and on the pavement near it were two more women and a child. Strange and terrible sights there were on every hand. People slipped by silently, furtively, like ghosts—whitefaced women carrying infants in their arms; fathers leading children by the hand; singly, and in couples, and in families —all fleeing out of the city of death. Some carried supplies of food, others blankets and valuables, and there were many who carried nothing.

“There was a grocery store —a place where food was sold. The man to whom it belonged—l knew him well — a quiet, sober, but stupid and obstinate fellow, was defending it The windows and doors had been broken in. but he, inside, hiding behind a counter, was discharging his pistol at a number of men on the sidewalk who were breaking in. In the entrance were several bodies —of men, I decided, whom be had killed earlier In the day. Even as I looked on from a distance, I saw one of the robbers break the windows of an adjoining store, a place where shoes were sold, and deliberately set fire to it I did not go to the groceryman’s assistance. The time for such acts had already passed. Civilization was crumbling, and it was each for himself. "I went away hastily, down a cross street, and at the first corner I saw another tragedy. Two men of the working *!■— had caught a man and a woman with two children, and ware

COTVWIOHT t«IV- Miciwe ■XWPICATS'

robbing them. I knew the man by sight, though I had not been introduced to him. He was a poet whose verses I had long admired. Yet I did not go to his help, for at the moment I came upon the scene there was a pistol shot, and I saw him sinking to the ground. The woman screamed, and she was felled by a fist blow by one of the brutes. 1 cried out threateningly, whereupon they discharged their pistols at me, and I ran away around the corner. Here I was blocked by an advancing conflagration. The buildings on both sides were burning, and the street was filled with smoke and flame. From somewhere in that murk came a woman’s voice calling shrilly for help. But I did not go to her. A man’s heart turned to iron amid such scenes, and one heard all too many appeals for help.

"Returning to the corner, I found the two robbers were gone. The poet and his wife lay dead on the pavement. It was a shocking sight. The two children had vanished —whither I could not tell. And I knew, now, why it was that the fleeing persons I encountered slipped along so furtively and with such white faces. In the midst of our civilization, down in our slums and labor ghettos, we had bred a race of barbarians, of savages; and now, in the time of our calamity, they turned upon us like the wild beasts they were and destroyed us. And they destroyed themselves as well. The/ inflamed themselves with strong drink and committed a thousand atrocities, quarreling and killing one another In the general madness. One group of workingmen I saw, of the better sort, who had banded together, and, with their women and children in their midst, the sick and aged in litters and being carried, and with a number of horses pulling a truckload of provisions, they were fighting their way out of the city. They made a fine spectacle as they came down the street through the drifting smoke, though they nearly shot me when I first appeared In their path. As they went by, one of their leaders shouted out to me In apologetic explanation. He said they were killing the robbers and

looters on sight, and that they had thus banded together as the only means by which to escape the prowlers. "It was here that I saw for the first time what I was soon to see so often. One of the marching men had suddenly shown the unmistakable mark of the plague. Immediately those about him drew away, and he, without a remonstrance, stepped out of his place to let them pass on. A woman, most probably his wife, attempted to follow him. She was leading a little boy by the hand. But the husband commanded her sternly to go on, while others laid hands on her and restrained her from following him. This I saw, and I saw the man also, with his scarlet blaze of face, step into a doorway on the opposite side'of the street I heard the report of his pistol, and saw him sink lifeless to the ground. "After being turned aside twice again by advancing fires, I succeeded In getting through to the university. On the edge' of the campus I came upon a party of university folk who were going in the direction of the Chemistry building. They were all family men, and their families were with them, Including the nurses and the servants. Professor Badminton greeted me, and I had difficulty in recognising him. Somewhere he bad gone through flames, and his board was 'X.-

