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vertical-align: top;} - table.toc td.pageno - {text-align: right; padding-right: .25em; vertical-align: bottom;} - .titpag - {margin: 2em auto; padding: 1em; text-align: center; width: 35em; border: solid thin;} - .titpag hr.ornament - {width: 10%; margin: 2em 45%;} - .tnbot - {border: dashed thin; margin: 1em 10%; padding: .5em;} - .tnbot h2 - {font-size: 1em;} - .tnbot p - {text-indent: -1em; margin-left: 1em;} - .tnbox - {border: dashed thin; margin: 1em 20%; padding: 1em;} - .underl - {text-decoration: underline;} - .w25m - {width: 24em;} - .w300 - {width: 300px;} - .w400 - {width: 400px;} - .w450 - {width: 450px;} - .w500 - {width: 500px;} - .w600 - {width: 600px;} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Horrors and Atrocities of the Great War, by -Logan Marshall and Gilbert Parker and Vance Thompson and Philip Gibbs - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Horrors and Atrocities of the Great War - Including the Tragic Destruction of the Lusitania - -Author: Logan Marshall - Gilbert Parker - Vance Thompson - Philip Gibbs - -Release Date: September 7, 2017 [EBook #55503] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HORRORS AND ATROCITIES *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Harry Lamé, Hathi Trust (for some -illustrations) and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="tnbox"> -<p class="center">Please see the <a href="#TN">Transcriber’s Notes</a> at the end of this text.</p> -</div> - -<div class="scr"> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover_sm.jpg" alt="cover" width="416" height="600" /> -</div> - -</div><!--scr--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter w500"> - -<img src="images/illo001.jpg" alt="frontispiece" width="500" height="592" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Merciless Monster of the Deep.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The murderous German submarine sighting its prey. Sinking under water it -launched the fatal torpedo and its helpless victim, crowded with innocent men, -women and children, was doomed.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titpag"> - -<h1><b><span class="underl">HORRORS AND ATROCITIES<br /> -<span class="gesp">OF THE GREAT WAR</span></span><br /> -<span class="fsize70">Including the Tragic Destruction of the Lusitania</span></b></h1> - -<div class="centerblock w25m"> - -<p class="center"><span class="fsize110"><b>A NEW KIND OF WARFARE</b></span><br /> -——<span class="fsize80">COMPRISING</span>——</p> - -<p class="noindent">The Desolation of Belgium, the Sacking of Louvain, the Shelling of -Defenseless Cities, the Wanton Destruction of Cathedrals and Works of -Art, the Horrors of Bomb Dropping</p> - -<p class="center">——<span class="fsize80">VIVIDLY PORTRAYING</span>——</p> - -<p class="noindent">The Grim Awfulness of this Greatest of All Wars Fought on Land and Sea, in -the Air and Under the Waves, Leaving in Its Wake a Dreadful Trail of -Famine and Pestilence</p> - -</div><!--centerblock--> - -<hr class="ornament" /> - -<p class="center fsize80"><b>By LOGAN MARSHALL</b><br /> -Author of “The Sinking of the Titanic,” “Myths and<br /> -Legends of All Nations,” etc.</p> - -<p class="center blankbefore2">With Special Chapters by</p> - -<div class="split5050"> - -<div class="leftsplit5050"> - -<p class="center fsize80"><b>SIR GILBERT PARKER</b><br /> -Author of “The Right of Way”</p> - -</div><!--leftsplit5050--> - -<div class="rightsplit5050"> - -<p class="center fsize80"><b>VANCE THOMPSON</b><br /> -Author of “Spinners of Life”</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit5050--> - -<p class="thinline allclear"> </p> - -</div><!--split5050--> - -<p class="thinline allclear"> </p> - -<p class="center fsize80"><b>PHILIP GIBBS</b><br /> -Author of “The Street of Adventure,” Special<br /> -Correspondent on <i>The London Daily Chronicle</i>.</p> - -<hr class="ornament" /> - -<p class="center highline3"><span class="oldtype"><b>Illustrated</b></span></p> - -<hr class="ornament" /> - -</div><!--titpag--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span> 1915<br /> -By L. T. MYERS</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> - -<p class="jesusquote">“<i>Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of -these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.</i>”—<span class="smcap">Jesus of -Nazareth</span></p> - -<p>The sight of all Europe engaged in the most terrific -conflict in the history of mankind is a heartrending -spectacle. On the east, on the south and on the -west the blood-lust leaders have flung their deluded -millions upon unbending lines of steel, martyrs to the -glorification of Mars.</p> - -<p>We see millions of men taken from their homes, their -shops and their factories; we see them equipped and -organized and mobilized for the express purpose of -devastating the homes of other men; we see them -making wreckage of property; we see them wasting, -with fire and sword, the accumulated efforts of generations -in the field of things material; we see the commerce -of the world brought to a standstill, all its -transportation systems interrupted, and, still worse, the -amenities of life so placed in jeopardy for long generations -to come that the progress of the world is halted, -its material and physical progress turned to retrogression.</p> - -<p class="jesusquote">“<i>Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of -these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!</i>”</p> - -<p>But this is not the worst. We see myriads of men -banded together to practice open violation of the very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page4">[4]</a></span> -fundamental tenets of humanity; we see the worst -passions of mankind, murder, theft, lust, arson, -pillage—all the baser possibilities of human nature—coming -to the surface. Outside of the natural killing -of war, hundreds of men have been murdered, often -with incidents of the most revolting brutality; children -have been slaughtered; women have been outraged, -killed and shamefully mutilated. And this we see -among peoples who have no possible cause for personal -quarrel.</p> - -<p class="jesusquote">“<i>Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of -these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!</i>”</p> - -<p>To all human beings of normal mentality it must -have seemed that the destruction of the Lusitania -marked the apex of horror. There is, indeed, nothing -in modern history—nothing, at least, since the Black -Hole of Calcutta and some of the indescribable atrocities -of Kurdish fanatics—to supply the mind with a vantage -ground from which to measure the causeless and profitless -savagery of this black deed of murder.</p> - -<p>To talk of “warning” having been given on the day -the Lusitania sailed is puerile. So does the Black Hand -send its warnings. So does Jack the Ripper write his -defiant letters to the police. Nothing of this prevents -us from regarding such miscreants as wild beasts, -against whom society has to defend itself at all hazards.</p> - -<p>There are many reasons but not a single excuse for -the war. When a man, or a nation, wants what a -rival holds and makes a violent effort to enter into -possession thereof, right and conscience and duty before -God and to one’s neighbor are forgotten in the struggle.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page5">[5]</a></span> -Man reverts to the brute. Loose rein is given to -passion, and the worst appears. The fair edifice of -sobriety and amity and just dealing between man and -man, upreared by civilization in centuries of travail, -is rent asunder, stone from stone. The inner shrine -of the inalienable sense of human brotherhood is -profaned. One cannot reconcile with any program for -the lasting accomplishment of good and the victory -of the truth, this fever of murder on a grand scale, -this insensate madness of pillage and slaughter that -goes from alarum and counter-alarum to overt acts -of fiendish and sickening brutality, palliated because -they are done by anonymous thousands instead of by -one man who can be named.</p> - -<p class="jesusquote">“<i>Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of -these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!</i>”</p> - -<p>It is civilization that is being shot down by machine -guns in Europe. That great German host is not made -up of mercenaries, nor of the type of men that at one -time composed armies. There are Ehrlichs serving as -privates in the ranks and in the French corps are -Rostands. A bullet does not kill a man; it destroys -a generation of learning, annihilates the mentality -which was about to be humanity’s instrument in -unearthing another of nature’s secrets. The very -vehicles of progress are the victims. It will take years -to train their equals, decades perhaps to reproduce -the intelligence that was ripe to do its work. The -chances of the acquisition of knowledge are being -sacrificed. Far more than half of the learning on which -the world depends for progress is turned from laboratories<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page6">[6]</a></span> -and workshops into the destructive arenas of -battle.</p> - -<p>It is indeed a war against civilization. The personnel -of the armies makes it so. Every battle is the -sacrifice of human assets that cannot be replaced. -That is the real tragedy of this stupendous conflict.</p> - -<p>Perhaps it is better that the inevitable has come so -soon. The burden of preparation was beginning to -stagger Europe. There may emerge from the whirlpool -new dynasties, new methods, new purposes. This may -be the furnace necessary to purge humanity of its -brutal perspective. The French Revolution gave an -impulse to democracy which it has never lost. This -conflict may teach men the folly of dying for trade or -avarice. But whatever it does, it is not too much to -hope that the capital and energy of humanity will -become again manifest in justice and moral achievement, -until the place of a nation on the map becomes -absolutely subordinate to the place it occupies in the -uplift of humanity.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page7">[7]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table class="toc" summary="toc"> - -<tr> -<td colspan="3" class="right fsize60">PAGE</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page3">3</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">I.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Supreme Crime Against Civilization: The Tragic Destruction of the Lusitania</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page9">9</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">II.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Heroes of the Lusitania and Their Heroism</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page22">22</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">III.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Soul-Stirring Stories of Survivors of the Lusitania</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page34">34</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">IV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">A Canadian’s Account of the Lusitania Horror</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page50">50</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">V.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Plot Against the Rescue Ships</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page55">55</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">VI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">British Jury Finds Kaiser a Murderer</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page61">61</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">VII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The World-Wide Indictment of Germany for the Lusitania Atrocity</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page69">69</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">VIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">America’s Protest Against Uncivilized Warfare</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page81">81</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">IX.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The German Defense for the Destruction of the Lusitania</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page91">91</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">X.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Swift Reversal to Barbarism</span><br /><span class="author">By Vance Thompson, -American Author and Journalist.</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page101">101</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Belgium’s Bitter Need</span><br /><span class="author">By Sir Gilbert Parker, -M.P., British Novelist.</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page112">112</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">James Bryce’s Report on Systematic Massacre in Belgium</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page121">121</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">A Belgian Boy’s Story of the Ruin of Aerschot</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page137">137</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XIV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Unspeakable Atrocities of “Civilized Warfare”</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page144">144</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Destroying the Priceless Monuments of Civilization</span><span -class="pagenum"><a id="Page8">[8]</a></span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page159">159</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XVI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Wanton Destruction of the Beautiful Cathedral of Rheims</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page169">169</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XVII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Canadians’ Glorious Feat at Langemarck</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page177">177</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XVIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Pitiful Flight of a Million Women</span><br /><span class="author">By Philip Gibbs, -English Author and Journalist.</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page195">195</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XIX.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Facing Death in the Trenches</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page207">207</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XX.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">A Vivid Picture of War</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page221">221</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Harrowing Scenes Along the Battle Lines</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page228">228</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">What the Men in the Trenches Write Home</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page234">234</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Bombarding Undefended Cities</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page240">240</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXIV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Germany’s Fatal War Zone</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page246">246</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Multitudinous Tragedies at Sea</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page251">251</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXVI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">How “Neutral” Waters Are Violated</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page255">255</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXVII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Terrible Distress of Poland</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page259">259</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXVIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Ghastly Havoc Wrought by the Air-Demons</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page267">267</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXIX.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Deadly Submarine and Its Stealthy Destruction</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page273">273</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXX.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Terrible Work of Artillery in War</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page280">280</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Wholesale Slaughter by Poisonous Gases</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page286">286</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">“Usages of War on Land”: The Official German Manual</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page294">294</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXIII.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">The Sacrifice of the Horse in Warfare</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page299">299</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXIV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">Scourges That Follow in the Wake of Battle</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page303">303</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXV.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">War’s Repair Shop: Caring for the Wounded</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page308">308</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnr">XXXVI.</td> -<td class="chapname"><span class="smcap">What Will the Horrors and Atrocities of the Great War Lead to?</span></td> -<td class="pageno"><a href="#Page314">314</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo010.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Giant Steamship “Lusitania” Torpedoed by the -Germans off the Coast of Ireland</span>.</p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The English Cunarder, “Lusitania,” one of the largest and fastest -passenger vessels in the world, was torpedoed -and sunk by a German submarine in a few minutes with the loss of two-thirds of her passengers and crew, among whom -were more than one hundred American citizens. The vessel was entirely unarmed and a noncombatant. <span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright -by Underwood and Underwood.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo011a.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="244" /> -<img src="images/illo011b.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="556" /> - -<p class="imagetext left">Top left: Persicope—Kiosque—Ballast—Machine—Ballast</p> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The German Submarine and How it Works.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Upper left picture shows a section at center of the vessel. Upper -right view shows the submarine at the surface with two torpedo tubes -visible at the stern. The large picture illustrates how this monster attacks -a vessel like the Lusitania by launching a torpedo beneath the water while -securing its observation through the periscope, just above the waves.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page9">[9]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER I</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE SUPREME CRIME AGAINST CIVILIZATION:<br /> -THE TRAGIC DESTRUCTION -OF THE LUSITANIA</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef1_1">AN UNPRECEDENTED CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_2">THE -LUSITANIA: BUILT FOR SAFETY</a>—<a href="#SecRef1_3">GERMANY’S -ANNOUNCED INTENTION TO SINK THE VESSEL</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_4">LINER’S -SPEED INCREASED AS DANGER NEARED</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_5">SUBMARINE’S -PERISCOPE DIPS UNDER SURFACE</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_6">PASSENGERS -OVERCOME BY POISONOUS FUMES</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_7">BOAT -CAPSIZES WITH WOMEN AND CHILDREN</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_8">HUNDREDS -JUMP INTO THE SEA</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_9">THE LUSITANIA -GOES TO HER DOOM</a> — <a href="#SecRef1_10">INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN -TURNER</a>.</p> - -<p>No thinking man—whether he believes or disbelieves -in war—expects to have war without the horrors -and atrocities which accompany it. That “war is -hell” is as true now as when General Sherman so -pronounced it. It seems, indeed, to be truer today. -And yet we have always thought—perhaps because -we hoped—that there was a limit at which even war, -with all its lust of blood, with all its passion of hatred, -with all its devilish zest for efficiency in the destruction -of human life, would stop.</p> - -<p>Now we know that there is no limit at which the -makers of war, in their frenzy to pile horror on horror, -and atrocity on atrocity, will stop. We have seen -a nation despoiled and raped because it resisted an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page10">[10]</a></span> -invader, and we said that was war. But now out of -the sun-lit waves has come a venomous instrument -of destruction, and without warning, without respite -for escape, has sent headlong to the bottom of the -everlasting sea more than a thousand unarmed, unresisting, -peace-bent men, women and children—even -babes in arms. So the Lusitania was sunk. It may -be war, but it is something incalculably more sobering -than merely that. It is the difference between assassination -and massacre. It is war’s supreme crime -against civilization.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_1">AN UNPRECEDENTED CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY</h3> - -<p>The horror of the deadly assault on the Lusitania -does not lessen as the first shock of the disaster recedes -into the past. The world is aghast. It had not taken -the German threat at full value; it did not believe -that any civilized nation would be so wanton in its -lust and passion of war as to count a thousand non-combatant -lives a mere unfortunate incidental of the -carnage.</p> - -<p>Nothing that can be said in mitigation of the destruction -of the Lusitania can alter the fact that an outrage -unknown heretofore in the warfare of civilized nations -has been committed. Regardless of the technicalities -which may be offered as a defense in international -law, there are rights which must be asserted, must be -defended and maintained. If international law can be -torn to shreds and converted into scrap paper to serve -the necessities of war, its obstructive letter can be -disregarded when it is necessary to serve the rights of -humanity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo014.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="406" height="600" /> -<p class="imagetext left">HATE<br /> -CIVILIZATION--ART--RELIGION</p> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Triumph of Hate.</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page12">[12]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_2">THE LUSITANIA: BUILT FOR “SAFETY”</h3> - -<p>The irony of the situation lies in the fact that from -the ghastly experience of great marine disasters the -Lusitania was evolved as a vessel that was “safe.” -No such calamity as the attack of a torpedo was foreseen -by the builders of the giant ship, and yet, even -after the outbreak of the European war, and when -upon the eve of her last voyage the warning came -that an attempt would be made to torpedo the Lusitania, -her owners confidently assured the world that -the ship was safe because her great speed would enable -her to outstrip any submarine ever built.</p> - -<p>Limitation of language makes adequate word description -of this mammoth Cunarder impossible. The -following figures show its immense dimensions: Length, -790 feet; breadth, 88 feet; depth, to boat deck, 80 feet; -draught, fully loaded, 37 feet, 6 inches; displacement on -load line, 45,000 tons; height to top of funnels, 155 -feet; height to mastheads, 216 feet. The hull below -draught line was divided into 175 water-tight compartments, -which made it—so the owners claimed—“unsinkable.” -With complete safety device equipment, -including wireless telegraph, Mundy-Gray -improved method of submarine signaling, and with -officers and crew all trained and reliable men, the -Lusitania was acclaimed as being unexcelled from a -standpoint of safety, as in all other respects.</p> - -<p>Size, however, was its least remarkable feature. -The ship was propelled by four screws rotated by -turbine engines of 68,000 horse-power, capable of -developing a sea speed of more than twenty-five knots -per hour regardless of weather conditions, and of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page13">[13]</a></span> -maintaining without driving a schedule with the -regularity of a railroad train, and thus establishing -its right to the title of “the fastest ocean greyhound.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_3">GERMANY’S ANNOUNCED INTENTION TO SINK THE -VESSEL</h3> - -<p>On Saturday May 1, 1915, the day on which the -Cunard liner Lusitania, carrying 2,000 passengers and -crew, sailed from New York for Liverpool, the following -advertisement, over the name of the Imperial German -Embassy, was published in the leading newspapers of -the United States:</p> - -<div class="notice"> - -<p class="heading">NOTICE!</p> - -<p>TRAVELERS intending to embark on the -Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of -war exists between Germany and her allies -and Great Britain and her allies; that the -zone of war includes the waters adjacent to -the British Isles; that, in accordance with -formal notice given by the Imperial German -Government, vessels flying the flag of Great -Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to -destruction in those waters and that travelers -sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain -or her allies do so at their own risk.</p> - -<p class="sigright">IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY.</p> - -<p class="sigleft"><span class="smcap">Washington</span>, D. C., April 22, 1915.</p> - -</div><!--notice--> - -<p>The advertisement was commented upon by the -passengers of the Lusitania, but it did not cause any -of them to cancel their bookings. No one took the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page14">[14]</a></span> -matter seriously. It was not conceivable that even -the German military lords could seriously plot so -dastardly an attack on non-combatants.</p> - -<p>When the attention of Captain W. T. Turner, -commander of the Lusitania, was called to the warning, -he laughed and said: “It doesn’t seem as if they had -scared many people from going on the ship by the -looks of the passenger list.”</p> - -<p>Agents of the Cunard Line said there was no truth in -reports that several prominent passengers had received -anonymous telegrams warning them not to sail on -the Lusitania. Charles T. Bowring, president of the -St. George’s Society, who was a passenger, said that -it was a silly performance for the German Embassy -to do.</p> - -<p>Charles Klein, the American playwright, said he was -going to devote his time on the voyage to thinking of -his new play, “Potash and Perlmutter in Society,” -and would not have time to worry about trifles.</p> - -<p>Alfred G. Vanderbilt was one of the last to go on -board.</p> - -<p>Elbert Hubbard, publisher of the Philistine, who -sailed with his wife, said he believed the German -Emperor had ordered the advertisement to be placed -in the newspapers, and added jokingly that if he was -on board the liner when she was torpedoed, he would -be able to do the Kaiser justice in the Philistine.</p> - -<p>The early days of the voyage were unmarked by -incidents other than those which have interested ocean -passengers on countless previous trips, and little -apprehension was felt by those on the Lusitania of the -fate which lay ahead of the vessel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p>The ship was proceeding at a moderate speed, -on Friday, May 7, when she passed Fastnet Light, off -Cape Clear, the extreme southwesterly point of Ireland -that is first sighted by east-bound liners. Captain -Turner was on the bridge, with his staff captain and -other officers, maintaining a close lookout. Fastnet -left behind, the Lusitania’s course was brought closer -to shore, probably within twelve miles of the rock-bound -coast.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_4">LINER’S SPEED INCREASED AS DANGER NEARED</h3> - -<p>Her speed was also increased to twenty knots or -more, according to the more observant passengers, -and some declare that she worked a sort of zigzag -course, plainly ready to shift her helm whenever danger -should appear. Captain Turner, it is known, was -watching closely for any evidence of submarines.</p> - -<p>One of the passengers, Dr. Daniel Moore, of Yankton, -S. D., declared that before he went downstairs to -luncheon shortly after one o’clock he and others with -him noticed, through a pair of marine glasses, a curious -object in the sea, possibly two miles or more away. -What it was he could not determine, but he jokingly -referred to it later at luncheon as a submarine.</p> - -<p>While the first cabin passengers were chatting over -their coffee cups they felt the ship give a great leap -forward. Full speed ahead had suddenly been signaled -from the bridge. This was a few minutes after two -o’clock, and just about the time that Ellison Myers, -of Stratford, Ontario, a boy on his way to join the -British Navy, noticed the periscope of a submarine -about a mile away to starboard. Myers and his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page16">[16]</a></span> -companions saw Captain Turner hurriedly give orders -to the helmsman and ring for full speed to the engine -room.</p> - -<p>The Lusitania began to swerve to starboard, heading -for the submarine, but before she could really answer -her helm a torpedo was flashing through the water -toward her at express speed. Myers and his companions, -like many others of the passengers, saw the white -wake of the torpedo and its metal casing gleaming in -the bright sunlight. The weather was ideal, light -winds and a clear sky making the surface of the ocean as -calm and smooth as could be wished by any traveler.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_5">SUBMARINE’S PERISCOPE DIPS UNDER SURFACE</h3> - -<p>The torpedo came on, aimed apparently at the bow -of the ship, but nicely calculated to hit her amidships. -Before its wake was seen the periscope of the submarine -had vanished beneath the surface.</p> - -<p>In far less time than it takes to tell, the torpedo had -crashed into the Lusitania’s starboard side, just abaft -the first funnel, and exploded with a dull boom in the -forward stoke-hole.</p> - -<p>Captain Turner at once ordered the helm put over -and the prow of the ship headed for land, in the hope -that she might strike shallow water while still under -way. The boats were ordered out, and the signals -calling the boat crews to their stations were flashed -everywhere through the vessel.</p> - -<p>Several of the life-boats were already swung out, -according to some survivors, there having been a life-saving -drill earlier in the day before the ship spoke -Fastnet Light.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page17">[17]</a></span></p> - -<p>Down in the dining saloon the passengers felt the -ship reel from the shock of the explosion and many were -hurled from their chairs. Before they could recover -themselves, another explosion occurred. There is a -difference of opinion as to the number of torpedoes -fired. Some say there were two; others say only one -torpedo struck the vessel, and that the second explosion -was internal.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_6">PASSENGERS OVERCOME BY POISONOUS FUMES</h3> - -<p>In any event, the passengers now realized their -danger. The ship, torn almost apart, was filled with -fumes and smoke, the decks were covered with débris -that fell from the sky, and the great Lusitania began -to list quickly to starboard. Before the passengers -below decks could make their way above, the decks -were beginning to slant ominously, and the air was -filled with the cries of terrified men and women, some -of them already injured by being hurled against the -sides of the saloons. Many passengers were stricken -unconscious by the smoke and fumes from the exploding -torpedoes.</p> - -<p>The stewards and stewardesses, recognizing the too -evident signs of a sinking ship, rushed about urging -and helping the passengers to put on life-belts, of which -more than 3,000 were aboard.</p> - -<p>On the boat deck attempts were being made to -lower the life-boats, but several causes combined to -impede the efforts of the crew in this direction. The -port side of the vessel was already so far up that the -boats on that side were quite useless, and as the starboard -boats were lowered the plunging vessel—she was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page18">[18]</a></span> -still under headway, for all efforts to reverse the engines -proved useless—swung back and forth, and when they -struck the water were dragged along through the sea, -making it almost impossible to get them away.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_7">BOAT CAPSIZES WITH WOMEN AND CHILDREN</h3> - -<p>The first life-boat that struck the water capsized -with some sixty women and children aboard her, and -all of these must have been drowned almost instantly. -Ten more boats were lowered, the desperate expedient -of cutting away the ropes being resorted to to prevent -them from being dragged along by the now halting -steamer.</p> - -<p>The great ship was sinking by the bow, foot by foot, -and in ten minutes after the first explosion she was -already preparing to founder. Her stern rose high -in the air, so that those in the boats that got away -could see the whirring propellers, and even the boat -deck was awash.</p> - -<p>Captain Turner urged the men to be calm, to take -care of the women and children, and megaphoned the -passengers to seize life-belts, chairs—anything they -could lay hands on to save themselves from drowning. -There was never any question in the captain’s mind -that the ship was about to sink, and if, as reported, -some of the stewards ran about advising the passengers -not to take to the boats, that there was no danger of -the vessel going down till she reached shore, it was done -without his orders. But many of the survivors have -denied this, and declared that all the crew, officers, -stewards and sailors, even the stokers, who dashed up -from their flaming quarters below, showed the utmost<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page19">[19]</a></span> -bravery and calmness in the face of the disaster, and -sought in every way to aid the panic-stricken passengers -to get off the ship.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_8">HUNDREDS JUMP INTO THE SEA</h3> - -<p>When it was seen that most of the boats would be -useless, hundreds of passengers donned life-belts and -jumped into the sea. Others seized deck chairs, -tubs, kegs, anything available, and hurled themselves -into the water, clinging to these articles.</p> - -<p>The first-cabin passengers fared worst, for the second- -and third-cabin travelers had long before finished their -midday meal and were on deck when the torpedo -struck. But the first-cabin people on the D deck and -in the balcony, at luncheon, were at a terrible disadvantage, -and those who had already finished were in -their staterooms resting or cleaning up preparatory -to the after luncheon day.</p> - -<p>The confusion on the stairways became terrible, and -the great number of little children, more than 150 -of them under two years, a great many of them infants -in arms, made the plight of the women still more -desperate.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_9">LUSITANIA GOES TO HER DOOM</h3> - -<p>After the life-boats had cut adrift it was plain that -a few seconds would see the end of the great ship. -With a great shiver she bent her bow down below the -surface, and then her stern uprose, and with a horrible -sough the liner that had been the pride of the Cunard -Line, plunged down in sixty fathoms of water. In -the last few seconds the hundreds of women and men,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page20">[20]</a></span> -a great many of them carrying children in their arms, -leaped overboard, but hundreds of others, delaying -the jump too long, were carried down in the suction -that left a huge whirlpool swirling about the spot where -the last of the vessel was seen.</p> - -<p>Among these were Elbert Hubbard and his wife, -Charles Frohman, who was crippled with rheumatism -and unable to move quickly; Justus Miles Forman, -Charles Klein, Alfred G. Vanderbilt and many others -of the best-known Americans and Englishmen aboard.</p> - -<p>Captain Turner stayed on the bridge as the ship -went down, but before the last plunge he bade his -staff officer and the helmsman, who were still with him, -to save themselves. The helmsman leaped into the -sea and was saved, but the staff officer would not -desert his superior, and went down with the ship. He -did not come to the surface again.</p> - -<p>Captain Turner, however, a strong swimmer, rose -after the eddying whirlpool had calmed down, and, -seizing a couple of deck chairs, kept himself afloat -for three hours. The master-at-arms of the Lusitania, -named Williams, who was looking for survivors in a -boat after he had been picked up, saw the flash of the -captain’s gold-braided uniform, and rescued him, more -dead than alive.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef1_10">INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN TURNER</h3> - -<p>Despite the doubt as to whether two torpedoes -exploded, or whether the first detonation caused the -big liner’s boilers to let go, Captain Turner stated that -there was no doubt that at least two torpedoes reached -the ship.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page21">[21]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am not certain whether the two explosions—and -there were two—resulted from torpedoes, or whether -one was a boiler explosion. I am sure, however, that -I saw the first torpedo strike the vessel on her starboard -side. I also saw a second torpedo apparently headed -straight for the steamship’s hull, directly below the -suite occupied by Alfred G. Vanderbilt.”</p> - -<p>When asked if the second explosion had been caused -by the blowing up of ammunition stored in the liner’s -hull, Captain Turner said:</p> - -<p>“No; if ammunition had exploded that would -probably have torn the ship apart and the loss of life -would have been much heavier than it was.”</p> - -<p>Captain Turner declared that, from the bridge, he -saw the torpedo streaking toward the Lusitania and -tried to change the ship’s course to avoid the missile, -but was unable to do so in time. The only thing left -for him to do was to rush the liner ashore and beach -her, and she was headed for the Irish coast when she -foundered.</p> - -<p>According to Captain Turner, the German submarine -did not flee at once after torpedoing the liner.</p> - -<p>“While I was swimming about after the ship had -disappeared I saw the periscope of the submarine rise -amidst the débris,” said he. “Instead of offering any -help the submarine immediately submerged herself and -I saw nothing more of her. I did everything possible -for my passengers. That was all I could do.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER II</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE HEROES OF THE LUSITANIA AND -THEIR HEROISM</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef2_1">ALFRED G. VANDERBILT GAVE LIFE FOR A WOMAN</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_2">CHARLES -FROHMAN DIED WITHOUT FEAR</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_3">SAVING -THE BABIES</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_4">TORONTO GIRL OF FOURTEEN PROVES -HEROINE</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_5">HEROISM OF CAPTAIN TURNER AND HIS -CREW</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_6">WOMAN RESCUED WITH DEAD BABY AT -HER BREAST</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_7">HEROIC WIRELESS OPERATORS</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_8">SAVED -HIS WIFE AND HELPED IN RESCUE WORK</a> — <a href="#SecRef2_9">“SAVED -ALL THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WE -COULD.”</a></p> - -<p>Every great calamity produces its great heroes. -Particularly is this true of marine disasters, where the -opportunities of escape are limited, and where the -heroism of the strong often impels them to stand back -and give place to the weak. One cannot think of the -Titanic disaster without remembering Major Archibald -Butt, Colonel John Jacob Astor, Henry B. Harris, -William T. Stead and others, nor of the sinking of the -Empress of Ireland without calling to mind Dr. James -F. Grant, the ship’s surgeon; Sir Henry Seton-Karr, -Lawrence Irving, H. R. O’Hara of Toronto, and the -rest of the noble company of heroes. So the destruction -of the Lusitania brought uppermost in the breasts -of many those qualities of fortitude and self-sacrifice -which will forever mark them in the calendar of the -world’s martyrs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page23">[23]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_1">ALFRED G. VANDERBILT GAVE LIFE FOR A WOMAN</h3> - -<p>Among the Lusitania’s heroes, one of the foremost -was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, one of America’s -wealthiest men. With everything to live for, Mr. -Vanderbilt sacrificed his one chance for escape from -the doomed Lusitania, in order that a woman might -live. Details of the chivalry he displayed in those -last moments when he tore off a life-belt as he was -about to leap into the sea, and strapped it around a -young woman, were told by three of the survivors.</p> - -<p>Mr. Vanderbilt could not swim, and when he gave -up his life-belt it was with the virtual certainty that -he was surrendering his only chance for life.</p> - -<p>Thomas Slidell, of New York, said he saw Mr. -Vanderbilt on the deck as the Lusitania was sinking. -He was equipped with a life-belt and was climbing over -the rail, when a young woman rushed onto the deck. -Mr. Vanderbilt saw her as he stood poised to leap into -the sea. Without hesitating a moment he jumped back -to the deck, tore off the life-belt, strapped it around the -young woman and dropped her overboard.</p> - -<p>The Lusitania plunged under the waves a few -minutes later and Mr. Vanderbilt was seen to be drawn -into the vortex.</p> - -<p>Norman Ratcliffe, of Gillingham, Kent, and Wallace -B. Phillips, a newspaper man, also saw Mr. Vanderbilt -sink with the Lusitania. The coolness and heroism -he showed were marvelous, they said.</p> - -<p>Oliver P. Bernard, scenic artist at Covent Garden, -saw Mr. Vanderbilt standing near the entrance to the -grand saloon soon after the vessel was torpedoed.</p> - -<p>“He was the personification of sportsmanlike coolness,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page24">[24]</a></span>” -Mr. Bernard said. “In his right hand was -grasped what looked to me like a large purple leather -jewel case. It may have belonged to Lady Mackworth, -as Mr. Vanderbilt had been much in the -company of the Thomas party during the trip and -evidently had volunteered to do Lady Mackworth the -service of saving her gems for her.”</p> - -<p>Another touching incident was told of Mr. Vanderbilt -by Mrs. Stanley L. B. Lines, a Canadian, who said: -“Mr. Vanderbilt will in the future be remembered as -the ‘children’s hero.’ I saw him standing outside the -palm saloon on the starboard side, with Ronald Denit. -He looked upon the scene before him, and then, turning -to his valet, said:</p> - -<p>“‘Find all the kiddies you can and bring them here.’ -The servant rushed off and soon reappeared, herding a -flock of little ones. Mr. Vanderbilt, catching a child -under each arm, ran with them to a life-boat and -dumped them in. He then threw in two more, and -continued at his task until all the young ones were in -the boat. Then he turned his attention to aiding -the women into boats.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_2">CHARLES FROHMAN DIED WITHOUT FEAR</h3> - -<p>“Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure -in life,” were the last words of Charles Frohman before -he went down with the Lusitania, according to Miss -Rita Jolivet, an American actress, with whom he talked -calmly just before the end came.</p> - -<p>Miss Jolivet, who was among the survivors taken -to Queenstown, said she and Mr. Frohman were -standing on deck as the Lusitania heeled over. They -decided not to trust themselves to life-boats, although -Mr. Frohman believed the ship was doomed. It was -after reaching this decision that he declared he had no -fear of death.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo028.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Escaping a Torpedo by Rapid Maneuvering.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This British destroyer escaped a torpedo from a hunted submarine by -quick turning. This incident took place at -the naval fight off the island of Heligoland, in October. <span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright, The Sun News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo029.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="386" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">A New Weapon in Warfare.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">One of the Belgian armored motor cars surprising a party of Uhlans. Several of the enemy were killed by the -rapid fire from swivel machine gun and rifle, but the car driven at a furious pace was wrecked on a fallen horse.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo030.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="438" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Germany’s Official Paid <a href="#SecRef1_3">Advertisement</a> Forewarning Americans -Against Disaster; Map Showing Where It Took Place.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This advertisement was wired to forty American newspapers by Count -von Bernstorff, German Ambassador at Washington. It was ordered inserted -on the morning of the day the Lusitania sailed.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>Dr. F. Warren Pearl, of New York, who was saved, -with his wife and two of their four children, corroborated -Miss Jolivet’s statement, saying:</p> - -<p>“After the first shock, as I made my way to the deck, -I saw Charles Frohman distributing life-belts. Mr. -Frohman evidently did not expect to escape, as he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page26">[26]</a></span> -said to a woman passenger, ‘Why should we fear death? -It is the greatest adventure man can have.’”</p> - -<p>Sir James M. Barrie, in a tribute to Charles Frohman, -published in the London Daily Mail, describes him -as “the man who never broke his word.</p> - -<p>“His companies were as children to him. He chided -them as children, soothed them as children and forgave -them and certainly loved them as children. He exulted -in those who became great in that world, and gave them -beautiful toys to play with; but great as was their -devotion to him, it is not they who will miss him most, -but rather the far greater number who never made a -hit, but set off like all the rest, and fell by the way. -He was of so sympathetic a nature; he understood so -well the dismalness to them of being failures, that he -saw them as children, with their knuckles to their -eyes, and then he sat back cross-legged on his chair, -with his knuckles, as it were, to his eyes, and life had -lost its flavor for him until he invented a scheme for -giving them another chance.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is fitting that all those who only made -for honest mirth and happiness should now go out of -the world; because it is too wicked for them. It is -strange to think that in America, Dernburg and -Bernstorff, who we must believe were once good men, -too, have an extra smile with their breakfast roll -because they and theirs have drowned Charles Frohman.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_3">SAVING THE BABIES</h3> - -<p>The presence of so many babies on board the Lusitania -was due to the influx from Canada of the English-born<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page27">[27]</a></span> -wives of Canadians at the battle front, who were -coming to England to live with their own or their -husband’s parents during the war.</p> - -<p>No more pathetic loss has been recorded than that -of F. G. Webster, a Toronto contractor, who was -traveling second class with his wife, their six-year-old -son Frederick and year-old twin sons William and -Henry. They reached the deck with others who were -in the dining saloon when the torpedo struck. Webster -took his son by the hand and darted away to bring -life-belts. When he returned his wife and babies were -not to be seen, nor have they been since.</p> - -<p>W. Harkless, an assistant purser, busied himself -helping others until the Lusitania was about to founder. -Then, seeing a life-boat striking the water that was not -overcrowded, he made a rush for it. The only person -he encountered was little Barbara Anderson, of Bridgeport, -Conn., who was standing alone, clinging to the -rail. Gathering her up in his arms he leaped over the -rail and into the boat, doing this without injuring the -child.</p> - -<p>Francis J. Luker, a British subject, who had worked -six years in the United States as a postal clerk, and -was going home to enlist, saved two babies. He -found the little passengers, bereft of their mother, in -the shelter of a deck-house. The Lusitania was nearing -her last plunge. A life-boat was swaying to the water -below. Grabbing the babies he ran to the rail and -made a flying leap into the craft, and those babies did -not leave his arms until they were set safely ashore -hours later.</p> - -<p>One woman, a passenger on the Lusitania, lost all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page28">[28]</a></span> -three of her children in the disaster, and gave the -bodies of two of them to the sea herself. When the -ship went down she held up the three children in the -water, shrieking for help. When rescued two were -dead. Their room was required and the mother was -brave enough to realize it.</p> - -<p>“Give them to me!” she shrieked. “Give them to -me, my bonnie wee things. I will bury them. They -are mine to bury as they were mine to keep.”</p> - -<p>With her form shaking with sorrow she took hold -of each little one from the rescuers and reverently -placed it in the water again, and the people in the boat -wept with her as she murmured a little sobbing prayer.</p> - -<p>Just as the rescuers were landing her third and only -remaining child died.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_4">TORONTO GIRL OF FOURTEEN PROVES HEROINE</h3> - -<p>Even the young girls and women on the Lusitania -proved themselves heroines during the last few moments -and met their fate calmly or rose to emergencies which -called for great bravery and presence of mind.</p> - -<p>Fourteen-year-old Kathleen Kaye was returning -from Toronto, where she had been visiting relatives. -With a merry smile on her lips and with a steady patter -of reassurance, she aided the stewards who were filling -one of the life-boats.</p> - -<p>Soon after the girl took her own place in the boat one -of the sailors fainted under the strain of the efforts -to get the boat clear of the maelstrom that marked -where the liner went down. Miss Kaye took the -abandoned oar and rowed until the boat was out of -danger. None among the survivors bore fewer signs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page29">[29]</a></span> -of their terrible experiences than Miss Kaye, who spent -most of her time comforting and assisting her sisters -in misfortune.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_5">HEROISM OF CAPTAIN TURNER AND HIS CREW</h3> - -<p>Ernest Cowper, a Toronto newspaper man, praised -the work of the Lusitania’s crew in their efforts to -get the passengers into the boats. Mr. Cowper told -of having observed the ship watches keeping a strict -lookout for submarines as soon as the ship began to -near the coast.</p> - -<p>“The crew proceeded to get the passengers into -boats in an orderly, prompt and efficient manner. -Helen Smith, a child, begged me to save her. I placed -her in a boat and saw her safely away. I got into one -of the last boats to leave.</p> - -<p>“Some of the boats could not be launched, as the -vessel was sinking. There was a large number of -women and children in the second cabin. Forty of -the children were less than a year old.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_6">WOMAN RESCUED WITH DEAD BABY AT HER BREAST</h3> - -<p>R. J. Timmis, of Gainesville, Tex., a cotton buyer, -who was saved after he had given his life-belt to a -woman steerage passenger who carried a baby, told -of the loss of his friend, R. T. Moodie, also of Gainesville. -Moodie could not swim, but he took off his -life-belt also and put it on a woman who had a six-months-old -child in her arms. Timmis tried to help -Moodie, and they both clung to some wreckage for a -while, but presently Moodie could hold out no longer -and sank. When Timmis was dragged into a boat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page30">[30]</a></span> -which he helped to right—it had been overturned in -the suction of the sinking vessel—one of the first -persons he assisted into the boat was the steerage -woman to whom he had given his belt. She still -carried her baby at her breast, but it was dead from -exposure.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_7">HEROIC WIRELESS OPERATORS</h3> - -<p>Oliver P. Brainard told of the bravery of the wireless -operators who stuck to their work of summoning help -even after it was evident that only a few minutes could -elapse before the vessel must go down. He said:</p> - -<p>“The wireless operators were working the emergency -outfit, the main installation having been put out of gear -instantaneously after the torpedo exploded. They -were still awaiting a reply and were sending out the -S. O. S. call.</p> - -<p>“I looked out to sea and saw a man, undressed, -floating quietly on his back in the water, evidently -waiting to be picked up rather than to take the chance -of getting away in a boat. He gave me an idea and I -took off my jacket and waistcoat, put my money in my -trousers pocket, unlaced my boots and then returned -to the Marconi men.</p> - -<p>“The assistant operator said, ‘Hush! we are still -hoping for an answer. We don’t know yet whether -the S. O. S. calls have been picked up or not.’</p> - -<p>“At that moment the chief operator turned around, -saying, ‘They’ve got it!’</p> - -<p>“At that very second the emergency apparatus -also broke down. The operator had left the room, -but he dashed back and brought out a kodak. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page31">[31]</a></span> -knelt on the deck, now listing at an angle of thirty-five -degrees, and took a photograph looking forward.</p> - -<p>“The assistant, a big, cheerful chap, lugged out the -operator’s swivel chair and offered it to me with a -laugh, saying: ‘Take a seat and make yourself comfortable.’ -He let go the chair and it careened down the -deck and over into the sea.”</p> - -<p>F. J. Gauntlet, of New York and Washington, -traveling in company with A. L. Hopkins, president -of the Newport News Shipbuilding Company, and -S. M. Knox, president of the New York Shipbuilding -Company, of Philadelphia, unconsciously told the -story of his own heroism. He said:</p> - -<p>“I was lingering in the dining saloon chatting with -friends when the first explosion occurred. Some of us -went to our staterooms and put on life-belts. Going -on deck we were informed that there was no danger, -but the bow of the vessel was gradually sinking. The -work of launching the boats was done in a few minutes. -Fifty or sixty people entered the first boat. -As it swung from the davits it fell suddenly and I think -most of the occupants perished. The other boats -were launched with the greatest difficulty.</p> - -<p>“Swinging free from one of these as it descended, I -grabbed what I supposed was a piece of wreckage. -I found it to be a collapsible boat, however. I had -great difficulty in getting it open, finally having to rip -the canvas with my knife. Soon another passenger -came alongside and entered the collapsible with me. -We paddled around and between us we rescued thirty -people from the water.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page32">[32]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_8">SAVED HIS WIFE AND HELPED IN RESCUE WORK</h3> - -<p>George A. Kessler, of New York, said:</p> - -<p>“A list to starboard had set in as we were climbing -the stairs and it had so rapidly increased by the time -we reached the deck, that we were falling against the -taffrail. I managed to get my wife onto the first-class -deck and there three boats were being got out.</p> - -<p>“I placed her in the third, kissed her good-by and -saw the boat lowered safely. Then I turned to look -for a life-belt for myself. The ship now started to go -down. I fell into the water, some kind soul throwing -me a life-belt at the same time. Ten minutes later -I found myself beside a raft on which were some survivors, -who pulled me onto it. We cruised around looking -for others and managed to pick up a few, making -in all perhaps sixteen or seventeen persons who were -on the raft. In all directions were scattered persons -struggling for their lives and the boats gave what help -they could.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef2_9">“SAVED ALL THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WE COULD”</h3> - -<p>W. G. E. Meyers, of Stratford, Ont., a lad of sixteen -years, who was on his way to join the British navy as a -cadet, told this story:</p> - -<p>“I went below to get a life-belt and met a woman -who was frenzied with fear. I tried to calm her and -helped her into a boat. Then I saw a boat which -was nearly swamped. I got into it with other men and -baled it out. Then a crowd of men clambered into it -and nearly swamped it.</p> - -<p>“We had got only two hundred yards away when -the Lusitania sank, bow first. Many persons sank with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page33">[33]</a></span> -her, drawn down by the suction. Their shrieks were -appalling. We had to pull hard to get away, and, as it -was, we were almost dragged down. We saved all the -women and children we could, but a great many of -them went down.”</p> - -<p>H. Smethhurst, a steerage passenger, put his wife -into a life-boat, and in spite of her urging refused to -accompany her, saying the women and children must -go first. After the boat with his wife in it had pulled -away Smethhurst put on a life-belt, slipped down a -rope into the water and floated until he was picked up.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page34">[34]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER III</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">SOUL-STIRRING STORIES OF SURVIVORS OF -THE LUSITANIA</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef3_1">COULD NOT LAUNCH BOATS</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_2">SAYS SHIP SANK IN -FIFTEEN MINUTES</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_3">SCREAMS INTENSIFY HORROR</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_4">ON -HUNT FOR THE LIFE-BELTS</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_5">INJURED BOY -SHOWS PLUCK</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_6">MANY CHILDREN DROWNED</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_7">WOMEN -RUSHED FOR THE BOATS</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_8">PATERSON, N. J., GIRLS AMONG RESCUED</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_9">THREATENED -SEAMEN WITH REVOLVER</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_10">RESCUED UNCONSCIOUS FROM THE WATER</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_11">LIFE-BOAT -SMASHED</a> — <a href="#SecRef3_12">REASSURED BY SHIP’S OFFICER</a>.