Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1916 — Page 3

FRENCH GUNNERS FIGHT UNTIL THEIR LAST SHOT. THEN BLOW UP PIECES

Save Last Shell to Disable Their Gun When Germans Are Upon Them and Delay Means Death or Capture—One Hero Stays With His “90” for Forty-Eight Hours and Then . Loses His Life.

Pari*.—How the French field artillery, and in particular the batteries of the famous “75’5.” were handled during the opening phases of the Verdun battle is detailed in a letter to the Figaro. The letter, written by an officer of field artillery who was in the thick of the fighting, tells in simple style of the superhuman efforts made by the French gunners to stem the tide of the German advance while they were themselves under the fire of heavy artillery. “On the twenty-first,” he writes, “the Germans commenced their preparations for (he attack, with a fury that let us know something serious was on foot. “Our group (a group of 75’s is composed of three batteries of four guns each) was in position to the southeast of the Haumont woods. One battery was split up as flanking pieces in three positions —one with two guns to the east of Haumont woods, one to the south and the third to the north of Samogneux, with one gun each. The other two batteries were to the south of hill No. 312. We were supported by a battery of six 90 mm. guns. "Naturally we responded at once to the German attack with a barrier fire to stop, so far as possible, the enemy infantry from making its way to our lines. The two guns at the east of the Haumont Woods were pushed into position in the Caures ravine and opened fire at 700 meters.

“But the Germans, despite the sacrifice of great numbers of their men, began to arrive in hordes. They appeared through the Caures Woods along the crests running between the Haumont and Caures woods and established themselves there. The two guns here reduced their range and with sweeping fire cut down entire ranks, but new waves appeared to take the places of the fallen men in. front of the blazing guns. Still the gunners kept at their work until Just as their ammunition was failing the enemy infantry appeared through the Haumont Woods almost in their rear. The gunners then blew up their guns and retreated, taking their wounded with them. Thirteen Men Fall. “A battery of 90 mm. guns established upon the Haumont crest, although enveloped by an infernal fire, kept quietly about its business. Shells of 305 mm. caliber were falling all about it. In less than a minute thirteen of the servants fell and its fire began to slacken. Then appeared a first sergeant of a 58 mm. battery, Pierrard, of the —th Field artillery, who reported to the commandant of our group: “ ‘Mon commandant,’, he said, simply, ‘my battery no longer exists; give me something else to do.’ «‘Very good,’ was the answer, ‘report to that battery, of 90’s.’ “Pierrard rallied the remaining men of his battery, they reported to the 90’s and in a moment the battery reopened its fire with terrific vigor. For forty-eight hours Pierrard stuck to the 90’s, taking charge as the commissioned officers were killed or wounded. He kept in close touch with the commandant and for a time was able to receive from the combat trains extra supplies of ammunition for his duel — for it was a real duel he was waging—against the ‘Boches.’ But it was at last impossible to send more ammunition to him.

“ ‘Fire every shot you have,’ he was told; then blow up your guns and retlrp.’ “The Germans redoubled their efforts to take this battery that barred their way. Again and again they came surging to the crest. At last they got so close that Plerrard and his men opened fire with their carbines and drove them hack. Then they returned to their guns and reopened fire. - But their situation was untenable. , With their last shots they destroyed the guns by firing them after disabling the recoil mechanism. Then the brave fellows came back. But, alas, in their retreat, Pierrard, the bravest of the brave, was probably killed. When they arrived in safoty he was not with them, and has not been seen since. He was not the only one to die valiantly for his country.

