Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 301, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1918 — Page 3

YANKEES QUAIL AT PINK DECORATIONS

Women Hero Worshipers “Plumb Flabbergast” Our Doughboys in Paris. MIGHTY POOR MATINEE IDOLS But Can They Fight? Oh, *poy, You Can’t Stop Them—Ask the Major,' He Knows —Also About the Marines. By* RICHARD HENRY LITTLE, {Chicago Newspaper Man, Now in Y V M. C. A. Service on Atlantic.) y .;' New York, —American solfliers are grand fighters but very poor matinee idols. When women spring from their seats in the sidewalk cases in Paris and thrust flowers In their hands, they look as ashamed as a dog caught stealing eggs. The most awful suffering I saw in Pails was the case of a big husky from an Infantry outfit. A lady of great distinction had stopped her machine tn the middle of the street while the soldier was crossing, apd, leaning out, had enthusiastically tied a bright pink ribbon around his neck. Amidst much rejoicing from the assembled French spectators the lady went her way and the big soldier looked as If he was just about to choke to death, although it was a very thin ribbon and loosely tied. I saw him an hour later and he still wore the ribbon and had turned deathly pale and was evidently in terrible pain. The Captain’s Orders. “Listen,” said the infantry husky in a hoarse whisper, “the captain said we was to receive any compliments given Us by the French with a smile and show ’em we appreciated it and not hurt their feelings by ditching it, but if I have to wear this pink ribbon nround me neck for another hour I’ll go nuts and bite myself in the leg. For the love o* Mike do something.” I removed the ribbon from the suffering soldier’s neck and after a while he grew calm 1 and quite rational and he told me some stories of the front regarding the first assault of the Americans against Chateau Thierry. “They can’t hold us guys,’/he said, “when we git started we jest keep goln’. All anybody says 4jlll ’em, kill ’em, and Q boy, you\ ought to see our lads go to, it! \ “There at Chatty Teery the officers - were making an awful holler about the bpys running too fast and ducking right through the barrage and not paying attention to nothing except spearin’ Bodies, Our colonel came over before we started was much particular-like in pointingout>bunch of rocks where he wanted our battalion to halt. “The major said all right, that4ie would stop his foUr^.companies right on the line of them then we started. We got it right, in the

DISCUSSING THE BROWNING GUN

' Mr Browning, the Inventor of the machine gun named for him, and Mr. Burton, the Winchester expert on rifles, discussing the fine points of the Browning light gun.

AMAZE THE ITALIANS

Yankee Flyers Credited With Great Heroism. & Exploits Quickly Win Honors Given by King Victor Emmanuel Himself. Italian Army Headquarters.—The Italian commandant under whose direction the American flyers are working on the Italian front has only one fault to find with them. -They never want to remain on the ground. The exploits which brought five of the American airmen decorations cannot yet be published, but the value of their services may be judged from the that King Victor Emmanuel travSS to the action held by the Amerleans to make the presentation. A few days ago Lieut. Alexander C. Craig of New York, while flying over Austrian territory, was attacked by a

nose, from every Dutch gun in front of us, but the-boys jest yelled and laughed and away they went. Say, they didn’t pay no* ffiore attention to the major when we came to them rocks than if hie hadn’t been there at all. . ’ >**’" “I went back to give him a message from my captain and.he was standing by the rocks and up came the .colonel*and the colonel gave the major blinking hell for not stopping the battalion where he said, and the major was madder ’n a hornet, and he double damned the colonel right back again and he said: ‘How the crucified damnation could I stop them crazy, wild-eyed sonS of perdition? If that hog-faced crown prince and his whole damnety damn Dutch army couldn’t stop ’dm, what.the h—*— could Ido?”’ And,Those Marines.,, I asked him if the marines were good fighters “Good fighters?” the, said; “say, every time I see a marine I want to go up and give him a kjss. “If they ever get started. again they will never stop till they get to Berlin. Now,.you listen to me, I know. Say, do you know what I saw them marines do? “They had taken three trenches and was stopping in the third to fill their pockets with grenades and bombs before tackling the next trench that was chuck-full of Boches. The Dutch was using mustard gas and we was all wearing our masks. The grenades wuz passed around. “The marines filled their pockets and hung ’em on their belts and then they seemed to decide that they needed more for the job than what they had, so what did those crazy nuts do