</p> - -<p>Among the stories of the Lusitania horror told by -the survivors were a few that stand out from the -rest for their clearness and vividness. One of the most -interesting of these, notable for the prominence of -the man who relates it as well as for its conciseness, -was the description given by Samuel M. Knox, president -of the New York Shipbuilding Company. Mr. -Knox said:</p> - -<p>“Shortly after two, while we were finishing luncheon -in a calm sea, a heavy concussion was felt on the -starboard side, throwing the vessel to port. She -immediately swung back and proceeded to take on a -list to starboard, which rapidly increased.</p> - -<p>“The passengers rapidly, but in good form, left -the dining room, proceeding mostly to the A or boat -deck. There were preparations being made to launch -the boats. Order among the passengers was well -maintained, there being nothing approaching a panic.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page35">[35]</a></span> -Many of the passengers had gone to their staterooms -and provided themselves with life-belts.</p> - -<p>“The vessel reached an angle of about twenty-four -degrees and at this point there seemed to be a cessation -in the listing, the vessel maintaining this position -for four or five minutes, when something apparently -gave way, and the list started anew and increased -rapidly until the end.</p> - -<p>“The greater number of passengers were congregated -on the high side of the ship, and when it became -apparent that she was going to sink I made my way -to the lower side, where there appeared to be several -boats only partly filled and no passengers on that -deck. At this juncture I found the outside of the -boat deck practically even with the water and the -ship was even farther down by the head.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_1">COULD NOT LAUNCH BOATS</h3> - -<p>“I stepped into a boat and a sailor in charge then -attempted to cast her off, but it was found that the -boat-falls had fouled the boat and she could not be -released in the limited time available. I went overboard -at once and attempted to get clear of the ship, -which was coming over slowly. I was caught by one -of the smokestacks and carried down a considerable -distance before being released.</p> - -<p>“On coming to the surface I floated about for a -considerable time, when I was picked up by a life-raft. -This raft, with others, had floated free when the -vessel sank, and had been picked up and taken charge -of by Mr. Gauntlet, of Washington, and Mr. Lauriat, -of Boston, who picked up thirty-two persons in all.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It was equipped with oars, and we made our way -to a fishing smack, about five miles distant, which -took us on board, although it was already overloaded. -We were finally taken off this boat by the Cunard -tender Flying Fish and brought to Queenstown at -9.30.”</p> - -<p>Some of the passengers, notably David A. Thomas, -told of panicky conditions on board the vessel before -she sank, and one of the rescued declared that the loss -of life was due to some extent to the assurances spread -by the stewards among the passengers that there -was no danger of the Lusitania sinking. But all united -in praising the courage and steadiness of the officers -and crew of the ship.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_2">SAYS SHIP SANK IN FIFTEEN MINUTES</h3> - -<p>Mr. Thomas, a Cardiff, Wales, coal magnate, who -was rescued with his daughter, Lady Mackworth, -said that not more than fifteen minutes elapsed between -the first explosion and the sinking of the ship. -Lady Mackworth had put on a life-preserver and -went down with the Lusitania. When she arose to -the surface, Mr. Thomas said, she was unconscious, -and floated around in the tumbling sea for three and -a half hours before she was picked up.</p> - -<p>“As soon as the explosions occurred,” said Mr. -Thomas, “and the officers learned what had happened, -the ship’s course was directed toward the -shore, with the idea of beaching her. Captain Turner -remained upon the bridge until the ship went down, -and he was swallowed up in the maelstrom that followed. -He wore a life-belt, which kept him afloat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page37">[37]</a></span> -when he arose to the surface, and remained in the -water for three hours before he was picked up by a -life-boat.</p> - -<p>“During the last few minutes’ life of the Lusitania -she was a ship of -panic and tumult. -Excited men and -terrified women -ran shouting and -screaming about -the decks. Lost -children cried -shrilly. Officers -and seamen rushed -among the panic-stricken -passengers, -shouting -orders and helping -the women and -children into life-boats. -Women -clung desperately -to their husbands -or knelt on the deck and prayed. Life-preservers -were distributed among the passengers, who hastily -donned them and flung themselves into the water.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - -<img src="images/illo042.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="582" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">As Others See Us.</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_3">SCREAMS INTENSIFY HORROR</h3> - -<p>“In their haste and excitement the seamen overloaded -one life-boat and the davit ropes broke while -it was being lowered, the occupants being thrown -into the water. The screams of these terrified women<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page38">[38]</a></span> -and men intensified the fright of those still on the -ship. Altogether I counted ten life-boats launched.”</p> - -<p>A German submarine was seen for an hour before -the liner was sunk, according to Dr. Daniel Moore, -of Yankton, S. D., who said:</p> - -<p>“About 1 <span class="smcapall">P.M.</span> we noticed that the Lusitania was -steering a zigzag course. Land had been in sight -for three hours, distinctly visible twelve miles away. -Looking through my glasses, I could see on the port -side of the Lusitania, between us and land, what -appeared to be a black, oblong object, with four -dome-like projections. It was moving along parallel -to us, more than two miles away. At times it slowed -down and disappeared. But always it reappeared. -All this time the Lusitania was zigzagging along. -Later the Lusitania kept a more even course, and -we generally agreed then that it was a friendly submarine -we were watching. We had seen no other -vessels except one or two fishing boats.</p> - -<p>“At 1.40 we sat down to luncheon in the second -saloon. We talked of the curious object we had seen, -but nobody seemed anxious or concerned. About -two o’clock a muffled, drum-like noise sounded from -the forward part of the Lusitania and she shivered -and trembled. Almost immediately she began to -list to starboard. She had been struck on the starboard -side. Unless the first submarine seen had -been speedy enough to make rings around the Lusitania, -this torpedo must have come from a second -submarine which had been lying hidden to starboard.</p> - -<p>“We heard no sound of explosion. There was general -excitement among the passengers at luncheon,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page39">[39]</a></span> -but the women were soon quieted by assurances that -there was no danger and that the Lusitania had -merely struck a small mine. The passengers left the -saloon in good order.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_4">ON HUNT FOR THE LIFE-BELTS</h3> - -<p>“As I reached the deck above I had difficulty in -walking owing to the tilt of the vessel. With most -of the passengers I ran on to the promenade deck. -There was no crushing. Although the deck was -crowded, I looked over the side; but I could see no -evidence of damage. I started to return to my cabin, -but the list of the liner was so marked that I abandoned -the idea and regained the deck. Looking over -the starboard rail, I saw that the water was now only -about twelve feet from the rail at one point. While -searching for a life-belt I came upon a stewardess -struggling with a pile of life-belts in a rack below deck -and helped her put one on, afterward securing one for -myself. I had tremendous difficulty in reaching -the promenade deck again.</p> - -<p>“The Lusitania now was on her side and sinking -by the bow. I saw a woman clinging to the rail near -where a boat was being lowered. I pushed her over -the rail into the boat, afterward jumping down myself.</p> - -<p>“The boat fell bodily into the sea, but kept afloat, -although so heavily loaded that water was lapping -in. We bailed with our hats, but could not keep pace -with the water, and I realized we must soon sink.</p> - -<p>“Seeing a keg, I threw it overboard and sprang -after it. A young steward named Freeman also -used the keg as a support. Looking back, I saw the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page40">[40]</a></span> -boat I had left swamped. We clung to the keg for -about an hour and a half and then were picked up -by a raft on which were twenty persons, including two -women.</p> - -<p>“We had oars and rowed toward land. At about -four o’clock we were picked up by the patrol boat -Brook. She took us aboard and then cruised out to -where the Lusitania had gone down, picking up many -survivors there, also taking aboard many from boats -and rafts.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_5">INJURED BOY SHOWS PLUCK</h3> - -<p>“A number of those picked up were injured, including -a little boy, whose left thigh was broken. I improvised -splints for him and set his leg. He was -a plucky little chap, and was soon asking, ‘Is there a -funny paper aboard?’</p> - -<p>“At the scene of the catastrophe the surface of the -water had seemed dotted with bodies. Only a few -life-boats seemed to be doing good. Cries of ‘Save -us! Help!’ gradually grew weaker from all sides. -Finally low wailings made the heart sick. I saw -many men die.</p> - -<p>“There was no suction when the ship settled. It -went down steadily. The life-boats were not in order -and they were not manned. Weighing all the facts -soberly convinces me that it was only through the -mercy of God that any one was saved. Are there -any bounds to this modern vandalism?”</p> - -<p>L. Tonner, a County Dublin man, and a stoker on -the Lusitania, who was one of the survivors landed -at Kinsale, said:</p> - -<p>“There must have been two submarines attacking -the Lusitania. The liner was first torpedoed on -the starboard side, and right through the engine room -a few minutes afterward the Lusitania received a -second torpedo on the port side. The Lusitania listed -so heavily to starboard that it was impossible to lower -the boats on the port side.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo046.jpg" alt="" width="387" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Prominent American Victims of the Lusitania Horror.</span></p> - -<div class="split5050"> - -<div class="leftsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padr1">Alfred G. Vanderbilt, New York Millionaire. -(<i>C. Underwood & Underwood.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--leftsplit5050--> - -<div class="rightsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padl1">Elbert Hubbard, Editor and Lecturer. -(<i>C. Int. News Service.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit5050--> - -</div><!--split5050--> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -<div class="split5050"> - -<div class="leftsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padr1">Charles Frohman, Theatrical Magnate. -(<i>C. Underwood & Underwood.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--leftsplit5050--> - -<div class="rightsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padl1">Charles Klein, well-known Playwright. -(<i>C. Int. News Service.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit5050--> - -</div><!--split5050--> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo047.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Sorrowful Burial of Some of the Lusitania Victims.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Sixty-six coffins were placed in one grave at the Queenstown graveyard. In the presence of a large crowd they -were buried with full military honors. The view shows a few of the caskets in the grave. -<span class="copyright">(<i>C. Int. News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page41">[41]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_6">MANY CHILDREN DROWNED</h3> - -<p>G. D. Lane, a youthful but cool-headed second-cabin -passenger, who was returning to Wales from -New York, was in a life-boat which was capsized by -the davits as the Lusitania heeled over.</p> - -<p>“I was on the B deck,” he said, “when I saw the -wake of a torpedo. I hardly realized what it meant -when the big ship seemed to stagger and almost immediately -listed to starboard. I rushed to get a -life-belt, but stopped to help get children on the boat -deck. The second cabin was a veritable nursery.</p> - -<p>“Many youngsters must have drowned, but I had -the satisfaction of seeing one boat get away filled -with women and children. When the water reached -the deck I saw another life-boat with a vacant seat, -which I took, as no one else was in sight, but we were -too late. The Lusitania reeled so suddenly our boat -was swamped, but we righted it again.</p> - -<p>“We now witnessed the most horrible scene of -human futility it is possible to imagine. When the -Lusitania had turned almost over she suddenly plunged -bow foremost into the water, leaving her stern high -in the air. People on the aft deck were fighting with -wild desperation to retain a footing on the almost<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page42">[42]</a></span> -perpendicular deck while they fell over the slippery -stern like crippled flies.</p> - -<p>“Their cries and shrieks could be heard above the -hiss of escaping steam and the crash of bursting -boilers. Then the water mercifully closed over them -and the big liner disappeared, leaving scarcely a ripple -behind her.</p> - -<p>“Twelve life-boats were all that were left of our -floating home. In time which could be measured by -seconds swimmers, bodies and wreckage appeared -in the space where she went down. I was almost -exhausted by the work of rescue when taken aboard -the trawler. It seems like a horrible dream now.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_7">WOMEN RUSHED FOR THE BOATS</h3> - -<p>According to another American survivor, W. H. -Brooks, “there was a scene of great confusion as women -and children rushed for the boats which were launched -with the greatest difficulty and danger, owing to the -tilting of the ship.</p> - -<p>“I heard the captain order that no more boats -be launched, so I leaped into the sea. After I reached -the water there was another explosion which sent up -a shower of wreckage.”</p> - -<p>Dr. J. T. Houghton, of Troy, N. Y., said: “It was -believed there was no reason to fear any danger after -the first explosion, as it was said the vessel would -be headed for Queenstown and beached if necessary. -Meanwhile boats were being got ready for any emergency.</p> - -<p>“Just then the liner was again struck, evidently -in a more vital spot, for it began to settle rapidly.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page43">[43]</a></span> -Orders then came from the bridge to lower all boats. -A near panic took possession of the women. People -were rushed into the boats, some of which were launched -successfully, others not so successfully.”</p> - -<p>Oscar F. Grab, of New York, said: “I was able -to get hold of a life-preserver and I remained on the -starboard side until the water was almost at my feet. -Then I slid into the sea so easily that I did not even -wet my hair. I was soon picked up by a boat in -which were twenty women and some children.</p> - -<p>“We had to keep the women lying in the bottom -so as to get room to pull at the oars. The ship went -down, as seen by me from the water, in this fashion:</p> - -<p>“She had settled down well forward. She then -listed to starboard, and rose to a perpendicular until -the stern with the propellers was sticking straight -out of the water.</p> - -<p>“An explosion then occurred as the water reached -the boilers; one of the funnels was blown clean out, -and in half a minute there was nothing visible of the -Lusitania but a lot of wreckage mingled with a number -of dead bodies.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_8">PATERSON, N. J., GIRLS AMONG RESCUED</h3> - -<p>The Misses Agnes and Evelyn Wilde, sisters, of -Paterson, N. J., were at lunch when the torpedo -struck the vessel. They rushed on deck. Miss Agnes -Wilde said:</p> - -<p>“We clung to each other, determined not to be -separated, even if we went to the bottom. We were -thrown into a boat, together with thirty-six others, -and after several hours were picked up by a fishing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page44">[44]</a></span> -boat, which towed us for several hours, intending to -take us to Kinsale. Before we arrived, however, -a Government boat came along and took us to Queenstown.</p> - -<p>“We were drenched to the skin, cold and penniless. -We went into a shop, where they fitted us out -from head to foot without charge. We are only beginning -to realize what we have passed through.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Martha Anna Wyatt, sixty years old, of New -Bedford, Mass., said: “I went down with the ship -and spent four hours in a collapsible boat before being -picked up. I was going to England to live.</p> - -<p>“While the ship was sinking I found it impossible -to get into any of the life-boats. There seemed no -help about. I simply stood still, clinging to the rail, -and went down. I seemed to go to the bottom. When -I came to the surface again I was pulled into the -collapsible boat which brought me to safety.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. C. Stewart, who was traveling from Toronto -to Glasgow, said:</p> - -<p>“I was in my cabin with my eight-months-old baby, -who was sleeping in the berth, when I heard the -crash. I snatched my baby up and went on deck. -A man yelled, ‘Come on with the baby.’ I handed -him the infant and he said, ‘Now for yourself.’</p> - -<p>“We were two and a half hours in the boat before -we were picked up by a Greek steamer.”</p> - -<p>Robert C. Wright, of Cleveland, O., gave what -may be the last word of Elbert Hubbard. Mr. Wright -said:</p> - -<p>“I don’t know who was saved, but I know that -Elbert Hubbard must have been drowned. He was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page45">[45]</a></span> -conspicuous person on account of his long hair. I -saw him and his wife start below, apparently for life-belts, -but I never saw either again. I am certain -they were drowned.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_9">THREATENED SEAMEN WITH REVOLVER</h3> - -<p>Isaac Lehmann, of New York, a first-cabin passenger, -who described himself as being engaged in the -Department of Government Supplies, said that after -having witnessed an accident to one of the boats -through the snapping of the ropes while it was being -lowered, he ran into his cabin and seizing a revolver -and a life-belt, returned to the deck and mounted -a collapsible boat and called to some of the crew to -assist in launching it. One sailor, he said, replied -that the captain’s orders were that no boats were to -be put out.</p> - -<p>“I drew my revolver, which was loaded with ball -cartridges,” said Mr. Lehmann, “and shouted ‘I’ll -shoot the first man who refuses to assist in launching.’ -The boat was then lowered. At least sixty persons -were in it. Unfortunately, the Lusitania lurched so -badly that the boat repeatedly struck the side of -the sinking ship, and I think at least twenty of its -occupants were killed or injured.</p> - -<p>“At that instant we heard an explosion on the right -up forward, and within two minutes the liner disappeared. -I was thrown clear of the wreckage, and -went down twice, but the life-belt that I had on -brought me up. I was in the water fully four hours -and a half.”</p> - -<p>Asked as to the probable speed of the Lusitania<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page46">[46]</a></span> -when she was struck by the torpedo, Mr. Lehmann -said the boat was probably going at about sixteen or -seventeen knots.</p> - -<p>Julian de Ayala, Consul General for Cuba at Liverpool, -said that he was ill in his berth when the Lusitania -was torpedoed. He was thrown against the -partition of his berth by the explosion and suffered an -injury to his head and had flesh torn off one of his legs.</p> - -<p>The boat Mr. de Ayala got into capsized and he was -thrown into the water, but later he was picked up.</p> - -<p>“Captain Turner,” said Mr. de Ayala, “thought -he could bring the crippled vessel into Queenstown, -but she rapidly began to sink by the head.</p> - -<p>“Her stern went up so high,” Mr. de Ayala added, -“that we could see all of her propellers, and she went -down with a headlong plunge, volumes of steam -hissing from her funnels.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_10">RESCUED UNCONSCIOUS FROM THE WATER</h3> - -<p>The experience of two New York girls, Miss Mary -Barrett and Miss Kate MacDonald, rescued at the -last minute, may be taken as typical of the experience -of many others. Miss Barrett gives the following -account of her experiences:</p> - -<p>“We had gone into the second saloon and were -just finishing lunch. I heard a sound something -like the smashing of big dishes and then there came a -second and louder crash. Miss MacDonald and -I started to go upstairs, but we were thrown back by -the crowd when the ship stopped. But we managed -to get to the second deck, where we found sailors -trying to lower boats.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page47">[47]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There was no panic and the ship’s officers and crew -went about their work quietly and steadily. I went -to get two life-belts, but a man standing by told us -to remain where we were and he would fetch them for -us. He brought us two belts and we put them on. By -this time the ship was leaning right over to starboard -and we were both thrown down. We managed to -scramble to the side of the liner.</p> - -<p>“Near us I saw a rope attached to one of the life-boats. -I thought I could catch it, so we murmured -a few words of prayer and then jumped into the water. -I missed the rope, but floated about in the water for -some time. I did not lose consciousness at first, but -the water got into my eyes and mouth and I began to -lose hope of ever seeing my friends again. I could -not see anybody near me. Then I must have lost -consciousness, for I remember nothing more until one -of the Lusitania’s life-boats came along. The crew -was pulling on board another woman, who was unconscious, -and they shouted to me, ‘You hold on a -little longer!’</p> - -<p>“After a time they lifted me out of the water. Then -I remembered nothing more for a time. In the meantime -our boat had picked up twenty others. It was -getting late in the evening when we were transferred -to a trawler and taken to Queenstown.</p> - -<p>“Miss MacDonald floated about nearly four hours -in a dazed state. She had little remembrance of what -had passed until a boat saved her. She remembered -somebody saying, ‘Oh, the poor girl is dead!’ She had -just strength to raise her hand and they returned and -pulled her on board.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p>Miss Conner, a cousin of Henry L. Stimson, formerly -Secretary of War of the United States, was standing -beside Lady Mackworth when they were flung -into the water as the ship keeled over. Both women -were provided with life-belts and were picked up when -at the point of exhaustion.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_11">LIFE-BOAT SMASHED</h3> - -<p>Doctor Howard Fisher of New York, who is a -brother of Walter L. Fisher, formerly Secretary -of the Interior of the United States, was on his -way to Belgium for Red Cross duty. His story -follows:</p> - -<p>“It is not true that those on board were unconcerned -over the possibility of being torpedoed. I -took the big liner to save time and also because in -case of a floating mine I felt she would have more -chance of staying up. But like everybody else aboard, -I felt sure in case of being torpedoed that we would -have ample time to take to the boats.</p> - -<p>“When I heard the crash I rushed to the port side. -No officer was in sight. An effort was being made -to lower the boat swinging just opposite the grand -entrance. Women, children and men made a mad -scramble about this boat, which was smashed against -the side, throwing all the occupants into the sea.</p> - -<p>“Then two big men, one a sailor and the other a -passenger, succeeded in launching a second boat. -Much to my surprise this amateur effort was successful. -This boat got away and carried chiefly women -and children. This boat was successfully launched -on the port side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef3_12">REASSURED BY SHIP’S OFFICER</h3> - -<p>“We then saw our first glimpse of an officer, who -came along the deck and spoke to Lady Mackworth, -Miss Conner and myself, who were standing in a -group. He said:</p> - -<p>“‘Don’t worry, the ship will right itself.’ He had -hardly moved on before the ship turned sideways -and then seemed to plunge head foremost into the -sea.</p> - -<p>“I came up after what seemed to be an interminable -time under water and found myself surrounded -by swimmers, dead bodies and wreckage. I got on -an upturned yawl, where I found thirty other people, -among them Lady Allan, whose collar-bone was broken -while she was in the water.</p> - -<p>“Another passenger on the yawl, a man whose name -I did not learn, had his arm hanging by the skin. -His injury probably was due to the explosion which -followed. His arm was amputated successfully with -a butcher knife by a little Italian surgeon aboard the -tramp steamer which picked me up.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page50">[50]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">A CANADIAN’S ACCOUNT OF THE -LUSITANIA HORROR</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef4_0">PERCY ROGERS, OF CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION, -TELLS GRAPHIC STORY</a> — <a href="#SecRef4_1">PASSENGERS WERE -AGHAST</a> — <a href="#SecRef4_2">OCCUPANTS OF LIFE-BOATS THROWN INTO -SEA</a> — <a href="#SecRef4_3">A HEART-BREAKING SCENE</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef4_0">Percy Rogers, assistant manager and secretary -of the Canadian National Exhibition, who went to -England in connection with the Toronto Fair, told -a graphic story of his experiences after the Lusitania -was struck. He undoubtedly owed his life to the fact -that he was a good swimmer.</p> - -<p>“It had been a splendid crossing,” he said, “with -a calm sea and fine weather contributing to a delightful -trip. The Lusitania made nothing like her maximum -pace. Her speed probably was about five hundred -miles daily, which, as travelers know, is below her -average.</p> - -<p>“Early Friday morning we sighted the Irish coast. -Then we entered a slight fog, and speed was reduced, -but we soon came into a clear atmosphere again, and -the pace of the boat increased. The morning passed -and we went as usual down to lunch, although some -were a little later than others in taking the meal. I -should think it would be about ten minutes past two -when I came from lunch. I immediately proceeded to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page51">[51]</a></span> -my stateroom, close to the dining-room, to get a letter -which I had written. While in there I heard a tremendous -thud, and I came out immediately.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef4_1">PASSENGERS WERE AGHAST</h3> - -<p>“There was no panic where I was, but the people were -aghast. It was realized that the boat had been struck, -apparently on the side nearest the land. The passengers -hastened to the boat deck above. The life-boats -were hanging out, having been put into that position -on the previous day. The Lusitania soon began to list -badly with the result that the side on which I and -several others were standing went up as the other -side dropped. This seemed to cause difficulty in launching -the boats, which seemed to get bound against the -side of the liner.</p> - -<p>“It was impossible, of course, for me to see what was -happening in other places, but among the group where -I was stationed there was no panic. The order was -given, ‘Women and children first,’ and was followed -implicitly. The first life-boat lowered with people at -the spot where I stood smacked upon the water, and -as it did so the stern of this life-boat seemed to part and -the people were thrown into the sea. The other boats -were lowered more successfully.</p> - -<p>“We heard somebody say, ‘Get out of the boats; -there is no danger,’ and some people actually did get -out, but the direction was not generally acted upon. -I entered a boat in which there were men, women and -children, I should say between twenty and twenty-five. -There were no other women or children standing on -the liner where we were, our position, I should think,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page52">[52]</a></span> -being about the last boat but one from the stern of the -ship.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef4_2">OCCUPANTS OF LIFE-BOATS THROWN INTO SEA</h3> - -<p>“Our boat dropped into the water, and for a few -minutes we were all right. Then the liner went over. -We were not far from her. Whatever the cause may -have been—perhaps the effect of suction—I don’t know, -but we were thrown into the sea. Some of the occupants -were wearing life-belts, but I was not. The -only life-belts I knew about were in the cabins, and it -had not appeared to me that there was time to risk -going there. It must have been about 2.30 when I was -thrown into the water. The watch I was wearing -stopped at that time.</p> - -<p>“What a terrible scene there was around me! It -is harrowing to think about the men, women and children -struggling in the water. I had the presence of -mind to swim away from the boat and made towards -a collapsible boat, upon which was the captain and a -number of others. For this purpose I had to swim -quite a distance.</p> - -<p>“I noticed three children among the group. Our -collapsible boat began rocking. Every moment it -seemed we should be thrown again into the sea. The -captain appealed to the people in it to be careful, but -the boat continued to rock, and I came to the conclusion -that it would be dangerous to remain in it if all were -to have a chance. I said, ‘Good-by, Captain; I’m -going to swim,’ and jumped into the water. I believe -the captain did the same thing after me, although I did -not see him, but I understand he was picked up.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page53">[53]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo060.jpg" alt="" title="“GOD IS WITH US”" width="397" height="500" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef4_3">A HEART-BREAKING SCENE</h3> - -<p>“The scene was now terrible. Particularly do I -remember a young child with a life-belt around her -calling, ‘Mamma!’ She was not saved. I had seen -her on the liner, and her sister was on the collapsible -boat, but I could not reach her. I saw a cold-storage -box or cupboard. I swam towards it and clung to it. -This supported me for a long time. At last I saw -a boat coming towards me and shouted. I was heard -and taken in. From this I was transferred to what I -think was a trawler, which also picked up three or four -others. Eventually I was placed upon a ferry boat -known as the Flying Fish, in which, with others, I was -taken to Queenstown.</p> - -<p>“It was quite possible that some people went down -while in their cabins, because after lunch it was the -custom with some to go for a rest. A friend of mine -on the liner has told me he saw Alfred G. Vanderbilt -on deck with a life-belt and observed him give it to a -lady. It seemed to me the seriousness of the situation -scarcely was realized when the boat was torpedoed. -It was all so sudden and so unexpected, and the recollection -of it all is terrible.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER V</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE PLOT AGAINST THE RESCUE SHIPS</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef5_1">GERMAN SUBMARINES PREVENTED RESCUE OF LUSITANIA -PASSENGERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef5_2">STORY OF ETONIAN’S CAPTAIN</a> — <a href="#SecRef5_3">DODGED -TWO SUBMARINES</a> — <a href="#SecRef5_4">NARRAGANSETT -DRIVEN OFF</a> — <a href="#SecRef5_5">TORPEDO FIRED AT NARRAGANSETT</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef5_1">From the lips of Captain Turner, of the Lusitania, -and from several of the survivors the world has heard -the story of the sudden appearance among the débris -and the dead of the sunken liner, of the German -submarine that had fired the torpedo which sent almost -1,200 non-combatants, hundreds of them helpless women -and children, and among them more than a hundred -American citizens, to their deaths. But it remained for -the captain of the steamship Etonian, arriving at -Boston on May 18, to add the crowning touch to the -tragedy.</p> - -<p>Captain William F. Wood, of the Etonian, specifically -charged that two German submarines deliberately -prevented him from going to the rescue of the Lusitania’s -passengers after he had received the liner’s -wireless S. O. S. call, and when he was but forty miles -or so away, and might have rendered great assistance -to the hundreds of victims.</p> - -<p>Captain Wood charged further that two other ships, -both within the same distance of the Lusitania when -she sank, were warned off by submarines, and that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page56">[56]</a></span> -when the nearest one, the Narragansett, bound for New -York, persisted in the attempt to proceed to the rescue -of the Lusitania’s passengers, a submarine fired a -torpedo at her, which missed the Narragansett by only -a few feet.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef5_2">STORY OF ETONIAN’S CAPTAIN</h3> - -<p>The Etonian is a freight-carrying steamship, owned -by the Wilson-Furness-Leyland lines, and under charter -to the Cunard Line. She sailed from Liverpool on May -6. Captain Wood’s story, as he told it without embellishment -and in the most positive terms, was as follows:</p> - -<p>“We had left Liverpool without unusual incident, and -it was two o’clock on the afternoon of Friday, May 7, -that we received the S. O. S. call from the Lusitania. -Her wireless operator sent this message: ‘We are ten -miles south of Kinsale. Come at once.’</p> - -<p>“I was then about forty-two miles from the position -he gave me. Two other steamships were ahead of me, -going in the same direction. They were the Narragansett -and the City of Exeter. The Narragansett -was closer to the Lusitania, and she answered the -S. O. S. call.</p> - -<p>“At 5 <span class="smcapall">P.M.</span> I observed the City of Exeter across our -bow and she signaled, ‘Have you heard anything of -the disaster?’</p> - -<p>“At that very moment I saw the periscope of a -submarine between the Etonian and the City of -Exeter. The submarine was about a quarter of a -mile directly ahead of us. She immediately dived as -soon as she saw us coming for her. I distinctly saw -the splash in the water caused by her submerging.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo064.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="384" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Charging Through Barbed-Wire Entanglements.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The King’s Regiment of the British Army suffered heavily -while trying to penetrate the enemy’s wire entanglement -at Givenchy. Three lines of a perfect thicket of barbed-wire lay between them and the enemy. Only one brave -officer even managed to penetrate the wire. <span class="copyright">(<i>Il. L. News copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo065.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">A Land Mine Exploded Underneath a Section of the Enemy’s Trenches.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">A method which has been known to blow forty men to pieces at once. By sapping and mining the gallery was -dug almost to the enemy’s trenches underground and explosives placed, which were then fired by electric wire. The -explosion hurled a piece of railroad iron weighing twenty-five pounds a distance of over a mile. <span class="copyright">(<i>Il. L. News -copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef5_3">DODGED TWO SUBMARINES</h3> - -<p>“I signaled to the engine room for every available -inch of speed, and there was a prompt response. Then -we saw the submarine come up astern of us with the -periscope in line afterward. I now ordered full speed -ahead, and we left the submarine slowly behind. The -periscope remained in sight about twenty minutes. -Our speed was perhaps two miles an hour better than -the submarine could do.</p> - -<p>“No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine -astern than I made out another on the starboard bow. -This one was directly ahead and on the surface, not -submerged. I starboarded hard away from him, he -swinging as we did. About eight minutes later he -submerged. I continued at top speed for four hours, -and saw no more of the submarines. It was the ship’s -speed that saved her. That’s all.</p> - -<p>“Both these submarines were long craft, and the -second one had wireless masts. There is no question -in my mind that these two submarines were acting -in concert and were so placed as to torpedo any ship -that might attempt to go to the rescue of the passengers -of the Lusitania.</p> - -<p>“As a matter of fact, the Narragansett, as soon as -she heard the S. O. S. call, went to the assistance of the -Lusitania. One of the submarines discharged a -torpedo at her and missed her by a few feet. The -Narragansett then warned us not to attempt to go to -the rescue of the Lusitania, and I got her wireless call -while I was dodging the two submarines. You can -see that three ships would have gone to the assistance of -the Lusitania had it not been for the two submarines.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p>“These German craft were, it seems to me, deliberately -stationed off Old Head of Kinsale, at a point -where all ships have got to pass, for the express purpose -of preventing any assistance being given to the -passengers of the Lusitania.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef5_4">NARRAGANSETT DRIVEN OFF</h3> - -<p>That the British tank steamer Narragansett, one of the -vessels that caught the distress signal of the Lusitania, -was also driven off her rescue course by a torpedo from -a submarine when she arrived within seven miles of -the spot where the Lusitania went down, an hour and -three-quarters after she caught the wireless call for -help, was alleged by the officers of the tanker, which -arrived at Bayonne, N. J., on the same day that the -Etonian reached Boston.</p> - -<p>The story told by the officers of the Narragansett -corroborated the statements made by officers of the -Etonian. They said that submarines were apparently -scouting the sea to drive back rescue vessels when the -Lusitania fell a victim to another undersea craft.</p> - -<p>The Lusitania’s call for help was received by the -Narragansett at two o’clock on the afternoon of May 7, -according to wireless operator Talbot Smith, who -said the message read: “Strong list. Come quick.”</p> - -<p>When the Narragansett received the message she -was thirty-five miles southeast of the Lusitania, having -sailed from Liverpool the preceding afternoon at five -o’clock for Bayonne. The message was delivered -quickly to Captain Charles Harwood, and he ordered -the vessel to put on full steam and increase her speed -from eleven to fourteen knots. The Narragansett<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page59">[59]</a></span> -changed her course and started in the direction of the -sinking ship.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef5_5">TORPEDO FIRED AT NARRAGANSETT</h3> - -<p>Second Officer John Letts, who was on the bridge, -said he sighted the periscope of a submarine at 3.35 -o’clock, and almost at the same instant he saw a -torpedo shooting through the water. The torpedo, -according to the second officer, was traveling at great -speed.</p> - -<p>It shot past the Narragansett, missing the stem by -hardly thirty feet, and disappeared. The periscope -of the submarine went out of sight at the same time, -but the captain of the Narragansett decided not to -take any chance, changed the course of his vessel so -that the stern pointed directly toward the spot where -the periscope was last sighted, and, after steering -straight ahead for some distance, followed a somewhat -zigzag course until he was out of the immediate submarine -territories.</p> - -<p>Captain Harwood abandoned all thought of the -Lusitania’s call for help, because he thought it was a -decoy message sent out to trap the Narragansett into -the submarine’s path.</p> - -<p>“My opinion,” said Second Officer Letts, “is that -submarines were scattered around that territory to -prevent any vessel that received the S. O. S. call of the -Lusitania from going to her assistance.”</p> - -<p>When attacked by the submarine the Narragansett -had out her log, according to Second Officer Letts, and -the torpedo passed under the line to which it was -attached. The torpedo was fired from the submarine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page60">[60]</a></span> -when the undersea boat was within two hundred yards -of the tanker.</p> - -<p>The Narragansett when turned back had not sighted -the wreck of the Lusitania, and her officers, who were -led to believe the S. O. S. was a decoy, did not learn -of the sinking of the Cunarder until the following -morning at two o’clock.</p> - -<p>The Narragansett, under charter to the Standard -Oil Company, is one of the largest tank steamships -afloat. She is 540 feet long, has a sixty-foot beam, and -12,500 tons displacement.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page61">[61]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER VI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">BRITISH JURY FINDS KAISER A -MURDERER</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef6_1">“THE CRIME OF WHOLESALE MURDER”</a>—<a href="#SecRef6_2">CAPTAIN -TURNER’S TESTIMONY</a> — <a href="#SecRef6_3">SAW THE TORPEDO</a> — <a href="#SecRef6_4">DOUBLE -LOOKOUTS ON LINER</a> — <a href="#SecRef6_5">NO WARNING GIVEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef6_6">OTHER -TESTIMONY</a> — <a href="#SecRef6_7">CORONER HORGAN’S STATEMENT</a>.</p> - -<p>One of the first official acts with reference to the loss -of the Lusitania was the impaneling, on May 10, of a -coroner’s jury at Queenstown to fix the responsibility -for the death of the passengers whose bodies were -recovered and taken to that place. The inquest was -conducted by Coroner John Horgan. The coroner’s -proceedings were comparatively brief, and were concluded -with the return of the following verdict of the -jury:</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_1">“THE CRIME OF WHOLESALE MURDER”</h3> - -<p>“We find that the deceased met death from prolonged -immersion and exhaustion in the sea eight -miles south-southwest of Old Head of Kinsale, Friday, -May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania -by torpedoes fired by a German submarine.</p> - -<p>“We find that this appalling crime was committed -contrary to international law and the conventions of all -civilized nations.</p> - -<p>“We also charge the officers of said submarine and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page62">[62]</a></span> -the Emperor and Government of Germany, under -whose orders they acted, with the crime of wholesale -murder before the tribunal of the civilized world.</p> - -<p>“We desire to express sincere condolences and -sympathy with the relatives of the deceased, the -Cunard Company and the United States, many of -whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on -an unarmed liner.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_2">CAPTAIN TURNER’S TESTIMONY</h3> - -<p>Captain W. T. Turner, the Lusitania’s commander, -was the chief witness at the inquest.</p> - -<p>The Coroner asked the captain whether he had -received a message concerning the sinking of a ship off -Kinsale by a submarine. Captain Turner replied that -he had not.</p> - -<p>“Did you receive any special instructions as to the -voyage?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Did you carry them out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, to the best of my ability.”</p> - -<p>“You were aware threats had been made that the -ship would be torpedoed?”</p> - -<p>“We were,” the captain replied.</p> - -<p>“Was she armed?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What precautions did you take?”</p> - -<p>“We had all the boats swung when we came within -the danger zone, between the passing of Fastnet and -the time of the accident.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo072.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="400" height="569" title='CIVILIZATION -"UNCLEAN!"' /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page64">[64]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Tell us in your own words what happened after -passing Fastnet.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_3">SAW THE TORPEDO</h3> - -<p>“The weather was clear,” Captain Turner answered. -“We were going at a speed of eighteen knots. I was -on the port side and heard Second Officer Hefford -call out, ‘Here’s a torpedo.’</p> - -<p>“I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of -a torpedo. Smoke and steam came up between the last -two funnels. There was a slight shock. Immediately -after the first explosion there was another report, but -that may possibly have been internal.</p> - -<p>“I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to -the rails, and I directed that women and children should -get into them. I also had all the bulkheads closed.</p> - -<p>“I also gave orders to stop the ship,” Captain Turner -continued, “but we could not stop. We found that the -engines were out of commission. It was not safe to -lower boats until the speed was off the vessel. As a -matter of fact, there was a perceptible headway on her -up to the time she went down.</p> - -<p>“When she was struck she listed to starboard. I -stood on the bridge when she sank, and the Lusitania -went down under me. She floated about eighteen -minutes after the torpedo struck her. My watch -stopped at 2.36. I was picked up from among the -wreckage and afterward was brought aboard a trawler.</p> - -<p>“No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, -and none was reported to me as having been seen. At -the time I was picked up I noticed bodies floating on -the surface, but saw no living persons.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the -Lusitania, was it?” he was asked.</p> - -<p>“At ordinary times,” answered Captain Turner, -“she could make twenty-five knots, but in war times -her speed was reduced to twenty-one knots. My reason -for going eighteen knots was that I wanted to arrive -at Liverpool without stopping and within two or three -hours of high water.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_4">DOUBLE LOOKOUTS ON LINER</h3> - -<p>“Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having -regard to previous warnings?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; we had double lookouts.”</p> - -<p>“Were you going a zigzag course at the moment -the torpedoing took place?”</p> - -<p>“No; it was bright weather, and land was clearly -visible.”</p> - -<p>“Was it possible for a submarine to approach without -being seen?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, quite possible.”</p> - -<p>“Something has been said regarding the impossibility -of launching the boats on the port side?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Captain Turner, “owing to the listing -of the ship.”</p> - -<p>“How many boats were launched safely?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot say.”</p> - -<p>“Were your orders promptly carried out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Was there any panic on board?”</p> - -<p>“No, there was no panic at all; it was all most calm.”</p> - -<p>By the foreman of the jury:</p> - -<p>“In the face of the warnings at New York that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page66">[66]</a></span> -Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any -application to the Admiralty for an escort?”</p> - -<p>“No, I left that to them. It is their business, not -mine. I simply had to carry out my orders to go, and -I would do it again.”</p> - -<p>Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply -with great emphasis.</p> - -<p>By the coroner:</p> - -<p>“I am very glad to hear you say so, Captain.”</p> - -<p>By a juryman:</p> - -<p>“Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a -northerly direction?”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Captain Turner.</p> - -<p>“Was the course of the vessel altered after the -torpedoes struck her?”</p> - -<p>“I headed straight for land, but it was useless. -Previous to this the water-tight bulkheads were closed. -I suppose the explosion forced them open. I don’t -know the exact extent to which the Lusitania was -damaged.”</p> - -<p>“There must have been serious damage done to the -water-tight bulkheads.”</p> - -<p>“There certainly was, without doubt.”</p> - -<p>“Were the passengers supplied with life-belts?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Were any special orders given that morning that -life-belts be put on?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_5">NO WARNING GIVEN</h3> - -<p>“Was any warning given you before you were -torpedoed?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<p>“None whatever. It was suddenly done and -finished.”</p> - -<p>“If there had been a patrol boat aboard; might it -have been of assistance?”</p> - -<p>“It might, but it is one of those things one never -knows.”</p> - -<p>With regard to the threats against his ship, Captain -Turner said he saw nothing except what appeared in -the New York papers the day before the Lusitania -sailed. He never had heard the passengers talking -about the threats, he said.</p> - -<p>“Was a warning given to the lower decks after the -ship had been struck?” Captain Turner was asked.</p> - -<p>“All the passengers must have heard the explosion,” -Captain Turner replied.</p> - -<p>Captain Turner in answer to another question said -he received no report from the lookout before the -torpedo struck the Lusitania.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_6">OTHER TESTIMONY</h3> - -<p>Cornelius Horrigan, a waiter aboard the Lusitania, -testified that it was impossible to launch boats on the -starboard side because of the steamer’s list. He went -down with the ship, but came up and was rescued. -Horrigan gave a partial identification of one of the -bodies, which he thought to be that of Steward -Cranston.</p> - -<p>The ship’s bugler, Vernon Livermore, gave evidence -that the water-tight compartments were closed, but -thought that the explosion must have opened them. -No one was able to identify a man in whose pocket was -found a card bearing the name of John Wanamaker of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page68">[68]</a></span> -New York, and in the left-hand corner “Notary Public -MacQuerrie, Bureau of Information.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef6_7">CORONER HORGAN’S STATEMENT</h3> - -<p>Coroner Horgan said that the first torpedo fired by -the German submarine did serious damage to the -Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the Germans -had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, -he said, must have been more deadly, because it went -right through the ship, hastening the work of destruction.</p> - -<p>He charged that the responsibility “lay on the -German government and the whole people of Germany -who collaborated in the terrible crime.</p> - -<p>“This is a case,” he said, “in which a powerful war-like -engine attacked an unarmed vessel without warning. -It was simple barbarism and cold-blooded murder.</p> - -<p>“I purpose to ask the jury to return the only verdict -possible for a self-respecting jury—that the men in -charge of the German submarine were guilty of willful -murder.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE WORLD-WIDE INDICTMENT OF -GERMANY FOR THE LUSITANIA -ATROCITY</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef7_1">VIEWS OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT, UNITED STATES -SENATORS AND OTHER PROMINENT MEN</a>—OPINIONS -OF THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE <a href="#SecRef7_2">UNITED STATES</a> AND -<a href="#SecRef7_3">CANADA</a> — <a href="#SecRef7_4">VIEWS OF PROMINENT CANADIANS</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef7_1">Not even the invasion of peaceful Belgium, nor -any of the other atrocities charged to the belligerent -nations in the great war, stirred such universal and -emphatic condemnation as the destruction of the -Lusitania and over half its <i>human</i> freight of <i>human</i> -lives. From all quarters of the globe the cry of amazement, -indignation and outrage arose.</p> - -<p>One of the first to express his feelings was Colonel -Theodore Roosevelt, who said: “This represents not -merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of murder -than any old-time pirate ever practiced.</p> - -<p>“This is the warfare which destroyed Louvain and -Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in -Belgium carried out to innocent men, women and -children on the ocean and to our own fellow countrymen -and countrywomen who are among the sufferers.</p> - -<p>“It seems inconceivable that we should refrain from -taking action in this matter, for we owe it not only to -humanity, but to our own national self-respect.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>Atlee Pomerene, U. S. Senator from Ohio, member of -the Foreign Relations Committee, said: “To Americans -the sinking of the Lusitania is the most deplorable -incident of the European war. Every man with the -milk of human kindness in his breast condemns any -policy by any nation that leads to the slaughter without -warning of babes, women and non-combatants.”</p> - -<p>Morris Sheppard, U. S. Senator from Texas, said: -“The sinking of the Lusitania is an illustration of the -unspeakable horror of modern warfare, and will be a -tremendous argument for general disarmament when -the war closes. Let us handle the present situation -with patience and calmness, trusting the President -to take the proper course.”</p> - -<p>John W. Griggs, former Governor of New Jersey and -at one time Attorney-General of the United States, -expressed himself emphatically on the Lusitania -tragedy. He said: “The time for watchful waiting -has passed. No investigating committee is needed. -The facts are known. Action is demanded. A -demand should be made at once without waiting by -the government to get the finding of any investigations -or inquests. Would you hesitate to act if a man slapped -you in the face? I do not say what should be demanded. -That is for the government to decide. -But an explanation should be demanded of Germany -at once. The German submarine violated a law that -even savages would recognize. I would hold Germany -to account by proclaiming her an outlaw among the -nations of the world. If the German government -pleads that it was justified in this crime—which it -will—it is then the duty of the United States to join<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page71">[71]</a></span> -with other neutral nations and cut her off from the -rest of the world.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo080.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="322" /> -<p class="caption main">“<span class="smcap">I’m Not Arguing With You, William; I’m Just Telling You!</span>”</p> -</div> - -<p>Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War under President -Taft, issued a statement in which he said: “It is not -likely that Germany will disavow the purpose to destroy -the Lusitania with full knowledge of the fact that this -involved many American lives. In view of the result -and the warning given by our government to Germany, -some proper action must be taken, or the American -government will incur the contempt of the world and -the contempt of a vast number of its own people.”</p> - -<p>“An act of barbarity without justification,” was the -expression of Frederick R. Coudert, of New York, an -authority on international law, in referring to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page72">[72]</a></span> -torpedoing of the Lusitania. Mr. Coudert said: “I -make that statement on the supposition that lives -of citizens of the United States, a neutral nation, -were destroyed by the sinking of the vessel. There -is no justification, however, for ruthlessly sinking a -merchant ship in the open seas when that vessel is not -engaged in any manner as a belligerent vessel, and -when the lives of non-combatants depend upon its -safety. It would seem to be time for the government -of this country to determine whether it will sit idly -by and accept explanations that Americans were warned -to keep off the steamer, or take a definite stand upon -the rights of our citizens on the seas.”</p> - -<p>The opinion of the nation on the sinking of the -Lusitania is fairly represented by the following extracts -from the editorial columns of leading newspapers -throughout the United States:</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef7_2">THE EAST</h3> - -<p>New York Evening Post: “Germany ought not to -be left in a moment’s doubt how the civilized world -regards her latest display of ‘frightfulness.’ It is a -deed for which a Hun would blush, a Turk be ashamed -and a Barbary pirate apologize. To speak of technicalities -and the rules of war, in the face of such wholesale -murder on the high seas, is a waste of time. The law -of nations and the law of God have been alike trampled -upon. The German government must be given to understand -that no plea of military necessity will now avail -it before the tribunal on which sits as judge the humane -conscience of the world. As was declared by Germany’s -own representative at The Hague Congress, the late -Marschall von Bieberstein, there are some atrocities -which international law does not need to legislate -against, since they fall under the instant and universal -condemnation of mankind.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo082.jpg" alt="" width="391" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Non-Combatants Honored With Their Flags.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The upper picture shows the body of an American victim of the -Lusitania disaster carried through the streets of Queenstown covered with -the Stars and Stripes. Below, British soldiers laying the Union Jack over -the coffins of victims recovered after the sinking of the Lusitania. <span class="copyright">(<i>C. Int. -News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo083.jpg" alt="" width="394" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">One American Family Lost on the Lusitania.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Wife and children of Paul Crompton. Not only hundreds of non-combatant -men, but many women and children were intentionally sunk -with the Lusitania.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<p>New York Tribune: “Failing these things, no -American should misunderstand the meaning of the -present crisis; no American should shrink from the -facts that cannot be evaded or avoided. If Germany -has once and for all embarked upon a deliberate -campaign of murder directed against American citizens, -there can be but one consequence—the end is inescapable.”