Hall of “305” Bhells. “Here is another proof, of the tranquil audacity of our gunners. One battery was under a.terrific fire of heavy projectiles. A 805 shell burst in its midst, killing the captain, the first sergeant, a chief of section and five cannoneers. Did the others blench? Not they; they only tore off their blouses, and, working in their shirt eleeves, redoubled their efforts to intensify their fire and avenge their chiefs and their comrades. “During the day of the B2d we received an incalculable number of 305 shells on the Mormont farm and its vicinity- Our situation was all the more difficult because of the difficulty we experienced in getting more ammunition. Hardly one caisson in three of ammunition reached its destination. The road from Ville to Vacherauville was swept by a hellish fire. • -The gun established at Samegnwu

under a bombardment of all calibers kept up its work of destruction witnout cessation, except when, on four occasions, the servants had to cease fire and wash the bore it. Finally, pressed by the enemy, they pulled out the clavettes (keys that bolt the piece to the top carriage and whose withdrawal disables it) and retreated. “Chagrined at being unable to take their guns with them, the men of the section came back in the night to pull it out by hand. They were driven back and the chief of piece wounded. Once more they returned to the charge, this time carrying bombs to blow it up. They got there only to find it already destroyed; a 210 shell had struck it. Courage and Devotion. “The same scenes occurred on the 23d. Our men rivaled themselves in courage and devotion. In the evening, after reciprocal bombardments of awful violence, our batteries were ordered to Cote du Poivre (Pepper Hill), where they arrived, miraculously, without accident. The next day, the 24th, was a great day! What a massacre of Boches! This was when the French and German troops were fighting for Hill No. 344. “We played our fire on the German masses. Their infantry advanced and receded time and time again, and each time our shrapnel played on them, as we lengthened and shortened the range to follow their movements. How many victims did we make?. I do not know. All that I can affirm is that we left them there on the hillsides in heaps without number. “One regiment, moving from the shelter of the Haumont woods, and another from Samogneux, near les Cotelettes, found itself directly in our line of fire and was literally

DR. MARY WALKER

Her quaint figure in a Prince Albert or a cutaway coat and in men’s trousers has for many years been one of the sights of Washington. She expects to be stared at as she makes her way serenely through congressional corridors or about the street She is a suffragist, of course, and Is perfectly at home after she has laid her silk tile on a congressman’s desk and has begun to argue the cause. A special act of congress gave her permission to wear trousers.

SONS OF THE KING OF BULGARIA

This pictiire shows the sons of the king of Bulgaria in the service uniform! of the army, taken Just before they left for the front. They am Crown Prince Boris and Prince CyriL ,

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

out to pieces. I assure you that those of ours whom we left behind were amply avenged. “All that we wish for are similar occasions when we are advancing. Our field artillery at Verdun haw shown that it has kept up its reputation; it will speak as it should when still more decisive hours sound.”

USE SWISS SCHOOL SYSTEM

Mrs. Heinrich Arnold will instaJl the Swiss school system at the new colony In Lower California. This system of public education, admittedly one of the best In the world, will be adopted for the settlers who are soon to arrive In Lower California under the auspices of the Swiss Colonization society.

COLLIE HALTS A MAD BULL

Effort of a Dog Saves the Lives of Two Men on Farm in Illinois. St. Louis. —Fannie, a Scotch collie, saved the life of John C. Shafer, a farmer and the dog’s owner, and John Shafer, father of the dog’s owner, on two different occasions last week, when the men were attacked by an infuriated bull, according to a story told in Marine, 111. When the father went to the barn to feed, the bull attacked him. In trying to get away he fell several times and was bruised. His granddaughter, Nellie Shafer, - arrived home from school at that time, and she sent the collie into the lot. The dog halted the bull and permitted the old man to escape. The next morning, when the son we'nt to the barn to feed, the bull attacked him. His cries attracted Mrs. Shafer, who went to the lot in her night clothes, taking the dog with her, for the second rescue.

SOLDIERS TO DO FARM WORK

Canadian Government Will Give Militiamen Leave of Absence for - One Month. Winnipeg. —The serious problem of western Canada to find help to put in the crop has been practically solved by an official order from the militia department allowing every non-commis-sioned officer and man on active service in Canada leave of absence not exceeding one month, to go out on the farms. The soldiers will receive full pay and allowances as usual, and in addition what they earn from the farmers. The government will provide free transportation for the round trip from camp to farm not exceeding a distance of 300 miles.

