Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 223, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1917 — Page 3

As related by Ambassador Elkus, the .American representative at Constantinople, to a newspaper

By HENRY N. HALL,

in the New York World.

BRAM I. ELKUS, ambassador exjfl traordlnary and minister plenlpoA/B tentiary of the United States to the IMf ■ Sublime Porte, "is the only man in /Gleaafl this country today who by firsthand knowledge can tell of things as they are in the land of the Turk. ZkMrA Stricken with the dreaded typhus, he lay at the~pulnt of when, obeying the mandate of Germany, ~ ‘ 1 the imperial Ottoman government broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. Mr. Elkus’ personality had so impressed the Turks that the sultan’s government insisted upon his remaining in Constantinople until his health was thoroughly restored and he could, without dahger of a relapse, undertake the long and arduous journey to America. Mr. Elkus continued the excellent impression created by his predecessor, the Hon. Henry Morgenthau, and by his efficiency and kindness had done more than make himself popular in Turkey; 2 ie has made the United States popular. "Without any diplomatic training, the plain American lawyer who until then had been distinguished only by his philanthropy made an excellent record tn an extremely difficult diplomatic post, and' while engaged upon an errand of mercy, visiting a Red Cross soup kitchen, contracted the infection which s* nearly cost him< his life. Armenia was uppermost in my thoughts as I talked with Ambassador Elkus. Peaceful, industrious, intelligent Armenia, an Intellectual people, clever in practical affairs and of lofty Idealism. When Turkey entered the war there were two million Armenians, but the atrocities of 1915 and 1916 very greatly reduced their number. Systematic butchery and wholesale slaughter of these people by the Turks makes this one of the most terrible crimes in the history of mankind. Why has Germany Allowed these things to- be done? The atrocities committed by the Turks in Armenia are perhaps no worse than those of which the Germans themselves have been guilty in Belgium and France, byt there is something peculiarly horrible In the cold-blooded extermination of a brave and cultured people. What Interest had Germany in allowing this thing to be done? The only explanation that can be offered is that Germany wanted the Armenians exterminated because it suited the purposes of her commercial greed. i The Armenians are the taiffiers, the molders, the .blacksmiths, the tailors, the carpenters, the clay-workers, th'e weavers, the shoemakers, the jewelers, the pharmacists, the doctors, the lawyers of Asia Minor and of the Turkish empiie. They are at heart a conservative people and for hundreds of years their trade has been done with France and England. They do not take kindly to German goods. Therefore Germany closed her eyes while Turkey was exterminating them.' The presence of the Armenian was a menace, or at least threatened to retard the Pan-Gferman development of Mittel-Europa. Sympathy for the United States. There is throughout the Levant and the Balkans a real and deep-rooted sympathy for the United 1 * States. The lending Bulgarian statesmen are graduates of American schools and colleges; The Turkish government has taken a graduate of the American -College for Girls In Constantinople and placed he? in charge of the Organization of Turkish schools in Syria. It Is especially among the middle and the lower classes that the United States is genuinely popular. Emigrants who have returned, tourists who have traveled, all agree that America stands for democratic principles—that is, .for liberty and equality of opportunity for all, rich and poor alike, without class distinctions. The present grand vizier of Turkey started in life as a telegraph messenger boy in Adrianople. Turkey broke off diplomatic relations with the United States two weeks after the declaration of war with Germany. The. exact date was April 20. Ambassador Elkus was Informed by a prominent member of the Turkish government that the pressure exerted by Germany upon the Sublime Porte to break off relations with America was dally growing stronger. It is significant that the note announcing the rupture of relations was dated Friday, which is the Turkish Sabbath. Yet on the day when all.public offices are closed, the Turkish cabinet held a meeting and the note was drafted, signed and dispatched. To everyone In Constantinople this denoted that the utmost pressure had been brought to bear upon the sultan’s government by his Teutonic ally. When the war broke out there was only $4,000,000 worth of paper money in Turkey. Everything was paid for in hard cash, and gold and silver were the currency almost exclusively used in the daily transactions of the people. Everything was on cash basis. There is in Turkey today—after 33 months of war—more than $350,000,000 of paper money, the authorized emissions having reached a total of nearly 90,000.000 pounds.