</p> - -<p>New York World: “The main thing that concerns -the American government today is not the subordinate -question of reparation for the assassination of American -citizens who were traveling on the Lusitania. It -is the broader question of whether Germany can be -brought to her senses and induced to abandon methods -of warfare that are a crime against civilization and an -affront to humanity.”</p> - -<p>New York Times: “Neither in law nor in custom is -there any extenuation for this act of monstrous inhumanity, -no exception, no condition, can be made to -shield it from the full force and condemnation it -deserves and has received. And the warning advertisement -published by the German Embassy here, -being notice of an intent to commit a crime, is of no -more avail for exculpation than a Black Hand letter -of threat.”</p> - -<p>New York Globe: “The duty of this government -is sufficiently clear. In a formal and emphatic manner, -not shrinking from explicit characterization, it should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page74">[74]</a></span> -denounce the greatest international outrage that has -occurred since the Boxer savages of China, with the -countenance of a treacherous government, attacked -the women and children in the legations at Pekin.”</p> - -<p>Philadelphia Public Ledger: “As it stands the horror -is almost inconceivable. There has been nothing like -it before. One of the consequences of this war ought -to be that nothing like it can ever happen again. -Unless civilization is to relapse into barbarism, helpless -non-combatants must not be exposed in such a fashion -to the worst calamities of war.”</p> - -<p>Boston Transcript: “The torpedoing of the Lusitania -was not battle—it was massacre. To destroy an -enemy ship, an unarmed merchant vessel of great -value and power, is an act of war; to sink her in such -a manner as to send hundreds of her passengers, among -them many neutrals, to their death, is morally murder, -and no technical military plea will avail to procure -any other verdict at the bar of civilized public opinion.”</p> - -<p>Boston Post: “The sinking of the British liner -Lusitania by the torpedo of a German submarine -with terrible loss of life, is the worst crime against -civilization and humanity that the modern world has -ever known. It is a reversion to barbarism that will -set the whole world, save perhaps the little world of -its perpetrators, aflame with horror and indignation.”</p> - -<p>Boston Traveler: “With the destruction of this -queen of the ocean liners and the hundreds of lives -of non-combatant men, women and children, also came -the ruin of the last vestige of the structure of international -law and humane consideration that through -the centuries mankind has been striving to erect.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page75">[75]</a></span> -The very life and honor of the nation depend upon the -manner in which this attack upon its integrity is -adjudicated, even if any adjudication of a civil nature -will be deemed sufficient to permit of a peaceful, to say -nothing of a friendly, adjustment.”</p> - -<p>Hartford Courant: “It is hard to find in the dictionary -the words strong enough to fit such conduct, and -the effect of the destruction of the ship and the loss -of lives will be to turn public sentiment more than ever -against the Germans.”</p> - -<p>Providence Journal: “Scores of Americans were -murdered yesterday on the high seas, by order of the -German government. Men and women, citizens of -the United States, traveling peaceably on a merchant -steamer, have been sent to their death by the deliberately -planned act of Emperor William and his -advisers.”</p> - -<p>Providence Evening Tribune: “The torpedoing of -the Lusitania, in that it destroyed innocent American -lives, was a capital crime committed by Germany -against the United States. A capital crime is a crime -punishable by death. And in the case of a nation -punitive death is usually administered by the process -of war.”</p> - -<h3>THE WEST</h3> - -<p>Chicago Herald: “International law contemplates -the capture of merchant vessels. It contemplates -their destruction under certain conditions. But it -does not contemplate, provide for or justify destruction -of the crews and passengers of such ships without -giving them a chance for safety.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<p>Minneapolis Journal: “Germany intends to become -the outlaw of nations. Perhaps we are yet to witness -savagery carried to its ultimate perfection.”</p> - -<p>Minneapolis Tribune: “The sinking of the Lusitania -is outside the rules of civilized warfare. The President -will have the loyal support of the people of this country -in whatever course wise counsel may find it necessary -to pursue.”</p> - -<p>Denver Rocky Mountain News: “Mankind will -hang its head in shame. It was not war. It is not -England that suffers; it is not the relatives and friends -of the dead that suffer only; the people of Germany -will suffer for the deed of yesterday.”</p> - -<h3>THE SOUTH</h3> - -<p>Washington Post: “No warrant whatever, in law or -morals, can be found for the willful destruction of an -unarmed vessel, neutral or enemy, carrying passengers, -without giving them an opportunity to leave the -vessel. Germany stands indicted on this charge, and -if it is proved the world will not exonerate that nation -for the awful destruction of innocent life.”</p> - -<p>Baltimore American: “Americans must and will -resent the invasion of their rights, and in this there -can be no division of American sentiment.”</p> - -<p>Charleston News and Courier: “The destruction of -the Lusitania has been accomplished, it now appears, -with the most diabolically cruel deliberation. If this -shall be established as a fact, there can be no question -that the wrath of the American people will flame—and -should flame.”</p> - -<p>New Orleans Times-Picayune: “What is Washington<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page77">[77]</a></span> -going to do about it? Slaughter of American citizens -in contravention of all laws of warfare has placed the -United States in a position that is intolerable. Our -people were wantonly done to death.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef7_3">SENTIMENT OF THE CANADIAN PRESS</h3> - -<p>Even sterner was the tone of the editorial opinion -of the Canadian press. In many cases the actual intervention -of the United States in the war was advocated. -The following excerpts are characteristic of the opinion -of the newspapers of Canada:</p> - -<p>Toronto Daily News: “This fresh display of Teutonic -Kultur raises anew the question as to how long -the Washington government is going to be scorned -and trampled upon by the most unscrupulous and -barbarous race of modern times. What effect will -this deliberate destruction of hundreds of American -citizens in cold blood have upon public sentiment -throughout the United States? Can President Wilson -forever stand aside while international law and international -moral standards are cast to the winds by a -brutal and infuriated people?”</p> - -<p>Toronto Mail and Empire: “The Washington -government knows why the American citizens whose -names are on the passenger list of the Lusitania trusted -themselves to the ship despite the warnings of the -Kaiser’s agents and accomplices in New York. Those -American men and women disregarded the warnings, not -because they believed the Germans incapable of torpedoing -a passenger vessel, but because they felt that -the neutrality and puissance of their nation would be -respected. The Washington government cannot let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page78">[78]</a></span> -these American citizens who relied on its protection -go unavenged.”</p> - -<p>Toronto Globe: “But what of the United States. -Does President Wilson propose to let German submarines -destroy the lives of American citizens because -they choose to cross the Atlantic in a passenger ship -flying the British flag? Does he still think the mad -dog of Europe can be trusted at large? Is it not -almost time to join in hunting down the brute?”</p> - -<p>Toronto Daily Star: “The sinking of the Lusitania -was not necessary to prove what was already abundantly -demonstrated—that there is no length of -vindictiveness to which Germany will not go. There -is no lesson to be drawn from it except that Germany -must be fought to a finish, and that all the resources -of the allied countries must be marshalled for that -purpose. We are engaged in no ordinary war. The -very existence of civilization is at stake. The civilized -world is threatened by a nation that has deliberately -gone back to barbarism and given a free rein to criminal -instincts. Denunciation and rebuke are of no avail in -such a case. The conflict is between a powerful -criminal and those who desire to live under the reign of -law; and the time has come for every man who believes -in law, in every nation, to fight for the life of civilization.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef7_4">VIEWS OF PROMINENT CANADIANS</h3> - -<p>That the torpedoing of the Lusitania was not an act -of war in the technical sense committed by Germany -as against the United States, was the view expressed -by Mr. McGregor Young, professor of international<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page79">[79]</a></span> -law in Toronto University, who said in an -interview:</p> - -<p>“Certain acts are acts of war in the technical -sense—acts, that is to say, which touch the state -qua state. But the torpedoing of the Lusitania does -not come within that category, so far as the United -States is concerned. It is not an act such as is -not compatible with friendly relations between that -country and Germany. The Lusitania was a British -ship, and the American passengers on board her were -really an incident, as it were. Whether it would be -consistent with the United States’ self-respect to put -up with Germany’s action is another matter. That is -a question as to which a nation must judge for itself.”</p> - -<p>Mr. E. F. B. Johnston, K.C., gave his opinion as -follows:</p> - -<p>“The Lusitania was a vessel owned by a British -company, carrying on business in England. It -was not under the control of the United States. -Individual citizens choosing to travel by this boat -would do so at their own risk, and so far as loss is -concerned, the United States as a nation would not -perhaps be legally affected. But if citizens of the -United States are not to be protected by their own -Government, a wholesale slaughter might be justified -on the ground that the ship was English. It seems to -me to be a question of policy. And, as such, one -would say that it was the duty of the United States -to protect, as far as possible, their own citizens.”</p> - -<p>On the Sunday following the destruction of the -Lusitania reference to the disaster was made by countless -clergymen throughout Canada. Varying sentiments<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page80">[80]</a></span> -were expressed in their sermons, but perhaps -the keynote was sounded by the Rev. W. H. Hincks, -D.D., pastor of Trinity Methodist Church, Toronto, -who alluded to the subject as follows:</p> - -<p>“Neutral nations headed by the President of the -United States seven months ago entered a united -diplomatic protest against the violation of the branch -of The Hague Convention which has to do with the -killing of civilians. The greatest thinkers in Great -Britain have taken the view that the United States -can do more good as a neutral by exerting her influence -in the interest of humanity and in accordance with -The Hague Convention than in entering unprepared -into the war. Our duty is to pray for the President -of the United States, that, surrounded by the wisest -of his advisers, he may take action with other neutral -nations to prevent the repetition of such a crime.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">AMERICA’S PROTEST AGAINST -UNCIVILIZED WARFARE</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef8_1">PRESIDENT WILSON’S GREAT RESPONSIBILITY</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_2">THE -NOTE TO GERMANY</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_3">ATTACKS CALLED CONTRARY -TO RULES OF WARFARE</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_4">WARNING TO GERMANY -RECALLED</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_5">SUBMARINE WARFARE ON COMMERCE -CONDEMNED</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_6">PUBLISHED WARNING DECLARED NO -EXCUSE FOR ATTACK</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_7">PROMPT, JUST ACTION BY -GERMANY EXPECTED</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_8">THE WHOLE NATION BEHIND -THE PRESIDENT</a> — <a href="#SecRef8_9">SOUTH AND WEST RESOUNDED -WITH APPROVAL</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef8_1">Rarely has a man in any office of life had laid upon -his shoulders so great a responsibility as was thrust -upon President Wilson by the destruction of more than -a hundred American lives in the Lusitania disaster. -No heart was more sorely stricken than his by the -dastardly calamity, and yet it is characteristic of the -man, and to his everlasting credit, that when impetuous -minds were urging him to hasty action, his reply was,</p> - -<p>“We must think first of humanity.”</p> - -<p>A man of lesser stature, mentally and spiritually, -would have required a host of counselors. In the great -crisis which he faced President Wilson assumed for -himself full responsibility. There was the rare spectacle -of a man great enough and sure enough to determine -wholly within his own mind upon the action he should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page82">[82]</a></span> -take. He sought no advice; he eschewed advisers. -In solitude he evolved his supreme duty.</p> - -<p>When, in the seclusion of his own soul, he had fixed -upon his policy, he proceeded in the same way to put -it into words. It is a thing perhaps without precedent -before the administration of President Wilson that the -note to the German government, which has become a -historic document, was written originally by the -President in shorthand. After he had set down the -communication in this way he transcribed it on his -own typewriter. No official or clerk of the White -House had any part in the preparation of the document -until after it had been presented to the members -of the Cabinet. Not even Secretary Bryan saw it -in advance of that time.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_2">THE NOTE TO GERMANY</h3> - -<p>The full text of President Wilson’s note, dated May -13, and communicated over the name of Secretary of -State Bryan, is as follows:</p> - -<div class="germanynote"> - -<p><i>“The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at -Berlin</i>:</p> - -<p>“Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and -after reading to him this communication, leave with -him a copy:</p> - -<p>“In view of the recent acts of the German authorities -in violation of American rights on the high seas, which -culminated in the torpedoing and sinking of the -British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which -over one hundred American citizens lost their lives, it is -clearly wise and desirable that the government of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page83">[83]</a></span> -United States and the imperial German government -should come to a clear and full understanding as to the -grave situation which has resulted.</p> - -<p>“The sinking of the British passenger steamship -Falaba by a German submarine on March 28, through -which Leon C. Thresher, an American citizen, was -drowned; the attack on April 28 on the American -vessel Cushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing -on May 1 of the American vessel Gulflight by a German -submarine, as a result of which two or more American -citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing -and sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a -series of events which the government of the United -States has observed with growing concern, distress and -amazement.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_3">ATTACKS CALLED CONTRARY TO RULES OF WARFARE</h3> - -<p>“Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude -hitherto assumed by the imperial German government -in matters of international right, and particularly with -regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to -recognize the German views and the German influence -in the field of international obligation as always -engaged upon the side of justice and humanity; and -having understood the instructions of the imperial -German government to its naval commanders to be -upon the same plane of humane action prescribed by -the naval codes of other nations, the government of -the United States was loath to believe—it cannot -now bring itself to believe—that these acts, so absolutely -contrary to the rules, the practices and the spirit of -modern warfare, could have the countenance or sanction<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page84">[84]</a></span> -of that great government. It feels it to be its -duty, therefore, to address the imperial German government -concerning them with the utmost frankness -and in the earnest hope that it is not mistaken in -expecting action on the part of the imperial German -government which will correct the unfortunate impressions -which have been created and vindicate once more -the position of that government with regard to the -sacred freedom of the seas.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_4">WARNING TO GERMANY RECALLED</h3> - -<p>“The government of the United States has been -apprised that the imperial German government considered -themselves to be obliged by the extraordinary -circumstances of the present war and the measures -adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany -off from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation -which go much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare -at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone from which -they have warned neutral ships to keep away. This -government has already taken occasion to inform the -imperial German government that it cannot admit -the adoption of such measures or such a warning of -danger to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of -the rights of American shipmasters or of American -citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on -merchant ships of belligerent nationality; and that it -must hold the imperial German government to a -strict accountability for any infringement of those -rights, intentional or incidental. It does not understand -the imperial German government to question -those rights. It assumes, on the contrary, that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page85">[85]</a></span> -imperial German government accept, as of course, the -rule that the lives of non-combatants, whether they -be of neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations -at war, cannot lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy -by the capture or destruction of an unarmed merchantman, -and recognize, also, as all other nations do, the -obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and -search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman -is in fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying -contraband of war under a neutral flag.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_5">SUBMARINE WARFARE ON COMMERCE CONDEMNED</h3> - -<p>“The government of the United States, therefore, -desires to call the attention of the imperial German -government with the utmost earnestness to the fact -that the objection to their present method of attack -against the trade of their enemies lies in the practical -impossibility of employing submarines in the destruction -of commerce without disregarding those rules of -fairness, reason, justice and humanity, which all -modern opinion regards as imperative. It is practically -impossible for the officers of a submarine to visit a -merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo. -It is practically impossible for them to make a prize -of her; and, if they cannot put a prize crew on board of -her, they cannot sink her without leaving her crew and -all on board of her to the mercy of the sea in her small -boats. These facts, it is understood, the imperial -German government frankly admit.</p> - -<p>“We are informed that in the instances of which we -have spoken time enough for even that poor measure of -safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page86">[86]</a></span> -cited not so much as a warning was received. Manifestly, -submarines cannot be used against merchantmen, -as the last few weeks have shown, without an -inevitable violation of many sacred principles of -justice and humanity.</p> - -<p>“American citizens act within their indisputable -rights in taking their ships and in traveling wherever -their legitimate business calls them upon the high seas, -and exercise those rights in what should be the well-justified -confidence that their lives will not be endangered -by acts done in clear violation of universally -acknowledged international obligations, and certainly -in the confidence that their own government will -sustain them in the exercise of their rights.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_6">PUBLISHED WARNING DECLARED NO EXCUSE FOR -ATTACK</h3> - -<p>“There was recently published in the newspapers of -the United States, I regret to inform the imperial -German government, a formal warning, purporting -to come from the imperial German embassy at Washington, -addressed to the people of the United States, -and stating in effect that any citizen of the United -States who exercised his right of free travel upon the -seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take -him within the zone of waters within which the imperial -German navy was using submarines against the -commerce of Great Britain and France, notwithstanding -the respectful but very earnest protest of this -government, the government of the United States. -I do not refer to this for the purpose of calling the -attention of the imperial German government at this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page87">[87]</a></span> -time to the surprising irregularity of a communication -from the imperial German embassy at Washington -addressed to the people of the United States through -the newspapers, but only for the purpose of pointing -out that no warning that an unlawful and inhumane -act will be committed can possibly be accepted as an -excuse or palliation for that act, or as an abatement -of the responsibility for its commission.</p> - -<p>“Long acquainted as this government has been with -the character of the imperial German government and -with the high principles of equity by which they have in -the past been actuated and guided, the government of -the United States cannot believe that the commanders -of the vessels which committed these acts of lawlessness -did so except under a misapprehension of the orders -issued by the imperial German naval authorities. -It takes it for granted that, at least within the practical -possibilities of every such case, the commanders even -of submarines were expected to do nothing that would -involve the lives of non-combatants or the safety -of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their -object of capture or destruction.</p> - -<p>“It confidently expects, therefore, that the imperial -German government will disavow the acts of which -the government of the United States complains; that -they will make reparation so far as reparation is -possible for injuries which are without measure, and -that they will take immediate steps to prevent the -recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the -principles of warfare for which the imperial German -government have in the past so wisely and so firmly -contended.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page88">[88]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_7">PROMPT, JUST ACTION BY GERMANY EXPECTED</h3> - -<p>“The government and people of the United States -look to the imperial German government for just, -prompt and enlightened action in this vital matter -with the greater confidence because the United States -and Germany are bound together not only by special -ties of friendship, but also by the explicit stipulations -of the treaty of 1828 between the United States and -the Kingdom of Prussia.</p> - -<p>“Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case -of the destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, -while they may satisfy international obligations, if -no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a practice, -the natural and necessary effect of which is to -subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and -immeasurable risks.</p> - -<p>“The imperial German government will not expect -the government of the United States to omit any -word or any act necessary to the performance of its -sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United -States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free -exercise and enjoyment.</p> - -<p class="sigright">“<span class="smcap">Bryan.</span>”</p> - -</div><!--germanynote--> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_8">THE WHOLE NATION BEHIND THE PRESIDENT</h3> - -<p>With anxiety, even if with confidence, the American -people waited the publication of this note. Then they -read, and the whole country resounded with enthusiastic -support. More than at almost any previous period -in the history of the United States, more certainly -than at the outbreak of any previous foreign war, the -nation stood solidly behind the President. According -to the New York Tribune he “acted with calm statesmanlike -directness, deserved well of his own nation -and earned the respect of the world.” The New -York Sun, commenting on the note, said: “The -President has spoken firmly. The country, supporting -him as firmly, awaits without passion the German -reply,” and the New York Herald in an editorial -declared that President Wilson had “expressed the -unanimous voice of the great American republic.” -“Everyone trusts the President because he has shown -himself worthy of trust,” was the comment of the -Philadelphia Public Ledger. “The Government’s -position in this case is the country’s position. It is -not extreme, yet it covers the ground,” spoke the -Springfield Republican, and the Christian Science -Monitor went so far as to state that there was “probably -no body of opinion in the United States which will be -dissatisfied either with the tone or temper of the -message.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo100.jpg" alt="" width="389" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Zeppelin Device for Dropping Bombs.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">An armored car is suspended by three cables from the Zeppelin airship -to a distance of several thousand feet below the monster air-craft, which -is concealed in the clouds above. <span class="copyright">(<i>Sphere copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo101.jpg" alt="" width="392" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Falling to Earth Like a Blazing Meteor.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This stirring picture represents a German aeroplane of the type called -Aviatik, beaten in a fight high up in the air by the famous French Aviator -Garros, plunging to earth in flames, turning and turning like a falling star.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef8_9">SOUTH AND WEST RESOUNDED WITH APPROVAL</h3> - -<p>No less enthusiastic was the approval of the press -in the South and West. “The citizenry of this country -is with Wilson,” stoutly declared the Baltimore Sun, -and the Louisville Post maintained: “There are no -neutrals in America now. We are all earnest supporters -of the President, who by patience and fortitude has -established his right to lead a free people.” The note, -according to the Atlanta Journal, was “the voice -of the American people proclaiming in terms unmistakable -their conscience and their will.”</p> - -<p>“Whatever the fate of our relations with Germany,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page90">[90]</a></span> -the President undoubtedly has voiced the sentiment of -the nation upon the use of the submarine and as to the -rights of neutrals on the high seas,” was the comment -of the Chicago Tribune. The note was described by -the Cleveland News as “all that Americans could -wish,” and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, -it commended itself “to the common sense of people -unafflicted with inflammable hatreds.” “It is probable -that no document of state ever came nearer reflecting -the sentiment of the American people,” commented the -Denver Times, and the Indianapolis News proclaimed: -“It is not simply the government, but the nation that -speaks through the document. There is no one who -does not hope for a peaceful adjustment of the difficulty.” -The Minneapolis Journal, after analyzing the -note and especially the last strong paragraph of protest, -declared: “The American people will stand by these -words.”</p> - -<p>If no president of the United States ever faced so -grave a crisis, certainly none ever received more unanimous -support. If there were any murmurs of dissatisfaction -they were too faint to be heard above the -chorus of approval.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE GERMAN DEFENSE FOR THE DESTRUCTION -OF THE LUSITANIA</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef9_1">BLAMES BRITAIN FOR MISUSE OF FLAG</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_2">INVESTIGATING -CASES OF CUSHING AND GULFLIGHT</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_3">DECLARES -SHIP CARRIED MOUNTED CANNON</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_4">SAYS -IT ACTED IN JUSTIFIED SELF-DEFENSE</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_5">FINAL -DECISION ON DEMANDS DEFERRED</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_6">AMERICAN -OPINION OF GERMAN EXCUSES</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_7">EVASIVE AND -INSINCERE</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_8">ATTACKS ON AMERICAN VESSELS MUST -CEASE</a> — <a href="#SecRef9_9">SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT</a>.</p> - -<p>The German defense for the destruction of the -Lusitania and for other marine atrocities committed -against non-combatant vessels in the famous, or infamous, -war zone was contained in a note to the American -government, transmitted May 31, in reply to President -Wilson’s note of protest. The full text of the German -note is as follows:</p> - -<p>“The undersigned has the honor to submit to Ambassador -Gerard the following answer to the communication -of May 13 regarding the injury to American -interests through German submarine warfare.</p> - -<p>“The Imperial government has subjected the communication -of the American government to a thorough -investigation. It entertains also a keen wish to -co-operate in a frank and friendly way in clearing up -a possible misunderstanding which may have arisen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page92">[92]</a></span> -in the relations between the two governments through -the events mentioned by the American government.</p> - -<p>“Regarding, firstly, the cases of the American -steamers Cushing and Gulflight. The American -embassy has already been informed that the German -government has no intention of submitting neutral -ships in the war zone, which are guilty of no hostile -acts, to attacks by a submarine or submarines or -aviators. On the contrary, the German forces have -repeatedly been instructed most specifically to avoid -attacks on such ships.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_1">BLAMES BRITAIN FOR MISUSE OF FLAGS</h3> - -<p>“If neutral ships in recent months have suffered -through the German submarine warfare, owing to -mistakes in identification, it is a question only of -quite isolated and exceptional cases, which can be -attributed to the British government’s abuse of flags, -together with the suspicious or culpable behavior of -the masters of the ships.</p> - -<p>“The German government, in all cases in which it -has been shown by its investigations that a neutral -ship, not itself at fault, was damaged by German submarines -or aviators, has expressed regret over the -unfortunate accident and, if justified by conditions, has -offered indemnification.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_2">INVESTIGATING CASES OF CUSHING AND GULFLIGHT</h3> - -<p>“The cases of the Cushing and the Gulflight will -be treated on the same principles. An investigation -of both cases is in progress, the result of which will -presently be communicated to the embassy. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page93">[93]</a></span> -investigation can, if necessary, be supplemented by an -international call on the international commission of -inquiry as provided by Article III of The Hague -agreement of October 18, 1907.</p> - -<p>“When sinking the British steamer Falaba, the -commander of the German submarine had the intention -of allowing the passengers and crew a full opportunity -for a safe escape. Only when the master did -not obey the order to heave-to, but fled and summoned -help by rocket signals, did the German commander -order the crew and passengers by signals and megaphone -to leave the ship within ten minutes. He actually -allowed them twenty-three minutes time and fired -the torpedo only when suspicious craft were hastening -to the assistance of the Falaba.</p> - -<p>“Regarding the loss of life by the sinking of the -British passenger steamer Lusitania, the German -government has already expressed to the neutral -governments concerned its keen regret that citizens of -their states lost their lives.</p> - -<p>“On this occasion, the Imperial government, however, -cannot escape the impression that certain important -facts having a direct bearing on the sinking of -the Lusitania may have escaped the attention of the -American government.</p> - -<p>“In the interest of a clear and complete understanding, -which is the aim of both governments, the -Imperial government considers it first necessary to -convince itself that the information accessible to both -governments about the facts of the case is complete -and in accord.</p> - -<p>“The government of the United States proceeds on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page94">[94]</a></span> -the assumption that the Lusitania could be regarded -as an ordinary unarmed merchantman. The Imperial -government allows itself in this connection to point -out that the Lusitania was one of the largest and -fastest British merchant ships, built with government -funds as an auxiliary cruiser and carried expressly as -such in the ‘navy list’ issued by the British admiralty.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_3">DECLARES SHIP CARRIED MOUNTED CANNON</h3> - -<p>“It is further known to the Imperial government -from trustworthy reports from its agents and neutral -passengers, that for a considerable time practically all -the more valuable British merchantmen have been -equipped with cannon and ammunition and other -weapons and manned with persons who have been -specially trained in serving guns. The Lusitania, too, -according to information received here, had cannon -aboard, which were mounted and concealed below decks.</p> - -<p>“The Imperial government, further, has the honor -to direct the particular attention of the American -government to the fact that the British admiralty in -a confidential instruction issued in February, 1915, -recommended its mercantile shipping not only to seek -protection under neutral flags and disguising marks, -but also, while thus disguised, to attack German submarines -by ramming. As a special incitation to -merchantmen to destroy submarines, the British government -also offered high prizes and has already paid such -rewards.</p> - -<p>“The Imperial government in view of these facts -indubitably known to it, is unable to regard British -merchantmen in the zone of naval operations specified<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page95">[95]</a></span> -by the admiralty staff of the German navy as ‘undefended.’ -German commanders consequently are no -longer able to observe the customary regulations of the -prize law, which they always followed.</p> - -<p>“Finally the Imperial government must point out -particularly that the Lusitania on its last trip, as on -earlier occasions, carried Canadian troops and war -material, including no less than 5,400 cases of ammunition -intended for the destruction of the brave German -soldiers who are fulfilling their duty with self-sacrifice -and devotion in the Fatherland’s service.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_4">SAYS IT ACTED IN JUSTIFIED SELF-DEFENSE</h3> - -<p>“The German government believes that it was acting -in justified self-defense in seeking with all the -means of warfare at its disposition to protect the lives -of its soldiers by destroying ammunition intended for -the enemy.</p> - -<p>“The British shipping company must have been -aware of the danger to which the passengers aboard the -Lusitania were exposed under these conditions. The -company, in embarking them notwithstanding this, -attempted deliberately to use the lives of American -citizens as protection for the ammunition aboard, and -acted against the clear provisions of the American -law, which expressly prohibits the forwarding of passengers -on ships carrying ammunition, and provides a -penalty therefor. The company therefore is wantonly -guilty of the death of so many passengers.</p> - -<p>“There can be no doubt according to definite report -of the submarine’s commander, which is further confirmed -by all other information, that the quick sinking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page96">[96]</a></span> -of the Lusitania is primarily attributed to the explosion -of the ammunition shipment caused by a torpedo. -The Lusitania’s passengers would otherwise, in all -human probability, have been saved.</p> - -<p>“The Imperial government considers the above-mentioned -facts important enough to recommend them -to the attentive examination of the American government.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_5">FINAL DECISION ON DEMANDS DEFERRED</h3> - -<p>“The Imperial government, while withholding its -final decision on the demands -advanced in connection -with the sinking of the Lusitania until receipt of an -answer from the American government, feels impelled -in conclusion to recall here and now that it took cognizance -with satisfaction of the mediatory proposals -submitted by the United States government to Berlin -and London as a basis for a modus vivendi for conducting -the maritime warfare between Germany and -Great Britain.</p> - -<p>“The Imperial government by its readiness to enter -upon a discussion of these proposals, then demonstrated -its good intentions in ample fashion. The realization -of these proposals was defeated, as is well known, by -the declinatory attitude of the British government.</p> - -<p>“The undersigned takes occasion, etc.</p> - -<p class="blankbefore1 right padr1">“<span class="smcap">Jagow.</span>”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_6">AMERICAN OPINION OF GERMAN EXCUSES</h3> - -<p>The effect of the German note on American opinion -was to create a sense of angry disappointment. The -newspapers were a unit in calling it evasive. It “does -not meet the issue,” declared the New York World, -while the New York Times viewed it as being “not -responsive to our demand. It tends rather to becloud -understanding.” The Albany Knickerbocker Press -denounced it as “an answer which purposely does not -answer. Germany evidently is playing for time.” -This thought was reiterated by the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times, -which pointed out that “it is palpable that -Germany proposes to consume time by raising points -which call for further correspondence, in the meanwhile -continuing in the course to which the United States -has objected.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo110.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Survivors of the Lusitania Disaster.</span></p> - -<div class="split5050"> - -<div class="leftsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padr1">Mr. Cowper, a Canadian journalist, holding little -Helen Smith, a six-year-old American girl, who lost both -father and mother. (<i>C. Int. News Service.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--leftsplit5050--> - -<div class="rightsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption secondjust padl1">“The Man Who Cannot Be Drowned.” This stoker -was saved from the Titanic, the Empress of Ireland and, -lastly, from the Lusitania.</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit5050--> - -</div><!--split5050--> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo111.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="364" /> - -<div class="split5050"> - -<div class="leftsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Sapping and Mining the Enemy’s Trenches.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust padr1">When the hostile trenches are near together an open zig-zag trench -is dug to a point very close to the enemy’s line, then a covered gallery is -excavated to a point almost under the hostile trench.</p> - -</div><!--leftsplit5050--> - -<div class="rightsplit5050"> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Gaining a Foot of Ground Per Hour.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust padl1">Here a charge of explosive is placed and fired from a distance by an -electric wire. At the same instant the men charge over the ground and -occupy the ruined trench of the enemy. (<i>Il. L. News copr.</i>)</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit--> - -</div><!--split5050--> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -<p class="largeillo"><a href="images/illo111_lg.jpg">Larger illustration</a> (317 kB)</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo112.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="391" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Belgian Refugees Find Safety in Holland.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This photograph, made at Putte, a Holland frontier town, -shows some of the three hundred thousand refugees who -sought safety in Holland. <span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by Underwood and Underwood.</i>)</span></p> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<div class="protestnote"> - -<div class="insidebox"> - -<p class="center fsize175">United States’ Note of Protest and<br /> -Germany’s Reply Compared</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="american allclear"> - -<p class="noindent"><i>President Wilson Demanded</i>:</p> - -<p class="fsize90 blankbefore025">Practical cessation of submarine -attacks on non-combatant vessels.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Observance of the rule of visit -and search in the case of all -suspected merchantmen before -any such ship shall be subjected -to capture or destruction.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Protection of non-combatants -who may be on suspected merchantmen.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Disavowal of official German -responsibility for injury to Americans -in the Cushing, Gulflight and -Lusitania cases.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Reparation, so far as reparation -is possible, for irreparable damage.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Immediate steps by Germany -to prevent the recurrence of -incidents “so obviously subversive -of the principles of warfare.”</p> - -<p class="fsize90">The first three items, as noted -above, were stated not as actual -demands, but as assumptions of -what Germany would agree to in -view of previous communications -from this country in the matter of -what is allowable in maritime warfare -according to previously acknowledged -international law and -the dictates of humanity.</p> - -</div><!--american--> - -<div class="german"> - -<p class="noindent"><i>Germany Conceded</i>:</p> - -<p class="fsize90 blankbefore025">No intention of attacking neutral -ships not guilty of hostile -acts in “war zone.”</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Regrets and indemnity where -neutral ship, not itself at fault, is -damaged.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Attacks on the American ships -Gulflight and Cushing unintentional, -the circumstances being -rigidly investigated.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Keen regret at loss of lives of -neutral citizens on Lusitania.</p> - -<p class="noindent blankbefore025"><i>Germany Evaded</i>:</p> - -<p class="fsize90 blankbefore025">Issue as to humanitarian aspect -and facts in Lusitania case.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Giving of any direct promise to -abandon submarine warfare.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">Any attempt to justify such -warfare, except as “self-defense.”</p> - -<p class="noindent blankbefore025"><i>Germany Countered</i>:</p> - -<p class="fsize90 blankbefore025">By raising question as to Lusitania -being an “auxiliary armed -cruiser,” and not of the “undefended -merchantmen” class.</p> - -<p class="fsize90">By accusing Cunard company -of using American citizens to protect -the “ammunition” carried -by Lusitania, and of being guilty -of their death.</p> - -</div><!--german--> - -</div><!--insidebox--> - -<p class="clearboth"> </p> - -</div><!--protestnote--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Chicago Herald more specifically pointed out the -evasiveness of the German reply, claiming that it -“fails wholly to meet the main points at issue, both -the specific point of the slaughter of American citizens -on the Lusitania and the general point of the impossibility -of employing submarines in the destruction of -commerce without disregarding rules of fairness, reason, -justice and humanity—established principles of international -law.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_7">EVASIVE AND INSINCERE</h3> - -<p>The Philadelphia Public Ledger also criticized it for -ignoring altogether “the protest in the name of humanity -against submarine warfare upon non-combatants,” -and the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune laid bare the -“absolute ignoring of the vital principles set forth in -the Wilson letter,” adding that “there is a half contemptuous, -albeit entirely courteous, suggestion of -‘Well, they are still dead; now, what do you propose -to do about it?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page99">[99]</a></span>’”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo115.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="427" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">No Use.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>The German claim that the Lusitania was in effect -a warship, with mounted guns, and carried ammunition -and Canadian soldiers, was emphatically denied in a -public statement by Dudley Field Malone, collector of -the port of New York, and the New York World -vehemently answered -the German -claim by declaring -that “the -Lusitania was a -warship in the -same way that -Belgium was an -aggressor against -Germany; in the -same way that -the University of -Louvain and -Rheims Cathedral -were ‘fortifications’; -in the same way that various seaside resorts -in England, raided by Germans, were ‘defended.’”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_8">ATTACKS ON AMERICAN VESSELS MUST CEASE</h3> - -<p>Many newspapers joined in calling for more drastic -action on the part of the United States government. -“We have but one thing in mind,” announced the New -York Tribune, “that these crimes shall cease. Any -answer, therefore, which fails to guarantee their stoppage -as a condition precedent to diplomatic rectification -cannot be expected to satisfy the just expectation -of the United States.” The Washington Herald followed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page100">[100]</a></span> -this by saying: “The patience of the American -people in the face of contemptuous disregard of their -rights and a series of outrages against their countrymen -has been sublime, but surely it has a limit. Surely a -way will be found, without much longer delay, to -compel Germany to cease her attacks on American -vessels engaged in neutral commerce and to guarantee -the safety of American lives and property.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef9_9">SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT</h3> - -<p>On the other hand there was a strong element that -counseled coolness and restraint. “This is not a time,” -declared the Albany Knickerbocker Press, “to suggest -to President Wilson what ought to be done. It is not -a time to become impatient. It is a time for restraint. -Nothing can be gained now by playing upon the strings -of excitable public opinion in America. The President -must find his way out and every true American must -support him loyally.” Echoing this sentiment, the -Springfield Republican added, “but the German -government may fairly be required to give definite -assurances that during the period of the negotiations -no more torpedo attacks on passenger ships which -may be carrying American citizens will be permitted.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER X</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">SWIFT REVERSAL TO BARBARISM</span><br /> -<span class="chapauthor"><span class="smcap">By Vance Thompson</span></span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef10_1">CULTURE SWEPT AWAY</a> — <a href="#SecRef10_2">BREAKING POINT OF -CIVILIZATION</a> — <a href="#SecRef10_3">BARBARISM -AND WOMEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef10_4">AFTER BARBARISM, WHAT?</a></p> - -<p class="courtesy">[The following article is reproduced by the courtesy of the -New York Times.]</p> - -<p id="SecRef10_1">There is in Brussels—if the Uhlans have spared it—a -mad and monstrous picture. It is called “A Scene -in Hell,” and hangs in the Musée Wiertz. And what -you see on the canvas are the fierce and blinding -flames of hell; and amid them looms the dark figure -of Napoleon, and around him the wives and mothers -and maids of Belgium scream and surge and clutch -and curse—taking their posthumous vengeance.</p> - -<p>And since Napoleon was a notable emperor in his -time, the picture is not without significance today. -Paint in another face, and let it go at that.</p> - -<p>War is a bad thing. Even hell is the worse for it.</p> - -<p>War is a bad thing; it is a reversal, sudden and -complete, to barbarism. That is what I would get -at in this article. One day there is civilization, authentic, -complex, triumphant; comes war, and in a -moment the entire fabric sinks down into a slime<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page102">[102]</a></span> -of mud and blood. In a day, in an hour, a cycle of -civilization is canceled. What you saw in the morning -was suave and ordered life; and the sun sets on -howling savagery. In the morning black-coated men -lifted their hats to women. Ere nightfall they are slashing -them with sabres and burning the houses over -their heads. And the grave old professors who were -droning platitudes of peace and progress and humanitarianism -are screaming, ere today is done, shrill -senile clamors for blood and ravage and rapine.</p> - -<p>A reversal to barbarism.</p> - -<p>Here; it is in the tea-room of the smartest hotel in -Munich; war has come; high-voiced women of title -chatter over their teacups; comes swaggering in the -Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria; he has just -had his sabre sharpened and has girt his abdomen for -war. His wife runs to him. And she kisses the sabre -and shouts: “Bring it back to me covered with blood—that -I may kiss it again!” And the other high-voiced -women flock to kiss the sword.</p> - -<p>A reversal to barbarism.</p> - -<p>It has taken place in an hour; but yesterday these -were sweet patrician ladies, who prattled of humanity -and love and the fair graces of life; and now they -would fain wet their mouths with blood—laughingly, -as harlots wet their mouths with wine.</p> - -<p>The unclean and vampirish spirit of war has swept -them back to the habits of the cave-dwelling ages of -the race. In an hour the culture so painfully acquired -in slow generations has been swept away. Royalty, -in the tea-room of the “Four Seasons,” is one with -the blonde nude female who romped and fought in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page103">[103]</a></span> -the dark Teutonic forests ere Caesar came through -Gaul.</p> - -<p>Reversal to barbarism.</p> - -<p>War is declared; and in Berlin the Emperor of Germany -rides in an open motor car down Unter den -Linden; he is in full uniform, sworded, erect, hieratic; -and at his side sits the Empress—she the good -mother, the housewife, the fond grandmother—garmented -from head to foot in cloth the color of blood.</p> - -<p>Theatricalism? No. The symbolism is more significant. -The symbol bears a savage significance. -It marks, as a red sunset, the going down of civilization -and the coming of the dark barbarism of war.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef10_2">BREAKING POINT OF CIVILIZATION</h3> - -<p>There was war; and the whole machinery of civilization -stopped.</p> - -<p>Modern civilization is the most complex machine -imaginable; its infinite cogged wheels turn endlessly -upon each other; and perfectly it accomplishes its -multifarious purposes; but smash one wheel and it -all falls apart into muddle and ruin. The declaration -of war was like thrusting a mailed fist into the intricate -works of a clock. There was an end of the perfected -machine of civilization. Everything stopped.</p> - -<p>That was a queer world we woke in. A world that -seemed new, so old it was.</p> - -<p>Money had ceased to exist. It seemed at that -moment an appalling thing. I was on the edge and -frontier of a neutral state. I had money in a bank. -It ceased to be money. A thousand-franc note was -paper. A hundred-mark note was rubbish. British<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page104">[104]</a></span> -sovereigns were refused at the railway station. The -Swiss shopkeeper would not change a Swiss note. -What had seemed money was not money.</p> - -<p>Values were told in terms of bread.</p> - -<p>It was a swift and immediate return to the economic -conditions of barbarism. Metals were hoarded; and -where there had been trade there was barter. And it -all happened in an hour, in that first fierce panic of -war.</p> - -<p>Traffic stopped with a clang as of rusty iron. The -mailed fist had dislocated the complex machinery of -European traffic. Frontiers which had been mere -landmarks of travel became suddenly formidable and -impassable barriers, guarded by harsh, hysterical men -with bayonets.</p> - -<p>War makes men brave and courageous? Rubbish! -It fills them with the cruelty of hysteria and the panic -of the unknown. I am not talking of battle, which -is a different thing. But I say the men who guarded -the German frontier—and I dare say every other -frontier—in the first stress of war, were wrenched and -shaken with veritable hysteria. At St. Ludwig and -Constance those husky soldiers in iron-mongery, with -shaved heads and beards and outstanding ears, fell -into sheer savagery, not because they were bad and -savage men, but simply because they were hysterical. -The fact is worth noting.</p> - -<p>It explains many a bloody and infamous deed in -the tragic history of sad Alsace and of little Belgium. -The war-begotten reversal to savagery brought with -it all the hysteria of the savage man. The sentries -at St. Ludwig struck with muskets and sabres because<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page105">[105]</a></span> -they were hysterical with terror of the new, unknown -state into which they had been plunged, not because -they were not men like you and me. Surely the savage -Uhlan who ravaged the cottages of Alsace was your -brother and mine, as were the Magyar beyond the Danube -and the Cossack at Kovna. Only they had gone -back to the terrors of the man who dwelt in a cave.</p> - -<p>Traffic stopped; and when it stopped civilization -fell away from the travelers. That was strange. -Take the afternoon of the day war was declared, the -date being Aug. 1, in the year of our Lord 1914, and -the hour 7.30 <span class="smcapall">P.M.</span>, Berlin time. It was the last -train that reached the frontier from Paris. Between -Delle and Bicourt lies a neutral zone about three -kilometers—say, nearly two and a half miles—in extent. -On one side France and invasion and terror -and war; on the other side of the zone the relative -safety of Switzerland. Six hundred passengers poured -out of the French train at noon into that neutral -zone and started to walk to Swiss safety. A blazing -August sun; a road of pebbles and stinging, upblown -dust.</p> - -<p>The passengers had been permitted to bring on the -train only what luggage they could carry; so they were -laden with bags and coats, dressing bags and jewel -cases—all they had deemed most valuable. Mostly -women. German ladies fleeing for refuge; Russian -ladies; English, American; and a crowd of men, -urgent to reach their armies, German, Swiss, Russian, -Austrian, Servian, Italian; withal many of the kind -of American men who go to Switzerland in August.</p> - -<p>And the caravan started in the dust and heat of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page106">[106]</a></span> -desert. A woman let fall her heavy bag and plodded -on. Another threw away her coats. Men shook off -their bundles. The heat was stifling. And through -the clouds of dust a panic terror crept. It was the -antique terror of the God Pan—the God All; it was a -fear as immense as the sky.</p> - -<p>A woman screamed and began to run, throwing -away everything she had safeguarded so she might -run with empty hands. A score followed her. Men -began to run. They thrust the women aside, cursing; -and ran. And for over two miles the road was covered -thick with coats and bags, with packages and -jewel cases. The greed of possession died out in the -causeless fear.</p> - -<p>These hoarse, pushing men, these sweating, shameless -women had gone back 10,000 years into prehistoric -savagery. Lightly they threw away all the -baubles and gewgaws civilization had fashioned for -adorning and disguising their raw humanity, and the -habits of civilization as well.</p> - -<p>They had touched but the outermost edge of war, -and their very clothes fell off them.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef10_3">BARBARISM AND WOMEN</h3> - -<p>War; and it takes eighty-four hours to make a -twelve-hour journey from the Alps to Paris; the -cable is dead; the telegraph is dumb; letters go only -when smuggled over the frontiers by couriers; you -look about you and find you are in a mediæval and -mysterious world. You stand amid the melancholy -ruins of canceled cycles. The mailed fist of war has -smashed your world to pieces. You do not know it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page107">[107]</a></span></p> - -<p>The man you thought of as a brother looks at you -with eyes of passionate hatred; you have eaten bread -and salt together; you have drunk together; you -have been uplifted by the same books; you have been -sublimed by the same music; but he is a German, -and your blood was made in another land, and he -looks at you with suspicion and hate—perhaps you -are a spy. (The spy mania! Dear Lord, what absurd, -bloody, and abominable stories I could write of this -madness which has Europe by the throat, this madness -which is only another form of war hysteria!) -A reversal to barbarism; you and the man who was -your friend have gone back to the fear and hatred -of primitive savages, meeting at the corner of a dark -wood. All of humanity we have acquired in the slow -way of evolution sloughs off us.</p> - -<p>We are savages once more. For science is dead. -All the laboratories are shut, save those where poison -is brewed and destruction is put up in packages. -Education has ceased, save that fierce Nietzschean -education which declares: “The weak and helpless -must go to the wall; and we shall help them go.” All -that made life humanly fair is hidden in the fetid -clouds of war where savages (in terror and hysteria) -grope for each other’s throats.