Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1918 — OUR WAR WORK AMAZES BRITONS [ARTICLE]

OUR WAR WORK AMAZES BRITONS

Magnitude of Operations Under Way Gives Allies Renewed Energy. PRAISE FOR OUR SOLDIERS British Correspondents at the Front Give Glowing Accounts of the Proficiency of the American Soldiers. London. —The stupendousness of the American war program has staggered die people t of Great Britain. Realization of the fact that Uncle Sam is in Che war to fight it to a finish and Chat he has the men and money has given new energy’ and optimism to the people of England. While there was lever any doubt in their mind that the lilies could prevent a German victory, hey are pulling together now with I new vigor and determination, fully relieving that with the powerful help if America they and their French, Belgian and Italian allies can give Germany a crushing blow either this •ear or next. German treatment of Russia has si■enced the would-be pacifists. The element which has hoped for a termination of the war with a compromise peace has been transformed into a nost militant body now that the naked hand of the German* annexationists has been exposed. The cry »vefywhere in Great Britain is for a continuation of the war until the acceptance of the allied terms has been issured. Whether Uie country is war weary or not is a small matter now that German duplicity has again been •evealed by the action In Russia. Has Stiffened All Allies. That the United States has stiffened np all the allies is most obvious. The-lewest-df the anti-German nations has imazed the European world with its industry in war preparation. There s no longer talk that the States will be unable to do any -actual Sghting this year. Uncle Sam’s solliers have been in the fighting for several weeks, and correspondents straight from the front give the most riowing accounts of their proficiency is fighters. They learned quickly. They have leen eager from the start to test their nettle with the Huns, and in every clash where the forces have been'anything like equal the’ Yankees have completely routed the Germans. On several occasions young Americans from s ates west of the Mississippi -iver h ve been thrown up against the PrussiJ n shock troops. The Prussians were sent after the “Yanks,” as they ire called, to teach them fear of the Herman soldiery. , The Yankees showed no more respect for the Prussians than they showed-for the Mexicans on the border, and, it may be said, drove them to cover almost as readily. A French journalist who had an opportunity to see the Americans at close range says they will quickly de-, relop into the best fighters on the front. They have courage, alertness »nd skill, and, as the journalist said, they are “there to kill Germans till the war is ended.” As the Americans put it. "We have blood in our eye, and when we meet a Hun It’s either 1 dead Hun or a dead Yank.” Marks Turning Point of War. There is no knowledge here as to how many Americans are in the battle line, but from the fact that reports jf frequent skirmishes with them come from headquarters it is estimated that there is a considerable fighting force. The Germans have encountered them where they expected to find them and where they did not expect to find them. The entrance of the United States marked the turning point in the war. German prisoners captured recently, according to reports here, give hints that the Germans realize that they have reached their maximum and are now facing a steadily growing army. Persons in England —a great many of the Americans —who months ago said that the United States would do a great deal of talking and. little in actual achievement have changed their tune. The dispatches of recent date saying that the United States has appropriated more than a billion dollars for its aircraft program caused people here to “sit up and take notice.” The

subsequent news that Uncle Sam ,is building an ordnance base in France at a cost of $50,000,000, which will have in it 450 officers and 16,000 men, also caused wide.comment. It is being realized now that the United States has been taking giant strides and that in war, as in everything else she undertakes, she does business oq, a giant scale. Men with whom I have talked fairly gasp at the magnitude-of the preparations of the United States. They say that if the war fcntinues another year or two the United States will have an army almost as powerful as any of the allies and equipment and supplies enough for all. The marvelous feature of it all to the Britons is that the United States is doing it all in the face of the fact that it is 3,000 miles away from the scene of battle and that it is fighting for a principle and nothing else.