SPOILING HUN’S SLEEP

Desultory Bombing Distracts Antiaircraft GunnersDrop Two and Flit Away; When Frits Settles Down, Wake Him \. Up Again. ) Behind the British Lines in France. —One of the most exciting tasks to which airmen are assigned is “desulS bombing” over one spot for an or more. The object is to distract the attention of the antiaircraft def given district. ■< . A machine carrying a dozen or more bombs is employed for the work. The jdrman, a pilot and an observer approach their target cautiously. With engines throttled down, the craft glides nearer and nearer. Below all is quiet. No German searchlights are sweeping the sky. When the attackers are almost over

chaser plane. By skillfully handling his own machine, after a few minutes of jockeying he put his adversary at a disadvantage and maneuvered his own gunner into such a position that a burst of machine gunfire shot the attacker dead and sent his plane to the ground In flames. Lieut. Harry L. Holtz of Burley, Idaho, showed he could combine great coolness in danger with a thorough understanding of Italian habits and customs. On his way back over the Austrian lines after a deep raid into enemy territory his plane Was struck by a burst of shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns. One fragment lodged in the body of Holtz’s' machine, another tore a hole in the right wing, while a third splintered one of the left-wing spars, at the same time cutting one of the aileron control cables to such an extent that a single strand of steel wire was left. Lieutenant Holts calmly pointed oat

THB EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER. IND.

FOOTBALL SIAR IN SERVICE

An adept at tackling, Howard Barry,' once a captain of football and now a lieutenant of war. Lieutenant Barry was last year’s captain of the University of Pennsylvania’s football team and is now a lieutenant at Camp Gordon, Ga.

but whip off their gas masks and fill ’em up with grenades and then, carrying their masks like they was (market baskets, up they jumped and down they comes on the Dutch in the next trench all spraddled out, and they bombed ’em till there wasn’t nothing but jest grease spots left. “Oh, you marines, boys, my hac is certainly off to you.” And likewise you infantry and you artillery.

their object a rocket rises and bursts into a cluster of red stars. The machine’ has been discovered. At once six or seven searchlights throw their beams aloft. The pilot looks at his watch; it is time to begin bombing. He flies steadily on, although a barrage of bursting shells Iles now in front of him. The observer looks through the wires of his bomb sight. He thrdjhUiis lever forward and releases nHkombs. A few seconds later he the flash of the*r explosions, and hears two dull roars. He signals to the pilot and the machine sweeps away from the fiery ring of shells and searchlights. • A few miles away the airplane flies td and fro at top speed. The puzzled searchlights vainly feel the sky in all directions and then, one by one, are switched off. Then the pilot quickly returns toward the target. Another bomb is dropped. As it explodes the searchlights reappear and the barrage is renewed, while through 'the. shell bursts are threaded the chains of green flaming globes so much used by the Germans. Again the machine flies away and this time to bewilder the soldiers below, the observer fires a white Verey light, which slowly drifts down and fades out. All the searchlights follow it until it dies. Repeatedly the airmen retifrn to the attack. Bombs are dropped at intervals until the end of the hour, when the machine departs, flickering fires and clouds of smoke telling of the havoc wrought by the bombs.

IN WATER 19 HOURS IS SAVED BY COFFIN

Indiana, Pa. —In the water for 19 hours and a portion of the time clinging to a rough box which contained the casket of an American soldier who had died at sea was the experience' of Frank S. Kepple of Advance, near here, following the sinking of the steamer President Lincoln, according to a letter from Kepple to his folks here.

the break to the Italian mechanic accompanying him. The mechanic, without a'moment’s hesitation, climbed out and fought his way to the wing against a tremendous wind pressure. Then, lying flat on his face and bracing his feet against the strut, he grasped the damaged cable with ong Jumd on each side of the break. Just when he was getting a grip on the last strand of the cable It parted and the value of his daring action was apparent. With the cable gone, the big airplane virtually was useless, but he coolly clung there, substituting his strength for It and enabling Lieutenant Holtz to bring the machine safely Into Italian territory. )

Smoky City Sees Snakes.

Pittsburgh.-—Charmed by the glaring headlight of a standing automobile a flve-foot snake, eight Inches in circumference startled pedestrians in the downtown section recently. Policemen were summoned and the reptile was dispatched. Its arrival in the business district remains a mystery to the police department.

HOME TOWN HELPS

CITY MANAGERS MAKE GOOD Newspaper Points Out Many Instances Where New System Has Proved of Great Value. St. Augustine, Fla., the oldest city In the United Stated is now operating under one of the most modenj of charters. It’s a city manager charter that forbids candidates for commissioner, personally, to solicit votes. Once elected, a commissioner is forbidden to dictate any appointment by the city manager. Already the new plan has meant a considerable saving of public money in St. Augustine. In Niagara Falls, where, owing to failure of the New York legislature to pass adequate the city manager administration Is still hampered by partisan elections, the tax levy has been reduced to 97 cents per SI,OOO valuation. , In Sherman, Tex., the city manager installed a complaint system, by which each complaint is recorded, referred to the department Concerned and followed up if necessary until cared, for. The number of complaints in six months dropped 30 per cent. Public works Improvement bonds amounting to $150,000 were voted by the people. h So obvious a step toward efficient government as depositing city funds In a responsible bank, willing to pay Interest on dally averages, will save San Jose, Cal., $5,000 a year under the city manager plan.—Omaha News.