</p> - -<p>The glory of war—rot! The heroism of war—rot! -The scarlet and beneficent energies of war—rot! -When you look at it close what you see are hulking -masses of brutes with fear behind them prodding -them on, or wild and splendid savages, hysterical with -hate, battling to save their hearth fires and women -from the oncoming horde. Reversal to barbarism.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page108">[108]</a></span></p> - -<p>Think it over. Upon whom falls the stress of war? -Not upon the soldier. He is killed and fattens the -soil where he falls; or he is maimed and hobbles off -toward a pension or beggary—both tolerable things; -anyway he has drunk deep of cruelty and terror and -may go his way. By rare good grace he may have -been a hero. In other words, he may have been a -Belgian—which is a word like a decoration, a name -to make one strut like a Greek of Thermopylae—and -become thus a permanent part of the world’s finest -history.</p> - -<p class="starline">******</p> - -<p>I would like to write here the name of a friend, -Charles Flamache of Brussels. He was twenty-one -years old. He was an artist who had already tasted -fame. He had known the love of woman. That his -destiny might be fulfilled he died, the blithe, brave -boy, in front of Liège. It was the right death at the -right time—ere yet the massed Prussians had rolled -in fire and blood over his fair small land. Wherefore, -hail and farewell, young hero!</p> - -<p class="starline">******</p> - -<p>But upon whom falls the stress of war?</p> - -<p>In a time of barbarism those who suffer are always -the weak. War is in its essence (as said Nietzsche, -the German philosopher of “world power”) an attack -upon weakness. The weakest suffer most.</p> - -<p>I saw children born on cinder heaps, and I saw them -die; and the mothers die gasping like she dogs in a -smother of flies.</p> - -<p>Some day the story of what was done in Alsace will -be written and the stories of Visé and Aerschot and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page109">[109]</a></span> -Orsmael and Louvain will seem pale and negligible; -but not now—five generations to come will whisper -them in the Vosges.</p> - -<p>What I would emphasize is that in the natural -state of barbarism induced by the war the woman falls -back to her antique state of she animal. In thousands -of years she has been made into a thing of exquisite -and mysterious femininity; in a day she is thrown -back to kinship with the she dog. Slashed with -sabres, pricked with lances, she is a mere thing of -prey.</p> - -<p>Surely not the dear Countess and Baroness? Of -course not. War is made in the palaces, but it does -not attack the palaces. The worth of every nation -dwells in the cottage; and it is upon the cottage -that war works its worst infamy. Go to Alsace -and see.</p> - -<p>Pillage, loot, incendiarism, “indemnity”—you can -read that in the records of the invasion of Belgium; -that is war; it is all right if war is to be, for all this -talk of chivalrous consideration for foes and regard -for international law is all nonsense; necessity, as -Bethmann-Hollweg said, knows no law, and necessity -has always been the tyrant’s plea; it is the business -of a soldier to kill and terrify; if he restricts his -killing and terrifying he is a bad soldier and bad at -his work of barbarism; but—</p> - -<p>There is a more sinister side to Europe’s lapse into -barbarism. The women are paying too dear. And -to make them pay dear is not really the business of -a soldier, not even a bad soldier. Yet the woman is -paying, God knows. A tragic payment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef10_4">AFTER BARBARISM WHAT?</h3> - -<p>One morning at dawn—it was at Ambérieu—I saw -the long trains go by carrying the German wounded -and the German prisoners, who had been taken in the -battles of the Vosges. There were 2,400 taken on -toward the south. There were French nurses with -the wounded. I saw water and fruit and chocolate -given to the prisoners.</p> - -<p>This was early in the war. The sheer lapse into -barbarism had not yet come. Soon the German newspapers -announced:</p> - -<p>“Great concern is expressed in press and public -utterances lest prisoners of war receive anything in -the line of favored treatment. Newspapers have -conducted an angry campaign against women who -have ventured at the railway station to give coffee or -food to prisoners of war passing through; commanding -officers have ordered that persons ‘demeaning themselves -by such unworthy conduct’ are to be immediately -ejected from the stations, and in response to -public clamor official announcements have been issued -that such prisoners in transport receive only bread -and water.”</p> - -<p>And the French followed suit; no “coddling” of -prisoners; back to barbarism, the lessons of humanity -forgot and savagery come again.</p> - -<p>Civilization in the old world is smashed. I have -traversed the ruins; and my feet are still dirty with -mud and blood. But I can tell you what is going to -come out of that welter of ruin. There will come a -sane and righteous hatred of militarism. What will -be surely destroyed is Cæsarism. Prophecy? This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page111">[111]</a></span> -is not prophecy; I am stating an assured fact. Even -at this hour of hysterical and relentless warfare there -lies deep in the heart of the democracy of Europe a -consuming hatred of militarism.</p> - -<p>Drops of water (or blood) do not more naturally -flow into each than did the English hatred of Cæsarism -blend with the high French hatred of the evil -thing; and when the palaces have done fighting, the -cottages of Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean -and from the Black Sea to the Hebrides, will -proclaim its destruction.</p> - -<p>And you will see it; you will see Cæsarism drowned -in the very blood it has shed. And the German, mark -you, will not be the least bitter of the foes of militarism. -He will be indeed a relentless foe.</p> - -<p>Reversal to barbarism, say you? A shuddering -lapse into savagery?</p> - -<p>Quite true; that is the state of Europe over the -fairest and most highly civilized provinces. The -picture of Sir John French strolling up and down -the battle line smoking a cigarette does not give a -fair idea of it; nor do you get it from the Kaiser on a -hilltop surveying his massed war bullocks surging -forth patiently to battle; all that belongs to the picture -books of war.</p> - -<p>The real thing is dirtier.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page112">[112]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">BELGIUM’S BITTER NEED</span><br /> -<span class="chapauthor"><span class="smcap">By Sir Gilbert Parker</span></span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef11_1">THE MARTYRDOM OF BELGIUM</a> — <a href="#SecRef11_2">ABYSS OF WANT -AND WOE</a> — <a href="#SecRef11_3">NO WORK AND HEAVY WAR TAXES</a> — <a href="#SecRef11_4">PATIENCE -OF BELGIANS</a> — <a href="#SecRef11_5">CRYING NEED OF FOOD</a> — <a href="#SecRef11_6">BELGIAN -PEOPLE WARDS OF THE WORLD</a>.</p> - -<p class="courtesy">[Sir Gilbert Parker went abroad at the request of the American -Committee for the Relief of Belgium, and the following -graphic statement and appeal to the American people, dated -December 5, 1914, appeared in the New York Times.]</p> - -<p id="SecRef11_1">Since the beginning of the war the hearts of all -humane people have been tortured by the sufferings -of Belgium. For myself the martyrdom of Belgium -had been a nightmare since the fall of Liège. Whoever -or whatever country is to blame for this war, Belgium -is innocent. Her hands are free from stain. She has -kept the faith. She saw it with the eyes of duty and -honor. Her government is carried on in another land. -Her king is in the trenches. Her army is decimated, -but the last decimals fight on.</p> - -<p>Her people wander in foreign lands, the highest and -lowest looking for work and bread; they cannot look -for homes. Those left behind huddle near the ruins -of their shattered villages or take refuge in towns -which cannot feed their own citizens.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef11_2">ABYSS OF WANT AND WOE</h3> - -<p>Many cities and towns have been completely destroyed; -others, reduced or shattered, struggle in vain -to feed their poor and broken populations. Stones -and ashes mark the places where small communities -lived their peaceful lives before the invasion. The -Belgian people live now in the abyss of want and woe.</p> - -<p>All this I knew in England, but knew it from the -reports of others. I did not, could not, know what the -destitution, the desolation of Belgium was, what were -the imperative needs of this people, until I got to -Holland and to the borders of Belgian territory. -Inside that territory I could not pass because I was -a Britisher, but there I could see German soldiers, the -Landwehr, keeping guard over what they call their -new German province. Belgium a German province!</p> - -<p>There at Maastricht I saw fugitives crossing the -frontier into Holland with all their worldly goods on -their shoulders or in their hands, or with nothing at all, -seeking hospitality of a little land which itself feels, -though it is neutral, the painful stress and cost of the -war. There, on the frontier, I was standing between -Dutch soldiers and German soldiers, so near the -Germans that I could almost have touched them, so -near three German officers that their conversation as -they saluted me reached my ears.</p> - -<p>I begin to understand what the sufferings and needs -of Belgium are. They are such that the horror of it -almost paralyzes expression. I met at Maastricht -Belgians, representatives of municipalities, who said -that they had food for only a fortnight longer. And -what was the food they had? No meat, no vegetables,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page114">[114]</a></span> -but only one-third of a soldier’s rations of bread for -each person per day. At Liège, as I write, there is -food for only three days.</p> - -<p>What is it the people of Belgium ask for? They -ask for bread and salt, no more, and it is not forthcoming. -They do not ask for meat; they cannot get -it. They have no fires for cooking, and they do not -beg for petrol. Money is of little use to them, because -there is no food to be bought with money.</p> - -<p>Belgium under ordinary circumstances imports five-sixths -of the food she eats. The ordinary channels -of sale and purchase are closed. They cannot buy -and sell if they would. Representatives of Belgian -communities told me at Maastricht that the crops were -taken from their fields—the wheat and potatoes—and -were sent into Germany.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef11_3">NO WORK, AND HEAVY WAR TAXES</h3> - -<p>There is no work. The factories are closed because -they have not raw material, coal, or petrol, because -they have no markets.</p> - -<p>And yet war taxes are falling with hideous pressure -upon a people whose hands are empty, whose workshops -are closed, whose fields are idle, whose cattle -have been taken, or compulsorily purchased without -value received.</p> - -<p>In Belgium itself the misery of the populace is -greater than the misery of the Belgian fugitives in -other countries, such as Holland, where there have -come since the fall of Liège one and a half million of -fugitives. To gauge what that misery in Belgium is, -think of what even the fugitives suffer. I have seen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page115">[115]</a></span> -in a room without fire, the walls damp, the floor -without covering, not even straw, a family of nine -women and eight children, one on an improvised bunk -seriously ill. Their home in Belgium was leveled with -the ground, the father killed in battle.</p> - -<p>Their food is coffee and bread for breakfast, potatoes -for dinner, with salt—and in having the salt they were -lucky—bread and coffee for supper. Insufficiently -clothed, there by the North Sea, they watched the -bleak hours pass, with nothing to do except cling -together in a vain attempt to keep warm.</p> - -<p>Multiply this case by hundreds of thousands and -you will have some hint of the people’s sufferings.</p> - -<p>In a lighter on the River Maas at Rotterdam, without -windows, without doors, with only an open hatchway -from which a ladder descends, several hundred -fugitives spend their nights and the best parts of their -days in the iron hold, forever covered with moisture, -leaky when rain comes, with the floor never dry, and -pervasive with a perpetual smell like the smell of a -cave which never gets the light of day. Here men, -women, and children were huddled together in a promiscuous -communion of misery, made infinitely more -pathetic and heartrending because none complained.</p> - -<p>At Rosendaal, at Scheveningen, Eysden, and Flushing, -at a dozen other places, these ghastly things are -repeated in one form or another. Holland has sheltered -hundreds of thousands, but she could not in a -moment organize even adequate shelter, much less -comforts.</p> - -<p>In Bergen-op-Zoom, where I write these words, -there have come since the fall of Antwerp 300,000<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page116">[116]</a></span> -hungry marchers, with no resources except what they -carry with them. This little town of 15,000 people -did its best to meet the terrible pressure, and its -citizens went without bread themselves to feed the -refugees. How can a small municipality suddenly -deal with so vast a catastrophe? Yet slowly some -sort of order was organized out of chaos, and when -the Government was able to establish refugee camps -through the military the worst conditions were moderated, -and now, in tents and in vans on a fortunately -situated piece of land, over 3,000 people live, so far as -comforts are concerned, like Kaffirs in Karoo or -aborigines in a camp in the back blocks of Australia. -The tents are crammed with people, and life is reduced -to its barest elements. Straw, boards, and a few -blankets and dishes for rations—that constitutes the -ménage.</p> - -<p>Children are born in the hugger-mugger of such -conditions, but the good Holland citizens see that the -children are cared for and that the babies have milk. -Devoted priests teach the children, and the value of -military organization illuminates the whole panoply of -misery. Yet the best of the refugee camps would -seem to American citizens like the dark and dreadful -life of an underworld, in which is neither work, purpose, -nor opportunity. It is a sight repugnant to -civilization.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef11_4">PATIENCE OF BELGIANS</h3> - -<p>The saddest, most heartrending thing I have ever -seen has been the patience of every Belgian, whatever -his state, I have met. Among the thousands of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page117">[117]</a></span> -refugees I have seen in Holland, in the long stream -that crossed the frontier at Maastricht and besieged -the doors of the Belgian Consul while I was there, -no man, no woman railed or declaimed against the -horror of their situation. The pathos of lonely, -staring, apathetic endurance is tragic beyond words. -So grateful, so simply grateful, are they, every one, -for whatever is done for them.</p> - -<p>None begs, none asks for money, and yet on the -faces of these frontier refugees I saw stark hunger, -the weakness come of long weeks of famine. One man, -one fortunate man from Verviers, told me he could -purchase as much as 2s. 8d. worth of food for himself, -his wife and child for a week.</p> - -<p>Think of it, American citizens! Sixty-six cents’ -worth of food for a man, his wife, and child for a whole -week, if he were permitted to purchase that much! -Sixty-six cents! That is what an average American -citizen pays for his dinner in his own home. He -cannot get breakfast, he can only get half a breakfast, -for that at the Waldorf or the Plaza in New York.</p> - -<p>This man was only allowed to purchase that much -food if he could, because if he purchased more he -would be taking from some one else, and they were -living on rations for the week which would represent -the food of an ordinary man for a day. A rich man -can have no more than a poor man. It is a democracy -of famine.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef11_5">CRYING NEED OF FOOD</h3> - -<p>There is enough food wasted in the average American -household in one day to keep a Belgian for a fortnight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page118">[118]</a></span> -in health and strength. They want in Belgium -30,000 tons of food a month. That is their normal -requirement. The American Relief Committee is -asking for 8,000 tons a month, one-quarter of the -normal requirements, one-half of a soldier’s rations -for each Belgian. The American Committee needs -$5,000,000 a month until next harvest. It is a huge -sum, but it must be forthcoming.</p> - -<p>Of all the great powers of the world the United -States is the only one not at war or in peril of war. -Of all the foremost nations of the world the United -States is the only one that can save Belgium from -starvation if she will. She was the only nation that -Germany would allow a foothold for humanity’s and for -Christ’s sake in Belgium. Such an opportunity, such -responsibility, no nation ever had before in the history -of the world. Spain and Italy join with her, but the -initiative and resources and organization are hers.</p> - -<p>Around Belgium is a ring of steel. Within that -ring of steel is a disappearing and forever disappearing -population. Towns like Dendermonde, that were -of 10,000 people, have now 4,000, and in Dendermonde -1,200 houses have fallen under the iron and fire of war. -Into that vast graveyard and camp of the desolate -only the United States enters with an adequate and -responsible organization upon the mission of humanity.</p> - -<p>No such opportunity was ever given to a people, -no such test ever came to a Christian people in all the -records of time. Will the American nation rise to -the chance given to it to prove that its civilization is a -real thing and that its acts measure up with its -inherent and professed Christianity?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<p>I am a profound believer in the great-heartedness -of the United States, and there is not an American -of German origin who ought not gladly and freely -give to the relief of people who, unless the world -feeds them, must -be the remnant of -a nation; and the -world in this case is -the United States. -She can give most.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo135.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="350" height="483" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Bringing Up Reinforcements.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>The price of one -good meal a week -for a family in an -American home -will keep a Belgian -alive for a -fortnight.</p> - -<p>Probably the -United States has -18,000,000 homes. -How many of -them will deny -themselves a meal -for martyred Belgium? -The mass of the American people do not -need to deny themselves anything to give to Belgium. -The whole standard of living on the American continent, -in the United States and Canada, is so much -higher than the European standard that if they lowered -the scale by one-tenth just for one six months -the Belgian problem would be solved.</p> - -<p>I say to the American people that they cannot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page120">[120]</a></span> -conceive what this strain upon the populations of -Europe is at this moment, and, in the cruel grip of -winter, hundreds of thousands will agonize till death -or relief comes. In Australia in drought times vast -flocks of sheep go traveling with shepherds looking -for food and water, and no flock ever comes back as -it went forth. Not in flocks guided by shepherds, -but lonely, hopeless units, the Belgian people take -flight, looking for food and shelter, or remain paralyzed -by the tragedy fallen upon them in their own land.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef11_6">BELGIAN PEOPLE WARDS OF THE WORLD</h3> - -<p>Their sufferings are majestic in simple heroism and -uncomplaining endurance. So majestic in proportion -ought the relief to be. The Belgian people are wards -of the world. In the circumstances the Belgian people -are special wards of the one great country that is -secure in its peace and that by its natural instincts -of human sympathy and love of freedom is best suited -to do the work that should be done for Belgium. -If every millionaire would give a thousand, if every -man with $100 a month would give $10, the American -Committee for the Relief of Belgium, with its splendid -organization, its unrivaled efficiency, through which -flows a tide of human sympathy, would be able to -report at the end of the war that a small nation in -misfortune had been saved from famine and despair -by a great people far away, who had responded to the -call, “Come over and help us!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">JAMES BRYCE’S REPORT ON SYSTEMATIC -MASSACRE IN BELGIUM</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef12_1">REPORT OF COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE GERMAN -OUTRAGES</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_2">A HARROWING RECITAL</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_3">TELLS OF -MASSACRES</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_4">“KILLED IN MASSES”</a>—<a href="#SecRef12_5">THE TALE OF -LOUVAIN</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_6">TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_7">CALLS -KILLING DELIBERATE</a> — <a href="#SecRef12_8">“SPIRIT OF WAR DEIFIED”</a>—<a href="#SecRef12_9">THE -COMMISSION’S CONCLUSIONS</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef12_1">Viscount Bryce, former British Ambassador -at Washington, was appointed chairman of a special -government commission to investigate and report on -“outrages alleged to have been committed by German -troops.” Associated with Lord Bryce on the commission -were Sir Frederick Pollock, Sir Edward Clarke, -Sir Alfred Hopkinson, H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor -of the University of Sheffield; Harold Cox, and Kenelm -E. Digby. The commission was appointed by Premier -Asquith on January 22, 1915. The document is -considered as probably the most severe arraignment -made of the German military sweep across Belgium, -mainly because of the position of Viscount Bryce as a -historian, and also because of the care with which -the investigation was made, the great number of -witnesses whose testimony was examined, and the mass -of evidence submitted with the report of the commission.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page122">[122]</a></span></p> - -<p>The report makes an official document of sixty-one -printed pages, or upward of 30,000 words, accompanied -by maps showing the various routes of the army and -the chief scenes of desolation. It states at the outset -that 1,200 witnesses have been examined, the depositions -being taken by examiners of legal knowledge and -experience, though without authority to administer -an oath. The examiners were instructed not to “lead” -the witnesses, and to seek to bring out the truth by -cross-examination and otherwise. The commission -also submitted extracts from a number of diaries taken -from the German dead, chiefly German soldiers and in -some cases officers.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_2">A HARROWING RECITAL</h3> - -<p>Taking up conditions at Liège at the outset of the -war, the report gives a harrowing recital of occurrences -at various points in the devastated territory. At -Herve on August 4, 1914, the report says, “the murder -of an innocent fugitive civilian was a prelude to the -burning and pillage of the town and of other villages -in the neighborhood; to the indiscriminate shooting -of civilians of both sexes and to the organized military -execution of batches of selected males. Thus some -fifty men escaping from burning houses were seized, -taken outside the town and shot. At Melen, in one -household alone the father and mother (names given) -were shot, the daughter died after being repeatedly -attacked and the son was wounded.</p> - -<p>“In Soumagne and Micheroux very many civilians -were summarily shot. In a field belonging to a man -named E——, fifty-six or fifty-seven were put to death.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page123">[123]</a></span> -A German officer said, ‘You have shot at us.’ One of -the villagers asked to be allowed to speak, and said, -‘If you think these people fired, kill me, but let them -go.’ The answer was three volleys. The survivors -were bayoneted. Their corpses were seen in the field -that night by another witness. One at least had been -mutilated. These were not the only victims in Soumagne. -The eye-witness of the massacre saw, on his -way home, twenty bodies, one that of a girl of thirteen. -Another witness saw nineteen corpses in a meadow.</p> - -<p>“At Heure le Romain all the male inhabitants, -including some bed-ridden old men, were imprisoned -in the church. The burgomaster’s brother and the -priest were bayoneted. The village of Visé was completely -destroyed. Officers directed the incendiaries. -Antiques and china were removed from the houses -before their destruction, by officers, who guarded the -plunder, revolver in hand.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_3">TELLS OF MASSACRES</h3> - -<p>“Entries in a German diary show that on August -10 the German soldiers gave themselves up to debauchery -in the streets of Liège, and on the night of the -20th a massacre took place in the streets. . . . Though -the cause of the massacre is in dispute, the results are -known with certainty. The Rue des Pitteurs and -houses in the Place de l’Université and the Quai des -Pêcheurs were systematically fired with benzine; and -many inhabitants were burned alive in their houses, -their efforts to escape being prevented by rifle fire. -Twenty people were shot while trying to escape, -before the eyes of one of the witnesses. The Liège<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page124">[124]</a></span> -Fire Brigade turned out, but was not allowed to extinguish -the fire. Its carts, however, were usefully -employed in removing heaps of civilian corpses to the -Town Hall.”</p> - -<p>Taking up the Valleys of the Meuse and Sambre, the -report gives lengthy details of terrible conditions -described by witnesses at Andenne, and says:</p> - -<p>“About four hundred people lost their lives in this -massacre, some on the banks of the Meuse, where they -were shot according to orders given, and some in the -cellars of the houses where they had taken refuge. -Eight men belonging to one family were murdered. -Another man was placed close to a machine gun which -was fired through him. His wife brought his body home -on a wheelbarrow. The Germans broke into her house -and ransacked it.</p> - -<p>“A hair-dresser was murdered in his kitchen where -he was sitting with a child on each knee. A paralytic -was murdered in his garden. After this came the -general sack of the town. Many of the inhabitants -who escaped the massacre were kept as prisoners and -compelled to clear the houses of corpses and bury them -in trenches. These prisoners were subsequently used -as a shelter and protection for a pontoon bridge which -the Germans had built across the river and were -so used to prevent the Belgian forts from firing -upon it.</p> - -<p>“A few days later the Germans celebrated a ‘fête -nocturne’ in the square. Hot wine, located in the -town, was drunk, and the women were compelled to -give three cheers for the Kaiser and to sing ‘Deutschland -über Alles.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page125">[125]</a></span>’”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_4">“KILLED IN MASSES”</h3> - -<p>Similar details are recited at much length in reference -to the districts of Namur, Charleroi and the town of -Dinant. At the latter point, the report says, “Unarmed -civilians were killed in masses. We have no reason -to believe that the civilian population of Dinant -gave any provocation or that any other defense can -be put forward to justify the treatment inflicted -upon its citizens.”</p> - -<p>The commission stated that it had received a great -mass of evidence on “scenes of chronic outrage” in the -territory bounded by the towns Aerschot, Malines, -Vilvorde and Louvain. It stated that the total number -of outrages was so great that the commission could -not refer to them all.</p> - -<p>“The commission is specially impressed by the -character of the outrages committed in the smaller -villages. Many of these are exceptionally shocking -and cannot be regarded as contemplated or prescribed -by responsible commanders of the troops by whom they -were commanded. Evidence goes to show that deaths -in these villages were due not to accident but to deliberate -purpose. The wounds were generally stabs or -cuts, and for the most part appear to have been inflicted -with a bayonet.</p> - -<p>“In Sempst the corpse of a man with his legs cut -off, who was partly bound, was seen by a witness, who -also saw a girl of seventeen in great distress dressed -only in a chemise. She alleged that she herself and -other girls had been dragged into a field, stripped -naked and attacked, and that some of them had been -killed with a bayonet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>Taking up conditions at Aerschot and the surrounding -district during September, the report says:</p> - -<p>“At Haecht several children had been murdered; -one of two or three years old was found nailed to the -door of a farmhouse by its hands and feet, a crime which -seems almost incredible, but the evidence for which we -feel bound to accept. At Eppeghem the body of a -child of two was seen pinned to the ground with a -German lance. The same witness saw a mutilated -woman alive near Weerde on the same day.”</p> - -<p>A chapter is given to the terrible conditions at -Louvain, where the report states, “massacre, fire and -destruction went on. . . . Citizens were shot and -others taken prisoners and compelled to go with the -troops. Soldiers went through the streets saying, ‘Man -hat geschossen’ (some one has fired on us).</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_5">THE TALE OF LOUVAIN</h3> - -<p>“The massacre of civilians at Louvain was not -confined to its citizens. Large crowds of people were -brought into Louvain from the surrounding districts, -not only from Aerschot and Gelrod, but also from other -places. For example, a witness describes how many -women and children were taken in carts to Louvain, -and there placed in a stable. Of the hundreds of -people thus taken from the various villages and brought -to Louvain as prisoners, some were massacred there, -others were forced to march along with citizens of -Louvain through various places, some being ultimately -sent to the Belgian lines at Malines, others were taken -in trucks to Cologne, others were released.</p> - -<p>“Ropes were put around the necks of some and they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page127">[127]</a></span> -were told they would be hanged. An order then came -that they were to be shot instead of hanged. A firing -squad was prepared, and five or six prisoners were put -up, but were not shot. . . . This taking of the inhabitants -in groups and marching them to various places -must evidently have been done under the direction of a -higher military authority. The ill-treatment of the -prisoners was under the eyes and often under the direction -or sanction of officers, and officers themselves took -part in it. . . .</p> - -<p>“It is to be noticed that cases occur in the depositions -in which humane acts by individual officers and soldiers -are mentioned, or in which officers are said to have -expressed regret at being obliged to carry out orders -for cruel action against the civilians. Similarly, we -find entries in diaries which reveal a genuine pity for -the population and disgust at the conduct of the -enemy. It appears that a German non-commissioned -officer stated definitely that he ‘was acting under orders -and executing them with great unwillingness.’ A -commissioned officer on being asked at Louvain by a -witness, a highly educated man, about the horrible -acts committed by the soldiers, said he ‘was merely -executing orders,’ and that he himself would be shot -if he did not execute them.”</p> - -<p>Another division of the report is on the “killing of -non-combatants in France.” This is not as detailed -as the case of Belgium, as the commission states that -the French official report gives the most complete -account as to the invaded districts in France. It -adds:</p> - -<p>“The evidence before us proves that, in the parts<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page128">[128]</a></span> -of France referred to, murder of unoffending civilians -and other acts of cruelty, including aggravated cases -of felonious attack, carried out under threat of death, -and sometimes actually followed by murder of the victim, -were committed by some of the German troops.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_6">TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN</h3> - -<p>A special chapter is given to the treatment of women -and children. The latter, it is said, frequently received -milder treatment than the men. But many instances -are given of “calculated cruelty, often going the length -of murder, towards the women and children.” A witness -gives a story, very circumstantial in its details, -of how women were publicly attacked in the market -place of the city, five young German officers assisting. -The report goes on: “In the evidence before us there -are cases tending to show that aggravated crimes -against women were sometimes severely punished. -These instances are sufficient to show that the maltreatment -of women was not part of the military scheme of -the invaders, however much it may appear to have -been the inevitable result of the system of terror -deliberately adopted in certain regions.</p> - -<p>“It is clearly shown that many offences were committed -against infants and quite young children. On -one occasion children were even roped together and -used as a military screen against the enemy, on another -three soldiers went into action carrying small children -to protect themselves from flank fire. It is difficult -to imagine the motives which may have prompted such -acts. Whether or not Belgian civilians fired on German -soldiers, young children at any rate did not fire.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>Many instances are given of the use of civilians as -screens during the military operation. Cases of the -Red Cross being misused for offensive military purposes, -and of abuse of the white flag are also given. As to the -latter the report says: “There is in our opinion sufficient -evidence that these offences have been frequent, -deliberate and in many cases committed by whole -units under orders. All the facts mentioned are in -contravention of The Hague Convention, signed by the -Great Powers, including France, Germany, Great -Britain and the United States, in 1907.”</p> - -<p>A division of the report is given to diaries of German -soldiers. The entry of a sergeant of the First Guards -Regiment, who received the Iron Cross, says, under -date of August 10: “A transport of 300 Belgians came -through Duisburg in the morning. Of these, eighty, -including the Oberburgomaster, were shot according -to martial law.” The diary of a member of the Fourth -Company of Jägers says, under date of August 23: -“About 220 inhabitants and the village were burned.” -Another diary, by a member of the Second Mounted -Battery, First Kurhessian Field Artillery Regiment, -No. 11, records an incident which happened in French -territory near Lille on October 11: “We had no fight, -but we caught about twenty men and shot them.” -The commission says of this last diary: “By this -time killing not in a fight would seem to have passed -into a habit.”</p> - -<p>The report adds that the most important entry was -contained in diary No. 19. This contained no name and -address, but names referred to in the diary indicate -that the entries were made by an officer of the First<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page130">[130]</a></span> -Regiment of Foot Guards. The entry made at Bermeton -on August 24 says: “We took about 1,000 prisoners; -at least 500 were shot. The village was burned because -inhabitants had also shot. Two civilians were shot at -once.”</p> - -<p>“If a line is drawn on a map from the Belgian -frontier to Liège and continued to Charleroi, and a -second line drawn from Liège to Malines, a sort of -figure resembling an irregular Y will be formed. It -is along this ‘Y’ that most of the systematic (as opposed -to isolated) outrages were committed. If the period -from August 4 to August 30 is taken it will be found to -cover most of these organized outrages. Termonde and -Alost extend, it is true, beyond the ‘Y’ lines, and they -belong to the month of September. Murder, assault, -arson and pillage began from the moment when the -German army crossed the frontier. For the first -fortnight of the war the towns and villages near Liège -were the chief sufferers. From August 19 to the end -of the month outrages spread in the direction of -Charleroi and Malines and reached their period of -greatest intensity.</p> - -<p>“There is a certain significance in the fact that the -outrages around Liège coincide with the unexpected -resistance of the Belgian army in that district, and -that the slaughter which reigned from August 19 to -the end of the month is contemporaneous with the -period when the German army’s need for a quick -passage through Belgium at all costs was deemed -imperative.</p> - -<p>“In all wars occur many shocking and outrageous acts -of men of criminal instincts whose worst passions are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page131">[131]</a></span> -unloosed by the immunity which the conditions of -warfare afford. Drunkenness, moreover, may turn -even a soldier who has no criminal habits into a brute, -and there is evidence that intoxication was extremely -prevalent among the German army, both in Belgium -and in France. Unfortunately little seems to have -been done to repress this source of danger.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_7">CALLS KILLING DELIBERATE</h3> - -<p>“In the present war, however—and this is the gravest -charge against the German army—the evidence shows -that the killing of non-combatants was carried out to -an extent for which no previous war between nations -claiming to be civilized (for such cases as the atrocities -perpetrated by the Turks on the Bulgarian Christians in -1876, and on the Armenian Christians in 1895 and 1896, -do not belong to that category) furnishes any precedent. -That this killing was done as part of a deliberate plan -is clear from the facts hereinbefore set forth regarding -Louvain, Aerschot, Dinant and other towns. The -killing was done under orders in each place. It began -at a certain fixed date. Some of the officers who carried -out the work did it reluctantly, and said they were -obeying directions from their chiefs. The same remarks -apply to the destruction of property. House burning -was part of the program; and villages, even large parts -of a city, were given to the flames as part of the terrorizing -policy.</p> - -<p>“Citizens of neutral states who visited Belgium in -December and January report that the German -authorities do not deny that non-combatants were -systematically killed in large numbers during the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page132">[132]</a></span> -first weeks of the invasion, and this, so far as we know, -has never been officially denied.</p> - -<p>“The German government has, however, sought -to justify these severities on the grounds of military -necessity and has excused them as retaliation for -cases in which civilians fired on German troops. There -may have been cases in which such firing occurred, but -no proof has ever been given, or, to our knowledge, -attempted to be given, of such cases, nor of the stories -of shocking outrages perpetrated by Belgian men and -women on German soldiers. . . .</p> - -<p>“We gladly record the instances where the evidence -shows that humanity has not wholly disappeared from -some members of the German army and that they -realized that the responsible heads of that organization -were employing them not in war but in butchery: ‘I am -merely executing orders, and I should be shot if I did -not execute them,’ said an officer to a witness at Louvain. -At Brussels another officer said, ‘I have not done -one hundredth part of what we have been ordered to -do by the high German military authorities.’</p> - -<p>“That these acts should have been perpetrated on -the peaceful population of an unoffending country -which was not at war with its invaders, but merely -defending its own neutrality, guaranteed by the -invading power, may excite amazement and even -incredulity. It was with amazement and almost with -incredulity that the commission first read the depositions -relating to such acts. But when the evidence -regarding Liège was followed by that regarding Aerschot, -Louvain, Andenne, Dinant, and the other towns -and villages, the cumulative effect of such a mass<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page133">[133]</a></span> -of concurrent testimony became irresistible, and we -were driven to the conclusion that the things described -had really happened. The question then arose -how they could have happened.</p> - -<p>“The explanation seems to be that these excesses -were committed—in some cases ordered, in others -allowed—on a system and in pursuance of a set purpose. -That purpose was to strike terror into the civil population -and dishearten the Belgian troops, so as to crush -down resistance and extinguish the very spirit of self-defense. -The pretext that civilians had fired upon the -invading troops was used to justify not merely the -shooting of individual franc-tireurs, but the murder -of large numbers of innocent civilians, an act absolutely -forbidden by the rules of civilized warfare.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_8">“SPIRIT OF WAR DEIFIED”</h3> - -<p>“In the minds of Prussian officers war seems to have -become a sort of sacred mission, one of the highest -functions of the omnipotent state, which is itself as -much an army as a state. Ordinary morality and the -ordinary sentiment of pity vanish in its presence, -superseded by a new standard which justifies to the -soldier every means that can conduce to success, -however shocking to a natural sense of justice and -humanity, however revolting to his own feelings. The -spirit of war is deified. Obedience to the state and -its war lord leaves no room for any other duty or -feeling. Cruelty becomes legitimate when it promises -victory. Proclaimed by the heads of the army, this -doctrine would seem to have permeated the officers -and affected even the private soldiers, leading them to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page134">[134]</a></span> -justify the killing of non-combatants as an act of war, -and so accustoming them to slaughter that even women -and children become at last the victims.</p> - -<p>“It cannot be supposed to be a national doctrine, -for it neither springs from nor reflects the mind and -feelings of the German people as they have heretofore -been known to other nations. It is specifically military -doctrine, the outcome of a theory held by a ruling -caste who have brooded and thought, written and -talked and dreamed about war until they have fallen -under its obsession and been hypnotized by its spirit.</p> - -<p>“The doctrine is plainly set forth in the German -official monograph on the usages of war on land, issued -under the direction of the German staff. This book -is pervaded throughout by the view that whatever -military needs suggest becomes thereby lawful, and -upon this principle, as the diaries show, the German -officers acted.</p> - -<p>“If this explanation be the true one, the mystery -is solved, and that which seemed scarcely credible -becomes more intelligible though not less pernicious. -This is not the only case that history records in which -a false theory, disguising itself as loyalty to a state or -to a church, has perverted the conception of duty and -become a source of danger to the world.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef12_9">THE COMMISSION’S CONCLUSIONS</h3> - -<p>The conclusions of the commission, as to the various -detailed recitals, are as follows:</p> - -<p>“We may now sum up and endeavor to explain the -character and significance of the wrongful acts done -by the German army in Belgium.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It is proved, first, that there were in many parts -of Belgium deliberate and systematically organized -massacres of the civil population accompanied by many -isolated murders and other outrages.</p> - -<p>“Second—That in the conduct of the war generally -innocent civilians, both men and women, were murdered -in large numbers, women attacked and children -murdered.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w450"> - -<img src="images/illo151.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="279" /> - -<p class="caption main">“<span class="smcap">Their First Success.</span>”</p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">“At Morfontaine, near Longwy, the Germans -shot two fifteen-year-old children who had -warned the French gendarmes of the enemy’s -arrival.”—The Newspapers.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>“Third—That looting, house burning and the wanton -destruction of -property were ordered -and countenanced -by the -officers of the -German army, -that elaborate -provision had -been made for -systematic incendiarism -at the -very outbreak of -the war, and that -the burning and -destruction were frequently where no military necessity -could be alleged, being, indeed, part of a system of -general terrorization.</p> - -<p>“Fourth—That the rules and usages of war were -frequently broken, particularly by the using of civilians, -including women and children, as a shield for advancing -forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the -wounded and prisoners, and in the frequent abuse of -the Red Cross and the white flag.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page136">[136]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Sensible as they are of the gravity of these conclusions, -the commission conceive that they would be -doing less than their duty if they failed to record them -as fully established by the evidence. Murder, lust and -pillage prevailed over many parts of Belgium on a -scale unparalleled in any war between civilized nations -during the last three centuries.</p> - -<p>“Our function is ended when we have stated what -the evidence establishes, but we may be permitted to -express our belief that these disclosures will not have -been made in vain if they touch and rouse the conscience -of mankind, and we venture to hope that as soon as the -present war is over, the nations of the world in council -will consider what means can be provided and sanctions -devised to prevent the recurrence of such horrors as -our generation is now witnessing.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo153.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="392" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Most Beautiful City in Europe Destroyed by the Germans.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Scene of desolation in Louvain. On the right is the magnificent Town Hall, -considered one of the most marvelous -pieces of architecture in Europe’s which escaped almost untouched. In the center, however, the famous St. Peter’s -Cathedral has only the walls standing. <span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by the International News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo154.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="388" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Ruins of Ypres After the Bombardment.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The old Flemish town was the center of hot fighting between the -Allies and the German troops in the battles for -the possession of Belgium. At the right of the picture are seen the ruins of the famous Cloth Hall, one of the most -famous medieval buildings in Europe. <span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by the International News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">A BELGIAN BOY’S STORY OF THE RUIN OF -AERSCHOT</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef13_1">PITIABLE PLIGHT OF BOY OF SIXTEEN STRANDED -IN ANTWERP</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_2">HIS ARREST</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_3">A TOWN IN -RUINS</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_4">BURYING -THE DEAD</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_5">THE LEVELED GUNS</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_6">MARCHING -AMONG GERMAN CAMPS</a> — <a href="#SecRef13_7">NO MONEY AND NO -WORK</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef13_1">To the thousands of unhappy Belgian refugees -driven from their homes by the advancing Germans -and transported to England the pity of the whole world -has gone out; yet even more deplorable than the -condition of these was the fate of those who were left -behind to suffer at the hands of a relentless enemy. -The story of a delicate boy of sixteen, as told in the -following letter which he himself wrote from Antwerp -to his former employer, an American living at the -time in England, is typical.</p> - -<p>When this boy, fleeing from Aerschot, arrived in -Antwerp, without friends, money or papers, there was -no agency to help him. If he had been a smaller -child somebody doubtless would have taken pity on -him and carried him with them as they fled; if he -had been able to preserve his legitimatization papers -the Belgian authorities would have given him some -support; and, of course, if he had been older, he would -have been immediately enlisted in the service of his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page138">[138]</a></span> -country. As it was he could only drift before the foe, -and suffer.</p> - -<p class="right padr2">“<span class="smcap">Antwerp</span>, Sept. 23, 1914.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>: As you correctly said in my testimonial -when you were closing the office, the war has isolated -Belgium. Really I can well say that I have been -painfully struck by this scourge, and I permit myself, -dear sir, to give you a little description of my Calvary.</p> - -<p>“Your offices were closed in the beginning of August. -As I did not know what to do and as the fatherland -had not enough men to defend its territory I tried to -get myself accepted as a volunteer.</p> - -<p>“On Aug. 10 I went to Aerschot, my native town, -to get my certificate of good conduct. Then I went to -Louvain to have same signed by the commander of -the place. This gentleman sent me to St. Nicholas -and thence to Hemixem, where I was rejected as too -young. I then decided to return to Brussels, passing -through Aerschot. Here my aunt asked me to stay -with her, saying that she was afraid of the Germans.</p> - -<p>“I remained at Aerschot. This was Aug. 15. Suddenly, -on the 19th, at nine o’clock in the morning, after -a terrible bombardment, the Germans made their -entry into Aerschot. In the first street which they -passed through they broke into the houses. They -brought out six men whom I knew very well and -immediately shot them. Learning of this, I fled to -Louvain, where I arrived on Aug. 19 at one o’clock.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_2">HIS ARREST</h3> - -<p>“At 1.30 <span class="smcapall">P.M.</span> the Germans entered Louvain. They -did not do anything to the people in the beginning.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page139">[139]</a></span> -On the following Saturday, Aug. 22, I started to -return to Aerschot, as I had no money. (All my -money was still in Brussels.) The whole distance -from Louvain to Aerschot I saw nothing but German -armies, always Germans. They did not say a word -to me until I suddenly found myself alone with three -of the “Todeshusaren” (Death’s-head Hussars), -the vanguard of their regiment. They arrested me -at the point of the revolver, demanded where I was -going and why I had run away from Aerschot. They -said that the whole of Aerschot was now on fire, -because the son of the burgomaster had killed a -general. Finally they searched me from head to -foot, and I heard them discuss the question of my -fate.</p> - -<p>“Finally the non-commissioned officer told me that -I could continue on my way; that they would certainly -take care of me in Aerschot, as I had been -firing at Germans, and they would shoot me when -I arrived. I would have liked better to return to -Louvain, but with an imperious gesture he pointed -out my road to Aerschot, and I continued. On -arriving within a few hundred meters of the town -I was arrested once more.</p> - -<p>“I forgot to tell you that of all the houses which -I passed between Louvain and Aerschot, there were -only a few left intact. Upon these the Germans -had written in chalk in the German language: ‘Please -spare. Good people. Do not burn.’ Lying along -the road I saw many dead horses putrefying. There -were also to be seen pigs, goats, and cows which had -nothing to eat, and which were howling like wild<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page140">[140]</a></span> -beasts. Not a soul was to be seen in the houses or in -the streets. Everything was empty.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w450"> - -<img src="images/illo158.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="429" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">In Belgium.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondcenter"><i>Jean</i>—“Do you think St. Nicholas will find -us, now that we haven’t a chimney?”</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>“I was then arrested when a short distance from -Aerschot. There were with me two or three families -from Sichem, a -village between -Diest and Aerschot. -We remained -in the -fields alongside the -road, while the -Prussian regiments -with their -artillery continued -to pass by. When -the artillery had -passed we were -marched at the -point of the bayonet -to the church -in Aerschot. On arrival at the church the families of -Sichem (there were at least twenty small children) -were permitted to continue on their way, and the non-commissioned -officer, delighted that I could speak -German, permitted me to go to my aunt’s house.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_3">A TOWN IN RUINS</h3> - -<p>“The aspect of the town was terrible. Not more -than half the houses were standing. In the first -three streets which the Germans traversed there was -not a single house left. There was not a house in the -town but had been pillaged. All doors had been burst<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page141">[141]</a></span> -open. There was nothing, nothing left. The stench -in the streets was insupportable.</p> - -<p>“I then went home, or, rather, I should say, I went -to the house where my father had always been boarding. -You know, perhaps, that my mother died twelve -years ago. I did not find my father, but according to -what the people told me he had been arrested, and, -with five other Aerschot men, taken to Germany—I do -not know for what purpose.</p> - -<p>“I got into this house without any difficulty, because -the door was smashed in. I stayed there from Saturday, -Aug. 22, up to Wednesday, the 26th, a little more -comfortable. There was nothing to eat left in the -house. I lived on what a few women who remained -in Aerschot could give me. I was forced to go with -the soldiers into the cellars of M. X., director of a -large factory, to hunt for wine. As recompense I got -a loaf. It was not much, but at this moment it meant -very much for me.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_4">BURYING THE DEAD</h3> - -<p>“On Wednesday, Aug. 26, we were all once more -locked up in the church. It was then half-past four in -the afternoon. We could not get out, even for our -necessities. On Thursday, about nine o’clock, each of -us was given a piece of bread and a glass of water. -This was to last the whole day. At ten o’clock a -lieutenant came in, accompanied by fifteen soldiers. -He placed all the men who were left in a square, -selected seventy of us and ordered us out to bury the -corpses of Germans and Belgians around the town, -which had been lying there since the battle of the 19th.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page142">[142]</a></span> -That was a week that these bodies had remained there, -and it is no use to ask if there was a stench. Afterward -we had to clean the streets, and then it was -evening.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_5">THE LEVELED GUNS</h3> - -<p>“They just got ready to shoot us. There were -then ten of us. The guns had already been leveled at -us, when suddenly a German soldier ran out shouting -that we had not fired on them. A few minutes before -we had heard rifle-firing and the Germans said it was -the Aerschot people who were shooting, though all -these had been locked up in the church and we were -the only inhabitants then in the streets, cleaning them, -under surveillance of Germans. It was this German -who saved our lives.</p> - -<p>“Picture to yourself what we have suffered! It is -impossible to describe. On Aug. 28 we were brought -to Louvain, always guarded by German soldiers. -There were with us about twenty old men, over -eighty years of age. These were placed in two -carts, tied to one another in pairs. I and -about twenty of my unfortunate compatriots -had then to pull the carts all the way to Louvain. -It was hard, but that could be supported all the -same.</p> - -<p>“On arriving at Louvain I saw with my own eyes a -German who shot at us. The Germans who were at -the station shouted ‘The civilians have been shooting,’ -and commenced a fusillade against us. Many of us -fell dead, others wounded, but I had the chance to -run away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_6">MARCHING AMONG GERMAN CAMPS</h3> - -<p>“I now took the road to Tirlemont, marching all -the time among German camps. Once I was arrested. -Again they wanted to shoot me, insisting that I was -a student of the University of Louvain. The Germans -pretend it was the students who caused the population -in Louvain to shoot at them. However, my youth -saved me, and I was set at liberty.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef13_7">NO MONEY AND NO WORK</h3> - -<p>“All my money, the twenty francs which you presented -me and my salary for five weeks, as well as my -little savings, are lying in Brussels, and I cannot get -at them. . . I cannot work, because there is no work -to be got. I cannot cross over to England, as, to do -this, it is necessary that there should be a whole -family. In these horrible circumstances, I respectfully -take the liberty of addressing you, and I hope -you will aid me as best you can. I swear to you that -I shall pay you back all that you give me. I have -here in Antwerp no place, no family. The town will -not give me any aid, because I have no papers to -prove my identity. I threw all my papers away for -fear of the Germans. I count then on you with a -firm hope to pay you back later.</p> - -<p>“Please accept, dear sir, my respectful greetings.”</p> - -<p class="right blankbefore1 padr2">—— ——.