BRIDGE GIRDER OF UNUSUAL LENGTH

Four Flat Cars Required to Carry Big Girder.

REQUIRED FOUR CARS BIG GIRDER MADE SERIOUB DEMAND ON RAILROAD. Resources of the Rolling Stock of Great Line Taxed to Transport Mass of Steel From the Foundry to City. A steel girder of such length t6at it was necessary to use four steel flat cars in shipping it was recently sent from the shops at Steelton, Pa., to Chicago, where it is to be used in a railroad bridge spanning a railroad and a street. This girder is 131 feet 9 inches long and 10 feet 6 inches high, and weighs 98 tons. The angles placod in the comers at the junction of the web and flanges form one of the unusual features of the girder. The legs of these angles are 8 inches wide and 1% inches thick, and each is made of one piece running the full length of the girder. They are said to be the longest angles of this size ever rolled. Particular attention was given in the shop to seeing that the girder was built with the right end forward so that it could be loaded, shipped and used in the bridge without confusion.—Popular Mechanics magazine. HZ

BIRDS CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS

Many Mishaps on Railroads Have Been Traced to the Actions of the Feathered Tribe. Some peculiar difficulties on railroads rfr’e caused by birds, says London Tit-Bits. A fireman on the engine of a passenger train from Cardiff to Fishguard, after passing Peterstone station, while looking out through the engine spectacle glass for signals, was injured by an owl which flew against the glass and broke it, causing a piece of glass to enter the fireman’s eye. The train was quickly stopped, medical attendance secured and later the man was removed to the hospital. The injury, however, was so serious that the unfortunate victim of this singular -occurrence iae lost the sight of one eye and the sight of the other is jeopardized. A short delay from a most exceptional cause occurred on one occasion to the 10:20 a. m. passenger train from Paddington to Worcester. When the train was near Pangbourne a rook flew against the front of the engine, striking the pipe of the vacuum brake and causibg the pipe to become detached from the plug. This admitted air to the brake pipes, causing the brakes to be applied, thus stopping the train. At Cardiff station the 4:45 a. m. express, Paddington to Carmarthen, was one day delayed owing to a swarm of bees on the platform hampering the railwaymen’s operations.

Change Rail Gauge in Poland.

The Russian railroads in Poland, for strategical reasons, were built on a broad gauge. The Germans have standardized this gauge, but this change has rendered useless all of the Russian rolling stock which was left behind. All freight cars, therefore, had to be supplied from Germany, and a very great shortage is the result. It Is interesting to note that in standardizing the railroads the Germans have cut the ends of the railroad ties even with the edge of the tracks, thus making it impossible in the event of a Russian reoccupation of this country, to again broaden the gauge without laying down an entirely new set of ties.—W. H. Hamilton, in Harper’s Weekly.

Soldier With Many Wounds.

Thus far maimed French soldiers have been ablo to resume their occupations with far greater success than had been anticipated. One instance of the adaptability of these mutilated men is the case of Private Schuler, who suffered 52 wounds and who had his right arm amputated. He has resumed clerical work and in three months’ time has learned to write a fine cop-per-plate page with his left hand. Minister of Labor Metin has instructed (the official employment agencies not only to accept and act immediately upon all maimed soldiers’ applications for employment, but to provoke applications from such men by all proper means of publicity.

Costly Airships.

Airships are an enormous Item of expense in the accounts of an army. Zeppelins, for example, cost 8500,000 to build. Their construction takes a year, yet they can be totally wrecked by a high wind in half an hour. To fill a Zeppelin with gas costs 13,000 every time a full head of hydrogen is pumped into tbe 600-foot envelope of the airship. The great motors of the vessel drink up petrol at the rate of 30 gallons an hour. Moreover, these delicate machines require a 3110,000 shed to house them if they are to be safely anchored away from the presence of boisterous weather.