What's Been Happening In Turkey

The poor in Turkey find it hard to keep themselves alive. The only reason many of them do manage to live in the cities is because the government allows each inhabitant half a pound of bread a day, for which the rqgipient has to pay two cents. Somehow or other they all manage to get their 'two cents a day. Then there are soup kitchens run by the American Red Cross, the Turkish Red Crescent, the Jewish Charities commission, the Greek-Patriarch, and other societies. Some soup kitchens give food free; others sell at cost price. There are now no Mogs in the streets of Constantlnople. Time was when they acted as scavengers, but now there is no surplus left around to eat. The people save their last crust. There are no bones. The dogs were not shot or used for military service, they were sent off to a semidesert island in the sea of Marmora and have undisputed sway of its barren shores. The government makes free distribution of beans, cheese and olives to the families of soldiers, but this support is doled out In driblets. Destitute families among the civilian population nisn get supplies free from some of the charitable organizations, but before the war yne never heard of men and women dropping dead from starvation in the streets. Even now it is comparatively rare, but deaths from malnutrition and lack of resistance to even mild diseases are not uncommon. People weakened by lack of food fall easy prey to ailments which in normal times would not be serious. The aspect of Constantinople has changed considerably since the outbreak of the war. Curiously enough, it has Immensely improved, and from a cause which is entirely unrelated to war or political conditions. It happened that during the first year of the war an unusually capable and honest man was mayor of Constantinople— Djemif Pasha, the foremost surgeon in Turkey. He went to work on the city as if it had been a diseased human being and performed surgery on’ the streets. He cut out and removed unhealthy slums and widened and relaid streets ; he paved streets and cleaned streets and made parks and open breathing places. He got the telephone system completed and the street car system electrified. In 1915 he resigned because of trouble with the government and went to Switzerland, where he had been educated. Later he made his peace with the powers that be and is now’ back in Constantinople. Germany Dominates Turkey. feow far Germany seeks to dominate Turkey, not only in military but also in civil matters, may best be shown by the fact that Berlin insisted, as part of the recent treaty with the Sublime Porte, upon the reorganization of the court system and the abolition of the religious tribunals. This means a profound, modification of the Mohammedan political and civic system along German lines. The U. S. S. Scorpion is Interned in Constantinople for the duration of the war. There are only three officers rind sixty men on board. Perihlssion for shore leave under proper restrictions is not denied by the Turkish authorities. The wonder of wonclfers In Constantinople Is that women are beginning to be seen. Woman’s first step toward emancipation through work in Turkey was brought about by an American Invention —the telephone. “Hello girls” w’ere first employed. Then the city got permission to use women as street sweepers—if they could sweep the houses, why couldn’t they sweep the streets? Then the post office went short of men and a few women were used as letter, sorters. There are also Turkish women employed as hospital nurses and in the soup kitchen. Although Turkey is virtually dominated by Germany in military matters, the Turks do not love the Germans. In the estimation of the gentle Turk, the German lacks tact and delicacy. Teutonic ability, energy. Initiative and capacity are admired and genuinely respected, but the Turk and the German do not mix any more than oil and water. Yet Germans are everywhere in Turkey, and are almost falling over themselves in Constantinople. There are German officers, German military experts, German civil advisers, German educators —for Germany is paying particular attention to the education of the rising generation of young Turks. Even the Germans put in a military officer as adviser to the Turkish police headquarters. The Turks somewhat resented that. —_ = . The Turkish police system is about the best organized thing they have In Turkey. Here the Oriental love of intrigue can give Itself full play, and as for astuteness and “finesse,” the Turkish secret service .is not to be beat. It has more weird* and curious devices, more strange and secret methods than the mathematical mind of German efficiency eyer dreamed of. Tfie legal limit for Mohammedans is four wives. As a matter of fact, most of them get along with one. There are, of course, some old-fashioned reactionaries who insist upon their legal matrimonial complement and a few poor men who want a servant and cannot afford one. These marry