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page144">[144]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE UNSPEAKABLE ATROCITIES OF -“CIVILIZED” WARFARE</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef14_1">DISCLOSURES MADE IN FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORTS -AND NOTEBOOKS OF GERMAN SOLDIERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_2">NOTHING -SACRED</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_3">HIDEOUS FACES OF THE DEAD</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_4">WOMEN -FORCED TO DIG GRAVES</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_5">GETTING HARDENED</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_6">WHOLESALE -PILLAGE</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_7">MUTILATIONS OF THE DEAD -AND WOUNDED</a> — <a href="#SecRef14_8">THE FRENCH REPORT</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef14_1">The French official report on German atrocities -contained records of such horror that the whole civilized -world stood aghast. Here at last was war with all its -multitudinous attendant crimes, more horrible than -the actual warfare itself because so causeless and so -bestial. Many stories of atrocities had been told by -travelers and war correspondents abroad; the official -report from France verified these earlier accounts, -though there was still a vestige of doubt because it was -a French report of German atrocities; and then to back -up this record and remove the last shadow of disbelief, -came the testimony of the Germans against themselves, -through the “War Diaries” of German soldiers, many -of which naturally fell into the hands of the enemy. -Paragraphs selected from these notebooks follow:</p> - -<p>“In this way we destroyed eight dwellings and their -inhabitants. In one of the houses we bayoneted two -men, with their wives and a young girl eighteen years<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page145">[145]</a></span> -old. The young one almost unmanned me, her look -was so innocent! But we could not master the excited -troop, for at such times they are no longer men—they -are beasts.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_2">NOTHING SACRED</h3> - -<p>“Unfortunately, I am forced to make note of a fact -which should not have occurred, but there are to be -found, even in our own army, creatures who are no -longer men, but hogs, to whom nothing is sacred. -One of these broke into a sacristy; it was locked, and -there the Blessed Sacrament was kept. A Protestant, -out of respect, had refused to sleep there. This man -used it as a deposit for his excrements. How is it -possible there should be such creatures? Last night -one of the men of the landwehr, more than thirty-five -years of age, married, tried to rape the daughter of -the inhabitant where he had taken up his quarters—a -mere girl—and when the father intervened he pressed -his bayonet against his breast.”</p> - -<p>“Langeviller, Aug. 22.—Village destroyed by the -eleventh battalion of Pioneers. Three women hanged -to trees; the first dead I have seen.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_3">HIDEOUS FACES OF THE DEAD</h3> - -<p>“The inhabitants fled through the village. It was -horrible. The walls of houses are bespattered with -blood and the faces of the dead are hideous to look -upon. They were buried at once, some sixty of them. -Among them many old women, old men, and one woman -pregnant—the whole a dreadful sight. Three children -huddled together—all dead. Altar and arches of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page146">[146]</a></span> -church shattered. Telephone communication with -the enemy was found there. This morning, Sept. 2, -all the survivors were driven out; I saw four little -boys carrying on two poles a cradle with a child some -five or six months old. The whole makes a fearful -sight. Blow upon blow! Thunderbolt on thunderbolt! -Everything given over to plunder. I saw a mother -with her two little ones—one of them had a great wound -in the head and an eye put out.”</p> - -<p>“At the entrance to the village lay the bodies of some -fifty citizens, shot for having fired upon our troops from -ambush. In the course of the night many others were -shot down in like manner, so that we counted more -than two hundred. Women and children, holding -their lamps, were compelled to assist at this horrible -spectacle. We then sat down midst the corpses to eat -our rice, as we had eaten nothing since morning.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_4">WOMEN FORCED TO DIG GRAVES</h3> - -<p>“Aug. 25 (in Belgium).—We shot 300 of the inhabitants -of the town. Those that survived the salvo were -requisitioned as grave-diggers. You should have seen -the women at that time! But it was impossible to do -otherwise. In our march upon Wilot things went -better; the inhabitants who wished to leave were -allowed to do so. But whoever fired was shot. Upon -our leaving Owele the rifles rang out, and with that, -flames, women and all the rest.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_5">GETTING HARDENED</h3> - -<p>“We arrested three civilians, and a bright idea struck -me. We furnished them with chairs and made them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page147">[147]</a></span> -seat themselves in the middle of the street. There were -supplications on one part, and some blows with the -stocks of our guns on the other. One, little by little, -gets terribly hardened. Finally, there they were sitting -in the street. How many anguished prayers they may -have muttered, I cannot say, but during the whole time -their hands were joined in nervous contraction. I am -sorry for them, but the stratagem was of immediate -effect. The enfilading -directed -from the houses -diminished at -once; we were -able then to take -possession of the -house opposite, -and thus became -masters of the -principal street. -From that moment -every one -that showed his -face in the street was shot. And the artillery meanwhile -kept up vigorous work, so that at about seven o’clock in -the evening, when the brigade advanced to rescue us, I -could report ‘Saint-Dié has been emptied of all enemies.’</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo165.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="395" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Road to Yesterday.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>“As I learned later, the —— regiment of reserves, -which came into Saint-Dié further north, had experiences -entirely similar to our own. The four civilians -whom they had placed on chairs in the middle of the -street were killed by French bullets. I saw them myself -stretched out in the street near the hospital.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_6">WHOLESALE PILLAGE</h3> - -<p>“Aug. 8, 1914. Gouvy (Belgium).—There, the -Belgians having fired on some German soldiers, we -started at once pillaging the merchandise warehouse. -Several cases—eggs, shirts, and everything that could -be eaten was carried off. The safe was forced and the -gold distributed among the men. As to the securities, -they were torn up.”</p> - -<p>“The enemy occupied the village of Bièvre and the -edge of the wood behind it. The third company -advanced in first line. We carried the village, and then -pillaged and burned almost all the houses.”</p> - -<p>“The first village we burned was Parux (Meurthe-et-Moselle). -After this the dance began, throughout -the villages, one after the other; over the fields and -pastures we went on our bicycles up to the ditches at -the edge of the road, and there sat down to eat our -cherries.”</p> - -<p>“Our first fight was at Haybes (Belgium) on the -24th of August. The second battalion entered the -village, ransacked the houses, pillaged them, and -burned those from which shots had been fired.”</p> - -<p>“They do not behave as soldiers, but rather as -highwaymen, bandits and brigands, and are a dishonor -to our regiment and to our army.”</p> - -<p>“No discipline, . . . the Pioneers are well nigh -worthless; as to the artillery, it is a band of robbers.”</p> - -<p>“Aug. 12, 1914, in Belgium.—One can get an idea -of the fury of our soldiers in seeing the destroyed -villages. Not one house left untouched. Everything -eatable is requisitioned by the unofficered soldiers. -Several heaps of men and women put to execution.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page149">[149]</a></span> -Young pigs are running about looking for their -mothers.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_7">MUTILATIONS OF THE DEAD</h3> - -<p>“On the 22d, in the evening, I learned that in the -woods, about one hundred and fifty meters north of -the square formed by the intersection of the great -Calonne trench with the road from Vaux-les-Palameis -to Saint-Rémy, there were corpses of French soldiers -shot by the Germans. I went to the spot and found -the bodies of about thirty soldiers within a small space, -most of them prone, but several still kneeling, and -<i>all having a precisely similar wound</i>—a bullet through -the ear. One only, seriously wounded in his lower -parts, could still speak, and told me that the Germans -before leaving had ordered them to lie down and that -they had them shot through the head; that he, already -wounded, had secured indulgence by stating that he -was the father of three small children. The skulls -of these unfortunates were scattered; the guns, broken -at the stock, were scattered here and there; and the -blood had besprinkled the bushes to such an extent -that in coming out of the woods my cape was spattered -with it; it was a veritable shambles.”</p> - -<p>“Dogs chained, without food or drink. And the -houses about them on fire. But the just anger of our -soldiers is accompanied also by pure vandalism. In the -villages, already emptied of their inhabitants, the -houses are set on fire. I feel sorry for this population. -If they have made use of disloyal weapons, after all, -they are only defending their own country. The -atrocities which these non-combatants are still committing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page150">[150]</a></span> -are revenged after a savage fashion. Mutilations -of the wounded are the order of the day.”</p> - -<p>This order was addressed by General Stenger, in -command of the fifty-eighth German brigade, on the -26th of August, to the troops under his orders:</p> - -<p>“From this day forward no further prisoners will be -taken. All prisoners will be massacred. The wounded, -whether in arms or not in arms, shall be massacred. -Even the prisoners already gathered in convoys will be -massacred. No living enemy must remain behind us.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef14_8">THE FRENCH REPORT</h3> - -<p>Having been instructed to investigate atrocities -said to have been committed by the Germans in -portions of French territory which had been occupied -by them, a commission composed of four representatives -of the French Government repaired to these districts -in order to make a thorough investigation. The commission -was composed of M. Georges Payelle, First -President of the Cour des Comptes; Armand Mollard, -Minister Plenipotentiary; Georges Maringer, Counselor -of State, and Edmond Paillot, Counselor of the -Cour de Cassation.</p> - -<p>They started on their mission late in September, -1914, and visited the Departments of Seine-et-Marne, -Marne, Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Oise, and Aisne. -According to the report, they made note only of those -accusations against the invaders which were backed -up by reliable testimony and discarded everything that -might have been occasioned by the exigencies of war.</p> - -<p>The statement, which extends over many pages and -contains over 25,000 words, is a record of the most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page151">[151]</a></span> -fiendish crimes imaginable. “On every side our eyes -rested on ruin. Whole villages have been destroyed -by bombardment or fire; towns formerly full of life -are now nothing but deserts full of ruins; and, in visiting -the scenes of desolation where the invader’s torch has -done its work, one feels continually as though one -were walking among the remains of one of those cities -of antiquity which have been annihilated by the great -cataclysms of nature.</p> - -<p>“In truth it can be stated that never has a war -carried on between civilized nations assumed the -savage and ferocious character of the one which at this -moment is being waged on our soil by an implacable -adversary. Pillage, rape, arson, and murder are the -common practice of our enemies; and the facts which -have been revealed to us day by day at once constitute -definite crimes against common rights, punished by -the codes of every country with the most severe and the -most dishonoring penalties, and which prove an astonishing -degeneration in German habits of thought -since 1870.</p> - -<p>“Crimes against women and young girls have been -of appalling frequency. We have proved a great -number of them, but they only represent an infinitesimal -proportion of those which we could have taken up. -Owing to a sense of decency, which is deserving of every -respect, the victims of these hateful acts usually refuse -to disclose them. Doubtless fewer would have been -committed if the leaders of an army whose discipline -is most rigorous had taken any trouble to prevent -them; yet, strictly speaking, they can only be considered -as the individual and spontaneous acts of uncaged<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page152">[152]</a></span> -beasts. But with regard to arson, theft, and murder -the case is very different; the officers, even those of the -highest station, will bear before humanity the overwhelming -responsibility for these crimes.</p> - -<p>“In the greater part of the places where we carried -on our inquiry we came to the conclusion that the -German Army constantly professes the most complete -contempt for human life, that its soldiers, and even its -officers, do not hesitate to finish off the wounded, that -they kill without pity the inoffensive inhabitants of the -territories which they have invaded, and they do not -spare in their murderous rage women, old men, or -children. The wholesale shootings at Lunéville, Gerbéviller, -Nomeny, and Senlis are terrible examples of -this; and in the course of this report you will read the -story of scenes of carnage in which officers themselves -have not been ashamed to take part.”</p> - -<h4 id="SecRef14_9">HORRIBLE CASES OF RAPE</h4> - -<p>Of the criminal attempts on women cited in the -report two of the most horrible occurred in the Department -of Seine-et-Marne.</p> - -<p>“Frightful scenes occurred at the Château de —— in -the neighborhood of La Ferté-Gaucher. There lived -there an old gentleman, M. X., with his servant, Mlle. -Y., 54 years old. On Sept. 5 several Germans, among -whom was a non-commissioned officer, were in occupation -of this property. After they had been supplied -with food, the non-commissioned officer proposed to -a refugee, a Mme. Z., that she should sleep with him; -she refused. M. X., to save her from the designs of -which she was the object, sent her to his farm, which -was in the neighborhood. The German ran there to -fetch her, dragged her back to the château and led her -to the attic; then, having completely undressed her, -he tried to violate her. At this moment M. X., wishing -to protect her, fired revolver shots on the staircase and -was immediately shot.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w450"> - -<img src="images/illo171.jpg" alt="" width="445" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Bombardment of the East Coast of England.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This scene, painted in Hartlepool, shows the effect of a bursting German -shell in the unfortified British town. Several women and many other -civilians were killed by the German raiders.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo172.jpg" alt="" width="390" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Prussian Soldier Kidnapping a Red Cross Nurse.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">In spite of her prayer he seized her roughly, tied her hands together -and throwing her across his saddle rode away. Fortunately, a Cossack -appeared, pierced the scoundrel with his lance and rescued the woman. -<span class="copyright">(<i>Graphic copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The non-commissioned officer then made Mme. X. -come out of the -attic, obliged her -to step over the -corpse of the old -man, and led her -to a closet, where -he again made two -unsuccessful attempts -upon her. -Leaving her at -last, he threw himself -upon Mlle. Y., -having first handed -Mme. Z. over to -two soldiers, who, -after having violated -her, one once -and the other -twice, in the dead man’s room, made her pass the night -in a barn near them, where one of them twice again -had sexual connection with her.</p> - -<p>“As for Mlle. Y., she was obliged by threats of being -shot, to strip herself completely naked and lie on a -mattress with the non-commissioned officer, who kept -her there until morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter w450"> -<img src="images/illo173.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="450" height="502" /> -<p class="caption main">“<span class="smcap">At Least They Only <i>Drown</i> Your -Women.</span>”</p> -</div> - -<p>“It is generally believed at Coulommiers that -criminal attempts have been made on many women -of that town, but only one crime of this nature has -been proved for certain. A charwoman, Mme. X., -was the victim. A soldier came to her house on the 6th -of September, toward 9.30 in the evening, and sent -away her husband to go and search for one of his -comrades in the street. Then, in spite of the fact that -two small children were present, he tried to rape the -young woman. X., when he heard his wife’s cries, -rushed back, but was driven off with blows of the -butt of the man’s rifle into a neighboring room, of which -the door was left open, and his wife was forced to suffer -the consummation of the outrage. The rape took place -almost under the eyes of the husband, who, being -terrorized, did not dare to intervene, and used his -efforts only to calm the terror of his children.</p> - -<h4 id="SecRef14_10">ARSON AND MURDER RAMPANT</h4> - -<p>“Personal liberty, like human life, is the object of -complete scorn on the part of the German military -authorities. Almost everywhere citizens of every age -have been dragged from their homes and led into -captivity, many have died or been killed on the way.</p> - -<p>“Arson, still more than murder, forms the usual -procedure of our adversaries. It is employed by them -either as a means of systematic devastation or as a -means of terrorism. The German Army, in order to -provide for it, possesses a complete outfit, which -comprises torches, grenades, rockets, petrol pumps, -fuse sticks, and little bags of pastilles made of compressed -powder which are very inflammable. The lust<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page155">[155]</a></span> -for arson is manifested chiefly against churches and -against monuments which have some special interest, -either artistic or historical.</p> - -<p>“Thousands of houses in the ground covered by the -investigators had been completely destroyed by fire. -In the Department of Marne a great many villages, as -well as important country towns, were burned without -any reason whatever. Without doubt these crimes -were committed by order, as German detachments -arrived in the neighborhood with their torches, their -grenades, and their usual outfit for arson.</p> - -<p>“At Lépine, a laborer named Caqué, in whose house -two German cyclists were billeted, asked the latter if -the grenades which he saw in their possession were -destined for his house. They answered: ‘No. Lépine -is finished with.’ At that moment nine houses in the -village were burned out.</p> - -<p>“At Marfaux nineteen private houses were burned.</p> - -<p>“Of the commune of Glannes practically nothing -remains. At Somme-Tourbe the entire village has -been destroyed, with the exception of the mayoralty -house, the church, and two private buildings.</p> - -<p>“At Auve nearly the whole town has been destroyed. -At Etrepy sixty-three families out of seventy are -homeless. At Huiron all the houses, with the exception -of five, have been burned. At Sermaize-les-Bains only -about forty houses out of nine hundred remain. At -Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty houses out of thirty-three -are in ruins.</p> - -<p>“At Suippes, the big market town which has been -practically burned out, German soldiers carrying straw -and cans of petrol have been seen in the streets. While<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page156">[156]</a></span> -the mayor’s house was burning, six sentinels with -fixed bayonets were under orders to forbid any one to -approach and to prevent any help being given.</p> - -<p>“All this destruction by arson, which only represents -a small proportion of the acts of the same kind in the -Department of Seine-et-Marne, was accomplished -without the least tendency to rebellion or the smallest -act of resistance being recorded against the inhabitants -of the localities which are today more or less completely -destroyed. In some villages the Germans, before -setting fire to them, made one of their soldiers fire a -shot from his rifle so as to be able to pretend afterward -that the civilian population had attacked them, an -allegation which is all the more absurd since at the -time when the enemy arrived the only inhabitants left -were old men, sick persons, or people absolutely without -any means of aggression.</p> - -<h4 id="SecRef14_11">UNCONTROLLED SAVAGERY</h4> - -<p>“On the 6th of September at Champguyon, Mme. -Louvet was present at the martyrdom of her husband. -She saw him in the hands of ten or fifteen soldiers, -who were beating him to death before his own house, -and ran up and kissed him through the bars of the -gate. She was brutally pushed back and fell, while -the murderers dragged along the unhappy man covered -with blood, begging them to spare his life and protesting -that he had done nothing to be treated thus. He was -finished off at the end of the village. When his wife -found his body it was horribly disfigured. His head -was beaten in, one of his eyes hung from the socket, and -one of his wrists was broken.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<p>“At Montmirail a scene of real savagery was enacted. -On the 5th of September a non-commissioned officer -flung himself almost naked on the widow Naudé, on -whom he was billeted, and carried her into his room. -This woman’s father, François Fontaine, rushed up on -hearing his daughter’s cry. At once fifteen or twenty -Germans broke through the door of the house, pushed -the old man into the street, and shot him without -mercy. Little Juliette Naudé opened the window at -this moment and was struck in the stomach by a -bullet, which went through her body. The poor child -died after twenty-four hours of most dreadful suffering.</p> - -<h4 id="SecRef14_12">CONSTANT EVIDENCE OF THEFT</h4> - -<p>“We have constantly found definite evidence of -theft,” states the report further, “and we do not hesitate -to state that where a body of the enemy has passed -it has given itself up to a systematically organized -pillage, in the presence of its leaders, who have even -themselves often taken part in it. Cellars have been -emptied to the last bottle, safes have been gutted, -considerable sums of money have been stolen or -extorted; a great quantity of plate and jewelry, as well -as pictures, furniture, ‘objets d’art,’ linen, bicycles, -women’s dresses, sewing machines, even down to -children’s toys, after having been taken away, have -been loaded on vehicles to be taken toward the frontier.”</p> - -<p>Space forbids further quotation from the harrowing -document, in which one frightful tale succeeds another, -until with a wave of sickening horror the reader cries -out, “Can such things really be?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<h4 id="SecRef14_13">GERMANY DENIES ATROCITIES</h4> - -<p>“A chain of baseless fabrications” is the phrase used -by Germany to characterize the charges brought against -the German armies by the French government, claiming -that “German army officers have, by every means -and with full success, effected the maintenance of -discipline and the strict observance of all the rules of -war in each and all the spheres of operation.”</p> - -<p>The demolished villages and pitiful victims must -tell their own tale of terror. Doubtless many of the -crimes committed have been without the sanction of -the German government or even without the authority -of a superior officer, but, even allowing for the partisanship -that is natural on the part of afflicted inhabitants, -the testimony of the French commission together -with that of former Ambassador Bryce must deeply -affect the attitude of all thinking people toward -warfare.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">DESTROYING THE PRICELESS MONUMENTS -OF CIVILIZATION</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef15_1">THE INEXPIABLE GERMAN CRIME, LOUVAIN</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_2">ART -TREASURES OF HISTORIC CITY</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_3">REDUCED TO A -HEAP OF ASHES</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_4">PITILESS DESTRUCTION AS TOLD -BY TOWN TREASURER</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_5">A MODERN POMPEII</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_6">BURNING -OF CITY SYSTEMATIC</a> — <a href="#SecRef15_7">INDIGNANT -PROTEST AGAINST MODERN HUNS</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef15_1">All through Belgium and all through the country -of the Franco-German border line are towns and cities -filled with treasures of art and history—some of the -richest, indeed, that centuries of civilization have -amassed. Under the guns of both sides of the mighty -conflict these paintings and shrines and storied buildings -have been exposed to destruction, and many of them -have been wantonly sacrificed, shattered beyond hope -of restoration.</p> - -<p>Under the latest Hague proposals, Article XXVIII, -historic monuments are supposed to be respected even -by warring nations, yet both Germany and France -have accused each other of violating this convention. -The whole of civilized humanity rises in protest -against such sacrilege.</p> - -<p>Among all the black crimes of the German invasion -of Belgium none is blacker than the sack and burning of -Louvain, the fairest city of Belgium and the intellectual -metropolis of the Low Countries. According to a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page160">[160]</a></span> -bitter statement of Frank Jewett Mather, the well-known -American art critic, “Louvain contained more -beautiful works of art than the Prussian nation has -produced in its entire history.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_2">ART TREASURES OF HISTORIC CITY</h3> - -<p>There was hardly a building within the ramparts -but breathed the air of some romance of the Middle -Ages or marked a stepping-stone in its stirring history. -Once before war robbed it of its commercial prestige, -only to permit it to rise, phœnix-like, as the center of -learning during the sixteenth century. At the opening -of the present war it still boasted of the largest university -in Belgium, in which thousands of antique volumes -and prints were stored. Its museums and its churches -housed scores of paintings of the old Flemish -masters.</p> - -<p>Louvain has passed through successive periods of -culture and barbarity ever since Julius Caesar established -a permanent camp there during his campaigns -against the Belgians and the Germans. In the eleventh -century it became the residence of the long line of -Dukes of Brabant, and was the capital until Brussels -wrested this distinction from it during an uprising of -weavers against their feudal masters. In the fourteenth -century it had gained a population of between -100,000 and 150,000, and there were no fewer than -2,400 woolen manufactories. The weavers were a -turbulent lot, however, and when they rose against the -Duke Wencelaus he conquered them and forced -thousands of them to flee to Holland and England. -It was then that Brussels became the capital and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page161">[161]</a></span> -Louvain lost its prestige as a center of the cloth-making -industry.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w300"> - -<img src="images/illo181.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="250" height="425" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Voice of the Cologne Church Speaks</span>:</p> - -<p class="caption secondcenter">“Louvain, thou wast built on my foundations, -spirit of my spirit, heart of my heart.”</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>Scholars began to pour into the town, however, to -glean what learning -they could -from the old -parchments and -books which its -castles contained. -In 1423 Duke John -IV of Brabant -founded Louvain -University. Students -flocked there -from all over the -world. In the -sixteenth century -it had 4,000 students -and forty-three -colleges.</p> - -<p>The library occupied -a large -room with fine -wood panels, -carved in intricate -designs. It held -150,000 volumes -and thousands of -manuscripts, valuable -beyond -price. It contained a colossal group representing a -scene from the Flood, sculptured by Geerts in 1839.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<p>One block to the north of the university is the Grande -Place, on which faced the Hôtel de Ville, one of the -finest examples of the late Gothic style of architecture -in Europe. It surpassed the town halls of Bruges, -Brussels, and Ghent in elegance of detail and harmony -of design. It was erected in 1448 by Mathieu de -Layens, and it was from the upper windows of this -building that thirteen magistrates of noble birth were -hurled to their death on the spears of the populace in -the streets below during the weavers’ uprising.</p> - -<p>Across the Grande Place stood the church of St. -Pierre, a magnificent type of the Gothic style built on -a cruciform plan and flanked by chapels holding reliquaries -of the saints, life-sized wooden figures, and -priceless carvings and paintings. There might have -been seen the works of Van Papenhoven, Roger van -der Weyden, Dierick Bouts, and De Layens.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_3">REDUCED TO A HEAP OF ASHES</h3> - -<p>The notification of the sacking of Louvain was contained -in the notice issued by the British Press Bureau -on Friday, August 28, 1914, which read as follows: “On -Tuesday evening a German corps, after receiving a -check, withdrew in disorder into the town of Louvain. -A German guard at the entrance to the town mistook -the nature of this incursion and fired on their routed -fellow-countrymen, mistaking them for Belgians. In -spite of all denials from the authorities the Germans, -in order to cover their mistake, pretended that it was -the inhabitants who had fired on them, whereas the -inhabitants, including the police, had been disarmed -more than a week before. Without inquiry and without<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page163">[163]</a></span> -listening to any protests the German commander-in-chief -announced that the town would be immediately -destroyed. The inhabitants were ordered to leave -their dwellings; a party of the men were made prisoners -and the women and children put into trains, the destination -of which is unknown. Soldiers furnished with -bombs set fire to all parts of the town. The splendid -church of St. Pierre, the University buildings, the -library, and the scientific establishment were delivered -to the flames. Several notable citizens were shot. A -town of 45,000 inhabitants, the intellectual metropolis -of the Low Countries since the fifteenth century, is -now no more than a heap of ashes.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_4">PITILESS DESTRUCTION AS TOLD BY TOWN TREASURER</h3> - -<p>The town treasurer of Louvain, who managed to -escape from the sacked city, gave in the London Times -the following account of the destruction:</p> - -<p>“At last, on Tuesday night, there took place -the unspeakable crime, the shame of which can be -understood only by those who followed and watched -the different phases of the German occupation of -Louvain.</p> - -<p>“It is a significant fact that the German wounded -and sick, including their Red Cross nurses, were all -removed from the hospitals. The Germans meanwhile -proceeded methodically to make a last and supreme -requisition, although they knew the town could not -satisfy it. Toward six o’clock the bugle sounded, and -officers lodging in private houses left at once with arms -and luggage. At the same time thousands of additional -soldiers, with numerous field pieces and cannon,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page164">[164]</a></span> -marched into the town to their allotted positions. The -gas factory, which had been idle, had been worked -through the previous night and day by Germans, so -that during this premeditated outrage the people could -not take advantage of darkness to escape from the -town. A further fact that proves their premeditation -is that the attack took place at eight o’clock, the exact -time at which the population entered their homes in -conformity with the German orders—consequently -escape became well-nigh impossible. At 8.20 the full -fusillade with the roar of the cannons came from all -sides of the town at once.</p> - -<p>“The cavalry charged through the streets sabring -fugitives, while the infantry, posted on the foot-paths, -had their fingers on the triggers of their guns waiting -for the unfortunate people to rush from the houses or -appear at the windows, the soldiers praising and -complimenting each other on their marksmanship as -they fired at the unhappy fugitives. Those whose -houses were not yet destroyed were ordered to quit and -follow the soldiers to the railway station. There the -men were separated from mothers, wives, and children, -and thrown, some bound, into trains leaving in the -direction of Germany. They saw their carefully-collected -art and other treasures being shared out by -the soldiers, the officers looking on. Those who -attempted to appeal to their tormentors’ better feelings -were immediately shot. A few were let loose, but -most of them were sent to Germany.</p> - -<p>“On Wednesday at daybreak the remaining women -and children were driven out of the town—a lamentable -spectacle—with uplifted arms and under the menace of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page165">[165]</a></span> -bayonets and revolvers. The day was practically -calm. The destruction of the most beautiful part of -the town seemed momentarily to have soothed the -barbarian rage of the invaders. On Thursday the -remnant of the Civil Guard was called up on the pretext -of extinguishing the conflagration; those who demurred -were chained and sent with some wounded Germans to -the Fatherland, whilst the population had to quit.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_5">A MODERN POMPEII</h3> - -<p>Fair Louvain is now a place of desolation and ashes. -Its treasures have been madly sacrificed to the god of -war. A graphic description of the ruin has been -written by Professor E. Gilson, of the University of -Louvain, in the form of a letter to the Belgian Minister -of Justice. It says in part:</p> - -<p>“At the ‘Seven Corners’ Louvain reveals itself to my -eyes like a luminous panorama in the glade of a forest. -The center of the city is a smoking heap of ruins. -Houses are caved in, nothing remains but smoking -ruins, and a mass of brick. It is a veritable Pompeii. -But how much more tragic and vivid is the sight of this -new Pompeii! An oppressive silence everywhere. -Everybody has fled; at the windows of cellars I see -frightened faces, and at the street corners Prussian -sentinels, sordid, immovable and silent.</p> - -<p>“In the center stand the walls of St. Pierre, now a -grinning silhouette, roof and belfry gone, the walls -blackened and caved in. In front stands the Hôtel de -Ville, dominating everything and almost intact. -Further on, the remains of Les Hales, entirely destroyed, -except for the arcade of big pillars of the Salle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page166">[166]</a></span> -des Pas Perdus. The library and its treasures are -entirely gone.</p> - -<p>“In the Petite Rue Louis Nelsens everything is -destroyed. At the foot of the statue, in a flower bed all -tramped underfoot, there is an irregular hillock covered -with a few dead leaves. An old woman, recognizing -me, comes out of her cellar and tells me: ‘Monsieur, -this is the grave of Monsieur David and his son, the -best people that ever lived.’ She cries. They were -killed by shrapnel fired upon them as they were leaving -their house. The Capuchin brothers made temporary -graves for the dead.</p> - -<p>“Graves were found nearly everywhere. In front -of the statue, near a house, I find traces of fire. ‘In -this place,’ the old woman tells me, ‘the Prussians -burned a body after soaking it in petroleum. Some -men buried the charred remains.’ I pick up a key -which must have belonged to the dead man—a memento -of this monstrous incident.</p> - -<p>“In the center of the city the sight is extraordinarily -picturesque—gloomy, abominable, and more so in the -evening when the full moon is shining over the mass of -ruins, it is really fantastic, diabolical.</p> - -<p>“The center of old Louvain, the old city of the Dukes -of Brabant, exists no longer; a new city will have to be -built in the center of the quarters spared by the torch.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_6">BURNING OF CITY SYSTEMATIC</h3> - -<p>“A villager told me that the soldiers had two ways -of setting fire to the houses: One was to break the -windows of the first floor, to throw petroleum on the -floor, and throw in torches of burning straw, while<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page167">[167]</a></span> -others were engaged in shooting at the upper-story -windows to prevent the inhabitants from throwing -missiles on those setting fire to their homes.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef15_7">INDIGNANT PROTEST AGAINST MODERN HUNS</h3> - -<p>Indignant protest against the outrageous sacrifice -of Louvain arose from every quarter of the civilized -world. The London Tablet, commenting on the desolation -of Belgium and the sacrifice of her temples, said:</p> - -<p>“The irreparable crime of Louvain and the ruthless -damage done to the Cathedral of Malines while Cardinal -Mercier was absent in Rome have left Belgium’s cup -of bitterness still unfilled. We do not understand -the reason of these remorseless attacks upon venerable -places of worship, and particularly upon Roman -Catholic churches. We do not fully discern why even -the modern Huns should be so eager to violate these -peaceful sanctuaries, destroying one, bombarding -another with zest, stabling their horses in a third, as -they have undoubtedly done. One would almost fancy -that the late Professor Cramb was right after all, -that Germany regards the Christian creed as outworn, -and that she dreams, when she has imposed her will -upon the world (if she can), of founding a new religion, -with the Kaiser as its inspired expositor. We wonder -what the pious people of Bavaria and Austria-Hungary -think of this persistent desecration of Catholic shrines. -The meaning of the sack of Dinant is, however, sufficiently -clear. Thousands of travelers know that -pleasant little town, which clustered beneath the old -citadel on the banks of the Meuse. They will learn -with horror and distress that it has shared the fate of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page168">[168]</a></span> -Louvain, that it has been shelled and burned, that -many of its defenseless men have been shot, and that its -women are hunted and homeless. We have not yet -been told, but doubtless shall hear in due course, that -the splendid thirteenth-century church of Notre Dame, -the most complete example of pointed Gothic architecture -in Belgium, has perished amid the general -destruction. The reason of this sack and pillage of -town after town in Belgium, with every accompaniment -of murderous barbarity—Termonde is another melancholy -case in point—is becoming obvious. It is due -to the resolute resistance of Antwerp. The Germans -want to capture Antwerp, but can not spare enough -men to invest the fortress, and in any case hope to -obtain it without paying the price. They seek to -terrorize Antwerp into submission by laying Belgium -waste, by razing her undefended cities to the ground, -and by shedding the blood of innocent Belgian citizens -of both sexes. . . . The wilful devastation of Belgium -will have only one definite result. It will increase the -chorus of indignant denunciation of German methods -of warfare which now rises from every civilized country -in the world.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo189.jpg" alt="" width="389" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Burning of the Cathedral of Rheims.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This noble building, one of the finest pieces of Gothic architecture in -the world, was bombarded by German shells and set on fire. Much of the -priceless statuary and the entire roof were destroyed.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo190.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Sacking of Louvain.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">According to the official report of the Commission of Inquiry into the German atrocities at Louvain and other -places, men were brutally separated from their wives and children, and after having been subjected to abominable -treatment by the Germans were herded out of the town. The corpses of many a civilian encumbered the streets and -squares.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">WANTON DESTRUCTION OF THE BEAUTIFUL -CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef16_1">DESECRATION OF THE SHRINES OF HUMANITY</a> — <a href="#SecRef16_2">THE -“ROYAL CITY”</a>—<a href="#SecRef16_3">CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME</a> — <a href="#SecRef16_4">ART -TREASURES</a> — <a href="#SecRef16_5">CATHEDRAL A TARGET</a> — <a href="#SecRef16_6">ANGER -OF CROWD STILLED BY PRIESTS</a> — <a href="#SecRef16_7">“SUPREME SACRIFICE -AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF MAN”</a>—<a href="#SecRef16_8">BEAUTY -IRREPARABLY GONE</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef16_1">If the destruction of famous buildings, shrines of -humanity as well as of art and religion, were but put -down to the unavoidable accidents of war, after the -first poignant sense of the irreparable loss, one would -rather sorrowfully accept the smoking ruins as further -evidence of the horrible, if unavoidable, waste of war. -But to have Louvain’s atrocities justified, to have -the destruction of towns systematically brought about -in a spirit of fiendish reprisal or as part of a propaganda -of military terrorism, this is what revolts the -world. It is this demoniacal barbarism, raised to the -ultimate power for evil by modern mechanism, that -staggers civilization.</p> - -<p>The sacking of Louvain had hardly ceased to be a -matter of world-wide outcry against such inexcusable -barbarity when there came the official report that the -Cathedral of Rheims, one of the most glorious -examples of Gothic art in the world and an historic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page170">[170]</a></span> -monument of first rank, had fallen before the German -guns in the bombardment of that historic city.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_2">THE “ROYAL CITY”</h3> - -<p>Rheims has been a city of importance since the time -of the Romans. The cathedral, wherein for nearly -1,000 years the kings of France were crowned, has -been fittingly described as “the most perfect -example in grandeur and grace of Gothic style in -existence.”</p> - -<p>Hincmar, a mighty archbishop of the ninth century, -once declared that Rheims was “by the appointment -of Heaven a royal city.”</p> - -<p>The words are at once historical and prophetic. -Here Clovis was baptized by St. Remigius, and -here in the cathedral in 1429, Charles VII of -France was crowned through the efforts of Joan of -Arc.</p> - -<p>According to the historians of art, Rheims is royal -in another sense. In no city in Europe have the life -and thought of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -found such perfect expression in architecture. From -early Gothic to Romanesque, and from Romanesque -to Renaissance, the buildings of Rheims reveal better -than any records the city’s historical development. -Of all the buildings illustrative of their various periods -there were said to be no better examples than the -cathedral and the church of St. Jacques, fine monuments -of early Gothic; the later Gothic edifice of the -archbishop’s palace, and, finally, the city hall, a handsome -work of the best period of French Renaissance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_3">CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME</h3> - -<p>No one really knows who designed and built the -cathedral. The first stones were laid in 1211, and -the building, with the exception of the superb west -façade, was completed in the thirteenth century. The -façade, which -dates from the -fourteenth century, -was adorned -with three exquisite -recessed -portals containing, -in a more or -less good state of -preservation, over -five hundred statues. -Of the entire -structure, we -read in “Cathedrals -of the Isle -de France”: -“Nothing can exceed -the majesty of its deeply recessed portals, the -beauty of the rose window that surmounts them, or -the elegance of the gallery that completes the façade.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo193.jpg" alt="Cartoon" width="400" height="420" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Christian World!</span></p> -</div> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_4">ART TREASURES</h3> - -<p>The interior, which was cruciform, was 455 feet long -and 99 feet wide; the distance from the middle isle to the -highest point in the roof was 125 feet. Here in niches -in the walls was another multitude of statues, and in -the nave and transepts were preserved valuable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page172">[172]</a></span> -tapestry, representing biblical scenes and scenes from -the history of medieval France. Here also hung a -treasure of paintings, including canvases by Tintoretto, -Nicolas Poussin, and others, and some fine old tapestries.</p> - -<p>In the treasury were reliquaries, one said to contain -a thorn from the Holy Crown, the skull of St. -Remi and a collection of valuable vessels in gold, the -most remarkable in France. The treasures included -not only the coronation ornaments of various kings, -but the vase of St. Ursula, the massive chalice of -St. Remigius, and countless crucifixes in gold, silver -and precious woods.</p> - -<p>In the treasury was also preserved the Sainte -Ampoule—the vessel in which the oil used to anoint -the kings of France was preserved—a successor to the -famous ampulla, which a dove was said to have brought -from heaven filled with inexhaustible holy oil at the -time of the baptism of Clovis, in 496. During the -Revolution the sacred vessel was shattered, but a fragment -was piously preserved, in which some of the oil -was said still to remain.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_5">CATHEDRAL A TARGET</h3> - -<p>The Cathedral of Notre Dame is now no more than -an empty shell of charred and blackened walls. The -fire started between four and five o’clock Sunday afternoon, -September 20, 1914, after shells had been -crashing into the town all day. Over five hundred -fell between early morning and sunset.</p> - -<p>The cathedral had been turned into a hospital for -the German wounded, to secure for the building the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page173">[173]</a></span> -protection of the Red Cross flag. When the first -shell struck the roof everyone believed it was a stray -shot, but later in the day a German battery four -miles away, began making the great Gothic pile its -target. Shell after shell crashed its way into the old -masonry and stonework that had stood the storms of -centuries.</p> - -<p>At 4.30 some scaffolding around the east end of -the cathedral, where repairs were going on, caught -fire and soon the whole network of poles and planks -was ablaze. Then the roof of old oak timbers caught -fire and soon the ceilings of the nave and transepts -were a roaring furnace.</p> - -<p>The blazing piers of carved woodwork crashed to -the floor, where piles of straw had been gathered in -connection with the work of the field hospital. As -soon as this caught fire the paneling of the altars, the -chairs and other furniture were devoured.</p> - -<p>Twenty wounded Germans would have perished by -the efforts of their own countrymen if several French -army doctors, with their bearers, had not carried them -one by one at their own risk out of the church by one -of the side doors.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_6">ANGER OF CROWD STILLED BY PRIESTS</h3> - -<p>There a grim scene was only prevented by the -courage of the priests of the cathedral. A crowd of -about two hundred citizens had come out to watch -the terrible spectacle. As these Germans, in their -uniforms, appeared at the transept door howls of -uncontrollable passion went up from the crowd. “Kill -them!” they shouted. Soldiers in the crowd leveled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page174">[174]</a></span> -their rifles, when Abbé Andrieux sprang forward -between the wounded men and the muzzles that -threatened them.</p> - -<p>“Don’t fire,” he shouted, “you would make yourselves -as guilty as they.”</p> - -<p>The reproach was enough, and amid fierce hooting -and angry cries the Germans were carried to shelter -in the museum near by.</p> - -<p>From the hills the flaming cathedral was an even -more impressive sight than in the streets of the town. -From the yawning roof the red glare poured up into -the dark sky and its windows flickered with dancing -flames. So night closed down. Not for long was its -stillness undisturbed. At two o’clock German batteries -opened fire again. Then from windows that looked -toward Rheims across the plain one could watch the -lurid sight of night bombardment.</p> - -<p>At last daybreak came, a sad gray dawn, with cold, -dispiriting rain falling. When the shadows had lifted -and enough light had filtered through the low, lead-colored -clouds for one to see across the plain, the -ravished city, with its ruined cathedral standing stark -against the background and a vast wall of smoke -rising slowly from the still flaming ruins, was as -desolate a thing as the sun could well have found -in its journey round the world that morning.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_7">“SUPREME SACRIFICE AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF MAN”</h3> - -<p>“Will not every artist, every writer, every lover of -the beautiful, unite with us in a protestation of horror -against the infamous destruction of Rheims Cathedral?” -wrote Emile Hovelaque, French Inspector General<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page175">[175]</a></span> -of Public Instruction, in a letter to the London -Times. “It was the cradle of our kings, the high altar -of our race, a sanctuary and shrine dear from every -memory, sacred in every thought, loved as our -remotest past, an ever-speaking witness to the permanence -through change of the ideals, aspirations and -dreams of our country.</p> - -<p>“Can such deeds go unavenged? Will not the conscience -of the whole world rise against those nameless -barbarians who shelled Red Cross flags floating over -that twice-sacred pile, who have committed this -supreme sacrifice against the spirit of man in seven -hundred years? Those gray cliffs of chiseled stone had -risen above the furious tides of innumerable invasions -unhurt, spared by the most savage onsets. Battered, -by every storm of heaven and earth, the noblest sculpture -of the West remained until German culture came.</p> - -<p>“And then, deliberately, methodically, slowly, the -princes and captains of an accursed race mangled the -sacred pile until all had fallen. Fairest and most -human images in all the world, a forest of gigantic -columns, a vast vaulted canopy of stone, majestic -walls and heaven-stained glass—it was murder in cold -blood, the murder not of a life but of immortality. -Forty-eight long hours the inexplicable crime dragged -out. Louvain first, now Rheims. What next?”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef16_8">BEAUTY IRREPARABLY GONE</h3> - -<p>The artistic beauty of the cathedral of Rheims can -never be restored, in the opinion of Whitney Warren, -the New York architect, who made a thorough inspection -of the structure.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mr. Warren, who is a corresponding member of the -Institut de France, was given the privilege of visiting -the cathedral. His investigation had no official character, -but the result of his observations was communicated -to Myron T. Herrick, American Ambassador -to Belgium.</p> - -<p>“That anything remains of the edifice,” said Mr. -Warren, “is due to the strong construction of the walls -and vaults which are of a robustness that can resist -even modern implements of war.”</p> - -<p>The building was not battered by the heavier guns, -as had been feared, but it suffered most from shrapnel -fire. The famous rose windows, the sculpture and -other details of the façade that were ruined are, however, -just the examples of art that can not be replaced.</p> - -<p>Statues, gargoyles, and other ornaments on the -exterior of the cathedral have been tumbled to the -pavement and shattered, though at first glance the -outer walls of the cathedral do not show the ruin that -has taken place. These blackened walls yet stand -as a monument to the glory of France, but still more -as a grim reminder of the barbarity of German -warfare.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE CANADIANS’ GLORIOUS FEAT AT -LANGEMARCK</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef17_1">THE CRUCIAL TEST OF CANADA’S MEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_2">WONDERFUL -STORY OF HEROISM AS TOLD BY SIR MAX AITKEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_3">A -REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_4">QUIET PRECEDING -STORM</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_5">SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_6">LINE NEVER -WAVERED</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_7">OFFICER FELL AT HEAD OF TROOPS</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_8">FORTUNES -OF THIRD BRIGADE</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_9">IN DIRE PERIL</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_10">OVERWHELMING -NUMBERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_11">PUT TO TEST</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_12">CAPTURE -OF ST. JULIEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef17_13">A HERO LEADING HEROES</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef17_1">The fight of the Canadians at Langemarck and -St. Julien in April, 1915, makes such a battle story as -has sufficed, in other nations, to inspire song and -tradition for centuries. In the words of Sir John -French, the Canadians, by holding their ground when -it did not seem humanly possible to hold it, “saved the -situation,” kept the enemy out of Ypres, kept closed -the road to Calais, and made a failure of German -plans that otherwise were about to be successful.</p> - -<p>The Canadian soldiers have indeed shown that they -are second to none. They were put to as supreme a -test as it would be possible for any army to meet with, -for they fought overwhelming numbers under conditions -that seemed to ensure annihilation. They fought -on, and failed neither in courage, discipline, nor -tenacity, although thousands of them fell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p id="SecRef17_2">The story of their unflinching heroism was told by Sir -Max Aitken, the record officer serving with the -Canadian division in France:</p> - -<p>“The recent fighting in Flanders, in which the -Canadians played so glorious a part, cannot of course -be described with precision of military detail until -time has made possible the co-ordination of relevant -facts, and the piecing together in a narrative both -lucid and exact of much which, so near the event, is -confused and blurred. But it is considered right that -the mourning in Canada for husbands, sons or brothers -who have given their lives for the Empire should have -with as little reserve as military considerations allow -the rare and precious consolation which, in the agony -of bereavement, the record of the valor of their dead -must bring, and indeed the mourning in Canada will -be very widely spread, for the battle which raged for -so many days in the neighborhood of Ypres was bloody, -even as men appraise battles in this callous and life-engulfing -war. But as long as brave deeds retain the -power to fire the blood of Anglo-Saxons, the stand made -by the Canadians in those desperate days will be told -by fathers to their sons.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_3">A REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE</h3> - -<p>“The Canadians have wrested the trenches over the -bodies of the dead and earned the right to stand side -by side with the superb troops who, in the first battle -of Ypres, broke and drove before them the flower of -the Prussian Guards. Looked at from any point the -performance would be remarkable. It is amazing to -soldiers when the genesis and composition of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page179">[179]</a></span> -Canadian division are considered. It contained no -doubt a sprinkling of South African veterans, but it -consisted in the main of men who were admirable raw -material, but who, at the outbreak of war, were neither -disciplined nor trained as men count discipline and -training in these days of scientific warfare. It was, it -is true, commanded by a distinguished English general. -Its staff was supplemented, without being replaced, by -some brilliant British staff officers. But in its higher -and regimental commands were to be found lawyers, -college professors, business men and real estate agents, -ready with cool self-confidence to do battle against an -organization in which the study of military science is -the exclusive pursuit of laborious lives.</p> - -<p>“With what devotion, with a valor how desperate, -with resourcefulness how cool and how frightful, the -amateur soldier of Canada confronted overwhelming -odds, may perhaps be made clear, even by a narrative -so incomplete as the present.</p> - -<p>“The salient of Ypres has become familiar to all -students of the campaign in Flanders. Like all salients -it was, and was known to be, a source of weakness to -the forces holding it, but the reasons which have led to -its retention are apparent, and need not be explained.</p> - -<p>“On Thursday, April 22, 1915, the Canadian division -held a line of roughly five thousand yards, extending -in a northwesterly direction from the Ypres-Roulers -railway, to the Ypres-Poekapelle road, and connecting -at its terminus with the French troops. The division -consisted of three infantry brigades in addition to the -artillery brigades. Of the infantry brigades the first -was in reserve, the second was on the right, and the third<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page180">[180]</a></span> -established contact with the allies at the point indicated -above.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_4">QUIET PRECEDING STORM</h3> - -<p>“The day was a peaceful one, warm and sunny, and -except that the previous day had witnessed a further -bombardment of the stricken town of Ypres, everything -seemed quiet in front of the Canadian line. At -five o’clock in the afternoon a plan carefully prepared -was put into execution against our French allies on the -left. Asphyxiating gas of great intensity was projected -into their trenches, probably by means of force -pumps and pipes laid out under the parapets. The -fumes, aided by a favorable wind, floated backwards, -poisoning and disabling over an extended area those -who fell under their effect. The result was that the -French were compelled to give ground for a considerable -distance. The glory which the French army has won -in this war would make it impertinent to labor on the -compelling nature of the poisonous discharges under -which the trenches were lost. The French did, as everyone -knew they would do, all that stout soldiers could -do, and the Canadian division, officers and men, look -forward to many occasions in the future in which they -will stand side by side with the brave armies of France.