MUST BE KEPT IN MOTION

Railroad Cars Were Never Intended for Storage Houses or for Inaction. • — Railroad cars were not intended tot storage houses, the Philadelphia Ledger observes. They should not be used for that purpose. Because here and there some shipper is willing to go on paying his demurrage charges rather than go to the expense of unloading his cars he should not have the power to do so. Freight cars were built to haul commodities and not for vehicles in which to store commod ities at some terminal point for the convenience of shipper, railroad oi consignee, A railroad Is of use only when it can transport people and freight. Therefore, any system which will permit the deliberate blockading of tracks, junction points, docks and terminals ought to be put under legal ban. The interstate commerce commission should be endowed with a few extra powers. One would be to compel shippers to unload their cars after a certain time, irrespective of demurrage, because demurrage does not compensate either the railroad or the wider public when traffic is suspended by embargoes. A second power should pertain to the railroads and enable the interstate commerce commission to make them keep their cars in motion. The present situation is an absurdity. On the one hand, speculators and shippers can, by tho payment of demurrages, delay indefinitely the unloading of cars at terminal points. On the other hand, the railroads can then declare an embargo against all other shippers to that point. Put in a nutshell, the interstate commerce commission should enforce the rule that railroad equipment cannot be used for storage purposes.

Peat Fine for Locomotives.

In Sweden experiments in the use of peat powder on locomotives of the state railways have demonstrated that as heavy trains can be pulled and as good speed be made where this fuel is employed as where anthracite is used, according to official statement. The statement declares that the powder can technically, as well as economically, take the place of anthracite as fuel for locomotives, the railway directors have decided to undertake the development of this class of fuel by two different methods for purposes of comparison. Two experts have been requested to give complete estimates of the cost of preparing a certain bog for the manufacture of peat powder, together with estimates of running expenses, by the respective methods. The bog selected is said to be that at Hasthagen, about one and a half miles from the station at Vislanda, with an area of about 500 acres.

Tribute to Italian Workers.

Italians have made such remarkable progress in railroad work because they are willing to begin at the bottom. They are not afraid of hard work and d<vnot start in with the misconception that they “know It all.” They are naturally industrious and temperate in their habits and are sustained by a cheerful philosophy of life which might well be emulated in the country of their adoption. They are intensely domestic and love of home and children is their ruling passion. Such men make good railroad men because they place a high value on human life and are faithful and loyal. Men who are loyal to their families are loyal to their country. And these Italian railroad men have shown their loyalty to the Stars and Stripes by becoming citizens of the United States.— Exchange.

She Runs a Logging Camp.

Logging is the vocation of Mrs. Bessie Piatte of Coos Bay, Ore. Gloved and aproned, she is on the job from early morning till late at night, for she has found that when she wants a thing done well she can do it herself. She hires her own men and she “fires" them herself. There is no camp that gets out more logs per man at Coos Bay than that of Mrs. Piatte. When Mrs. Piatte went to Coos Bay in 1915 she was cooking for a camp. Later this camp closed down. It opened again under new management with a new crew and took Mrs. Piatte as cook. After four months the camp failed. With the example of these two failures Mrs. Piatte took the camp and ran it herself. She had. profited by the mistakes she had seen the men make and so .her logging was a success. ---

Will From Battle Field Valid.

—The widow of a soldier asked advice of Mr. Fordham at West London about her husband’s will, bequeathing insurance to his mother; • " v After glancing at the documents Mr. Fordham said that in ordinary circumstances it would not hold good 4 because it was not dated or witnessed. But a will scribbled on the field; of battle on the back of an envelope or scrap of paper was valid." —Lon don Chronicle.