All Fleeing Out of the City of Death.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

singed off. About bls head was a bloody bandage, and his clothes were filthy. He told me be had been cruelly beaten by prowlers, and that hia brother had been killed the previous night, in the defense of their dwelling. "Midway across the campus, he pointed suddenly to Mrs. Swinton’s face. The unmistakable scarlet was there. Immediately all the other women set up a screaming and began to run away from her. Her two children were with a nurse, and these also ran with the women. But her husband, Doctor Swinton, remained with her. " ’Go on. Smith,* he told me. ’Keep an eye on the children. As for me, I shall stay with my wife. I know she is as already dead, but I can’t leave her. Afterward, if I escape, I shall come to the Chemistry building, and do you watch for me and let me in.’ "I left him bending over his wife and soothing her last moments, while I ran to overtake the party. We were the last to be admitted to the Chemistry building. After that, with our automatic rifles we maintained our isolation. By our plan we had arranged for a company of sixty to be in this refuge. Instead, every one of the number originally planned had added relatives . and friends and whole families until there were over four hundred souls. But the Chemistry building was large, and, standing by itself, was in no danger of being burned by the great fires that raged everywhere in the dity.

"A large quantity of provisions had been gathered, and a food committee took charge of it, issuing rations dally to the various families and groups that arranged themselves into messes. A number of committees were appointed, and we developed a very efficient organization. I was on the committee of defense, though for the first day no prowlers came near. We could see them in the distance, however, and by the smoke of their fires knew that several camps of them were occupying the far edge of the campus. Drunkenness was rife, and often we heard them singing ribald songs or Insanely shouting. While the world crashed to ruin about them and all the air was filled with the smoke of its burning, these low creatures gave rein to their bestiality and fought and drank and died. And after all, what did it matter? Everybody died anyway, the good and the bad, the efficient and the weak, those that loved to live and those that scorned to live. They passed. Everything passed. "When twenty-four hours had gone by and no signs of the plague were apparent, we congratulated ourselves and set about digging a well. You have seen the great iron pipes which in those days carried water to all the city dwellers. We feared that the fires in the city would burst the pipes and empty the reservoirs. So we tore up the cement floor of the central court of the Chemistry building and dug a well. There were many young men, undergraduates, with us. and we worked night and day on the well. And our fears were confirmed. Three hours before we reached water, the pipes went dry. “A second twenty-four hours passed, and still the plague did not appear among us. We thought we were saved. But we did not know what I afterward decided to be true, namely, that the period of the Incubation of the plague germs in a human body was a matter of a number of days. It slew so swiftly when once it manifested Itself that we were led to believe that the period of incubation was equally swift. Sp, when two days had left us unscathed, we were elated with the idea that we were free of the contagion.

“But the third day disillusioned us. I can never forget the night preceding it. I had charge of the night guards from eight to twelve, and from the roof of the building I watched the passing of all man’s glorious works. So terrible were the local conflagrations that all the sky was lighted up. One could read the finest print in the red glare. All the world seemed wrapped in flames. San Francisco spouted smoke and fire from a score of vast conflagrations that were like so many active volcanoes. Oakland, San Leandro, Haywards—all were burning; and to the northward, clear to Point Richmond, other fires were at work. It was an awe-inspiring spectacle. Civilization, my grandsons, civilization was passing in a sheet of flame and a breath of death. At ten o’clock that night, the great powder magazines at Point Pinole exploded in rapid succession. So terrific were the concussions that the strong building rocked as in an earthquake, while every pane of glass whs broken. It was then that I left the roof and went down the long corridors, from room to room, quieting the alarmed women and telling them what had happened. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

Remembered Toast.

In the 'sos I was in Washington at a dinner given by Senator Dawson of Georgia, writes a correspondent of the New York Sun. A number of guests were present, among them being the noted actor. James A. Murdoch. Toasts were given, and the host requested that Murdoch recite Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s toast, viz.:

\ The World: f We came into It, naked and bare; • We go through It with Borrow and care; When we die, we go, God knows where; If we are thoroughbreds here, We’ll be thoroughbreds there; If we are scoundrels here. We’ll be scoundrels there. This toast was recited with his unsurpassed elocutionary power and graceful manner, and left a memory that baa been with ma for yearn

In the effort of Chicago to eliminate the pest-cajrying domestic fly the children of the public schools were utilized with most satisfactory results. A class in the Curtis school is here seen receiving instruction, the boys and girls dressed for the fray and armed with fly-swatters and cans of kerosene oil.