</p> - -<p>“The immediate consequence of this enforced withdrawal -was, of course, extremely grave. The third -brigade of the Canadian division was without any left, -or, in other words, its left was in the air. It became -imperatively necessary greatly to extend the Canadian -lines to the left rear. It was not, of course, practicable -to move the first brigade from reserve at a momen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page181">[181]</a></span>t’s -notice, and the line, extended from five to nine thousand -yards, was not naturally the line that had been held by -the allies at five o’clock, and a gap still existed on its left.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - -<img src="images/illo203.png" alt="" width="483" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Map Illustrating the Battle of Langemarck.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondcenter">Shaded Portion Indicates German Gain.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The new line, of which our recent point of contact -with the French formed the apex, ran quite roughly -to the south and west. As shown above, it became -necessary for Brigadier-General Turner, commanding -the third brigade, to throw back his left flank southward -to protect his rear. In the course of the confusion -which followed upon the readjustment of position, the -enemy, who had advanced rapidly after his initial -successes, took four British 4.7 guns in a small wood -to the west of the village of St. Julien, two miles in the -rear of the original French trenches.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_5">SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES</h3> - -<p>“The story of the second battle of Ypres is the story -of how the Canadian division, enormously outnumbered, -for they had in front of them at least four -divisions, supported by immensely heavy artillery, -with a gap still existing, though reduced, in their lines, -and with dispositions made hurriedly under the stimulus -of critical danger, fought through the day and -through the night, and then through another day and -night; fought under their officers until, as happened -to so many, these perished gloriously, and then fought -from the impulsion of sheer valor because they came -from fighting stock.</p> - -<p>“The enemy, of course, was aware, whether fully -or not may perhaps be doubted, of the advantage his -breach in the line had given him, and immediately -began to push a formidable series of attacks upon the -whole of the newly-formed Canadian salient.</p> - -<p>“If it is possible to distinguish when the attack was -everywhere so fierce, it developed with particular<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page183">[183]</a></span> -intensity at this moment upon the apex of the newly-formed -line running in the direction of St. Julien. It -has already been stated that four British guns were -taken in a wood comparatively early in the evening -of the 22d. In the course of that night, and under -the heaviest machine-gun fire, this wood was assaulted -by the Canadian Scottish, sixteenth battalion, of the -third brigade, and the tenth battalion of the second -brigade, which was intercepted for this purpose on its -way to a reserve trench. The battalions were respectively -commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie, and -Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle, and after a most fierce -struggle in the light of a misty moon they took the -position at the point of the bayonet. At midnight -the second battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Watson -and the Toronto regiment, Queen’s Own (third battalion), -under Lieutenant-Colonel Rennie, both of the -first brigade, brought up much-needed reinforcements, -and though not actually engaged in the assault, were -in reserve.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_6">LINE NEVER WAVERED</h3> - -<p>“All through the following days and nights these -battalions shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the -third brigade. An officer, who took part in the attack, -describes how the men about him fell under the fire -of the machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon -them ‘like a watering pot.’ He added quite simply, -‘I wrote my own life off,’ but the line never wavered. -When one man fell another took his place, and with a -final shout the survivors of the two battalions flung -themselves into the wood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page184">[184]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The German garrison was completely demoralized, -and the impetuous advance of the Canadians did not -cease until they reached the far side of the wood and -entrenched themselves there in the position so dearly -gained. They had, however, the disappointment of -finding that the guns had been blown up by the enemy, -and later on the same night, a most formidable concentration -of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a -tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a forest, made -it impossible for them to hold the position for which -they had sacrified so much.</p> - -<p>“The fighting continued without intermission all -through the night and to those who observed the -indications that the attack was being pushed with -ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed possible that -the Canadians, fighting in positions so difficult to -defend, and so little the subject of deliberate choice, -could maintain their resistance for any long period. -At 6 <span class="smcapall">A.M.</span> on Friday it became apparent that the left -was becoming more and more involved and a powerful -German attempt to outflank it developed rapidly. -The consequences if it had been broken or outflanked -need not be insisted upon. They were not merely -local.</p> - -<p>“It was therefore decided, formidable as the attempt -undoubtedly was, to try and give relief by a counter-attack -upon the first line of German trenches, now far, -far advanced from those originally occupied by the -French. This was carried out by the Ontario first -and fourth battalions of the first brigade, under Brigadier-General -Mercer, acting in combination with a -British brigade. It is safe to say that the youngest -private in the rank, as he set his teeth for the advance, -knew the task in front of him, and the youngest subaltern -knew all that rested upon its success.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo207.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">German Abuse of the White Flag.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">An incident showing how a company of British soldiers were cut down by an ambushed enemy. The front rank of -Germans had been firing from behind a small ridge. In apparent surrender they stood up in a long row and held up -the white flag. The British advanced to receive their guns and take them prisoners, when suddenly the entire line -fell down and a second line arose from behind the ridge and immediately killed all the British company. <span class="copyright">(<i>Sphere -copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo208.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="388" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Terrible Effect of a German Shell on Wounded British Soldiers.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">A party of wounded Highlanders were resting in a house on the bank of the Aisne River, where a doctor was -attending them. A German shell came through the window and the soldiers resting on the sofas and on the floor -were nearly all killed by flying fragments of shell. <span class="copyright">(<i>Sphere copr.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page185">[185]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_7">OFFICER FELL AT HEAD OF TROOPS</h3> - -<p>“It did not seem that any human being could live -in the shower of shot and shell which began to play -upon the advancing troops. They suffered terrible -casualties. For a short time every man seemed to -fall, but the attack was pressed even closer and closer. -The fourth Canadian battalion at one moment came -under a particularly withering fire. For a moment, -not more, it wavered. Its most gallant commanding -officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Birchall, carrying, after an -old fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully rallied -his men, and at the very moment when his example -had infected them fell dead at the head of his battalion.</p> - -<p>“With a hoarse cry of anger they sprang forward -(for, indeed, they loved him) as if to avenge his death. -The astonishing attack which followed, pushed home in -the face of direct frontal fire, made in broad daylight -by battalions whose names should live forever in the -memories of soldiers, was carried to the first line of -German trenches. After a hand-to-hand struggle -the last German who resisted was bayoneted, and the -trench was won.</p> - -<p>“The measure of this success may be taken when it -is pointed out that this trench represented in the -German advance the apex in the breach which the -enemy had made in the original line of the allies, and -that it was two and a half miles south of that line.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page186">[186]</a></span> -This charge, made by men who looked death indifferently -in the face, for no man who took part in it could -think that he was likely to live, saved the Canadian -left. But it did more; up to the point where the assailants -conquered or died, it secured and maintained -during the most critical moment of all the integrity of -the allied line. For the trench was not only taken, -it was thereafter held against all comers, and in the -teeth of every conceivable projectile, until the night -of Sunday, the 25th, when all that remained of the war-broken -but victorious battalions was relieved by fresh -troops.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_8">FORTUNES OF THIRD BRIGADE</h3> - -<p>“It is necessary now to return to the fortunes of the -third brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Turner, -which, as we have seen, at five o’clock on Thursday -was holding the Canadian left and after the first -attack assumed the defense of the new Canadian salient, -at the same time sparing all the men it could to form -an extemporized line between the wood and St. Julien. -This brigade also was, at the first moment of the German -offensive, made the object of an attack by the discharge -of poisonous gas. The discharge was followed by two -enemy assaults. Although the fumes were extremely -poisonous, they were not, perhaps, having regard to -the wind, so disabling as on the French lines (which -ran almost east to west), and the brigade, though -affected by the fumes, stoutly beat back the two -German assaults.</p> - -<p>“Encouraged by this success, it rose to the supreme -effort required by the assault of the wood, which has<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page187">[187]</a></span> -already been described. At 4 <span class="smcapall">A.M.</span> on the morning of -Friday, the 23d, a fresh emission of gas was made both -upon the second brigade, which held the line running -northeast, and upon the third brigade, which, as has -been fully explained, had continued the line up to the -pivotal point, as defined above, and had then spread -down in a southeasterly direction. It is perhaps worth -mentioning, that two privates of the forty-eighth -Highlanders, who found their way into the trenches -commanded by Colonel Lipsett, ninetieth Winnipeg -Rifles, eighth battalion, perished of the fumes, and it -was noticed that their faces became blue immediately -after dissolution.</p> - -<p>“The Royal Highlanders of Montreal, thirteenth -battalion, and the forty-eighth Highlanders, fifteenth -battalion, were more especially affected by the discharge. -The Royal Highlanders, though considerably -shaken, remained immovable upon their ground. -The forty-eighth Highlanders, who no doubt received -a more poisonous discharge, were for the moment dismayed -and indeed their trench, according to the -testimony of very hardened soldiers, became intolerable. -The battalion retired from the trench, but for -a very short distance, and for an equally short time. -In a few moments they were again their own. They -advanced upon and occupied the trenches which they -had momentarily abandoned.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_9">IN DIRE PERIL</h3> - -<p>“In the course of the same night the third brigade, -which had already displayed a resource, a gallantry, -and a tenacity, for which no eulogy could be excessive,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page188">[188]</a></span> -was exposed (and with it the whole allied cause) to a -peril still more formidable.</p> - -<p>“It has been explained, and indeed the fundamental -situation made the peril clear, that several German -divisions were attempting to crush, or drive back this -devoted brigade, and in any event to use their enormous -numerical superiority to sweep around and overwhelm -our left wing at a point in the line which cannot -be precisely determined. The last attempt partially -succeeded, and in the course of this critical struggle, -German troops in considerable, though not in overwhelming, -numbers swung past the unsupported left -to the brigade and, slipping in between the wood and -St. Julien, added to the torturing anxieties of the long-drawn-out -struggle by the appearance, and indeed for -the moment the reality, of isolation from the brigade -base.</p> - -<p>“In the exertions made by the third brigade during -this supreme crisis, it is almost impossible to single -out one battalion without injustice to others, but -though the efforts of the Royal Highlanders of Montreal, -thirteenth battalion, were only equal to those -of the other battalions who did such heroic service, it -so happened by chance that the fate of some of its -officers attracted special attention.</p> - -<p>“Major Norsworthy, already almost disabled by a -bullet wound, was bayoneted and killed while he was -rallying his men with easy cheerfulness. The case of -Captain McCuaig, of the same battalion, was not less -glorious, although his death can claim no witness. -This most gallant officer was seriously wounded in a -hurriedly constructed trench. At a moment when it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page189">[189]</a></span> -would have been possible to remove him to safety, he -absolutely refused to move, and continued in the -discharge of his duty. But the situation grew instantly -worse, and peremptory orders were received -for an immediate withdrawal. Those who were compelled -to obey them were most insistent to carry -with them, at whatever risk to their own mobility and -safety, an officer to whom they were devotedly attached. -But he, knowing, it may be, better than they, the -exertions which still lay in front of them, and unwilling -to inflict upon them the disabilities of a maimed man, -very resolutely refused, and asked of them one thing -only, that there should be given to him as he lay alone -in the trench, two loaded Colt revolvers to add to his -own, which lay in his right hand as he made his last -request. And so, with three revolvers ready to his -hand for use, a very brave officer waited to sell his life, -wounded and racked with pain, in an abandoned -trench.</p> - -<p>“On Friday afternoon the left of the Canadian line -was strengthened by important reinforcements of -British troops, amounting to seven battalions. From -this time forward the Canadians also continued to -receive further assistance on the left from a series of -French counter-attacks pushed in a northeasterly -direction from the canal bank.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_10">OVERWHELMING NUMBERS</h3> - -<p>“But the artillery fire of the enemy continually -grew in intensity, and it became more and more evident -that the Canadian salient could no longer be maintained -against the overwhelming superiority of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page190">[190]</a></span> -numbers by which it was assailed. Slowly, stubbornly, -and contesting every yard, the defenders -gave ground until the salient gradually receded -from the apex near the point where it had originally -aligned with the French, and fell back upon -St. John.</p> - -<p>“Soon it became evident that even St. Julien, -exposed from right and left, was no longer tenable in -the face of overwhelming numerical superiority. The -third brigade was therefore ordered to retreat further -south, selling every yard of ground as dearly as it had -done since five o’clock on Thursday. But it was -found impossible, without hazarding far larger forces, -to disentangle the detachment of the Royal Highlanders -of Montreal, thirteenth battalion, and of the -Royal Montreal Regiment, fourteenth battalion. The -brigade was ordered, and not a moment too soon, to -move back. It left these units with hearts as heavy as -those of his comrades who had said farewell to Captain -McCuaig.</p> - -<p>“The German line rolled, indeed, over the deserted -village, but for several hours after the enemy had -become master of the village the sullen and persistent -rifle fire which survived showed that they were not yet -master of the Canadian rear guard. If they died, they -died worthy of Canada. The enforced retirement of -the third brigade (and to have stayed longer would -have been madness) reproduced for the second brigade, -commanded by Brigadier-General Curry, in a singularly -exact fashion the position of the third brigade -itself at the moment of the withdrawal of the -French.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page191">[191]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_11">SECOND BRIGADE PUT TO TEST</h3> - -<p>“The second brigade, it must be remembered, had -retained the whole line of trenches, roughly five hundred -yards, which it was holding at five o’clock on Thursday -afternoon, supported by the incomparable exertions -of the third brigade, and by the highly hazardous -deployment in which necessity had involved that -brigade. The second brigade had maintained its lines. -It now devolved upon General Curry, commanding -this brigade, to reproduce the tactical maneuvers by -which earlier in the fight the third brigade had adapted -itself to the flank movement of overwhelming numerical -superiority. He flung his left flank round and his -record is that in the very crisis of this immense struggle -he held his line of trenches from Thursday at five -o’clock until Sunday afternoon, and on Sunday afternoon -he had not abandoned his trenches. There were -none left. They had been obliterated by artillery. -He withdrew his undefeated troops from the fragments -of his field fortifications, and the hearts of his men -were as completely unbroken as the parapets of his -trenches were completely broken. Such a brigade!</p> - -<p>“It is invidious to single out any battalion for -special praise, but it is perhaps necessary to the story -to point out that Lieutenant-Colonel Lipsett, commanding -the ninetieth Winnipeg Rifles, eighth battalion, -of the second brigade, held the extreme left -of the brigade position at the most critical moment.</p> - -<p>“The battalion was expelled from the trenches -early on Friday morning by an emission of poisonous -gas, but recovering in three-quarters of an hour, it -counter-attacked, retook the trenches it had abandoned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page192">[192]</a></span> -and bayoneted the enemy, and after the third brigade -had been forced to retire, Lieutenant-Colonel Lipsett -held his position, though his left was in the air, until -two British regiments filled up the gap on Saturday -night.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_12">CAPTURE OF ST. JULIEN</h3> - -<p>“The individual fortunes of those two brigades -have brought us to the events of Sunday afternoon, -but it is necessary, to make the story complete, -to recur for a moment to the events of the -morning.</p> - -<p>“After a very formidable attack the enemy succeeded -in capturing the village of St. Julien, which has -so often been referred to in describing the fortunes of -the Canadian left. This success opened up a new and -formidable line of advance, but by this time further -reinforcements had arrived. Here again it became -evident that the tactical necessities of the situation -dictated an offensive movement, as the surest method -of arresting further progress.</p> - -<p>“General Alderson, who was in command of the -reinforcements, accordingly directed that an advance -should be made by a British brigade which had been -brought up in support. The attack was thrust through -the Canadian left and center, and as the troops making -it swept on, many of them going to certain death, they -paused an instant, and with deep-throated cheers for -Canada gave the first indication to the division of the -warm admiration which their exertions had excited in -the British army.</p> - -<p>“The advance was indeed costly, but it could not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page193">[193]</a></span> -be gainsaid. The story is one of which the brigade -may be proud, but it does not belong to the special -account of the fortunes of the Canadian contingent. -It is sufficient for our purpose to notice that the attack -succeeded in its object, and the German advance -along the line, which was momentarily threatened, -was arrested.</p> - -<p>“We had reached, in describing the events of the -afternoon, the points at which the trenches of the -second brigade had been completely destroyed. This -brigade and the third brigade, and the considerable -reinforcements which by this time filled the gap between -the two brigades, were gradually driven, fighting every -yard, upon a line running, roughly, from Fortuin, south -of St. Julien, in a northeasterly direction towards -Passchendale. Here the two brigades were relieved -by two British brigades, after exertions as glorious, -as fruitful, and, alas! as costly, as soldiers have ever -been called upon to make.</p> - -<p>“Monday morning broke bright and clear, and found -the Canadians behind the firing line. This day, too, -was to bring its anxieties. The attack was still pressed, -and it became necessary to ask Brigadier-General -Curry whether he could once more call upon his -shrunken brigade.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef17_13">A HERO LEADING HEROES</h3> - -<p>“‘The men are tired,’ this indomitable soldier -replied, ‘but they are ready and glad to go again to -the trenches.’ And so once more, a hero leading -heroes, the general marched back the men of the -second brigade, reduced to a quarter of its original<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page194">[194]</a></span> -strength, to the apex of the line as it existed at that -moment.</p> - -<p>“This position he held all day Monday. On Tuesday -he was still occupying reserve trenches, and on Wednesday -was relieved and retired to billets in the rear.</p> - -<p>“Such, in the most general outline, is the story of a -great and glorious feat of arms. A story told so soon -after the event, while tendering bare justice to units -whose doings fell under the eyes of particular observers, -must do less than justice to others who played their -part—and all did—as gloriously as those whose special -activities it is possible, even at this stage, to describe. -But the friends of men who fought in other battalions -may be content in the knowledge that they, too, shall -learn, when time allows, the exact part which each -unit played in these unforgettable days.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page195">[195]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">PITIFUL FLIGHT OF A MILLION WOMEN</span><br /> -<span class="chapauthor"><span class="smcap">By Philip Gibbs</span><br /> -Of the London Daily Chronicle</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef18_1">THE GERMAN ADVANCE UPON PARIS</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_2">THE PRIZE -OF PARIS</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_3">HEROIC EFFORTS OF FRENCH SOLDIERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_4">GERMANS -BALKED OF THEIR PRIZE</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_5">SIXTY MILES -OF FUGITIVES</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_6">TERROR IN EYES</a> — <a href="#SecRef18_7">PARIS THE -BEAUTIFUL</a>.</p> - -<p class="courtesy">[The following article is reproduced by the courtesy of the -New York Times.]</p> - -<p id="SecRef18_1">At least a million German soldiers—that is no -exaggeration of a light pen, but the sober and actual -truth—were advancing steadily upon the capital of -France. They were close to Beauvais when I escaped -from what was then a death-trap. They were fighting -our British troops at Creil when I came to that town. -Upon the following days they were holding our men in -the Forest of Compiègne. They had been as near to -Paris as Senlis, almost within gunshot of the outer forts.</p> - -<p>“Nothing seems to stop them,” said many soldiers -with whom I spoke. “We kill them and kill them, but -they come on.”</p> - -<p>The situation seemed to me almost ready for the -supreme tragedy—the capture or destruction of Paris. -The northwest of France lay very open to the enemy,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page196">[196]</a></span> -abandoned as far south as Abbéville and Amiens, too -lightly held by a mixed army corps of French and -Algerian troops with their headquarters at Aumale.</p> - -<p>Here was an easy way to Paris.</p> - -<p>Always obsessed with the idea that the Germans -must come from the east, the almost fatal error of this -war, the French had girdled Paris with almost impenetrable -forts on the east side, from those of Ecouen and -Montmorency, by the far-flung forts of Chelles and -Champigny, to those of Susy and Villeneuve, on the -outer lines of the triple cordon; but on the west side, -between Pontoise and Versailles, the defenses of Paris -were weak. I say, “were,” because during the last -days thousands of men were digging trenches and -throwing up ramparts. Only the snakelike Seine, -twining into a Pégoud loop, forms a natural defense to -the western approach to the city, none too secure -against men who have crossed many rivers in their -desperate assaults.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_2">THE PRIZE OF PARIS</h3> - -<p>This, then, was the Germans’ chance; it was for -this that they had fought their way westward and -southward through incessant battlefields from Mons -and Charleroi to St. Quentin and Amiens and down -to Creil and Compiègne, flinging away human life as -though it were but rubbish for death-pits. The prize -of Paris, Paris the great and beautiful, seemed to be -within their grasp.</p> - -<p>It was their intention to smash their way into it by -this western entry and then to skin it alive. Holding -this city at ransom, it was their idea to force France to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page197">[197]</a></span> -her knees under threat of making a vast and desolate -ruin of all those palaces and churches and noble buildings -in which the soul of French history is enshrined.</p> - -<p>I am not saying these things from rumor and hearsay, -I am writing from the evidence of my own eyes after -traveling several hundreds of miles in France along -the main strategical -lines, grim -sentinels guarding -the last barriers -to that approaching -death -which was sweeping -on its way -through France -to the rich harvest -of Paris.</p> - -<p>There was only -one thing to do -to escape from -the menace of -this death. By -all the ways open, -by any way, the -population of -Paris emptied itself like rushing rivers of humanity -along all the lines which promised anything like safety.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo221.jpg" alt="European Civilisation on its death bed" width="400" height="496" title="European Civilization" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Anxious Hour.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>Only those stayed behind to whom life means very -little away from Paris and who if death came desired -to die in the city of their life.</p> - -<p>Again I write from what I saw and to tell the honest -truth from what I suffered, for the fatigue of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page198">[198]</a></span> -hunting for facts behind the screen of war is exhausting -to all but one’s moral strength, and even to that.</p> - -<p>I found myself in the midst of a new and extraordinary -activity of the French and English armies. -Regiments were being rushed up to the center of the -allied forces toward Creil, Montdidier, and Noyon.</p> - -<p>This great movement continued for several days, -putting to a severe test the French railway system, -which is so wonderfully organized that it achieved -this mighty transportation of troops with clockwork -regularity. Working to a time-table dictated by some -great brain in the headquarters of the French army, -there were calculated with perfect precision the conditions -of a network of lines on which troop trains -might be run to a given point. It was an immense -victory of organization, and a movement which -heartened one observer at least to believe that the German -death-blow would again be averted.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_3">HEROIC EFFORTS OF FRENCH SOLDIERS</h3> - -<p>I saw regiment after regiment entraining. Men -from the Southern Provinces, speaking the patois of -the South; men from the Eastern Departments whom -I had seen a month before, at the beginning of the war, -at Châlons and Epernay and Nancy, and men from -the southwest and center of France, in garrisons -along the Loire. They were all in splendid spirits -and utterly undaunted by the rapidity of the German -advance.</p> - -<p>“It is nothing, my little one,” said a dirty, unshaved -gentleman with the laughing eyes of a D’Artagnan; -“we shall bite their heads off. These brutal ‘bosches<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page199">[199]</a></span>’ -are going to put themselves in a ‘guet-apens,’ a veritable -death-trap. We shall have them at last.”</p> - -<p>Many of them had fought at Longwy and along the -heights of the Vosges. The youngest of them had -bristling beards, their blue coats with turned-back flaps -were war-worn and flanked with the dust of long -marches; their red trousers were sloppy and stained, -but they had not forgotten how to laugh, and the -gallantry of their spirits was a joy to see.</p> - -<p>They are very proud, these French soldiers, of -fighting side by side with their old foes. The English -now, after long centuries of strife, from Edward, the -Black Prince, to Wellington, are their brothers-in-arms -upon the battle-fields, and because I am English they -offered me their cigarettes and made me one of them. -But I realized even then that the individual is of no -account in this inhuman business of war.</p> - -<p>It is only masses of men that matter, moved by -common obedience at the dictation of mysterious far-off -powers, and I thanked Heaven that masses of men -were on the move rapidly in vast numbers and in the -right direction to support the French lines which had -fallen back from Amiens a few hours before I left that -town, and whom I had followed in their retirement, -back and back, with the English always strengthening -their left, but retiring with them almost to the outskirts -of Paris itself.</p> - -<p>Only this could save Paris—the rapid strengthening -of the allied front by enormous reserves strong enough -to hold back the arrow-shaped battering ram of the -enemy’s main army.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly the French headquarters staff was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page200">[200]</a></span> -working heroically and with fine intelligence to save -the situation at the very gates of Paris. The country -was being swept absolutely clean of troops in all parts -of France, where they had been waiting as reserves.</p> - -<p>It was astounding to me to see, after those three -days of rushing troop trains and of crowded stations -not large enough to contain the regiments, how an -air of profound solitude and peace had taken possession -of all these routes.</p> - -<p>In my long journey through and about France and -circling round Paris I found myself wondering sometimes -whether all this war had not been a dreadful -illusion without reality, and a transformation had -taken place, startling in its change, from military turmoil -to rural peace.</p> - -<p>Dijon was emptied of its troops. The road to -Châlons was deserted by all but fugitives. The great -armed camp at Châlons itself had been cleared out -except for a small garrison. The troops at Tours had -gone northward to the French center. All our English -reserves had been rushed up to the front from Havre -and Rouen.</p> - -<p>There was only one deduction to be drawn from this -great, swift movement—the French and English lines -had been supported by every available battalion to save -Paris from its menace of destruction, to meet the -weight of the enemy’s metal by a force strong enough -to resist its mighty mass.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_4">GERMANS BALKED OF THEIR PRIZE</h3> - -<p>It was still possible that the Germans might be -smashed on their left wing, hurled back to the west -between Paris and the sea, and cut off from their line -of communications. It was undoubtedly this impending -peril which scared the enemy’s headquarters staff -and upset all its calculations. They had not anticipated -the rapidity of the supporting movement -of the allied armies, and at the very gates of -Paris they saw themselves balked of their prize, the -greatest prize of the war, by the necessity of changing -front.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo225.jpg" alt="" width="393" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Great German Howitzers.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Hauling a German twenty-one centimeter Howitzer on its firing mat -with a purchase on the wheels, which are fitted with caterpillar pads to -prevent sinking into soft mud.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo226.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Frightful Destruction Caused by German Siege Guns.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Ruins of the Fort Loncin at Liège, Belgium, -after the German army had bombarded it with their huge guns and -reduced to fragments the strong concrete fortifications. <span -class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by International News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page201">[201]</a></span></p> - -<p>To do them justice, they realized instantly the new -order of things, and with quick and marvelous decision -did not hesitate to alter the direction of their main -force. Instead of proceeding to the west of Paris they -swung round steadily to the southeast in order to -keep their armies away from the enveloping movement -of the French and English and drive their -famous wedge-like formation southward for the -purpose of dividing the allied forces of the west from -the French army of the east. The miraculous had -happened, and Paris, for a little time at least, was -unmolested.</p> - -<p>After wandering along the westerly and southerly -roads I started for Paris when thousands and scores of -thousands were flying from it. At that time I believed, -as all France believed, that in a few hours German -shells would be crashing across the fortifications of the -city and that Paris the beautiful would be Paris the -infernal. It needed a good deal of resolution on my -part to go deliberately to a city from which the population -was fleeing, and I confess quite honestly that I -had a nasty sensation in the neighborhood of my waistcoat -buttons at the thought.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page202">[202]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_5">SIXTY MILES OF FUGITIVES</h3> - -<p>Along the road from Tours to Paris there were -sixty unbroken miles of people—on my honor, I do -not exaggerate, but write the absolute truth. They -were all people who had despaired of breaking through -the dense masses of their fellow-citizens camped around -the railway stations, and had decided to take the roads -as the only way of escape.</p> - -<p>The vehicles were taxicabs, for which the rich paid -fabulous prices; motor cars which had escaped military -requisition, farmers’ carts laden with several families -and piles of household goods, shop carts drawn by -horses already tired to the point of death because of the -weight of the people who crowded behind, pony traps -and governess carts.</p> - -<p>Many persons, well dressed and belonging obviously -to well-to-do bourgeoisie, were wheeling barrows like -costers, but instead of trundling cabbages were pushing -forward sleeping babies and little children, who seemed -on the first stage to find new amusement and excitement -in the journey from home; but for the most part they -trudged along bravely, carrying their babies and holding -the hands of their little ones.</p> - -<p>They were of all classes, rank and fortune being -annihilated by the common tragedy. Elegant women -whose beauty is known in Paris salons, whose frivolity, -perhaps, in the past was the main purpose of their life, -were now on a level with the peasant mothers of -the French suburbs and with the “midinettes” of Montmartre, -and their courage did not fail them so quickly.</p> - -<p>I looked into many proud, brave faces of these -delicate women, walking in high-heeled shoes, all too<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page203">[203]</a></span> -frail for the hard, dusty roadways. They belonged to -the same race and breed as those ladies who defied -death with fine disdain upon the scaffold of the guillotine -in the great Revolution.</p> - -<p>They were leaving Paris now, not because of any -fears for themselves—I believe they were fearless—but -because they had decided to save the little sons and -daughters of soldier fathers.</p> - -<p>This great army in retreat was made up of every type -familiar in Paris.</p> - -<p>Here were women of the gay world, poor creatures -whose painted faces had been washed with tears, and -whose tight skirts and white stockings were never made -for a long march down the highways of France.</p> - -<p>Here also were thousands of those poor old ladies -who live on a few francs a week in the top attics of the -Paris streets which Balzac knew; they had fled from their -poor sanctuaries and some of them were still carrying -cats and canaries, as dear to them as their own lives.</p> - -<p>There was one young woman who walked with a pet -monkey on her shoulder while she carried a bird in a -golden cage. Old men, who remembered 1870, gave -their arms to old ladies to whom they had made love -when the Prussians were at the gates of Paris then.</p> - -<p>It was pitiful to see these old people now hobbling -along together—pitiful, but beautiful also, because -of their lasting love.</p> - -<p>Young boy students, with ties as black as their hats -and rat-tail hair, marched in small companies of -comrades, singing brave songs, as though they had no -fear in their hearts, and very little food, I think, in -their stomachs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page204">[204]</a></span></p> - -<p>Shopgirls and concierges, city clerks, old aristocrats, -young boys and girls, who supported grandfathers and -grandmothers and carried new-born babies and gave -pick-a-back rides to little brothers and sisters, came -along the way of retreat.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_6">TERROR IN EYES</h3> - -<p>Each human being in the vast torrent of life will -have an unforgettable story of adventure to tell if life -remains. As a novelist I should have been glad to -get their narratives along this road for a great story -of suffering and strange adventure, but there was no -time for that and no excuse.</p> - -<p>When I met many of them they were almost beyond -the power of words. The hot sun of this September -had beaten down upon them—scorching them as in -the glow of molten metal. Their tongues clave to their -mouths with thirst.</p> - -<p>Some of them had that wild look in their eyes which -is the first sign of the delirium of thirst and fatigue.</p> - -<p>Nothing to eat or drink could be found on the way -from Paris. The little roadside cafés had been cleared -out by the preceding hordes.</p> - -<p>Unless these people carried their own food and drink -they could have none except of the charity of their -comrades in misfortune, and that charity has exceeded -all other acts of heroism in this war. Women gave -their last biscuit, their last little drop of wine, to poor -mothers whose children were famishing with thirst and -hunger; peasant women fed other women’s babies -when their own were satisfied.</p> - -<p>It was a tragic road. At every mile of it there were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page205">[205]</a></span> -people who had fainted on the roadside and poor old -men and women who could go no farther, but sat on -the banks below the hedges, weeping silently or bidding -younger ones go forward and leave them to their fate. -Young women who had stepped out jauntily at first -were so footsore and lame that they limped along with -lines of pain about their lips and eyes.</p> - -<p>Many of the taxicabs, bought at great prices, and -many of the motor cars had broken down as I passed, -and had been abandoned by their owners, who had -decided to walk. Farmers’ carts had bolted into -ditches and lost their wheels. Wheelbarrows, too -heavy to be trundled, had been tilted up, with all their -household goods spilled into the roadway, and the -children had been carried farther, until at last darkness -came, and their only shelter was a haystack in a field -under the harvest moon.</p> - -<p>For days also I have been wedged up with fugitives -in railway trains more dreadful than the open roads, -stifling in their heat and heart-racking in their cargoes -of misery. Poor women have wept hysterically clasping -my hand, a stranger’s hand, for comfort in their -wretchedness and weakness. Yet on the whole they -have shown amazing courage, and, after their tears, -have laughed at their own breakdown, and, always -the children of France have been superb, so that again -and again I have wondered at the gallantry with which -they endured this horror. Young boys have revealed -the heroic strain in them and have played the part of -men in helping their mothers. And yet, when I came at -last into Paris against all this tide of retreat, it seemed -a needless fear that had driven these people away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page206">[206]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef18_7">PARIS THE BEAUTIFUL</h3> - -<p>Then I passed long lines of beautiful little villas on -the Seine side, utterly abandoned among their trees -and flowers. A solitary fisherman held his line above -the water as though all the world were at peace, and in -a field close to the fortifications which I expected to see -bursting with shells, an old peasant bent above the -furrows and planted cabbages. Then, at last, I walked -through the streets of Paris and found them strangely -quiet and tranquil.</p> - -<p>The people I met looked perfectly calm. There were -a few children playing in the gardens of Champs -Elysées and under the Arc de Triomphe symbolical of -the glory of France.</p> - -<p>I looked back upon the beauty of Paris all golden -in the light of the setting sun, with its glinting spires -and white gleaming palaces and rays of light flashing -in front of the golden trophies of its monuments. Paris -was still unbroken. No shell had come shattering into -this city of splendor, and I thanked Heaven that for a -little while the peril had passed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page207">[207]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XIX</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">FACING DEATH IN THE TRENCHES</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef19_1">CAVE-DWELLING THE LOT OF MODERN SOLDIERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_2">GERMANS -HAVE LEARNED MUCH</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_3">STANDARDIZED -MODEL</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_4">FRENCH STUDY OF GERMAN METHODS</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_5">“COMFORTS -OF HOME”</a>—<a href="#SecRef19_6">BRITISH REFUGES IN -NORTHERN FRANCE</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_7">“PICNICKING” IN THE OPEN -AIR</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_8">RAVAGES OF ARTILLERY FIRE</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_9">THE COMMON -ENEMY, THE WEATHER</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_10">WHY COOKS WEAR IRON -CROSSES</a> — <a href="#SecRef19_11">“PUTTING ONE OVER” ON THE RUSSIANS</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef19_1">“Other times, other manners” applies as accurately -to the battle-field as it does elsewhere. The cavalry -charge is nearly extinct, mass formation is going, -hand-to-hand conflict is rarely found, and now, it -appears, the old-fashioned and romantic bivouac is no -more. Trench-fighting has been carried on to such an -extent in France and Belgium, and Poland, that the -open camp, with its rows of little tents, outposts, and -sentry guard, becomes almost a forgotten picture of -warfare. Doubtless the military schools of the future -will make provision for special instruction in the -construction of commodious caverns on the battle-field, -safe, warm, and containing all the comforts of a -barrack.</p> - -<p>The modern warrior, like a mole, lives under ground -and displays his greatest activity at night. With the -coming of subterranean warfare, as trench-fighting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page208">[208]</a></span> -can be appropriately called, great armies have had to -adopt unique methods. They have been compelled -to build peculiar little forts—for a trench is a fort, in -fact—wherever their soldiers meet the enemy. In -consequence these rectangular excavations have been -improved far beyond their original outline.</p> - -<p>The first trench was nothing more nor less than a -hole in the ground, deep enough to protect a man -kneeling, standing, or sitting, as the case might be. -Before the advent of the modern rifle and modern -cannon, these defenses, with several feet of loose earth -thrown up in front of them, served admirably. In -those days the question of head-cover was of minor -importance; today a protective roofing is the sine qua -non of any well-constructed trench. Early in the -European war it was discovered that the trench -offered the safest haven from the bursting shells of the -enemy’s field artillery. To all intents and purposes, -shrapnel, or, as its inventor termed it, the man-killing -projectile—is practically harmless in its effect upon -entrenched troops. Unless a shell can be placed -absolutely within the two-feet wide excavation it -wastes its destructive powers on the inoffensive earth -and air. This has led to a modification of artillery -methods, which, in turn, compels the elaboration of -the trench and emphasizes the importance of head-cover.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_2">GERMANS HAVE LEARNED MUCH</h3> - -<p>“The history of the great war,” to quote from a -French paper, “will show, among other things, how -the Germans profited by the lessons of recent conflicts.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page209">[209]</a></span> -The South African, the Russo-Japanese, and the -Balkan wars were studied minutely by them, and their -particular preparations, their tactics, and their artifices -result from the knowledge thus acquired. They learned -much, especially, as regards the formation of trenches.</p> - -<p>“After 1870 we confined ourselves to three regulation -types of trenches: for men prone, kneeling, and -standing. While in training, our soldiers were taught -how to take shelter momentarily between advances, -by digging up the soil a little and lying flat behind the -smallest of mounds. They were instructed, moreover, -how to protect themselves from the enemy’s fire by -propping up their knapsacks in front of them. This -meant insufficient protection, and an extremely dangerous -visibility, since the foe, by simply counting the -number of knapsacks, could know the strength opposed -to him. To insure the making of such shelter, a French -company was equipped with eighty picks and eighty -spades; that is, 160 tools for 250 men. These tools -were fixed on to the knapsacks; and it took some time -to bring them into use.”</p> - -<p>The German methods for defensive and offensive -trench-making are quite different. Each man has a -tool of his own, which is fixed on to the scabbard of -his sword-bayonet. When occasion for fighting arises, -the line conceals itself, and, as soon as it is engaged, -it prepares for possible retreat, making strong positions -assuring an unrelenting defensive and counter-attacks.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_3">STANDARDIZED MODEL</h3> - -<p>It is on these sound principles that all the German -fighting-lines are organized, on a more or less standardized<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page210">[210]</a></span> -model. The fighting-lines consist generally -of one, two, or three lines of shelter-trenches lying -parallel, measuring twenty or twenty-five inches in -width, and varying in length according to the number -they hold; the trenches are joined together by zigzag -approaches and by a line of reinforced trenches (armed -with machine guns), which are almost completely -proof against rifle, machine gun, or gun fire. The -ordinary German trenches are almost invisible from -350 yards away, a distance which permits a very deadly -fire. It is easy to realize that if the enemy occupies -three successive lines and a line of reinforced entrenchments, -the attacking line is likely, at the lowest estimate, -to be decimated during an advance of 650 yards—by -rifle-fire at a range of 350 yards’ distance, and by the -extremely quick fire of the machine guns, which can -each deliver from 300 to 600 bullets a minute with -absolute precision. In the field-trench, it is obvious, -a soldier enjoys far greater security than he would if -merely prone behind his knapsack in an excavation -barely fifteen inches deep. He has merely to stoop -down a little to disappear below the level of the ground -and be immune from infantry fire; moreover, his -machine guns can fire without endangering him. In -addition, this stooping position brings the man’s -knapsack on a level with his helmet, thus forming -some protection against shrapnel and shell-splinters.</p> - -<p>At the back of the German trenches, shelters are -dug for non-commissioned officers and for the commander -of the unit. The latter’s shelter is connected -with the communication trench; the others are not. -If one adds that the bank, or, rather, the earth that is -dug from the trenches and spread out in front, extends -for five or six yards, and is covered with grass, or -appropriate vegetation, it will be recognized that the -works concealing the German lines can be seen only -when a near approach is made to them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page211">[211]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter w600" id="FigRef1"> - -<img src="images/illo237a.png" alt="" width="600" height="372" /> - -<img src="images/illo237b.png" alt="" width="600" height="325" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Reinforced Trenches.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Upper view: Details of roofs, loop-holes, and the form of the excavations. -Lower left-hand view: Vertical section of trenches and shelters. Lower -right-hand view: A plan and section of trenches and rest-room.</p> - -<p class="largeillo"><a href="images/illo237_lg.png">Larger illustration</a> (254 kB)</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page212">[212]</a></span></p> - -<p>As to reinforced trenches, the <a href="#FigRef1">drawings</a> show -clearly their conception and arrangement. They are -proof against ordinary bullets and shrapnel. Only -percussion-shells are able to destroy them and to -decimate their defenders. The interior details of the -trenches vary according to the ingenuity and spare -time of the occupants and the nature of the ground.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_4">FRENCH STUDY OF GERMAN METHODS</h3> - -<p>The whole system, that of the rest-rooms more -especially, is designed to give the men the maximum of -comfort and security. Doors and wooden shutters -wrenched from deserted houses are used for covers, or -else turf-covered branches.</p> - -<p>Ever since the outbreak of the war, the French troops -in Lorraine, after severe experiences, realized rapidly -the advantages of the German trenches, and began to -study those they had taken gloriously. Officers, non-commissioned -officers, and men of the Engineers were -straightway detached in every unit to teach the -infantry how to construct similar shelters. The -education was quick, and very soon they had completed -the work necessary for the protection of all. The -tools of the enemy “casualties,” the spades and picks -left behind in deserted villages, were all gladly piled -on to the French soldiers’ knapsacks, to be carried willingly -by the very men who used to grumble at being -loaded with even the smallest regulation tool. As soon as -night had set in on the occasion of a lull in the fighting, -the digging of the trenches was begun. Sometimes, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page213">[213]</a></span> -the darkness, the men of each fighting nation—less -than 500 yards away from their enemy—would hear -the noise of the workers of the foe: the sounds of picks -and axes; the officers’ words of encouragement; and -tacitly they would agree to an armistice during which -to dig shelters from which, in the morning, they would -dash out, to fight once more.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_5">“COMFORTS OF HOME”</h3> - -<p>Commodious, indeed, are some of the present trench -barracks, if we may believe the letters from the front. -One French soldier writes:</p> - -<p>“In really up-to-date entrenchments you may find -kitchens, dining-rooms, bedrooms, and even stables. -One regiment has first class cow-sheds. One day a -whimsical ‘piou-piou,’ finding a cow wandering about -in the danger zone, had the bright idea of finding -shelter for it in the trenches. The example was quickly -followed, and at this moment the —th Infantry possess -an underground farm, in which fat kine, well cared -for, give such quantities of milk that regular distributions -of butter are being made—and very good butter, -too.”</p> - -<p>But this is not all. An officer writes home a tale of -yet another one of the comforts of home added to the -equipment of the trenches:</p> - -<p>“We are clean people here. Thanks to the ingenuity -of ——, we are able to take a warm bath every day -from ten to twelve. We call this teasing the -‘bosches,’ for this bathing-establishment of the -latest type is fitted up—would you believe it?—in -the trenches!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page214">[214]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_6">BRITISH REFUGES IN NORTHERN FRANCE</h3> - -<p>Describing trenches occupied by the British in their -protracted “siege-warfare” in Northern France along -and to the north of the Aisne Valley, a British officer -wrote: “In the firing-line the men sleep and obtain -shelter in the dugouts they have hollowed or ‘undercut’ -in the side of the trenches. These refuges are -slightly raised above the bottom of the trench, so as -to remain dry in wet weather. The floor of the trench -is also sloped for purposes of draining. Some trenches -are provided with head-cover, and others with overhead -cover, the latter, of course, giving protection from the -weather as well as from shrapnel balls and splinters of -shells. . . . At all points subject to shell-fire access -to the firing-line from behind is provided by communication-trenches. -These are now so good that it -is possible to cross in safety the fire-swept zone to the -advanced trenches from the billets in villages, the -bivouacs in quarries, or the other places where the -headquarters of units happen to be.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_7">“PICNICKING” IN THE OPEN AIR</h3> - -<p>A cavalry subaltern gave the following account of -life in the trenches: “Picnicking in the open air, day -and night (you never see a roof now), is the only real -method of existence. There are loads of straw to -bed down on, and everyone sleeps like a log, in turn, -even with shrapnel bursting within fifty yards.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_8">RAVAGES OF ARTILLERY FIRE</h3> - -<p>One English officer described the ravages of modern -artillery fire, not only upon all men, animals and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page215">[215]</a></span> -buildings within its zone, but upon the very face of -nature itself: “In the trenches crouch lines of men, -in brown or gray or blue, coated with mud, unshaven, -hollow-eyed with the continual strain.”</p> - -<p>“The fighting is now taking place over ground where -both sides have for weeks past been excavating in all -directions,” said another letter from the front, “until -it has become a perfect labyrinth. A trench runs -straight for a considerable distance, then it suddenly -forks in three or four directions. One branch merely -leads into a ditch full of water, used in drier weather -as a means of communication; another ends abruptly -in a cul-de-sac, probably an abandoned sap-head; the -third winds on, leading into galleries and passages -further forward.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes where new ground is broken the spade -turns up the long-buried dead, ghastly relics of former -fights, and on all sides the surface of the earth is -ploughed and furrowed by fragments of shell and bombs -and distorted by mines. Seen from a distance, this -apparently confused mass of passages, crossing and -recrossing one another, resembles an irregular gridiron.</p> - -<p>“The life led by the infantry on both sides at close -quarters is a strange, cramped existence, with death -always near, either by means of some missile from above -or some mine explosion from beneath—a life which has -one dull, monotonous background of mud and water. -Even when there is but little fighting the troops are -kept hard at work strengthening the existing defenses, -constructing others, and improvising the shelter imperative -in such weather.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page216">[216]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_9">THE COMMON ENEMY, THE WEATHER</h3> - -<p>But it is not the guns or cannon of the enemy that -affect the spirits of the soldiers. It is the weather. A -week of alternate rain and snow, when the ill-drained -dugouts are half-filled with a freezing viscid mud; -when, day after day, the feet are numbed by the frost -until all sensation in them is deadened; when the -coarse, scanty ration is refused by the tortured stomach—then -it is that the spirits of the stoutest falter. Let -the enemy attack as he will, and he must fail. It is -only in fighting that the men find an outlet for their -rancor.