DEAD TREE MADE ATTRACTIVE

Foliage has been added to the rather Dare trunk of this fine Pepper tree by placing a fern box In Its crotch,—Popular Mechanics Magazine.

GET AFTER NEGLECTED LAND

Every Citizen Should Recognize a Duty In Seeing That It Is Kept Cleaned Up. Look not only to your own back yard, but take a proprietary interest in any vacant yards or neglected patches of land that are In your neighborhood. You really ought to have had them cleaned up last autumn, but If you didn’t then, in the cause of food conservation_and_jjnh the hope of an Increased dropfrom the home gardens this summer, have these patches cleared up/ The department of agriculture sent a plea to the people of the land to clean up all plots that were used as war gardens last year In order that the .Insects that had been harbored In a dormant state In the underbrush and rubbish might be exterminated and not permitted to multiply and increase. Ideally, entomologists tell us, as soon as the crop has been harvested, the remnants should be promptly cleared away and burned with the Insects which they harbor. -Many persons apparently believe that the action of winter snows and, winds would be sufficient to destroy Insect life, but such is not the case.

Elbert Hubbard's Work Goes On.

A reminder of Elbert Hubbard, victim of the Lusitania, is contained in this paragraph in a New York paper: “At East Aurora the Rbycrofters continue to flourish. Their annual convention is as usual. But no invitation is necessary to attend it. Anyone who goes there is welcomed and the speakers include you If you want to speak. That’s th# Roycroft idea. The notables are scheduled, but in the grove the open-air theater is an open forum. Any subject goes. We hear that the work phase of the Roycrofters is the big thing now. Which as we recall it was Hubbard’s hope. A place where everything that was made was first useful and then beautiful. He used to say, Ts It’s useful it is beautiful, but many useful things can be made more beautiful. That’s what we want to do.’”

Leave Nature's Work Alone.

The most costly work, in landscapes is moving earth; therefore do as little of it as possible, for seldom does It really aid In gaining pleasing results.

Fitting the Theory.

4 "I have an idea that rooms reflect the personality of their occupants.” "Then the lady who use? this room must be of a very worrying disposition, to judge by the fret work In IL”

Afghanistan- A Buffer State

Afghanistan is a buffer state and a prize Germany would Ilka to control. For it ' is a broad door to India; The entente-versus-Teuton contest for its adherence is a gamble as delicate as the spin of a wheel. This contest may turn on a single throw of the dice. It is not a question of influencing public sentiment through a thousand and one approaches, any one of which may fee abandoned if proved, a mistake without jeopardizing the other thousand, writes Basanta Koomar Roy in Asia. The stakes arc laid on tfie personality of one individual—the Amir of Afghanistan. He is astute, ambitious, conscious of the balance of power he holds, and not unlearned in the art of watching the turn of world events. If this is soil for intrigue and influence, the pretty gamble between the Briton and the German, which at one period of the war was at high tension, can hardly be considered finally settled, though the British claim that the game is much in their favor at the present time.

Next to Turkey, Afghanistan Is the strongest country In the Mohammedan world. It Is, like Switzerland, a mountain fastness, and this has given it Its independence as a buffer state. Its people are fierce fighters, a quality the British Raj had occasion to test In the two Afghan.wars of 1840-41 and 1878-79. The dangerous nature of the country’s topography was also discovered at this time. Afghanistan has an area of 250,000 square miles, inside which both Germany and Bulgaria could easily be placed. The population is 6,000,000, or as large as that of Holland. The Aimaks, Ghilzais, Bazars, Kafirs, Pathans, Tojiks and the Uzbegs gre the principal races of the population; The great majority of the Afghans are Mohammedans of the Sunni sect, but there is no such bitter animosity between the Shias and the Sunnis as between these sects in India. The Afghan chronicles call the people BeniIsrail, and the people claim descent from Saul, whom they call Talmut. Nine years after the proclamation.of the mission of Mohammed, the Afghans sent a deputation under Kais to Medina. The members of the deputation were converted to Mohammedanism. On their return home, the Afghans embraced the new faith, and even today high-caste Afghans feel proud to claim descent from Kais. Afghan Has Fine Characteristics. The Afghan Is of a remarkable race. With long beard and flowing hair, he walks with majestic step. He is kind, hospltable/gratefuL He will do anything so/ a b#nefactor, but is correspondingly severe with the treacherous, or avowed enemies. He is handsome, hard-working, and capable of enduring long privations. He has the desperr'e fearlessness of the Gurkah —a terrible fighter—and the strong, sinewy add stalwart physique of the Sikh. He is a born horseman, an excellent shot, and uncompromisingly fatalistic. He is exceedingly patriotic, and guards the freedom and the honor of his country as jealously as he guards the honor of his wife or wives, as the case may be. His fearlessness, fatalism, physical strength and patriotic fervor make him a splendid soldier. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people. They have a remarkable system of irrigation, and every acre of fertile land is under cultivation. The products of the farms Include wheat, barley, rice, lentils, tobacco, millet, sugar cane, lumber, Cotton, grapes, castor-oil seeds, berries. Industry is undeveloped, yet the country is rich in mineral resources, particularly iron and coal; gold, silver, copper and lead; antimony, sulphur. The industries Include the making of carpets, felts, silks and articles from goats’ and camels’ hair. Afghanistan imports every year from India a total of $2,721,000 worth of goods; her imports from Bokhara alone reach to $2,000,000. Exports to India amount to $4,035,000. It Is a Paternal Monarchy. The government of Afghanistan is an absolute, but a paternal, monarchy. The Amir is the executive and the judicial head of the state. He has a council which is composed of Mohammedan priests, noblemen and the/tepresentatives of the people. This council is divided into an upper and lower house. He has cabinet ministers, but none is permitted to give any advice unless asked for it-TOut, quite unlike