IS MADE THE GOAT

Auffenberg Put in Cell to Save Archduke. Austrian Commander Sent to Prison by Emperor to Prevent Expose of Disaster in Serbia —Blamed hrederick. .Venice, Italy.—The story of the fall of Gen. Baron Auffenberg from his position as commander of one of the most powerful of the Austro-Hun-garian armies to an incommunicado cell in an unnamed prison is one of the most closely .guarded secrets in Vienna. Austrian newspapers are not allowed even to mention his name and inquirers in the Hungarian house of deputies have been advised to let the matter drop. From information which has just reached Venice it appears that the general was summarily arrested as he was about to leave for Switzerland and has not been allowed to communicate even with his family or lawyers. His object in going to Switzerland was the publication of a volume of memoirs, in which he hoped to establish his innocence of mismanaging the Austrian campaign against Serbia by putting the blame upon the shoulders of the commander in chief, the Archduke Frederick.

The following explanation of General Auffenberg's rise and fall comes from personal friends of the general. It is in general agreement with such facts of the case as have been previously established: “General Auffenberg, as a former minister of war and one of the great soldiers of the empire, was placed in command of the armies which undertook the invasion of Serbia at the beginning of the war. This invasion ended disastrously. The Austrians were defeated with tremendous losses and retired across the frontier in disorder. There was a hasty investigation in Vienna and the investigators reported that General Auffenberg was mainly responsible, owing to his gross mistakes of strategy in planning and carrying out his offense. They recommended that he be suspended from his command. \

“But It seemed unwise to the military powers to draw public attention to the extent of the disaster in Serbia, so it was decided that Auffenberg’s retirement be attributed to ill health brought on by the strenuous exertions of the campaign, and that the title baron should be conferred on him io support the impression that after ail nothing really serious had happened to the Austrian forces in Serbia. Tie new' baron was ordered home »vjd placed on the retired list among ‘cfficers at the disposition of the emperor for future military service.’ “The general came home mystified and began a quiet investigation of the situation. As soon as he found out that he was blamed for the failure ofthe Serbian campaign he demanded that his side of the story should be heard. He received no encouragement in official circles, but it became generally known among military men that he planned to re-establish his own reputation by showing that the blame for the failure, must be attributed to the Archduke Frederick. “In one case, for example, the general declared to a group of military men: T will not be made the scapegoat for an archduke who ought never to have been intrusted with the supreme command of the imperial forces, but who ought rather to have been locked up in his palace in Vienna to prevent his meddling in the conduct of the war.’

“This remark, with others of similar nature, reached the ears of the archduke, whose influence was exercised to bring about the downfall of the general. The climax came when Anffenberg asserted that, having

FIGHTING THE DEATH-DEALING FLY

failed to obtain a hearing in official circles, he would prove his own innocence and the archduke’s blameworthiness by writing a book on the war and having it published in Switzerland. ‘To prevent his flight into Switzerland and the publication of the threatened book Emperor Francis Joseph himself stepped in and ordered him arrested and placed in solitary confinement until the end of the war. He was committed to prison by imperial order, without the semblance of a trial or investigation, and was not allowed to communicate with the outside world. Questions addressed to the government in the Hungarian house of deputies were answered with the statement that the government could not at this time deal with a purely military matter in parliament.”

KEEPS FOLKS AT HOME BUSY

A scene such as this is not uncommon in the countries stricken by the war. This picture was taken in one of the picturesque hamlets of the Spreewald, one of the outskirts of Berlin. The natives of this part of the country are descendants of a very ancient race, the Wenden. They still speak among themselves the ancient language of their ancestors. The children, at an early age, are trained in household duties. This custom now shows its real value to the country for the young children, together with the older women, knit stockings for the men at the front.