</p> - -<p>More than thirty years ago a well-known German -general declared that a book on “Seasonal Tactics” -might as properly be written as those on the tactics of -weapons, and of geographical conditions; and in a -recent issue of the Deutsche Revue an unsigned -article by a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war recounts -the difficulties that arise when the Frost King -holds sway. “To begin with, the precious hours of -daylight are much fewer, and even these may be -shortened by overcast skies and heavy fogs. Soft -snow and mud seriously impede marching and at times -it is impossible to take cross-country cuts, even single -horsemen having great difficulty in crossing the frozen -ridges of plowed fields or stubble. Moreover, even -regular highways may become so slippery that they -endanger both man and horse, and in hilly country -such conditions make it necessary to haul heavy artillery -up steep ascents by man-power. Cold head-winds -also greatly impede progress.</p> - -<p>“The necessity of bringing the troops under cover -enforces long marches at the end of the day’s work, and -again at its beginning, and therefore makes extra -demands on energy. . . . The early dark hinders the -offense from carrying out its plans completely and from -utilizing any advantage won by following it up energetically. -Night battles become frequent. The defense -seeks to regain what it has lost by day, the offense -to make use of the long nights to win what it could not -achieve in the daytime. Then, too, the need of getting -warmed-up makes the troops more enterprising.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> - -<img src="images/illo243.jpg" alt="" width="389" height="600" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Sinking of a Torpedoed Battleship.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">As the British vessel “Aboukir” was sinking after being torpedoed by -a German submarine, one of the sailors described the last moment as -follows: “The captain sings out an order just like on any ordinary occasion, -‘If any man wishes to leave the side of the ship he can do so, every -man for himself,’ then we gave a cheer and in we went.”</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo244.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Rescuing Sailors After Sinking of German Battleship.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The conduct of the British fleet is well -illustrated by this picture, which shows life-boats and torpedo destroyers -rescuing the drowning sailors of a German battleship after the latter had been sunk. The heads and shoulders of -numerous unfortunate men are seen dotted about in the water. <span class="copyright">(<i>Photo by Underwood and Underwood.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page217">[217]</a></span></p> - -<p>All sorts of constructive work—fortification building, -the erection of stations for telegraphs, telephones and -wireless, etc.—is naturally much more difficult in -frozen ground. General von der Goltz of the German -Army is said to have recommended many years ago -that in view of possible winter campaigns provision -should be made in quantity of warm winter clothing, -materials for the building of barracks, making double -tents, etc. Another important preventive of suffering -and the consequent diminished efficiency is to provide -plenty of good hot food for the men.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_10">WHY COOKS WEAR IRON CROSSES</h3> - -<p>“There isn’t anything heroic about cooks,” wrote -Herbert Corey in the New York Globe, “and when -things go wrong one either apprehends a cook as -chasing a waiter with a bread-knife or giving way to -tears.” Yet the German army contains many a cook -whose expansive apron is decorated with the Iron -Cross. “And the Iron Cross,” Mr. Corey reminds -us, “is conferred for one thing only—for 100 per cent -courage.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<p>“‘They’ve earned it,’ said the man who had seen -them. ‘They are the bravest men in the Kaiser’s -four millions. I’ve seen generals salute greasy, -paunchy, sour-looking army cooks.’</p> - -<p>“The cook’s job is to feed the men of his company. -Each German company is followed, or preceded, by a -field-kitchen on wheels. Sometimes the fires are kept -going while the device trundles along. The cook stands -on the foot-board and thumps his bread. He is always -the first man up in the morning and the last to sleep -at night.</p> - -<p>“When that company goes into the trenches the -cook stays behind. There is no place for a field-kitchen -in a four-foot trench. But these men in the -trench must be fed. The Teuton insists that all -soldiers must be fed—but especially the men in the -trench. The others may go hungry, but these must -have tight belts. Upon their staying power may depend -the safety of an army.</p> - -<p>“So, as the company can not go to the cook, the -cook goes to the company. When meal-hour comes -he puts a yoke on his shoulders and a cook’s cap on -his head and, warning the second cook as to what will -happen if he lets the fires go out, puts a bucketful of -hot veal stew on either end of the yoke and goes to his -men. Maybe the trench is under fire. No matter. -His men are in that trench and must be fed.</p> - -<p>“Sometimes the second cook gets his step right here. -Sometimes the apprentice cook—the dish-washer—is -summoned to pick up the cook’s yoke and refill the -spilled buckets and tramp steadily forward to the line. -Sometimes the supply of assistant cooks, even, runs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page219">[219]</a></span> -short. But the men in the trenches always get their -food.</p> - -<p>“‘That’s why so many cooks in the German Army -have Iron Crosses dangling from their breasts,’ said -the man who knows. ‘No braver men ever lived. The -man in the trench can duck his head and light his -pipe and be relatively safe. No fat cook yoked to two -buckets of veal stew ever can be safe as he marches -down the trench.’”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef19_11">“PUTTING ONE OVER” ON THE RUSSIANS</h3> - -<p>Granville Fortescue, who visited the Russian trenches -in Poland, related in the Illustrated London News a -story of how the Germans, to use a slang phrase, “put -one over” on the too-confiding Russians. “This -happened,” he wrote, “at a portion of the line where -the positions ran so close that the men could communicate -by shouting. It was around Christmas, and -the Germans invited the Russians to come over for a -hot cup of new coffee just received from home. The -Russians replied to this invitation, shouting: ‘Come -over and try our tea. It’s a special gift from the -Czar.’</p> - -<p>“The Germans then put up the white flag, and said -that they would send over fifteen men to try the tea -if the Russians would send over the same number to -sample their coffee. The plan was carried out. When -the fifteen Germans appeared in the Russian trench, -the hosts remarked to one another that if these were a -sample the enemy would not hold out long. They were -a sick-looking lot. Suddenly the Germans pulled down -their white flag and commenced firing. Then the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page220">[220]</a></span> -Russians found that they had exchanged fifteen good -soldiers for fifteen typhus patients.</p> - -<p>“It is easy to believe that the Russian soldier could -be imposed upon in this way. Although extremely -courageous, he is very simple-minded with it all, and -certainly trusting. He is a splendid physical specimen. -In the trail of trench warfare this is the great desideratum. -Then, the Russians of the type that are drafted -into the army have all their life been accustomed to -privation and exposure. For this reason they are the -only troops that I have seen who can stick six days and -nights on end in a trench, under constant small arms -and shell fire, with the temperature below zero, and -after a day’s rest be as good as ever. The Russians -never grumble.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page221">[221]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XX</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">A VIVID PICTURE OF WAR</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef20_1">THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_2">A SURPRISE -PREPARED</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_3">“HELL BROKE LOOSE”</a>—<a href="#SecRef20_4">A HORRIBLE -THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_5">TRENCHES FILLED WITH -DEAD</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_6">HOARSE SHOUTS AND THE GROANS OF THE -WOUNDED</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_7">INDESCRIBABLE MASS OF RUINS RUINS</a> — <a href="#SecRef20_8">“SMEARED -WITH DUST AND BLOOD.”</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef20_1">One of the most vivid word-pictures of what war -means in all its horror was told by an eye-witness of -the battle of Neuve Chapelle in which the British -soldiers dislodged the Germans from an important -position. He said:</p> - -<p>“The dawn, which broke reluctantly through a -veil of clouds on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, -1915, seemed as any other to the Germans behind the -white and blue sandbags in their long line of trenches -curving in a hemicycle about the battered village of -Neuve Chapelle. For five months they had remained -undisputed masters of the positions they had here -wrested from the British in October. Ensconced in -their comfortably-arranged trenches with but a thin -outpost in their fire trenches, they had watched day -succeed day and night succeed night without the least -variation from the monotony of trench warfare, the -intermittent bark of the machine guns—rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—and -the perpetual rattle of rifle fire, with here -and there a bomb, and now and then an exploded mine.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page222">[222]</a></span></p> - - -<h3 id="SecRef20_2">A SURPRISE PREPARED</h3> - -<p>“For weeks past the German airmen had grown -strangely shy. On this Wednesday morning none were -aloft to spy out the strange doings which as dawn broke -might have been descried on the desolate roads -behind the British lines.</p> - -<p>“From ten o’clock of the preceding evening endless -files of men marched silently down the roads leading -towards the German positions through Laventie and -Richebourg St. Vaast, poor shattered villages of the -dead where months of incessant bombardment have -driven away the last inhabitants and left roofless -houses and rent roadways. . . .</p> - -<p>“Two days before, a quiet room, where Nelson’s -Prayer stands on the mantel-shelf, saw the ripening of -the plans that sent these sturdy sons of Britain’s four -kingdoms marching all through the night. Sir John -French met the army corps commanders and unfolded -to them his plans for the offensive of the British Army -against the German line at Neuve Chapelle.</p> - -<p>“The onslaught was to be a surprise. That was its -essence. The Germans were to be battered with -artillery, then rushed before they recovered their wits. -We had thirty-six clear hours before us. Thus long, it -was reckoned (with complete accuracy as afterwards -appeared), must elapse before the Germans, whose line -before us had been weakened, could rush up reinforcements. -To ensure the enemy’s being pinned down right -and left of the ‘great push,’ an attack was to be delivered -north and south of the main thrust simultaneously -with the assault on Neuve Chapelle.”</p> - -<p>After describing the impatience of the British<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page223">[223]</a></span> -soldiers as they awaited the signal to open the attack, -and the actual beginning of the engagement, the narrator -continues:</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> -<img src="images/illo251.jpg" alt="" width="395" height="450" /> -<p class="caption main">“<span class="smcap">There Is Nothing to Report.</span>”</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_3">“HELL BROKE LOOSE”</h3> - -<p>“Then hell broke loose. With a mighty, hideous, -screeching burst of noise, hundreds of guns spoke. The -men in the front -trenches were deafened -by the sharp -reports of the -field-guns spitting -out their shells at -close range to cut -through the Germans’ -barbed wire -entanglements. In -some cases the -trajectory of these -vicious missiles -was so flat that -they passed only a -few feet above the -British trenches.</p> - -<p>“The din was -continuous. An officer who had the curious idea -of putting his ear to the ground said it was as -though the earth were being smitten great blows -with a Titan’s hammer. After the first few shells -had plunged screaming amid clouds of earth and -dust into the German trenches, a dense pall of smoke -hung over the German lines. The sickening fumes of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page224">[224]</a></span> -lyddite blew back into the British trenches. In some -places the troops were smothered in earth and dust -or even spattered with blood from the hideous fragments -of human bodies that went hurtling through the -air. At one point the upper half of a German officer, -his cap crammed on his head, was blown into one of -our trenches.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_4">A HORRIBLE THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES</h3> - -<p>“Words will never convey any adequate idea of -the horror of those five and thirty minutes. When -the hands of officers’ watches pointed to five minutes -past eight, whistles resounded along the British lines. -At the same moment the shells began to burst farther -ahead, for, by previous arrangement, the gunners, -lengthening their fuses, were ‘lifting’ on to the village -of Neuve Chapelle so as to leave the road open for our -infantry to rush in and finish what the guns had begun.</p> - -<p>“The shells were now falling thick among the houses -of Neuve Chapelle, a confused mass of buildings seen -reddish through the pillars of smoke and flying earth -and dust. At the sound of the whistle—alas for the -bugle, once the herald of victory, now banished from -the fray!—our men scrambled out of the trenches and -hurried higgledy-piggledy into the open. Their officers -were in front. Many, wearing overcoats and carrying -rifles with fixed bayonets, closely resembled their men.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_5">TRENCHES FILLED WITH DEAD</h3> - -<p>“It was from the center of our attacking line that -the assault was pressed home soonest. The guns had -done their work well. The trenches were blown to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page225">[225]</a></span> -irrecognizable pits dotted with dead. The barbed -wire had been cut like so much twine. Starting from -the Rue Tilleloy the Lincolns and the Berkshires -were off the mark first, with orders to swerve to right -and left respectively as soon as they had captured the -first line of trenches, in order to let the Royal Irish -Rifles and the Rifle Brigade through to the village. -The Germans left alive in the trenches, half demented -with fright, surrounded by a welter of dead and dying -men, mostly surrendered. The Berkshires were opposed -with the utmost gallantry by two German officers -who had remained alone in a trench serving a machine -gun. But the lads from Berkshire made their way into -that trench and bayoneted the Germans where they -stood, fighting to the last. The Lincolns, against -desperate resistance, eventually occupied their section -of the trench and then waited for the Irishmen and the -Rifle Brigade to come and take the village ahead of -them. Meanwhile the second thirty-ninth Garhwalis -on the right had taken their trenches with a rush and -were away towards the village and the Biez Wood.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_6">HOARSE SHOUTS AND THE GROANS OF THE WOUNDED</h3> - -<p>“Things had moved so fast that by the time the -troops were ready to advance against the village the -artillery had not finished its work. So, while the -Lincolns and the Berks assembled the prisoners who -were trooping out of the trenches in all directions, the -infantry on whom devolved the honor of capturing the -village, waited. One saw them standing out in the -open, laughing and cracking jokes amid the terrific -din made by the huge howitzer shells screeching overhead<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page226">[226]</a></span> -and bursting in the village, the rattle of machine -guns all along the line, and the popping of rifles. Over -to the right where the Garhwalis had been working -with the bayonet, men were shouting hoarsely and -wounded were groaning as the stretcher-bearers, all -heedless of bullets, moved swiftly to and fro over the -shell-torn ground.</p> - -<p>“There was bloody work in the village of Neuve -Chapelle. The capture of a place at the bayonet -point is generally a grim business, in which instant, -unconditional surrender is the only means by which -bloodshed, a deal of bloodshed, can be prevented. -If there is individual resistance here and there the -attacking troops cannot discriminate. They must -go through, slaying as they go such as oppose them -(the Germans have a monopoly of the finishing-off -of wounded men), otherwise the enemy’s resistance -would not be broken, and the assailants would be sniped -and enfiladed from hastily prepared strongholds at -half a dozen different points.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_7">INDESCRIBABLE MASS OF RUINS</h3> - -<p>“The village was a sight that the men say they will -never forget. It looked as if an earthquake had struck -it. The published photographs do not give any idea -of the indescribable mass of ruins to which our guns -reduced it. The chaos is so utter that the very line -of the streets is all but obliterated.</p> - -<p>“It was indeed a scene of desolation into which the -Rifle Brigade—the first regiment to enter the village, -I believe—raced headlong. Of the church only the -bare shell remained, the interior lost to view beneath<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page227">[227]</a></span> -a gigantic mound of debris. The little churchyard -was devastated, the very dead plucked from their -graves, broken coffins and ancient bones scattered -about amid the fresher dead, the slain of that morning—grey -green forms asprawl athwart the tombs. Of all -that once fair village but two things remained intact—two -great crucifixes reared aloft, one in the churchyard, -the other over against the château. From the cross -that is the emblem of our faith the figure of Christ, -yet intact though all pitted with bullet marks, looked -down in mute agony on the slain in the village.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef20_8">“SMEARED WITH DUST AND BLOOD”</h3> - -<p>“The din and confusion were indescribable. Through -the thick pall of shell smoke Germans were seen on all -sides, some emerging hall dazed from cellars and dugouts, -their hands above their heads, others dodging -round the shattered houses, others firing from the -windows, from behind carts, even from behind the -overturned tombstones. Machine guns were firing -from the houses on the outskirts, rapping out their -nerve-racking note above the noise of the rifles.</p> - -<p>“Just outside the village there was a scene of tremendous -enthusiasm. The Rifle Brigade, smeared -with dust and blood, fell in with the Third Gurkhas -with whom they had been brigaded in India. The -little brown men were dirty but radiant. Kukri in -hand they had very thoroughly gone through some -houses at the cross-roads on the Rue du Bois and -silenced a party of Germans who were making themselves -a nuisance there with some machine guns. -Riflemen and Gurkhas cheered themselves hoarse.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page228">[228]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">HARROWING SCENES ALONG THE BATTLE -LINES</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef21_1">DRIVING BACK THE GERMANS UNDER FIRE</a> — <a href="#SecRef21_2">ON -THE FIRING LINE</a> — <a href="#SecRef21_3">AMONG MANGLED HORSES AND -MEN</a> — <a href="#SecRef21_4">GERMAN LOSSES FRIGHTFUL</a> — <a href="#SecRef21_5">DIXMUDE A -PLACE OF DEATH AND HORROR</a>.</p> - -<p id="SecRef21_1">Some idea of the ruin wrought day after day as -the battle raged in Flanders may be gained from the -occasional reports of war correspondents who shared -the fortunes of battle.</p> - -<p>“The battle rages along the Yser with frightful -destruction of life,” wrote a correspondent of the -London Daily News in October. “Air engines, sea -engines, and land engines death-sweep this desolate -country, vertically, horizontally, and transversely. -Through it the frail little human engines crawl and -dig, walk and run, skirmishing, charging, and blundering -in little individual fights and tussles, tired and -puzzled, ordered here and there, sleeping where they -can, never washing, and dying unnoticed. A friend -may find himself firing on a friendly force, and few -are to blame.</p> - -<p>“Thursday the Germans were driven back over the -Yser; Friday they secured a footing again, and Saturday -they were again hurled back. Now a bridge blown -up by one side is repaired by the other; it is again<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page229">[229]</a></span> -blown up by the first, or left as a death trap till the -enemy is actually crossing.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w400"> -<img src="images/illo257.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="410" /> -<p class="imagetext left">POVERTY—HATRED—REVENGE—STARVATION</p> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">These Always Survive.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>“Actions by armored trains, some of them the -most reckless adventures, are attempted daily. Each -day accumulates an unwritten record of individual -daring feats, accepted as part of the daily work. Day -by day our men -push out on -these dangerous -explorations, attacked -by shell -fire, in danger of -cross-fire, dynamite, -and ambuscades, -bringing -a priceless -support to the -threatened lines. -As the armored -train approaches -the river under -shell fire the car -cracks with the -constant thunder of guns aboard. It is amazing to -see the angle at which the guns can be swung.</p> - -<p>“And overhead the airmen are busy venturing -through fog and puffs of exploding shells to get one -small fact of information. We used to regard the -looping of the loop of the Germans overhead as a hare-brained -piece of impudent defiance to our infantry fire. -Now we know it means early trouble for the infantry.</p> - -<p>“Besides us, as we crawl up snuffing the lines like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page230">[230]</a></span> -dogs on a scent, grim train-loads of wounded wait -soundlessly in the sidings. Further up the line ambulances -are coming slowly back. The bullets of machine -guns begin to rattle on our armored coats. Shells -we learned to disregard, but the machine gun is the -master in this war.</p> - -<p>“Now we near the river at a flat country farm. -The territory is scarred with trenches, and it is impossible -to say at first who is in them, so incidental and -separate are the fortunes of this riverside battle. The -Germans are on our bank enfilading the lines of the -Allies’ trenches. We creep up and the Germans come -into sight out of the trenches, rush to the bank, and -are scattered and mashed. The Allies follow with a -fierce bayonet charge.</p> - -<p>“The Germans do not wait. They rush to the -bridges and are swept away by the deadliest destroyer -of all, the machine gun. The bridge is blown up, but -who can say by whom? Quickly the train runs back.</p> - -<p>“‘A brisk day,’ remarks the correspondent. ‘Not -so bad,’ replies the officer. So the days pass.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef21_2">ON THE FIRING LINE</h3> - -<p>Another correspondent who, accompanied by a son -of the Belgian War Minister, M. de Broqueville, -made a tour of the battleground in the Dixmude -district wrote:</p> - -<p>“No pen could do justice to the grandeur and horror -of the scene. As far as the eye could reach nothing -could be seen but burning villages and bursting shells.</p> - -<p>“Arriving at the firing line, a terrible scene presented -itself. The shell fire from the German batteries was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page231">[231]</a></span> -so terrific that Belgian soldiers and French marines -were continually being blown out of their dugouts and -sent scattering to cover. Elsewhere, also, little groups -of peasants were forced to flee because their cellars -began to fall in. These unfortunates had to make their -way as best they could on foot to the rear. They were -frightened to death by the bursting shells, and the -sight of crying children among them was most pathetic.</p> - -<p>“Dixmude was the objective of the German attack, -and shells were bursting all over it, crashing among the -roofs and blowing whole streets to pieces. From a -distance of three miles we could hear them crashing -down, but the town itself was invisible, except for the -flames and the smoke and clouds rising above it. The -Belgians had only a few field batteries, so that the -enemy’s howitzers simply dominated the field, and the -infantry trenches around the town had to rely upon -their own unaided efforts.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef21_3">AMONG MANGLED HORSES AND MEN</h3> - -<p>“Our progress along the road was suddenly stopped -by one of the most horrible sights I have ever seen. -A heavy howitzer shell had fallen and burst right in -the midst of a Belgian battery which was making its -way to the front, causing terrible destruction. The -mangled horses and men among the debris presented a -shocking spectacle.</p> - -<p>“Eventually, we got into Dixmude itself, and -every time a shell came crashing among the roofs we -thought our end had come. The Hôtel de Ville (town -hall) was a sad sight. The roof was completely riddled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page232">[232]</a></span> -by shell, while inside was a scene of chaos. It was piled -with loaves of bread, bicycles, and dead soldiers.</p> - -<p>“The battle redoubled in fury, and by seven o’clock -in the evening Dixmude was a furnace, presenting a -scene of terrible grandeur. The horizon was red -with burning homes.</p> - -<p>“Our return journey was a melancholy one, owing -to the constant trains of wounded that were passing.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef21_4">GERMAN LOSSES FRIGHTFUL</h3> - -<p>“The German losses are frightful” wrote another -correspondent. “Three meadows near Ostend are -heaped with dead. The wounded are now installed -in private houses in Bruges, where large wooden sheds -are being rushed up to receive additional injured. -Thirty-seven farm wagons containing wounded, dying, -and dead passed in one hour near Middelkerke.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef21_5">DIXMUDE A PLACE OF DEATH AND HORROR</h3> - -<p>From Fumes, Belgium, members of the staff of the -English hospital traveled to Dixmude to search for -wounded men on the firing line. Philip Gibbs, of the -London Daily Chronicle, who traveled with them in -reporting his experiences, said:</p> - -<p>“I was in one of the ambulances, and Mr. Gleeson -sat behind me in the narrow space between the -stretchers. Over his shoulder he talked in a quiet -voice of the job that lay before us. I was glad of that -quiet voice, so placid in its courage. We went forward -at what seemed to me a crawl, though I think it was a -fair pace, shells bursting around us now on all sides, -while shrapnel bullets sprayed the earth about us. -It appeared to me an odd thing that we were still alive. -Then we came into Dixmude.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo261.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="386" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Destruction of the Sea-Raider “Emden.”</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The Australian cruiser “Sydney” came up with the -German cruiser “Emden” off the Cocos Keeling Island on -November 9. After the “Sydney” had fired six hundred rounds of ammunition and covered fifty-six miles in -maneuvering, she forced the “Emden” to run ashore owing to the breaking of her steering gear. The German vessel -ran at a speed of nineteen knots upon the beach, the shock killing the man at the wheel. <span class="copyright">(<i>From a direct camera -picture taken on board the “Sydney.”</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo262.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="368" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Sinking of the German Cruiser “Bluecher.”</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This most dramatic photograph of the Great North Sea Battle, -in which the British fleet was victor, January 24, -1915, shows the death agony of the German cruiser “Bluecher” just as she turned turtle and sank. The ship is shown -lying on her side, with her machinery and armament shot into masses of twisted iron and steel, great fires raging -forward, amidship and aft. The officers and men can be seen ranged along the side of the vessel: many of them have -slipped into the water and may be seen swimming about. -<span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by the International News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -<p class="allclear"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page233">[233]</a></span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>“When I saw it for the first and last time it was a -place of death and horror. The streets through which -we passed were utterly deserted and wrecked from -end to end, as though by an earthquake. Incessant -explosions of shell fire crashed down upon the walls -which still stood. Great gashes opened in the walls, -which then toppled and fell. A roof came tumbling -down with an appalling clatter. Like a house of cards -blown by a puff of wind, a little shop suddenly collapsed -into a mass of ruins. Here and there, further into the -town, we saw living figures. They ran swiftly for a -moment and then disappeared into dark caverns under -toppling porticoes. They were Belgian soldiers. . . .</p> - -<p>“We stood on some steps, looking down into that -cellar. It was a dark hole, illumined dimly by a -lantern, I think. I caught sight of a little heap of -huddled bodies. Two soldiers, still unwounded, dragged -three of them out and handed them up to us. The -work of getting those three men into the first ambulance -seemed to us interminable; it was really no more than -fifteen or twenty minutes.</p> - -<p>“I had lost consciousness of myself. Something -outside myself, as it seemed, was saying that there was -no way of escape; that it was monstrous to suppose -that all these bursting shells would not smash the -ambulance to bits and finish the agony of the wounded, -and that death was very hideous. I remember thinking -also how ridiculous it was for men to kill one another -like this and to make such hells on earth.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page234">[234]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">WHAT THE MEN IN THE TRENCHES WRITE -HOME</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef22_1">SOBERING REALITIES OF BATTLE</a> — <a href="#SecRef22_2">“WAR -IS TERRIBLE”</a>—<a href="#SecRef22_3">THE -COMMON ENEMY, DEATH</a>—“A WASTEFUL -WAR”—<a href="#SecRef22_4">“SAME PAIR OF BLUE EYES”</a>—<a href="#SecRef22_5">FIGHTING -WITHOUT HATE.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef22_1">Life at the front is not all marching and fighting by -any means: there are long days and nights of waiting -in which though it be</p> - -<div class="poemcenter"> - -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">“Theirs not to reason why”<br /></span> -</div> -</div> - -</div><!--poemcenter--> - -<p class="noindent">the soldiers have abundant time to reflect upon the -grim fatality of war and the hideousness of the carnage. -They are continually facing death, and though many of -them, perhaps most of them, become inured to the -sights of human slaughter, others cannot fail to be -impressed by the stark, white faces of the fallen—friends -and foes alike. Sights more horrible than perhaps -they could have imagined are burned into their minds, -never to be effaced.</p> - -<p>Naturally some of their reflections find expression -in the letters home, when the soldier is more or less -off guard. There we get an “inside view” of the war -which does much to offset the ruthlessness of rulers -and restore one’s faith in the essential humanity of -men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page235">[235]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef22_2">“WAR IS TERRIBLE”</h3> - -<p>The following letter, which Refers to the fighting along -the Aisne, was found on a German officer of the Seventh -Reserve Corp:</p> - -<p class="right padr2 blankbefore1">“Cerny, South of Laon, Sept. 14, 1914.</p> - -<p>“My dear Parents: Our corps has the task of -holding the heights -south of Cerny in -all circumstances -until the fourteenth -corps on -our left flank can -grip the enemy’s -flank. On our -right are other -corps. We are -fighting with the -English Guards, -Highlanders, and -Zouaves. The -losses on both -sides have been enormous. For the most part this is -due to the too brilliant French artillery.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo265.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="360" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Mother.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>“The English are marvelously trained in making -use of ground. One never sees them, and one is -constantly under fire. The French airmen perform -wonderful feats. We cannot get rid of them. As -soon as an airman has flown over us, ten minutes -later we get their shrapnel fire in our positions. We -have little artillery in our corps; without it we cannot -get forward.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page236">[236]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Three days ago our division took possession of these -heights and dug itself in. Two days ago, early in the -morning, we were attacked by an immensely superior -English force, one brigade and two battalions, and -were turned out of our positions. The fellows took -five guns from us. It was a tremendous hand-to-hand -fight.</p> - -<p>“How I escaped myself I am not clear. I then had -to bring up supports on foot. My horse was wounded, -and the others were too far in the rear. Then came up -the guards jäger battalion, fourth jäger, sixth regiment, -reserve regiment thirteen, and landwehr regiments -thirteen and sixteen, and with the help of the artillery -we drove the fellows out of the position again. Our -machine guns did excellent work; the English fell in -heaps.</p> - -<p>“In our battalion three Iron Crosses have been -given, one to C. O., one to Captain ——, and one to -Surgeon ——. [Names probably deleted.] Let us -hope that we shall be the lucky ones next time.</p> - -<p>“During the first two days of the battle I had only -one piece of bread and no water. I spent the night in -the rain without my overcoat. The rest of my kit was -on the horses which had been left behind with the -baggage and which cannot come up into the battle -because as soon as you put your nose up from behind -cover the bullets whistle.</p> - -<p>“War is terrible. We are all hoping that a decisive -battle will end the war, as our troops already have got -round Paris. If we beat the English the French resistance -will soon be broken. Russia will be very quickly -dealt with; of this there is no doubt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page237">[237]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yesterday evening, about six, in the valley in which -our reserves stood there was such a terrible cannonade -that we saw nothing of the sky but a cloud of smoke. -We had few casualties.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef22_3">THE COMMON ENEMY, DEATH</h3> - -<p>How foe helps foe when the last grim hour comes is -revealed in the letter which a French cavalry officer -sent to his fiancée in Paris:</p> - -<p>“There are two other men lying near me, and I do -not think there is much hope for them either. One is -an officer of a Scottish regiment and the other a private -in the Uhlans. They were struck down after me, and -when I came to myself, I found them bending over me, -rendering first aid.</p> - -<p>“The Britisher was pouring water down my throat -from his flask, while the German was endeavoring to -stanch my wound with an antiseptic preparation -served out to them by their medical corps. The Highlander -had one of his legs shattered, and the German -had several pieces of shrapnel buried in his side.</p> - -<p>“In spite of their own sufferings they were trying -to help me, and when I was fully conscious again the -German gave us a morphia injection and took one -himself. His medical corps had also provided him with -the injection and the needle, together with printed -instructions for its use.</p> - -<p>“After the injection, feeling wonderfully at ease, -we spoke of the lives we had lived before the war. We -all spoke English, and we talked of the women we had -left at home. Both the German and the Britisher -had only been married a year. . . .</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page238">[238]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I wonder, and I supposed the others did, why we -had fought each other at all. I looked at the Highlander, -who was falling to sleep, exhausted, and in spite -of his drawn face and mud-stained uniform, he looked -the embodiment of freedom. Then I thought of the -Tri-color of France, and all that France had done for -liberty. Then I watched the German, who had ceased -to speak. He had taken a prayer book from his -knapsack and was trying to read a service for soldiers -wounded in battle.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef22_4">“SAME PAIR OF BLUE EYES”</h3> - -<p>Sergeant Gabriel David, of the French infantry, who -saw seven months of continuous service in the trenches -of the Argonne Forest, described the odd effect of -peeping over the top of a trench for weeks into the -same pair of German blue eyes.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know who this man was or what he might -have been,” he said, “but wherever I go I can yet see -those sad-looking eyes. He and I gazed at each other -for three weeks in one stretch; his watch seemed to -always be the same as mine. We came to respect each -other. I am sure that I would always know those blue -eyes, and I would like to meet that man when the war -has ended.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef22_5">FIGHTING WITHOUT HATE</h3> - -<p>There is yet to appear an authentic letter from a -private or officer on either side that contains a tithe of -the virulence and bitterness shown in the statements -and writings of many non-combatants.</p> - -<p>“One wonders,” runs a letter of a British officer,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page239">[239]</a></span> -“when one sees a German face to face, is this really one -of those devils who wrought such devastation—for -devastation they have surely wrought. You can -hardly believe it, for he seems much the same as other -soldiers. I can assure you that out here there is none -of that insensate hatred that one hears about.</p> - -<p>“Just to give you some idea of what I mean, the -other night four German snipers were shot on our wire. -The next night our men went out and brought one in -who was near and get-at-able and buried him. They -did it with just the same reverence and sadness as -they do to our own dear fellows. I went to look at the -grave the next morning, and one of the most uncouth-looking -men in my company had placed a cross at the -head of the grave, and had written on it:</p> - -<div class="poemcenter"> - -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="i00">“‘Here lies a German.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We don’t know his name.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For he died bravely fighting<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For his Fatherland.’<br /></span> -</div> -</div> - -</div><!--poemcenter--> - -<p>“And under that, ‘got mitt uns’ (sic), that being -the highest effort of all the men at German. Not bad -for a bloodthirsty Briton, eh? Really that shows the -spirit.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page240">[240]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">BOMBARDING UNDEFENDED CITIES</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef23_1">THE GERMAN RAID ON THE ENGLISH COAST</a> — <a href="#SecRef23_2">MRS. -KAUFFMAN’S DESCRIPTION</a> — <a href="#SecRef23_3">CANNONADING AT -WHITBY</a> — <a href="#SecRef23_4">FREAKISH EFFECT OF SHELLS</a> — <a href="#SecRef23_5">FLIGHT OF -SCHOOL CHILDREN.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef23_1">The Ninth Hague Convention of 1907, to which -both Germany and Great Britain gave their assent -upon identical conditions, expressly forbids “the bombardment -by naval forces of undefended ports, towns, -villages, dwellings or buildings,” and by inference -requires notice to be given previous to any such operations. -Neither of these stipulations was observed by -the German naval raiders who on December 16, 1914, -bombarded the historic English towns of Hartlepool, -Whitby and Scarborough. Appearing in the early -morning, the Germans rained deadly shells upon these -coast towns, none of which was of strategic importance, -and only one protected by fortifications. The immediate -result was the useless slaughter of many non-combatants—men -and women and children, and the -ruin of buildings, churches and historic monuments, -including the ancient abbey of St. Hilda at Whitby.</p> - -<p>The raid on Scarborough was described by Ruth -Kauffman, the wife of the novelist, Reginald Wright -Kauffman, in an interesting communication. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page241">[241]</a></span> -Kauffmans had been living for several years just outside -of Cloughton, a village near Scarborough.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef23_2">MRS. KAUFFMAN’S DESCRIPTION</h3> - -<p>“It’s a very curious thing to watch a bombardment -from your house.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo271.png" alt="" width="600" height="329" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Where the War Was Brought Home to England.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>“Everybody knew the Kaiser would do it. But -there was a little doubt about the date, and then somehow -the spy-hunting sport took up general attention. -When the Kaiser did send his card it was quite as -much of a surprise as most Christmas cards—from a -friend forgotten.</p> - -<p>“Eighteen people were killed in the morning -between eight and eight-thirty o’clock in the streets -and houses of Scarborough by German shrapnel, two -hundred were wounded and more than two hundred -houses were damaged or demolished.</p> - -<p>“From our windows we could not quite make out the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page242">[242]</a></span> -contours of the ruined castle, which is generally plainly -visible. Our attention was called to the fact that -there was “practicing” going on and we could at 8.07 -see quick flashes. That these flashes pointed directly -at Scarborough we did not for a few moments comprehend, -then the fog slowly lifting, we saw a fog that -was partly smoke. The castle grew into its place in -the six miles distance.</p> - -<p>“It seemed for a moment that the eight-foot thick -Norman walls tottered, but no, whatever tottered was -behind the keep. Curiously enough, we could barely -hear the cannonading, for the wind was keen in the -opposite direction, yet we could, as the minutes crept -by and the air cleared, see distinctly the flashes from -the boats and the flashes in the city.</p> - -<p>“After about fifteen minutes there was a cessation, -or perhaps a hesitation, that lasted two minutes; then -the flashes continued. Ten minutes more and the -boats began to move again. One cruiser disappeared -from sight, sailing south by east.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef23_3">CANNONADING AT WHITBY</h3> - -<p>“The other two rushed like fast trains north again, -close to our cliffs, and in another half hour we heard -all too plainly the cannonading which had almost -escaped our ears from Scarborough. We thought it -was Robin Hood’s Bay, as far north of us as Scarborough -is south, but afterward we learned that the boats -omitted this pretty red-roofed town and concentrated -their remaining energy on Whitby, fifteen miles north; -the wind blowing toward us brought us the vibrating -boom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page243">[243]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We drove to Scarborough. We had not gone one -mile of the distance when we began to meet people -coming in the opposite direction. A small white-faced -boy in a milk cart that early every morning makes its -Scarborough rounds showed us a piece of shell he had -picked up, and said it had first struck a man a few -yards from him and killed the man. A woman carrying -a basket told us, with trembling lips, that men and -women were lying about the streets dead.</p> - -<p>“We did not meet a deserted city when we entered. -The streets were thronging. There was a Sunday hush -over everything, without the accompanying Sunday -clothes, but people moved about or stood at their doorways. -Many of the shop fronts were boarded up and -shop windows were empty of display. The main street, -a narrow passage-way that clambers up from the sea and -points due west, was filled with a procession that slowly -marched down one side and up the other. People -hardly spoke. They made room automatically for a -group of silent Boy Scouts, who carried an unconscious -woman past us to the hospital. There was the insistent -honk of a motor-car. As it pushed its way through, all -that struck me about the car was the set face of the -old man rising above improvised bandages about -his neck, part of the price of the Kaiser’s Christmas -card.</p> - -<p>“The damage to property did not first reach our -attention. But as we walked down the main street -and then up it with the procession we saw that shops -and houses all along had windows smashed next to -windows unhurt. At first we thought the broken -windows were from concussion; but apparently very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page244">[244]</a></span> -few were so broken; there was not much concussion, -but the shells, splintering as they exploded, had flown -red hot in every direction, The smoke, we had seen, -had come from fires quickly extinguished.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef23_4">FREAKISH EFFECTS OF SHELLS</h3> - -<p>“We left the main business street and picked our way -toward the foreshore and the South Cliff, the more -fashionable part of the town as well as the school -section. Here there was a great deal of havoc, and -we had to climb over some of the debris. Roofs were -half torn off and balancing in mid-air; shells had shot -through chimneys and some chimneys tottered, while -several had merely round holes through the brick -work; mortar, brick and glass lay about the streets; -here a third-story room was bare to the view, the wall -lifted as for a child’s doll house and disclosing a single -bedroom with shaving materials on the bureau still -secure; there a drug-store front lay fallen into the -street, and the iron railing about it was torn and twisted -out of shape.</p> - -<p>“A man and a boy had just been carried away dead. -All around small pieces of iron rail and ripped asphalt -lay scattered. Iron bars were driven into the woodwork -of houses. There were great gaps in walls and -roofs. The attack had not spent itself on any one -section of the city, but had scattered itself in different -wards. The freaks of the shells were as inexplicable -as those of a great fire that destroys everything in a -house except a piano and a mantelpiece with its bric-a-brac, -or a flood that carries away a log cabin and leaves -a rosebush unharmed and blooming.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page245">[245]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Silent pedestrians walked along and searched the -ground for souvenirs, of which there were plenty. -Sentries guarded houses and streets where it was -dangerous to explore and park benches were used as -barriers to the public. All the cabs were requisitioned -to take away luggage and frightened inhabitants. -During the shelling hundreds of women and children, -breakfastless, their hair hanging, hatless and even -penniless, except for their mere railway fares, had rushed -to the station and taken tickets to the first safe town -they could think of. There was no panic, these hatless, -penniless women all asserted, when they arrived in -York and Leeds.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef23_5">FLIGHT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN</h3> - -<p>“A friend of mine hurried into Scarborough by -motor to rescue her sister, who was a pupil at one of -the boarding schools. But it appeared that when the -windows of the school began to crash the teachers -hurried from prayers, ordered the pupils to gather -hats and coats and sweet chocolate that happened to -be on hand as a substitute for breakfast and made them -run for a mile and a half, with shells exploding about -them, through the streets to the nearest out-of-Scarborough -railway station. My friend, after unbelievable -difficulties, finally found her sister in a private house -of a village near by, the girl in tears and pleading not -to be sent to London; she had been told that her -family’s house was probably destroyed, as it was -actually on the sea-coast.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page246">[246]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXIV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">GERMANY’S FATAL WAR ZONE</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef24_1">THE WARNING TO NEUTRAL NATIONS</a> — <a href="#SecRef24_2">UNITED -STATES REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE WAR ZONE</a> — <a href="#SecRef24_3">A -VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS</a> — <a href="#SecRef24_4">AIMED AT -NEUTRAL SHIPPING</a> — <a href="#SecRef24_5">AN INHUMAN POLICY.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef24_1">The German imperial decree making all of the -waters surrounding the British Isles a war zone and -threatening to destroy ships and crews found therein -after February 18, 1915, whether they were English -or neutral, raised a storm of protest in the United -States. The decree read:</p> - -<p>“The waters around Great Britain and Ireland, -including the whole English Channel, are declared a -war zone from and after February 18, 1915.</p> - -<p>“Every enemy ship found in this war zone will be -destroyed, even if it is impossible to avert dangers -which threaten the crew and passengers.</p> - -<p>“Also, neutral ships in the war zone are in danger, -as in consequence of the misuse of neutral flags ordered -by the British government on January 31 and in view -of the hazards of naval warfare it cannot always be -avoided that attacks meant for enemy ships shall -endanger neutral ships.</p> - -<p>“Shipping northward, around the Shetland Islands, -in the eastern basin of the North Sea, and in a strip<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page247">[247]</a></span> -of at least thirty nautical miles in breadth along the -Dutch coast, is endangered in the same way.”</p> - -<p>As plainly as words could state it, this was a warning -that American and other neutral vessels might be -sunk by German submarines and that Germany would -repudiate responsibility for such action. The American -press denounced the declaration and its intent, and -the United States government made public a note to -Germany, containing the following paragraph:</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef24_2">UNITED STATES REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE WAR ZONE</h3> - -<p>“If the commanders of German vessels of war -should act upon the presumption that the flag of the -United States was not being used in good faith and -should destroy on the high seas an American vessel, -or the lives of American citizens, it would be difficult -for the government of the United States to view the -act in any other light than as an indefensible violation -of neutral rights which it would be very hard indeed -to reconcile with the friendly relations now happily -subsisting between the two governments.”</p> - -<p>Frederick R. Coudert, of New York, an authority -on international law, said in discussing the war zone:</p> - -<p>“From the beginning the United States government -always maintained the right to treat the open sea as -a public highway, and refused to acquiesce in one -attempt after another to establish a closed sea. It -refused to submit to an imposition of the Sound dues -by Denmark, or to recognize the Baltic as a closed -sea. It refused to pay tribute to the Barbary -powers for the privilege of navigating the Mediterranean, -and gave notice to Russia that it would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page248">[248]</a></span> -disregard the claim to make the North Pacific a closed -sea.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef24_3">A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS</h3> - -<p>“No one has ever pretended to assert a claim to -control the navigation of the North Sea, and Germany -has no more right to plant mines in the open sea -between Great Britain and Belgium and France than -she would have to do so in Delaware Bay, or than a -property owner, who was annoyed by automobiles, -would have to plant torpedoes in a turnpike.</p> - -<p>“The right to plant mines as a defense to a harbor, -from which all vessels might lawfully be excluded, is -one thing, but to destroy the use of the open sea as a -highway, by sowing mines which might indeed destroy -British ships, but might also destroy American ships, -is an act of hostility which, if persisted in, would -constitute a casus belli, and if we had Mr. Webster, -or Mr. Marcey, or Mr. Evarts in Washington as Secretary -of State, prompt notice would be given that for -any damage done Germany would be held responsible.”</p> - -<p>A representative quotation from the newspapers -of the United States is the following:</p> - -<p>“The imperial decree making all of the waters surrounding -the British isles a ‘war zone,’ and threatening -to destroy ships and crews found therein after February -18, whether they be English or neutral, is surely the -maddest proposal ever put forth by a civilized nation.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef24_4">AIMED AT NEUTRAL SHIPPING</h3> - -<p>“This excessively efficient method of warfare, however, -is one that most concerns England and France. -The interest of the United States lies in the fact that -the threat is aimed emphatically at neutral shipping.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo279.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="387" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Three British Cruisers Sunk by Submarines.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The “Aboukir,” “Hogue” and “Cressy” sunk by -torpedoes on September 22. The horrors of modern warfare are -illustrated by the notice issued after this disaster by the British Admiralty, which reads in part, “No act of -humanity, whether to friend or foe, should lead to neglect of the proper precautions and dispositions of war, and no -measure can be taken to save life which prejudice the military situation.” -<span class="copyright">(<i>Copyright by the Sun News Service.</i>)</span></p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo280.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="389" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Loss of the “Irresistible” in the Dardanelles.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">On March 18 the “Irresistible” quit the line of the French -and English fleet, which was bombarding the Turkish -forts in the narrows of the Dardanelles, and sank in deep water. The whole ship was lifted up in the explosion, and -to increase the horror of the situation the Turks commenced bombarding the vessel with their big guns.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Neutral nations were loath to accept the sinister -meaning of the order when it was first published; but -its intent was emphasized by Bismarck’s old organ, -the Hamburger Nachrichten:</p> - -<p>“‘Beginning on February 18 everybody must take -the consequences. The hate and envy of the whole -world concern us not at all. If neutrals do not protect -their flags against England, they do not deserve -Germany’s respect.’</p> - -<p>“The misuse of the American flag is annoying to this -country as well as exasperating to Germany, but no -government in its senses would seriously threaten to -make that an excuse for piratical operations. A -merchant ship has a right to fly any flag the skipper -has in his locker, particularly if thereby he can deceive -an enemy and evade capture. The custom is as old -as maritime warfare, and has been resorted to numberless -times by every nation.</p> - -<p>“But this issue is trifling compared to the German -effort to exclude neutral shipping from an arbitrarily -decreed ‘war zone.’ It is officially admitted that this -does not comprise a formal blockade, but it is clear -that Germany is attempting to achieve the benefits -of a blockade without its heavy responsibilities.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef24_5">AN INHUMAN POLICY</h3> - -<p>“It is understood that she has a perfect right to hold -up and search neutral ships in her declared ‘war zone,’ -and to make prizes of such as carry contraband. But -it is the possession of this very right which forbids<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page250">[250]</a></span> -the inhuman policy she proclaims. She cannot plead -ignorance of a vessel’s identity, or attack it unless it -refuses to stop when signaled. The burden of proof -is upon the submarine, and to torpedo a vessel on -suspicion merely would be unredeemed piracy and -murder.</p> - -<p>“This is distinctly a case in which the convenient -doctrine of ‘military necessity’ is not to be invoked. -Nor would an occasional misuse of a neutral flag by -belligerent vessels, as a ruse of war, justify a mistaken -act of destruction. If every British merchantman -approaching England flew the American colors, that -would not excuse the torpedoing of one American ship.</p> - -<p>“These facts are stated with convincing clearness -in the official protest sent from Washington to Berlin. -We do not know who framed this document, although -it bears distinct literary marks of revision by President -Wilson. But whoever the men actually responsible -for it, they produced a state paper which is a model -of terseness, lucidity, dignified courtesy and force, -an irrefutable presentation of the relevant principles -of international law and justice. No loyal American -wants trouble, but the blood of the most pacific citizen -must move a little faster on reading the German decree -and the restrained but perfectly straightforward reply -sent by our government.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page251">[251]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">MULTITUDINOUS TRAGEDIES AT SEA</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef25_1">TWENTY-NINE VESSELS SUNK IN ONE WEEK</a> — <a href="#SecRef25_2">EIGHTY-TWO -NON-COMBATANT VESSELS DESTROYED -IN GERMAN WAR ZONE</a> — <a href="#SecRef25_2">THE ATTACK ON THE -GULFLIGHT.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef25_1">The fact that the Lusitania was the twenty-ninth -vessel to be sunk or damaged in one week in May in the -war zone established by Germany around the British -Isles throws into grim relief the ruthlessness of modern -war. The naval battles of the past were engagements -of dignity in which, when a vessel was lost, it went down -with a certain tragic magnificence after a fair fight; -but most of the vessels lost in the European war have -been the victims of torpedoes, struck by stealthy blows -in the dark. In less than three months, from February -18 to May 7, 1915, no less than eighty-two merchant -vessels belonging either to the Allies or to neutral -nations were torpedoed or mined in the war zone, with -a loss of life estimated at 1,704 non-combatants—a -terrible sacrifice to modern warfare.