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

structures that go by that delusive name, but one rarely sees anything even approaching a decent show. The moving picture houses are legion, and when the staff of the American embassy left Constantinople they were showing, in weekly installments, a wonder film called “Mysteries of New York,” which is jsaid to have cost a million dollars. Every title and “cut-in” bore the added remark. “Captured in Roumania.” French films, however, are rarely seen, sometimes a few TtaTranonrs.but usually the “Mester” films “made in Germany” are shown. There is, of course, a weekly war film, but invariably the Austrian war films are more popular than the German. Nothing but' victories lire ever shown. Constantinople has had little to fear from air raids, apd the streets have remained brightly lighted at night. One unexpected effect of the war has been the rapid spread of the installation of electric light'to all classes of buildings, despite the exorbitant cost of wiring and of electric light fixtures. The reason is that petroleum oil, formerly used for lllnminating,~Tiowcosts $5 gold a gallon, and the high-proof gasoline cannot be had for love or money. All the fuel for automobiles is under military control,

WHERE SOME NICKNAMES GIVEN WORLD’S FIGHTING MEN HAD ORIGIN

Will it be “Sammies?” Probably not. The history of slang shows that nicknames of soldiers (or anything else) come from the soldiers themselves, or very often from the en6my. It apparently has occurred to nobody who writes letters to the newspapers that the American soldier has gone through, several wars without any fixed slang name such as the English soldier’s Tommy Atkins. Most of the letters advocate the Sammy appendage. . Who started it nobody knows. Probably the idea of Sammy after Uncle Sam broke ' out in eruption in several quarters at the same time. Word from France says that the men of the Pershing expedition do not like the idea. Sammy or any word ending in the affectionate diminutive to the American mind is unmanly. That is not SP in England and British possessions, “Tommy Atkins” sprang, according to well-es-tablished reports, from a word written on a sam- ' pie form of application to the British army. It represented the British “John Doe.” And anyway Tommy applies only to the English soldier, usually a little fellow, and not to the big-boned colonials,Scotch' “Killies”*or Irish Dragoons or Fusiliers. With Sammy as a basis the letter writers next, decided on Samson as a fitting name—less effeminate. “The Sons of Sam —Uncle Sam” —fine and manly, they argued. But Samsons -didn’t stick either. Then many advocated “Yanks” from Yankees, the old Civil war nickname for the Union troops. That, of course, did not appeal to the Southerners. Somebody wrote in that Yanks wouldn’t do because Yankee'came from an Indian word which meant coward. That isn’t shown by Webster, who gives a dozen other theories about the origin of Yankee. Like all other slang words it comes from so far back that nobody’s memory would serve tn untangling the mystery. In the Civil war the Northerners were “Yankees” or “Yanks,” meaning properly in the States a New Englander, but a word applied abroad to all Americans.' The Southerners were “Rebs,” from rebels, or “Johnny Rebs.” It Is apparent 'that each got his name from the enemy. So in the Mexican war the only slang name the American soldiers had was "gringo,” also given to him by the enemy. “Gringo” means nothing in Spanish. The Australian and New Zealand soldiers of the British army have been dubbed “Anzac,” a combination of the initial letters of Australian and New Zealand army corps. The Scotch retain their name of “kilties,” of course, from the kilts they wear. The German soldiers are said to call them “the ladies of hell.” but that was too long a title to remain, although it probably pleased the “kilties.” There has been much discussion about “hoche,” the name for the German soldiers, and “pollu,” the French soldier. “Boche” is French slang, and its birth is -clothed in mystery almost always surrounding a slang word. It means a most despicable sort of person and is an insult. In that connection the American army already has its slang term for an infantryman. It is used commonly in the army, but generally unknown to the -civilian. The term is “doughboy.” Since “doughboy” long has been an American infSntryhiafi the United States army already has as explicit a slang term as the French army has In “pollu.” “Doughbqy” is in Webster as meaning an infantryman In the United States. ’ Probably “doughboy,” by reason of Its use and popularity in the American army, will become the general word for the American soldier before the war is over. “Gringo” also may become common usage, for . the American soldiers have seen so much service In and' near Spanish speaking countries that they often refer to themselves in fun as “gringos.”—New York Herald

a second wife, who becomes the household drudge for her keep oply. But polygamy la Turkey Is fast disappearing in the best classes, asthe educated Turkish woman of today will- not marry a man who already has one or more wives, nor will she consent to share her husband afterward. Of course Turks still refer to their harem, but when they do so they randy if ever mean what the American understands by the word. Harem means womanfolk, and a Turk speaking of his harem Inclndes his mother and sisters and his cousins and his aunts as well as his wife or wives. The part of the house set aside for their use is called the harem, and far from being furnished with Oriental luxuriance, as most people imagine, it not infrequently contains Grand Rapids furniture, uncomfortable chairs, pianos, phonographs and the other appurtenances of an average American fiat. There are a number of theaters in Constantinople, or

Battles Which Made the World

VALMY Which Battles for Freedom Today.