Fortified Pass Near Afghanistan Border.

the custom of the kings of the West,' this absolute monarch of Afghanistan • is accessible even to the humblest peasant of the kingdom for redress of wrongs. The Nazis act as judges. It may be noted here that drinking liquor is absolutely forbidden in Afghanistan, and violation may be punished by death. Afghanistan has no outlet to the sea and hence noi navy. But the paramount factor in its life is its state of military preparedness. Out of political and military chaos a new Afghanistan has been created by the supreme genius of Abdur Rahman, the late father of the present Amir. He fought his way to the throne of Afghanistan, and immediately after his recognition set himself to reorganizing the scattered forces of the army. He hired Turkish officers to train his officers and to drill his men. He built forts all over his kingdom, especially along its frontiers. He established arsenals, two of which, those at Kabul and Herat, were under German military experts for some time. Abdur Rahman used his subsidy money in buying guns, rifles and munitions of war from the British. He built storehouses throughout his kingdom for storing so Mistuffs to be used only in cases of emergency. - He built strategic roads—though there is not a single mile of railroad in. Afghanistan—over some of the almost impassable parts of his mountain kingdom. . ...■ ■ . ; . • •** : -

ANT NURSES OF BUTTERFLIES

, u Peculiar Relationship Which Naturalists Have Observed Between Creatures Which are Enemies. Anfs'and butterflies are not ordinarily on friendly terms, for ants have a ruthless custom of seizing and devouring their winged acquaintances. There Is, however, one species of butterfly the larvae of which are protected by the large black ants found in Indian gardens. The secret of this care lies in the fact that the larvae give out a sweet liquid of which the ants are very fond, and which they obtain by gently strokingjthe little creatures with their antennae. At the foot of a bush on which the larvae feed, the ants construct a temporary nest and are then ready to act as attentive nurses. About the middle of June the ants are busy running about on this bush in search of the larvae, and driving them downward toward their own nest. When the prisoners reach their places, they at once fall into pupae. During this period, if the loose earth at the foot of the bush be scraped away, hundreds of larvae and pupae may be seen arranged in a broad even band about its *trunkIn about a week the butterfly is ready to come forth and Is tenderly assisted to leave its shell. If it is , strong and healthy, ft is allowed to spread Its wings and fly away, but should it prove delicate the ants exercise the utmost care In assisting It to the tree, and holding it there in safety. It is a curious sight to watch these fragile creatures going about in perfect confidence among the fierce ants, which have, however, by no means adopted the profession of nursing tar the love of It, for when the larvae of another species are thrown among them they immediately set upon them and tear them in pieces.

Paradise Worth Attaining.

According to the Koran the soil of paradise is composed of musk and safi?. fron, sprinkled with pearls and hyacinths. The walls of the mansions are of gold and silver; the fruits are of a flavor and delicacy unknown to mortals. Numerous rivers flow through the paradise. Some are of wine, others of milk, honey and water. The pebbles are rubles,and emeralds; the banks of musk, camphor and saffron. The meanest Inhabitant of the Mohammedan paradise will have 80,000 servants and 72 wives. Wine, though torbidden on earth, will there be freely allowed and win not inebriate.

Reminiscence.

“Do you remember,” said Farmer Corntossel, “how you used to scold Josh for not cornin’ home to his meals regular?” “Yes,” replied his wife, “Josh Is havin’ his own way. Since be went across, all we kin do is to keep the old farm busy.and send his meals ever to him.” ■