POTATOES FOR THE POOR

Welcome Relief Promised for Destitute Families in Hartford City, Ind. Hartford City, Ind.—On the suggestion of M. M. Weller, a prominent business man, the Magazine club of this city will put into .operation a plan which, it is believed, will afford welcome relief for many poor families in Hartford City next winter. The club will obtain permission from the owners of a number of vacant lots in the city to plant potatoes. It is believed that from 600 to 800 bushels can be raised in this manner during the summer. Next winter, when calls for help are received from destitute families, the potatoes will be distributed. Mr. Weller has agreed to donate the services of several teams and men and also to permit the club to use several lots owned by him.

Manhattan's Only Farmer Dead.

New York.—Manhattan’s only farmer who every day took a truckload of garden produce to market, is dead on his four block farm at Fort George and Audubon avenues.

WARSHIPS IN DUEL

British Dreadnaught Drives Turkish Cruiser From Strait. •Salvos of Monster Shells Sweep High Over Ridges of Gallipoli at Dardanelles—Aviator Directs the Fire. By LOUIS EDGAR BROWNE, (Correspondent of the Chicago News.) Mudros, Allies’ Near Eastern Base. — The Queen Elizabeth and the Goeben have been engaged in battle with each other. The great British dreadnaught, the most powerful battleship afloat, attacked the Goeben under most extraordinary conditions. Although the Queen Elizabeth fired salvos of gigantic highly explosive projectiles, the Goeben escaped unhit. Since the allies’ forces landed at the Dardanelles late in April the GermanTurkish battle cruiser has seriously hampered the advance toward their goal—Constantinople. It has supposedly a base at Chardak, an auxiliary naval port, on Gallipoli strait, 25 miles above the narrows. Nearly every day the Goeben has taken a position between Maitos and Cape Nagara, just above-the Narrows, and has supported with killing fire the Turkish troops facing the Australian-New Zealand line. Turkish engineers have established a line of communication between posts of observation and signal stations somewhere east of Maitos. Because of these the fire" control was made so effective that, although the Goeben was firing over a ridge of mountains, its officers were quickly informed just where each shell hit and what damage it did to the enemy. So constant became the fire of the German battle cruiser and so seriously did It hinder the movements of the allies that it was decided to attempt to destroy it even at considerable cost. The Queen Elizabeth was selected for the first chance. A ridge of fairly high mountains runs down the Gallipoli peninsula end a battleship firing across it from the Gulf of Saros to a point above the Narrows would be unable to see its target. The Queen Elizabeth could not see the Goeben. An aeroplane was needed to observe the fall of projectiles and to direct the fire. It was somewhat after noon when a big naval aeroplane mounted and circled over the mountains. A naval observer ocupied a seat beside the pilot. The observer easily found the Goeben. The aeroplane sailed back to the Australian lines and commuxjcated the Goeben’s position to the Queen Elizabeth.

Suddenly one of the 15-inch guns of the Queen Elizabeth belched forth a great sheet of flame, followed by a roar that could be heard at Mudros, 60 miles away. .The spotting officer, leaning far over the combing of rhe fire control top, picked up the projectile with his glasses and kept it in view untilit disappeared below the ridge of hills. Like a flash his glance turned to the aeroplane soaring high above the mountains. Some distance below the aeroplane there popped into being three black dots. An instant later three more black dots appeared. These were small smoke bombs dropped by the observer to signal where the shell had struck relatively to the target. “Up 300 —left three!” shouted the officer to a sailor standing at his elbow. The first shot had fallen 300 yards short and 300 yards to the right of the Goeben. , An instant later a salvo from the Queen Elizabeth’s entire broadside of eight 15-inch guns crashed out. Eight monster shells, each weighing 2,000 pounds, went careening through space at a speed of 2,500 feet a second. The Goeben took alarm after two or three salvos and fled at top speed northeast to the base at Chardak.