On September 20, 1792. France first assumed the title of a republic. On the same day her raw Carmagnole levies fought and won the battle of Valmy, a battle which proved to the doubter*— of whom France herself was one —that the republican spirit possessed mettle; that France could not only declare herself a republic, but could defend and maintain herself as a republic. Valmy, declares Creasy, set the kings of Europe trembling after 18 centuries of security. Valmy, wrote Goethe, who watched the battle, “commences a new era in the world’s history.” Valmy decreed there should be that republican France which fights the battle ol freedom today. Valmy was fought in the same region which has seen some of the bloodiest encotjiters of the presen. war. It took placa in the marshy country of the Aisne and the Aube, with the forest of Argonne, then much heavier and greater In extent than It is now, as a prominent strategic feature. Its victor was Kellerman, father of the Kellerman whose brilliant cavalry charge afterward decided the battle of Marengo. Under Napoleon the elder Kellerman assumed the title of duke of Valmy. When he died he desired that his heart should be buried upon the battlefield where he had won his fame. The army which came against the crude French republican volunteers Included not only 60.000 Prussians and 45.000 Austrians, but no less than 15,000 French emigres of the old royalist days, most of them of noble birth, all of them skilled In arms and representing the flower of the commissioned personnel of the old and formidable French army. In chief command was the duke of Brunswick, second only in military skill to the Great Frederick, as whose lieutenant he had served. Heading the emigres was Conde. Against these Dumouriez, the sixty-year-old veteran who. held the chief French command, could oppose only a total of some 50.000 men badly/organized and disciplined, for the most part worse officered and shockingly lacking In equipment and supplies. Eight battalions were so mutinous that Dumouriez, under pretense of reviewing them, posted them with a strong force of cavalry in their rear and cannon on their flanks, after which he informed them that they were not worthy to be called either soldiers or citizens. They would do well, he further informed them, -to do their duty, or the cavalry and the guns would do duty to them. The invaders advanced in what they believed would be only a march of Joy and triumph to Paris In three columns. In the earlier engagements the French fled like sheep. On one occasion they fled without firing a shot. On another a division of 10,000 scurried back before the scattering fire of a few Austrian skirmishers. Tp make matters worse, French underestimate of the enemy’s sagacity left weakly defended an important pass which an Austrian corps, under Clari’fayt, promptly forced after some sharp fighting. /--- Misfortune and the necessity of covering an - extended front rather than faulty generalship caused the separation of Dumouriez and Kellerman who was trying to Join him by a wheeling movement from Metz and gave opportunity for the invading force to attempt the overwhelming of the latter as he stood isolated on the plateau of Valmy, at a dangerous interval from his chief. The young king of Prussia, who was with Brunswick’s forces, joined with the emigre French princes in urging an immediate attack. Accordingly the right wing of the invading army moved forward early in the morning to turn Kellerman’s left flank and cut him off from retreat to Chalons. Dumouriez, an alert and spry citizen in spite of his years, ordered up troops to support Kellerman, but these troops were slow in starting; The same sort of fog which embarrassed the opposing forces of the present war when they clashed—on the same ground hung over the battlefield. It was ten o’clock when the tatterdemalion French army perceived emerging from the white mists the countless Prussian cavalry and the bristling columns of infantry now close upon them. The French, remembering the running they had found it advisable to do in the preliminary skirmishing, were nervous, and showed it. However, Kellerman and the youthful Due de Chartres, a youngster of twenty who served as a general under him, steadied their men so successfully that they endured splendidly the pounding of the Prussian artillery which opened on them from La Lune. The French guns replied with spirit, after which Kellerman, believing the enemy fire slackening, headed a charge. This was nearly the undoing of the French for the charge landed itself fairly under the pieces of a masked battery which Opened with such terrific effect that the French broke in wild disorder, while Kellerman himself went down with his horse shot under him. - His men carried him off. ' “ “ Immediately -the Prussian col-

