Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 236, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1915 — HAPPENINGS in the CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAPPENINGS in the CITIES

German Iron Crosses Being Made in Syracuse S““ YRACUBE, N. Y.—Who ever dreamed that the Iron cross, the Prussian military decoration instituted by Frederick William 111, the fond dream of «me>i Prussian soldier who rushed toward death In 1870, and the reward which Kaiser Wilhelm holds out to the brtv-

est of his soldiers in the present conflict, would be manufactured in Syracuse? The story got out when several professional and business men in Syracuse, known to be warm friends of E. C. Stearns, boasted that they had on their desks the famous iron cross. Reluctantly, after demanding pledges of absolute secrecy, the possessors of the famous decorations whispered that Mr. Stearns had given

them the decorations —fresh from his foundry. The manufacturer of iron crosses sat in his office when the newspaper man was ushered in. "la it true, Mr. Stearns, that you are manufacturing iron crosses for the kaiser?" was the first question. "No, It is not true," he replied, with an almost imperceptible suggestion of reservation in his tone. "It’s simply a joke, then, this story about your having given them to your friends?” “Well,” Mr. Stearns replied, "it’s not a joke. I said I was not making them for the kaiser." “Then you are making them?” “Thousands and thousands of them." "Where are they being shipped, do you mind telling?" was the next ques tion. "Why, we’re shipping them to Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and other cities where there are large German colonies," Mr. Stearns replied. Then he killed the "story” with a minimum of pain. "From the correspondence we’ve had," he added, “I believe they go to German societies, and they distribute them among their members fox: paperweights and the like." The Stearns iron cross is just twice as large as the kaiser’s iron cross, but otherwise it is an exact duplicate, even to the cryptic markings on the reverse side. ,