THAT SPECIAL MENU

PREPARATIONS FOR THE UNEXPECTED GUEBTB. Always an Easy Matter for ths Competent Housewife to Bet a Satisfactory Meal Before Her Casual Visitors. Now, regarding unexpected guests. Could you not plan to have sufficient food so that yonr guests could have the same as the family If any dropped in at mealtime? Then it Would not make so much extra work. I imagine it is because you are a good cook that people drop in, but if they really come to see you, they will not want you to make any extra trouble for them, and if they come Just for the good food you serve I should not encourage the habit. I have very few unexpected guests, but when they come they must take “pot luck.” It is well to have canned goods in the house for such emergencies, such as salmon, shrimp, tuna fish, fish flakes, meats, chicken, vegetables and relishes and preserves. Cake or cookies and canned peaches or pears are an easy dessert, and if you have sponge or any light cake, lay the peaches on a slice in the serving dishes and cover all with whipped cream. Salmon In butter gravy, canned peas, hashed potato with red pepper and apple pie pudding is an easy dinner, or creamed fish flakes, mashed potato, canned beets, steamed cup cakes with hot lemon or brandy sauce.

Another is delicate ham, canned string beans, baked potato, German tapioca pudding, or ham and eggs, mashed potato, canned corn, hot chocolate, cornstarch pudding with cream. As you live In the country, perhaps It is not always convenient to have fresh meat on hand, but you could buy half a ham and hang it in a cool place, and slice as needed, then boil the piece left when the best is sliced off. For suppers, have escalloped tuna fish, shrimp wiggle, creamed chipped beef or cheese cream on toast, egg cream toast, goldenrod toast, cheese and potato puff. Any of these with bread or hot biscuit, canned sauce, cake, cookies and tea would be good suppers. Bake your one-egg cake In cupcake tins, one tablespoonful to a tin, and keep on hand for desserts. Place them In covered tin In the oven, Just long enough to warm through, and serve with egg or liquid sauce. About breakfasts I do not think I have any new ideas, as I am obliged to have breakfast early every day, Sunday included, so get something easy. I always have cereal* usually rolled oats, then eggs, boiled, scrambled, fried with bacon, poached, scrambled with chopped ham, minced beef or lamb on toast, hash, fish, warmedover soup, and with dry toast or warmed-over muffins or brown bread and doughnuts or cookies or dropcakes and coffee, we are satisfied. Once a week I have griddle cakes with sirup, but it takes longer to cook them than anything else I serve. — Boston Globe.

To Wash Willow Furniture.

To clean willow furniture, provide yourself with a coarse brush dipped in strong salt and water, scrub each piece well, then dry with a soft brush. Salt cleans willow and also keeps it from turning yellow. If it is desired to keep the natural light color of the willow, apply a coat of linseed oil. By this treatment the willow strands of which the piece is woven will lose their dry brittleness and become softer and more pliable, bending under a blow instead of breaking. This treatment has another good effect besides making the chair last longer—it makes it less noisy. A coat of oil allows the strands to slip more smoothly and easily, and therefore more quietly upon each other.

Brawn.

Do you ever make “brawn?” I buy a meaty shank, four or five pounds, boil until quite well done, remove from liquid, put lean meat through meat chopper, add salt, pepper and sage to taste, moisten with beef liquor. Press down hard in dish. Have dish small enough so it will be filled about full. Place a plate over it, weighed down with an iron. Let it stand overnight in a cool place. Slice when cold. Very nice and economical. This with a nice vegetable or tomato soup made of remainder of liquor makes a nice dinner. —Boston Globe.

Savory Bread.

Slightly moisten some neatly trimmed slices of stale bread with herb flavored and well seasoned milk enriched if desired with a beaten egg. Fry either as they are or else dipped in batter, or, again, brushed over with white of egg and rolled in flour, to a bright golden brown in hot dripping or bacon fat, and serve in a pyramid, bordered with fried onions, or en couronne round a central mound of green or other vegetables. *,

Cheese Omelet.

Dessertspoonful grated cheese, one. egg, little pepper and salt, one-quarter ounce butter; put butter in frying pan, beat the egg, add pepper, salt and cheese. Put in the pan and stir round. Cook to a light brown, not solid through, and you have a flne cheese omelet. ~

Bismarck Oysters.

A layer of hot sauerkraut on a hot plate, several fried oysters next and. on top three slices of crisply tried b» coo.