By CAPT. ROLAND P. ANDREWS

(Copyright, IOTT. by MoClnre Wowpaper Syndicate)

umns began an advance, so fvmffldHu in its appearance that the French cannoneers wavered at their guns. It wan then that Kellerman, recovering possession of his faculties, reorganized his Infantry, refused to mount a horse, placed himself on foot at the-head of his line, raised his chapeau high Ob the point of his sword, and calling upon his men to use the bayonet* raised the cry of: —"Vive te nation !*• s 7 ~' The troops caught the spirit So great was the clamor they raised, and so resolute their appearance that the Prussians, hesitating at a charge up hill against so formidable a foe, halted in the valley and then slowly retreated. The young king of Prussia was beside himself with rage. Berating his soldiers with bitterness he formed the flower of his regiments' In person and headed them for the French line. The French artillery was again firing with spirit and by now the reenforcements sent by Dumouriez were beginning to come Into play. The Prussian king’s staff was mowed down by his side, but still the boyish monarch, his sword waving above his head, besought his men to go forward. For a time the issue hung in the balance, the French artillerists working like fiends while the infantry, now afire with enthusiasm, held nobly to the task and the veteran Prussian corps vainly endeavored to close the great ing In their ranks. At test they falthelr king back in the flood of disaster. Night descended with the French master of Valmy. Brunswick lingered some time after in the Argonne, but disease and lack of confidence thinned his ranks. France, on the contrary, felt a giant’s strength, and like a giant did she use it. Never again was the decision in doubt. The French republic was insured.

WIFE IS MADE HIS RECEIVER

Plan Adopted by a Man Who Found That He Could Not Get Along on His Salary. There was a story In the American Magazine in which a man who hasn’t been able to get along on his salary installed his wife as temporary receiver. It worked wonders with him. Here.is part of the story: “ ‘What you want,’ said Tudd, smiling, ‘is to go into the hands of a receiver—a temporary receiver— like your firm did. You said they did, didn't you? How they coming out? “ ‘Fine!’ said Brett ■ “ ‘That’s good. And that’s what yon need —to go into the hands of a temporary receiver. You ain’t a bad business, but you’ve got yourself all balled up. You ought to go to somebody and say: “Here! I’ve got my affairs ail balled up and I can’t seem to pull out and get my debts paid and everything cleaned up, and it is worrying me to death, and if somebody don’t do something I’m going to have a nerve smash and go plumb bankrupt Here, you take me over and see what you ca* do.’" . “Brett drew a deep breath and looked at Tudd questlonlngly. Tudd was a success and a kindly man. If Tudd would — “‘And the person to be your temporary receiver,’ said Tudd, ’is your wife, of course.’ **

What One Horsepower Will Do.

An astute French mathematician han found that in certain watches the motions exceed two hundred million * year in little equal jumps. In the same time the outside of the average balance travels seven thousand five hundred miles. Yet despite this astonishing distance traveled by the ordinary watch the amount of power consumed is trifling. One horsepower ta sufficient to run two hundred and seventy million watches. This is probebly all the watches that are In existence. But if there should be mord’t there would be enough power left in the one horsepower to run an additional thousand watches or so.—Pop®lar Science Monthly.

’Rah for the Sparrow!

A vefy intelligent lady has told on that but for the sparrows one of the finest residence streets in Boston a few years ago would have been overrun with spiders. These Insects became so great a pest that several , householders feared they would have To move. Suddenly it discovered the sparrows were aft« tjhe spider*. The end of the trouble csftne soon.— Our Dumb Animals. x/

An Off Year for Them.

“This has certainly been a terrible year for my garden.”' ' <->7 “What sort of a crop are you trying to raise.” “Sunflbwers.”

Unfortunate.

Bess—Poor Billy; all the .time hi was in the woods he sang “Sweet Adeline” so as not to be mistaken for a deer. Finally somebody shot him tec singing “Sweet Adeline."* , ; .. ,1 <4 1 ‘ -