</p> - -<p id="SecRef25_2">Naturally the greater number of these merchant ships -were British, but the fact that the war zone was proclaimed -by Germany with a view to stopping neutral -shipping as well is established by the figures which show -that among the eighty-two non-combatant vessels<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page252">[252]</a></span> -destroyed there were French, Russian, Norwegian, -Swedish, Dutch, Danish, Greek and three American -vessels, the latter being the Evelyn, sunk by a mine -explosion February 20; the Carib, sunk by a mine -explosion February 22, and the Gulflight, torpedoed -May 1.</p> - -<p>In addition to these eighty-two cases of non-combatant -vessels destroyed, there have been innumerable -instances of unsuccessful attacks, of which a notable -example was the double attempt to sink the American -tank steamship Cushing, once by a Zeppelin which -aimed three bombs at the vessel, and once by a submarine -which placed a contact mine directly in the path -of the ship; her bow narrowly missed the mine, and -her stern struck it a glancing blow, but not with sufficient -force to explode it.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef25_3">THE ATTACK ON THE GULFLIGHT</h3> - -<p>It would require many hundreds of pages to recount -the details of all of these crimes against non-combatant -merchant ships, and to show the relentless severity with -which neutral commerce has been attacked, but the -organized military measures even against neutral ships -are well illustrated by the case of the American ship -Gulflight, as described by the second officer, Paul -Bower:</p> - -<p>“When the Gulflight left Port Arthur, Texas, on -April 10, bound for Rouen, France,” said Bower, “we -were followed by a warship of some description, which -kept out of sight, but in touch by wireless and warned -us not to disclose our position to any one.</p> - -<p>“At noon Saturday, May 1, we were twenty-five<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page253">[253]</a></span> -miles west of the Scilly Islands, a small group about -thirty miles southwest of England. The weather was -hazy, but not thick. About two and one-half miles -ahead I saw a submarine.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - -<img src="images/illo285.png" alt="" width="550" height="496" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Where Lusitania Was Torpedoed.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondcenter">Kinsale, on South Coast of Ireland, close to Cork Harbor.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>“Twenty-five minutes later we were struck by a -torpedo on the starboard side, and there was a tremendous -shock. The submarine had not reappeared on -the surface before discharging the torpedo.</p> - -<p>“Previous to this, we had been met by two patrol -boats, which accompanied us on either side. The boat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page254">[254]</a></span> -on our starboard side was so badly shaken by the -explosion that her crew imagined that she also had been -torpedoed. We immediately lowered the boats and -left our ship and were quickly taken on board the patrol -boats. But the fog increased and we drifted about all -night and did not land at Scilly until 10.30 o’clock -Sunday morning.</p> - -<p>“At midnight of Saturday, while still on board the -patrol boat, Captain Gunter summoned me. I found -him in bed and he said he wanted some one to roll a -cigarette for him. He then tossed up his arms and -fainted. From then until the time of his death, which -occurred about 3.30 o’clock Sunday morning, he -remained unconscious.</p> - -<p>“Captain Gunter’s speech was thick and indistinct, -but we could distinguish that he wished some one to -take care of his wife. The crew had always regarded -Captain Gunter as a healthy man and had never -heard him complain.”</p> - -<p>Second Assistant Engineer Crist, of the Gulflight, -said:</p> - -<p>“I was on watch in the engine room when we were -torpedoed, and so terrible was the blow that the Gulflight -seemed to be tumbling to pieces. She appeared -to be lifted high in the air and then to descend rapidly. -I told the boys to beat it as quickly as possible and -shut the engines down.</p> - -<p>“Reaching the deck, I found them launching both -life-boats. We got safely into them, with the exception -of wireless operator Short and a Spanish seaman, -who had dived overboard when they felt the shock, and -were drowned.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page255">[255]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXVI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">HOW “NEUTRAL” WATERS ARE VIOLATED</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef26_1">THE THREE-MILE LIMIT</a> — <a href="#SecRef26_2">BELLIGERENTS’ -RIGHTS</a> — <a href="#SecRef26_3">NOTICE -IN LEAVING NEUTRAL WATERS</a> — <a href="#SecRef26_4">EVASIONS -OF NEUTRALITY.</a></p> - -<p>“A neutral has a perilous part to sustain.” So -says Louis XI to his treacherous minister, Cardinal -Balue, in Scott’s famous novel. The dictum is true -enough even when a strong state is in question. For -Great Britain the question of neutrality is of great -importance in so far as it affects her on the sea. Historically, -of course, neutrality is rather a modern -development. Small and weak states in the earlier -ages of the world had little hope of keeping themselves -free from the havoc of a great world conflict. Great -naval powers, such as the Hanseatic League, Genoa, -and Venice, did, during the Middle Ages, succeed at -times in inspiring respect for their neutrality, but it -was at best precarious, and strong states rarely paid -much respect to neutral waters. Early in the reign -of Charles I the Dutch destroyed a Spanish fleet in -the very Downs; and though Charles was master of a -strong naval power he made no attempt to resent the -insult. In this case, of course, there were special -reasons for England’s apathy, but the incident is significant. -Roughly speaking, it may be laid down as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page256">[256]</a></span> -an axiom that in all the ages of history the neutrality -of a state, on sea as on land, has been respected -only in so far as it has possessed the power to make -it so.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef26_1">THE THREE-MILE LIMIT</h3> - -<p>During the Napoleonic wars, Great Britain was in -constant trouble with the United States owing to the -fashion in which British naval commanders exercised, -and sometimes abused, the right of searching American -ships for contraband of war. The British-American -quarrels had the good effect that attempts were made to -standardize and establish on a firm basis the laws of -neutrality at sea. The naval portion of the Neutrality -Conference of 1907 contains twenty-eight clauses, of -which the first provides that belligerents must respect -neutral waters. Where the coast borders the open sea -the neutral zone extends to three miles from the shore. -As this is well within the range of even small naval -guns it is clear that an opportunity is afforded to an -unscrupulous captain of sinking vessels which have -crossed the neutral line. In the case of a power controlling -the entrance to inland seas the provision becomes -of enormous importance.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef26_2">BELLIGERENTS’ RIGHTS</h3> - -<p>Within neutral waters belligerents may not take -prizes, hold prize courts, nor establish warlike bases, -nor may they obtain supplies therein. At the same -time neutrality is not held to be compromised by the -simple passage through neutral waters of belligerent -ships and prizes. Belligerent vessels may also obtain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page257">[257]</a></span> -the help of pilots. The neutral state must use all its -endeavor to be impartial and must expel or warn off -vessels guilty of breaches of neutrality.</p> - -<p>Except in special cases a belligerent warship may -make a stay of only twenty-four hours in neutral -waters. The special cases would usually be those of -vessels disabled or otherwise in distress or storm-bound. -When damaged a warship may remain long enough in a -neutral port to effect necessary repairs, but it must -not take on board extra armament, ammunition, or -reinforcements of men. If out of coal it must only -take on board sufficient to carry it to its nearest home -port. Nor is it supposed to fill up with food stores -beyond its ordinary supply in time of peace. In -all these cases the neutral authorities are the judges. -It must be obvious that a weak neutral state will be -in a terrible quandary if the vessel be a powerful -one and the country to which it belongs a powerful one.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef26_3">NOTICE IN LEAVING NEUTRAL WATERS</h3> - -<p>The belligerent ship must give twenty-four hours’ -notice before leaving, and must not visit the same port -again until three months have elapsed. Should it -break the neutrality laws the neutral state authorities -may incapacitate it for immediate service and detain it, -leaving on board just as many of the crew as are necessary -to keep it clean and in order. The steps taken -would generally be to remove the vitally necessary -engine and gun fittings. Should two hostile ships -enter a neutral port they must, while there, observe -its neutrality, and must leave at an interval of twenty-four -hours.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page258">[258]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef26_4">EVASIONS OF NEUTRALITY</h3> - -<p>It must be obvious from all this that the inviolability -of neutrality will always depend very much upon the -ability of the state concerned to keep it so.</p> - -<p>It is not difficult, either, to imagine various methods -by which the neutrality, which is supposed to govern -within the three-mile limit, may be evaded. It is only -necessary to cite the case of a war vessel unable to overtake -a fast merchant-man until the latter reaches -neutral waters, but successful in sinking it by long-range -gun-fire from a point outside the three-mile -limit.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page259">[259]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXVII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE TERRIBLE DISTRESS OF POLAND</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef27_1">A LONG-TORTURED NATION AGAIN BLIGHTED BY -WAR</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_2">DESOLATION AND FAMINE THROUGHOUT -LAND</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_3">RICH AND POOR ALIKE DESTITUTE</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_4">PLIGHT -OF RUSSIAN POLAND</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_5">NO BREAD FOR WEEKS IN -LODZ</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_6">THREE TIMES A BATTLE-FIELD</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_7">UNABLE TO -HELP HERSELF</a> — <a href="#SecRef27_8">NO SEED AND NO DRAFT ANIMALS.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef27_1">“If you imagined all the people of New York State -deprived of everything they owned, left a prey to -starvation and disease, and hopelessly crushed under -the iron heels of contending armies, you might form a -slight idea of what the Poles are enduring at present,” -declared the great pianist, Paderewski, while visiting -America in 1915 in the interests of the afflicted nation. -“One of the worst phases of the situation lies in the -inability of the inhabitants of one-half of the country -to communicate with those in the other. Compared -with their lot, even that of the Belgians loses some of -its horror, for my unhappy countrymen have no France, -Holland, or England in which they can seek refuge.”</p> - -<p>Girt by a ring of war, Poland in the winter and spring -of 1915 was in the most terrible straits. Her cities -and villages had been captured and recaptured by -both Germans and Russians, her fields had been laid -waste, and her inhabitants were slowly dying of -starvation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_2">DESOLATION AND FAMINE THROUGHOUT LAND</h3> - -<p>“If figures can give any idea of the immensity of -this disaster,” pleaded the great musician, “then these -may convey a slight impression of what has gone on -in Poland: An area equal in size to the states of -Pennsylvania and New York has been laid waste. -The mere money losses, due to the destruction of -property and the means of agriculture and industry, -are $2,500,000,000. A whole nation of 18,000,000 -people, including 2,000,000 Jews, are carrying the -burden of the war in the east on their backs, and their -backs are breaking under the load. The great majority -of the whole Polish people, about 11,000,000 men, -women and children, peasants and workmen, have -been driven into the open, their homes taken from -them or burned, and they flee, terror-stricken, hungry -and in confusion, whither they know not. In ruins, -in woods or in hollows they are hiding, feeding on roots -and the bark of trees. It is Christian humanity that -calls for help for succumbing Poland.”</p> - -<p>“From the banks of the Niemen to the summits of -the Carpathians,” wrote the novelist, Henryk Sienkiewicz, -in his plea to the American people, “fire has -destroyed the towns and villages, and over the whole -of this huge, desolated country the specter of famine -has spread its wings; all labor and industry have been -swept away; the ploughshare is rusted; the peasant -has neither grain nor cattle; the artisan is idle; all -works and factories have been destroyed; the tradesman -cannot sell his wares; the hearth fire is extinguished, -and disease and misery prevail. To such starving -people, crying out for aid, listen, Christian nations.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page261">[261]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_3">RICH AND POOR ALIKE DESTITUTE</h3> - -<p>The Polish Relief Committee, headed by Madame -Sembrich, published this word from the great tenor, -Jean de Reszké, whose home is in Paris:</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo293.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="355" /> -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">The Harvest-moon in Europe.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>“My poor brother was unable to get away from the -war zone in time. He wrote this letter several weeks -ago, and now I fear he may never survive the terrible -hardships. He -had plenty of -money and a -splendid estate, -but all were swept -away.”</p> - -<p>The letter referred -to shows -that there is no -leveler like war. -It runs:</p> - -<p>“My dear brother, -whether this -will ever get -through the lines -and reach you I do not know. I am sure no man -could get through alive, with all this fighting and -the continual bombardment going on on every hand.</p> - -<p>“The war broke with such suddenness that it was -impossible to escape. I was forced to remain here on -my estate in Garnesk. This part of Poland has been -reduced to worse than a desert. All is desolate and -every one is suffering. My beautiful estate has met -the common fate and been reduced to ashes. I am -now living in a cellar with scanty covering. If a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page262">[262]</a></span> -shell should drop in it would afford no protection. So -fierce has been the fighting here that there have been -days when I could not venture forth. We have been -between two fires. All Poland needs relief.</p> - -<p>“I have no coal, oil, coffee, and only a handful of -grain left. Through the cold and the rain I have had -but poor shelter, but my lot is the same as that of my -fellow countrymen here. Every one is in want; every -one is suffering. Many are dead, and many more will -die unless aid reaches them soon. Prince Lukouirski -and his wife recently reached here and are sharing my -cellar with me. Their own beautiful estate has been -destroyed, and even the cellar blown to atoms by the -shells.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_4">PLIGHT OF RUSSIAN POLAND</h3> - -<p>Mr. Herbert Corey, writing from Berlin to the New -York Globe, in the spring of 1915, declared that unless -something was done the world would be horrified—if -the world had not lost its capacity for horror—by the -sufferings of the Poles. “Soon cholera will come to -Poland. Famine is there now. Scarlet fever and -typhoid and smallpox and enteric and typhus are old -settlers.” The million now in utter want only live -at all because “humanity has a wonderful capacity -for adjustment to wretchedness.</p> - -<p>“There are 6,000,000 Poles in the portion of Russian -Poland that is being fought over. Of these, according -to the Red Cross men, 1,000,000 are absolutely destitute. -They are without food or the means to buy -food. They are living on the charity of others who -are but slightly better off. That charity must come<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page263">[263]</a></span> -to an end soon—because food is coming to an end. It -is not merely that money is lacking. Flour is lacking. -It must be imported or starvation follows.</p> - -<p>“Russian Poland is a conspicuous example of Russian -rule. No measure of self-government is permitted the -people. All governing officials are appointed from -Petrograd. Lodz, for example, a city which contains -from 500,000 to 750,000 people—all statistics in Poland -are mere guesses—is ruled by a mayor and four assistants, -all sent out from Russia. No city may expend -more than $150, American money, for its own purposes, -except permission is secured from Petrograd. That -permission is rarely given. Petrograd needs the taxes -that Lodz pays. When permission is given it is long -delayed. Therefore, Lodz, a town as large as St. Louis, -has unpaved streets that are ankle-deep in mud in -winter and ankle-deep in dust in summer. It has a -privately owned and paid fire department that responds -only to calls from its own clients. Ninety per cent of its -residents live in sties on streets that are mere stenches.</p> - -<p>“And yet Lodz is the second cotton-manufacturing -town in Europe. It is excelled only by Manchester -in its manufacturing totals. Isolated on the bleak -plains of Poland, at a distance from a seaport, served -by two railroads only, it is an anomaly in the commercial -world.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_5">NO BREAD FOR WEEKS IN LODZ</h3> - -<p>“For two weeks Lodz had no bread at all. For -months it has had no meat at all—so far as the poorer -classes are concerned. During those two weeks the -mass of the population lived on potatoes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page264">[264]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Conditions were slightly worse in Czenstochow, the -second city in Russian Poland. Here 90,000 people -live. It has no street-lights. It has no attempt -at street-paving. It has no sewers. It has no city -water. It has no publicly maintained fire department, -though a few of the merchants have a department of -their own. It is pre-middle-ages in everything—morals, -discomfort, filth, darkness, disease, death-rate. -Cholera is there all the time. Most of its people exist -in reeking hovels, smoke-filled when they can afford -fires, wet and cold at other times.</p> - -<p>“As the towns grow smaller, conditions grow worse.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_6">THREE TIMES A BATTLE-FIELD</h3> - -<p>If the war had not come, these people would have -prospered after a fashion. Potatoes were plentiful, -and they had few other wants. A woman earned -thirty cents a day in the mills and a man three cents -more. Children worked as soon as they were old -enough. Sixty-five per cent are wholly illiterate. -Then—</p> - -<p>“Russia struck at Germany. The German armies -invaded Poland in retaliation. They swept almost to -Warsaw—and an invading army sweeps fairly clean. -There were some things left when they passed over. -They were driven back, and the Russian armies covered -this territory—and they gleaned what was left. Then -the Russians were driven back—sacking as they went—and -the Germans covered the ground once more. Three -times unhappy Poland has been fought over. It had -little at the beginning. It has nothing now. For -months Poland has been starving, not merely going<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page265">[265]</a></span> -hungry. That is a commonplace of war. Poles have -been dying because they cannot get food.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_7">UNABLE TO HELP HERSELF</h3> - -<p>“Poland is quite unable to help herself. Most of -the mills—probably all of the mills—are owned by -Russian and German and French capitalists. The -banks are all branches of foreign institutions. These -concerns are all conducted by resident managers. -Some of the managers have—on their own responsibility—given -their work people two and a half and three -cents a day each for food. Some have added a trifle -for the children also. But this has practically come to -an end. The managers have exhausted their supply -of cash. They cannot get more. There are no mails. -The towns of Poland are each printing their own paper -money—not by consent of the Russian bureaucrats, but -in defiance of them—but this money circulates only -within the town’s borders. It is highly improbable -it will ever be redeemed in real money. Meanwhile -the price of food commodities has risen fifty per cent -in two months. By the time this reaches America -the prices may have doubled.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef27_8">NO SEED AND NO DRAFT ANIMALS</h3> - -<p>“Conditions are slightly better in the agricultural -sections. The farmers have no seed and no draft -animals, it is true. But they have fairly good supplies -of potatoes. Last year’s potato-crop was an enormous -one.</p> - -<p>“There is a Jewish question in every city of Poland. -Where there is a Jewish question in Russia there are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page266">[266]</a></span> -riots. There will be more rioting in Poland unless -Providence intervenes. Russia has always confined -her Jews to the pale. Being forced to make their -living by trading, their naturally sharp wits have been -whetted. Today they are—broadly speaking—owners -of every shop in Poland. There may be Christian -shopkeepers here and there. People who know Poland -doubt it.</p> - -<p>“Beggars follow the stranger in the Polish cities. -Some of them are mute. They only look at the stranger -through hollow eyes and hold out skinny hands. Others -are vociferous. They cling to the garments of the -passer-by. They cry for aid in an uncouth dialect. -They run out from darkened doorways. The man who -gives is pursued by a cue of them.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page267">[267]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXVIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE GHASTLY HAVOC WROUGHT BY -THE AIR-DEMONS</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef28_1">THE HORROR OF BOMB-DROPPING—ANTI-AIRCRAFT -GUNS</a> — <a href="#SecRef28_2">KINDS OF BOMBS</a> — <a href="#SecRef28_3">STEEL -DARTS</a> — <a href="#SecRef28_4">“ARROW -BULLETS” AND AERIAL TORPEDOES</a> — <a href="#SecRef28_5">MACHINE GUNS -IN AIRCRAFT</a> — <a href="#SecRef28_6">ACCURACY IN DROPPING BOMBS.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef28_1">Ten years ago the dropping of bombs from balloons -was still considered an illegitimate form of warfare, -involving danger to non-combatants, and was -under the ban of the Geneva Convention. At the -Hague Peace Conference the Germans refused to -abstain from bomb-dropping, and other nations followed -suit. According to the German conception -of war, civilians in the theater of operations must -take their chance of being killed, but must not shoot -back under pain of summary execution. The horrors -which this theory has added to war have proved only -too real, but, so far as bomb-dropping is concerned, -the reality has so far fallen short of anticipations. -The great Zeppelins, capable of carrying a ton of -explosives, have practically been frightened out of -the air by the new anti-aircraft guns; and, except -for one instance at Antwerp, bomb-dropping has been -confined to aeroplanes. Now, in the first place, an -aeroplane can carry only a limited weight of bombs—say, two hundred pounds; and in the second place, it -is extraordinarily difficult to hit anything with them. -If the airman could hover over his target and take -deliberate aim, he might be more dangerous; as it -is, the German airman finds a cathedral hardly a big -enough mark. The British airmen, at Düsseldorf -and Lake Constance, adopted a different plan from -the Germans; instead of dropping bombs from a -great height, they made a steep “vol piqué” down -on to the target, turned sharply up again, and dropped -the bomb at the moment when the plane was checked -by the elevator. This plan is more dangerous, but -affords a better chance of hitting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo300a.png" alt="" width="287" height="450" id="Fig1" /> - -<img src="images/illo300b.png" alt="" width="370" height="450" id="Fig2" /> - -<img src="images/illo300c.png" alt="" width="354" height="450" id="Fig3" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Types of Air-Craft Weapons.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust"><a href="#Fig1">Fig. 1</a>.—An aeroplane bomb containing 12 -lbs. of tetranitranilin, with a screw stem up which the vanes travel in -flight and thus “arm” the fuse. <a href="#Fig2">Fig. 2</a>.—Steel dart -and boxes of darts used by Taube aeroplanes over Paris, showing -how they are inverted and released. <a href="#Fig3">Fig. 3</a>.—A French “arrow -bullet”; very light, but able to kill a man from a -height of 1,800 feet. <a href="#Fig3">Fig. 4</a>.—A French aerial torpedo -used by aeroplanes against Zeppelins, exploding when it has -pierced an air-ship’s envelope and is suddenly arrested by the wooden cross.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page269">[269]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef28_2">KINDS OF BOMBS</h3> - -<p>Various kinds of bombs are used for dropping from -aeroplanes. A simple pattern shown in <a href="#Fig1">Fig. 1</a> -consists of a thin spherical shell of steel, containing -twelve pounds of tetranitranilin, which is an explosive -more powerful than melinite. The stem of the bomb, -by which it is handled, has an external screw-thread, -and carries a pair of vanes. While in the position -shown, the bomb is harmless, but as it drops, the vanes -screw themselves up to the top of the stem till they -press against the stop. This, by means of a rod -passing down the center of the stem, “arms” or -prepares the fuse seen at the bottom of the bomb, -so that it acts at the slightest touch, even on the -wing of another aeroplane. The fuse effects the -explosion of the burster by means of a primer of azide -of lead, which causes the tetranitranilin to detonate -with great violence. The whole bomb weighs twenty-two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page270">[270]</a></span> -pounds, and an aeroplane usually carries six -of them.</p> - -<p>The Italians, in their campaign in Tripoli, used -similar bombs, but without the special device for -rendering the fuse sensitive. These were not a success, -as many of them failed to explode in the desert -sand, and the Arabs used to collect them and throw -them into the Italian trenches at night.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef28_3">STEEL DARTS</h3> - -<p>The Taube aeroplanes, when they flew over Paris, -used sometimes to drop steel darts pointed at one -end and flattened and feathered at the other, as shown -in <a href="#Fig2">Fig. 2</a>. These were put up in boxes of a hundred, -so that when the box was released from its hook, it -turned over and released the darts.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef28_4">“ARROW BULLETS” AND AERIAL TORPEDOES</h3> - -<p>The “arrow bullet” shown in <a href="#Fig3">Fig. 3</a> is a French -device; though weighing only three-quarters of an -ounce, its peculiar shape enables it to acquire a high -velocity, so that it will kill a man when dropped from -a height of six hundred yards. An aerial torpedo -carried by French aeroplanes for the destruction of -Zeppelins is shown in <a href="#Fig3">Fig. 4</a>; it contains a powerful -charge of explosive and a fuse, to which the suspending-wire -is connected. When dropped on a Zeppelin, -the needle-pointed torpedo pierces the envelope and -gas-chamber, but the wooden cross is arrested and -the sudden jerk on the suspending-wire sets the fuse -in action, causing the certain destruction of the airship. -The torpedo would be too dangerous to handle,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page271">[271]</a></span> -but the French have an ingenious device which renders -it perfectly safe until it is dropped.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef28_5">MACHINE GUNS IN AIRCRAFT</h3> - -<p>Various attempts have been made to mount machine -guns on aeroplanes, but the operator, in his -narrow seat, has hardly space to point a machine -gun in any direction except straight to his front. -The American Curtis machine gun exhibited at Olympia -is the most efficient form yet produced, but at -present the airman seems to prefer an automatic -rifle. Even in the early days of the war, Sir John -French was able to report that British airmen had -disposed of no less than five of the enemy’s aircraft -with this weapon.</p> - -<p>The Zeppelins are well armed with machine guns, -carrying one in each of the two cars, and one on top -of the structure. Access is had to the latter by means -of a shaft and ladder which passes up through the -gas-chambers.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef28_6">ACCURACY IN DROPPING BOMBS</h3> - -<p>The Zeppelins have elaborate bomb-dropping apparatus -with which it should be theoretically possible -to drop a bomb with great accuracy, but on the occasion -when it was tried at Antwerp, the Germans met -with no great success. The principle of the bomb-dropping -device is as follows: A sort of camera, -pointed vertically downwards, is used, and an observer -notes the speed with which an object on the -ground passes across the field, and the direction in -which it appears to move. He then reads the height<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page272">[272]</a></span> -of the airship from the barometer, which gives the -time taken by the bomb to fall, say fifteen seconds for -3,500 feet. He has now to calculate, from the data -given by the camera-observation, the allowance to -be made for speed and leeway for fifteen seconds of -fall, and to point his sighting-tube accordingly. The -air-ship is steered to windward of the target, and at -the moment when the target (say, the second funnel -of a dreadnaught) appears on the cross wires, the -nine hundred-pound bomb is dropped, and the ship -goes to the bottom.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo304.png" alt="" width="600" height="461" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Scene of Air Raid on England.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Leigh, shown on the map, is only twenty-five miles from the British -capital, and South End just five miles further on. The fleet of Zeppelins, -or aeroplanes, or both, it will be seen, got uncomfortably close to the British -metropolis.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXIX</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE DEADLY SUBMARINE AND ITS -STEALTHY DESTRUCTION</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef29_1">NEW COMPLICATIONS IN NAVAL ATTACK</a> — <a href="#SecRef29_2">ATTACK -ON LINER DESCRIBED</a> — <a href="#SecRef29_3">OPERATION OF TORPEDOES</a> — <a href="#SecRef29_4">NETS -TO TRAP SUBMARINES</a> — <a href="#SecRef29_5">HOW CRAFT SUBMERGE.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef29_1">What is the value of the submarine in war? Is it -so great that all our theories of naval attack and -defense will have to be revised? Are the great battles -of the future to be fought under water? Is a little -vessel of a few hundred tons to make the dreadnaught -useless? German naval tactics in the present war -have made these questions interesting alike to the -expert, who has his answers to them, and to the layman, -who is profoundly ignorant on the whole subject.</p> - -<p>Simon Lake, an inventor who has done much to -bring the submarine to its present degree of efficiency, -says that “it is the first weapon which has a potential -power to destroy an invading force, and also to prevent -an invading force from leaving its own harbors or -roadsteads, but which is itself useless for invading -purposes.” This is at once an exaltation and a limitation -of its effectiveness. Yet Captain Lake believes -that it will be “the most potent influence that has -been conceived to bring about a permanent peace -between maritime nations.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page274">[274]</a></span></p> - -<p>Heavy armament would have availed the Lusitania -nothing, even if the vessel had been so equipped, -declared Captain Lake. Even if the Cunarder had -been bristling with guns from bow to stern, she could -have done no damage to the under-water craft that -attacked her. She was doomed when the submarine -approached her.</p> - -<p>The submarine with its periscope three feet under -water could not have been seen fifty feet distant from -the liner’s side, and the chances were she was 1,000 -yards distant. No shot from the vessel could have -located her, though aimed by trained officers.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef29_2">ATTACK ON LINER DESCRIBED</h3> - -<p>The scenes on both the vessel and the little submarine -may be pictured from a theoretical description -given by Captain Lake as follows: “The great ship, -knowing the lurking danger, is traveling at her best -speed limit, changing the course from time to time -in a zigzag manner. Waiting beneath the surface -of the calm sea a big submarine, now said to be capable -of discharging a torpedo at a distance of five miles, -rolls idly in the underground swell. Her crew is -sleeping or talking in the semi-fetid atmosphere that -the compressed air tanks relieve from time to time. -An officer sits with his eye glued to a periscope, which -constantly revolves that he may discern the rising -smoke of an approaching vessel.</p> - -<p>“On the deck of the Lusitania passengers are lolling -in steamer chairs or leaning over the rails. They -covertly fear attack, yet the horizon shows no sign -of the impending calamity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page275">[275]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Suddenly the submarine commander focuses his -periscope upon a faint and hazy line on the horizon. -Closely he watches it move. An electric signal is -given and the submarine crew is in place. Another -and the boat swings silently and slowly on its course -diagonal to that of the approaching vessel. The -electric engines turn without noise.</p> - -<p>“The vessels near each other. An order is transmitted -from the conning tower to the forward compartment -of the submarine. The outside ports of -two bow torpedo tubes are closed; compressed air -drives out all water. Two inside ports are carefully -opened and two one-ton torpedoes are lifted by means -of chain tackle and swung carefully into the tubes. -The inside ports are closed and the outside ports again -opened. The air chamber between the torpedo and -the breaches is filled with air compressed to nearly -1,200 pounds to the square inch—nearly the force -of exploding dynamite.</p> - -<p>“Both vessels are closing together at right angles. -On the bigger one all is gayety and hope of early and -safe arrival at port. On the submarine all are alert. -The bow is carefully trained toward a direct line over -which the ship must travel. The speed and distance -are carefully gauged by trained officers.</p> - -<p>“The submarine sinks beneath the surface and men -are stationed at the firing levers on each of the forward -tubes. An officer stands with a watch in his -hand, counting the seconds. A little bell tinkles -over the lever man on the port or starboard side of -the submarine. He pulls the lever which releases -the trigger, and with a rush the enormous torpedo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page276">[276]</a></span> -forces itself in a direct line toward the vessel. Another -second elapses and the bell rings again. Similar -action is observed on the submarine, which a moment -later rises with its periscope above the slight ripple -of the water.</p> - -<p>“There is a deadening crash, as the shock is transmitted -through the water and the resounding shell -of the air-filled submarine. The officer at the submarine -periscope, or conning tower, is the only living -person on the submarine that sees a great vessel rise -out of the water and slowly settle back. He knows -that the shots have taken effect and he can offer no -aid to the thousands who a moment later will be -attempting to save their lives. He turns his bow -homeward, or cruises for other victims of his mechanical -ingenuity, as his sealed sailing orders may direct.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef29_3">OPERATION OF TORPEDOES</h3> - -<p>“The course of the torpedo from the time it is -released in the tube by the lever trip is interesting,” -said Captain Lake. “These torpedoes are made at -a cost of $5,000 each, much of which is spent in testing. -With their high charge of explosive placed well -forward and a little plunger on the nose, connecting -with a percussion cap, their interior presents the same -view as that of a large steamship. The officer is a -little gyroscope, impelled by compressed air. This in -turn may be set from the outside to travel straight -forward or on a curve, and by a timing device to change -its course after a certain distance. Usually it is set -to travel straight beneath the water at a depth of -about fifteen feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page277">[277]</a></span></p> - -<p>“To insure accuracy the torpedo without explosive -charge must be fired many times from a fixed torpedo -tube. It is finally inspected and passed. As it leaves -the torpedo tube on its last journey the trip releases -the compressed air which turns its turbine engine. -That in turn revolves the propeller. The rudder, -speed and depth of passage are actuated by the gyroscope.</p> - -<p>“A torpedo has been fired accurately at a distance -of five miles. The distance for accuracy is between -fifty yards and one thousand. Owing to the concussion -on the ear-drums of those in a submarine the greatest -distance compatible with accuracy is sought. As the -plunger on the torpedo strikes the vessel it explodes -the charge almost directly against the side of the -vessel.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef29_4">NETS TO TRAP SUBMARINES</h3> - -<p>The British naval authorities took measures to -guard British shipping in the English Channel by -stretching nets over as much of the water, particularly -in the narrows, as possible. The nets are made of -links of steel. These links are about six or eight -inches in diameter and made of one-half inch steel. -The nets are similar to those formerly used to guard -battleships and large cruisers, but which have now -been discarded because a torpedo will puncture the -net and the second torpedo, which is fired only a -second or two after the first, will go through the hole -made by the first and reach the hull of the vessel.</p> - -<p>These chain nets are moored very securely and have -buoys at the upper edges to hold them in position.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page278">[278]</a></span> -Often they are set just as a fisherman sets his nets. -When the submarine, like a fish, gets in the pound it -cannot get out, and those in the vessel must either die -there or take chances on reaching the surface and -swimming to shore.</p> - -<p>It takes very little to disable a submarine. The -hull is of comparatively thin steel which is easily -punctured and the propeller when caught is absolutely -useless. Even an ordinary fisherman’s net will disable -a submarine, and should one get foul of such a net -the chances of getting clear are very slim.</p> - -<p>According to the German naval press, the latest -submarines are fitted with double acting Diesel oil -engines of 1,000 horse power or more. These engines -are as simple and run as smoothly as marine steam -engines and are as easily controlled. So strongly built -are these craft that they can plunge to a depth of 150 -feet, at which the water pressure is enormous.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef29_5">HOW CRAFT SUBMERGE</h3> - -<p>A security weight, as it is called, of about five tons -is carried. This can be released from the inside of the -vessel at a moment’s notice, and the effect is like that -of dropping a mass of ballast from an airship. When -in diving trim, that is to say, when the boat is awash, -an up-to-date submarine can disappear under water in -fifteen seconds and re-emerge in twenty seconds. It -can remain under water for a whole day and night, -or even longer.</p> - -<p>A submarine when submerged is handled mechanically. -Those in charge cannot see where the vessel -is going. The officer in charge steers according to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page279">[279]</a></span> -the ranges he has taken when on the surface, and it -is absolutely impossible to see obstructions that may -be ahead. It is impossible to see another submarine -unless the two are floating near the surface and in -bright daylight. For this reason it is impossible for -one submarine to fight another when submerged.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page280">[280]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXX</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE TERRIBLE WORK OF ARTILLERY IN -WAR</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef30_1">SEVENTY PER CENT OF CASUALTIES DUE TO -ARTILLERY FIRE</a> — <a href="#SecRef30_2">INCREASED RANGE</a> — <a href="#SecRef30_3">MODERN -GUNS</a> — <a href="#SecRef30_4">RAPID FIRING</a> — <a href="#SecRef30_5">HOW -A BIG GUN IS AIMED</a> — <a href="#SecRef30_6">AWFUL DESTRUCTIVENESS -OF MODERN GUNS.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef30_1">A full century ago, Napoleon the Great, himself an -artillery officer, had developed the fighting power of -artillery of his day so as to make its fire a dominant -factor on the battle-field. In the present war its action -is even more important, since we learn from the front -that seventy per cent of the casualties are due to -artillery fire. It was the gun that took Liège and -Antwerp, and it is the gun which held the contending -armies pent up within a semicircle of fire. -Once massed formations were abandoned, the gun -lost its terrors to a great extent, and did not regain -its place in military estimation till the introduction -of the shrapnel shell.</p> - -<p>This is a hollow steel projectile, packed with bullets, -and containing a charge of powder in the base. (See <a href="#Fig5">Fig. -1</a>.) It is exploded by a time-fuse, containing a ring -of slowly burning composition which can be set so as -to fire the powder during the flight of the shell, when -it has traveled to within fifty yards of the enemy. -The head is blown off, and the bullets are projected<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page281">[281]</a></span> -forward in a sheaf, spreading outwards as they go. -The British eighteen-pounder shell covers a space of -ground some three hundred yards long by thirty-five -yards wide with its 365 heavy bullets.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600" id="Fig5"> - -<img src="images/illo313.png" alt="" width="600" height="399" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Types of Shells</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">Fig. 1.—Shrapnel shell, packed with bullets that spread. Fig. 2.—A French -quick-firer shell, like an enlarged rifle cartridge. Fig. 3.—The “Universal” -shell, combining the action of shrapnel and high explosives. Fig. 4.—A fuse-setting -machine.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<h3 id="SecRef30_2">INCREASED RANGE</h3> - -<p>In 1885 the British brought out the twelve-pounder -high-velocity field-gun, which remained for some years -the best gun in Europe. Its power was afterwards -increased by giving it a fifteen-pounder shell, and, as -a fifteen-pounder, it did good work in South Africa. -Then came another development, the quick-firing gun<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page282">[282]</a></span> -now being used in the war, with a steel shield to protect -the detachment. The quick-firing gun is badly named; -its high rate of fire is only incidental, and is rarely of -use in the combat. The essential feature of the “Q.F.” -gun, as it is generally styled, is that the carriage -does not move on firing, so that the gunners can -remain safely crouched behind the shield.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef30_3">MODERN GUNS</h3> - -<p>The French gun as it was originally brought out has -now been improved by the addition of a steel plate -which closes the gap between the shields; and a steel -shield is also provided to protect the officer standing on -the upturned ammunition-wagon.</p> - -<p>The carriage does not move, and the men remain in -their positions behind the shield while the gun recoils -between them. The carriage is prevented from sharing -the movement of recoil by the spade at the end of the -trail, which digs into the ground so as to “anchor” it.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef30_4">RAPID FIRING</h3> - -<p>The gun-recoil carriage, as the new invention was -called, increases the rate of fire, since there is no delay -in running up. The French were quick to develop -this new feature, and set to work to make the rate of -fire as high as possible. Up till then the ammunition -fired from a field-gun had consisted of a shell, a bag of -powder, and a friction-tube introduced through the -vent to fire the charge. This was called a round of -ammunition, and its complexity was increased by the -fuse, which was carried separately and screwed into the -shell when the round was prepared for loading, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page283">[283]</a></span> -afterwards set with a key to burst the shell at the -required distance. The French combined the whole -of these separate parts into one, so that a round of -“fixed” ammunition, as now used, looks exactly like -an enlarged rifle cartridge. (See <a href="#Fig5">Fig. 2</a>.)</p> - -<p>Further, they did away with the cumbrous process -of setting the fuse by hand, and introduced a machine -which sets fuses as fast as the shell can be put into it. -One of these machines is shown in <a href="#Fig5">Fig. 4</a>. It is of a -later pattern than that of the French service gun, being -the one used by the Servians with their new gun made -by the famous firm of Schneider of Creusot. The -machine is set to the range ordered by the battery -commander, the shell is dropped into it, and a turn -of the handle sets the fuse.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef30_5">HOW A BIG GUN IS AIMED</h3> - -<p>The independent line of sight is another modern -device for facilitating the service of a gun. With this -the gear for giving the gun the elevation necessary to -carry a shell to the required distance is kept entirely -separate from that used for pointing the gun at the -target. The gun-layer has merely to keep his sighting -telescope on the target, while another man puts on the -range-elevation ordered by the battery commander.</p> - -<p>The result of all these improvements is that the best -quick-firing guns (among which the French gun is still -reckoned) are capable of firing twenty-five rounds a -minute. The German field-gun is hardly capable of -twenty rounds a minute, being an inferior weapon -converted from the old breech-loader.</p> - -<p>But these high rates of fire are used only on emergency,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page284">[284]</a></span> -as a gun firing twenty-five rounds a minute -would exhaust the whole of the ammunition carried -with it in the battery in three minutes.</p> - -<p>One of the first consequences of the introduction of -the shielded gun was the reappearance of the old common -shell in an improved form. The common shell is -almost as old as Agincourt, and consisted simply of a -hollow shell filled with powder, which exploded on -striking the object. When shrapnel came into use most -nations abandoned the common shell. But shrapnel -proved almost ineffective against the shielded gun, and -the gunners were indifferent to the bullets pattering on -the steel shield in front of them. The answer to this -was the high-explosive shell, a steel case filled with -high explosive, such as melinite, which is the same as -lyddite, shimose, or picric acid. This, when detonated -upon striking a gun, can be relied upon to disable it and -to kill the gunners behind it.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef30_6">AWFUL DESTRUCTIVENESS OF MODERN GUNS</h3> - -<p>Of late years a shell which combines the action of -the shrapnel and the high-explosive shell has been -introduced. This is the “Universal” shell (see <a href="#Fig5">Fig. 3</a>) -invented by Major van Essen, of the Dutch Artillery. -It is a shrapnel with a detachable head filled with high -explosive. When burst during flight it acts like an -ordinary shrapnel, and the bullets fly forward and -sweep the ground in front of it; at the same time the -head, with its explosive burster, flies forward and acts -as a small but efficient high-explosive shell. These -projectiles have been introduced for howitzers and for -anti-aircraft guns, and some of the nations with new<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page285">[285]</a></span> -equipments, such as the Balkan States, have them for -their field-guns. Their introduction has, however, -been delayed in Western Europe, as they are less -efficient as such than the ordinary shrapnel, which is -considered the principal field artillery projectile.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page286">[286]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER BY POISONOUS -GASES</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef31_1">CANADIAN VICTIMS</a> — <a href="#SecRef31_2">TRENCH -GAS AT YPRES</a> — <a href="#SecRef31_3">AWFUL -FORM OF SCIENTIFIC TORTURE</a> — <a href="#SecRef31_4">REPORT OF -MEDICAL EXPERT</a> — <a href="#SecRef31_5">KIND OF GAS EMPLOYED</a> — <a href="#SecRef31_6">ALLIES -FORCED TO USE SIMILAR METHODS.</a></p> - -<p>Killing by noxious gases may be, as the Germans -claim, no more barbarous than slaughter by shrapnel, -but it has been denounced in America as a violation -of all written and unwritten codes and as a backward -step toward savagery. Certainly the descriptions of -responsible persons who have witnessed the pernicious -work of the gas only deepens the horror with which -all peace-loving citizens look upon “civilized” warfare.</p> - -<p>The following description of the effect is told by a -responsible British officer who visited some Canadians -who were disabled by gas:</p> - -<p>“The whole of England and the civilized world -ought to have the truth fully brought before them -in vivid detail, and not wrapped up as at present. -When we got to the hospital we had no difficulty in -finding out in which ward the men were, as the noise -of the poor devils trying to get breath was sufficient -to direct us.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page287">[287]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_1">CANADIAN VICTIMS</h3> - -<p>“There were about twenty of the worst cases in the -ward, on mattresses, all more or less in a sitting position, -strapped up against the walls. Their faces, arms, and -hands were of a shiny, gray-black color. With their -mouths open and leaden-glazed eyes, all were swaying -slightly backward and forward trying to get breath. -It was a most appalling sight. All these poor black -faces struggling for life, the groaning and the noise of -the efforts for breath was awful.</p> - -<p>“There was practically nothing to be done for them -except to give them salt and water and try to make -them sick. The effect the gas has is to fill the lungs -with a watery frothy matter, which gradually increases -and rises until it fills up the whole lungs and comes to -the mouth—then they die. It is suffocation, slow -drowning, taking in most cases one or two days. Eight -died last night out of twenty I saw, and the most of the -others I saw will die, while those who get over the gas -invariably develop acute pneumonia.</p> - -<p>“It is without doubt the most awful form of scientific -torture. Not one of the men I saw in the hospital -had a scratch or wound. The Germans have given out -that it is a rapid, painless death—the liars. No torture -could be worse than to give them a dose of their own -gas.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_2">“TRENCH GAS” AT YPRES</h3> - -<p>Asphyxiating gases seem to have been first used by -the Germans in the fighting around Ypres in April, -1915. The strong northeast wind, which was blowing -from the German lines across the French trenches,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page288">[288]</a></span> -became charged with a sickening, suffocating odor -which was recognized as proceeding from some form -of poisonous gas. The smoke moved like a vivid green -wall some four feet in height for several hundred yards, -extending to within two hundred yards of the extreme -left of the Allies’ lines. Gradually it rose higher and -obscured the view from the level.</p> - -<p>Soon strange cries were heard, and through the -green mist, now growing thinner and patchy, there -came a mass of dazed, reeling men who fell as they -passed through the ranks. The greater number were -unwounded, but they bore upon their faces the marks -of agony.</p> - -<p>The retiring men were among the first soldiers of -the world whose sang-froid and courage have been -proverbial throughout the war. All were reeling -like drunken men.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_3">AWFUL FORM OF SCIENTIFIC TORTURE</h3> - -<p>“The work of sending out the vapor was done from -the advanced German trenches. Men garbed in a -dress resembling the harness of a diver and armed with -retorts or generators about three feet high and connected -with ordinary hose-pipe turned the vapor loose -toward the French lines. Some witnesses maintain -that the Germans sprayed the earth before the -trenches with a fluid which, being ignited, sent up -the fumes. The German troops, who followed up this -advantage with a direct attack, held inspirators in -their mouths, these preventing them from being overcome -by the fumes.</p> - -<p>In addition to this, the Germans appear to have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page289">[289]</a></span> -fired ordinary explosive shells loaded with some chemical -which had a paralyzing effect on all the men in the -region of the explosion. Some chemical in the composition -of these shells produced violent watering of the -eyes, so that the men overcome by them were practically -blinded for some hours.</p> - -<div class="scr"> - -<div class="centerblock w600"> - -<div class="split4060"> - -<div class="leftsplit4060"> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo321a.png" alt="" width="228" height="471" /> -</div> - -</div><!--leftsplit--> - -<div class="rightsplit4060"> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo321b.png" alt="" width="315" height="312" /> -</div> - -<p class="fsize80"><i>Right-hand figure: British soldier -wearing respirator with air valve on top</i>.</p> - -<p class="fsize80 blankbefore2"><i>Left-hand figure: German with respirator -and goggles armed with burning-oil-distributor</i>.</p> - -</div><!--rightsplit--> - -<p class="thinline allclear"> </p> - -</div><!--split4060--> - -</div><!--centerblock--> - -</div><!--scr--> - -<div class="hh"> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo321b.png" alt="" width="315" height="312" /> -</div> - -<p class="fsize80"><i>Right-hand figure: British soldier -wearing respirator with air valve on top</i>.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illo321a.png" alt="" width="228" height="471" /> -</div> - -<p class="fsize80"><i>Left-hand figure: German with respirator -and goggles armed with burning-oil-distributor</i>.</p> - -</div><!--hh--> - -<p class="thinline allclear"> </p> - -<div class="centerblock w600"> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Using Deadly Gas as a Weapon in War</span>.</p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">The German use of poisonous gases that asphyxiate soldiers of the enemy -against whom they are directed, has made it necessary to devise a new defense. -The pictures show the devices used by those who direct the use of the -gases and those who have to meet their deadly vapors.</p> - -</div><!--w600--> - -<p class="blankbefore1">The effect of the noxious trench-gas seems to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page290">[290]</a></span> -slow in wearing away. The men come out of their -violent nausea in a state of utter collapse. How -many of the men left unconscious in the trenches when -the French broke died from the fumes it is impossible -to say, since those trenches were at once occupied by -the Germans.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_4">REPORT OF MEDICAL EXPERT</h3> - -<p>Dr. John S. Haldane, an authority on the physiology -of respiration, who was sent by the British government -to France to observe the effect of the gases, examined -several Canadians who had been incapacitated by the -gases.</p> - -<p>“These men,” he said, “were lying struggling for -breath, and blue in the face. On examining their -blood with a spectroscope and by other means I ascertained -that the blueness was not due to the presence -of any abnormal pigment. There was nothing to -account for the blueness and their struggles for air but -one fact, and that was that they were suffering from -acute bronchitis, such as is caused by the inhalation -of an irritant gas. Their statements were to the effect -that when in the trenches they had been overwhelmed -by an irritant gas produced in front of the German -trenches and carried toward them by a gentle breeze.</p> - -<p>“One of the men died shortly after our arrival. A -post-mortem examination showed that death was due -to acute bronchitis and its secondary effect. There -was no doubt that the bronchitis and accompanying -slow asphyxiation was due to irritant gas.</p> - -<p>“Captain Bertram, of the eighth Canadian battalion, -who is suffering from the effects of gas and from wounds,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page291">[291]</a></span> -says that from a support trench about six hundred -yards from the German lines he observed the gas. He -saw first of all white smoke rising from the German -trenches to a height of about three feet. Then in -front of the white smoke appeared a green cloud which -drifted along the ground to our trenches, not rising -more than about seven feet from the ground.</p> - -<p>“When it reached our first trenches, the men in these -trenches were obliged to leave, and a number of them -were killed by the effects of the gas. We made a -counter-attack about fifteen minutes after the gas -came over, and saw twenty-four men lying dead from -the effects of the gas on a small stretch of road leading -from the advanced trenches to the supports. He, -himself, was much affected by the gas, and felt as -though he could not breathe.</p> - -<p>“These symptoms and other facts so far ascertained -point to the use by the German troops of chlorine or -bromide for the purpose of asphyxiation. There also -are facts pointing to the use in German shells of other -irritant substances. Still, the last of these agents are -not of the same brutality and barbarous character as -was the gas used in the attack on the Canadians.</p> - -<p>“The effects are not those of any of the ordinary -products of combustion of explosives. On this point -the symptoms described left not the slightest doubt in -my mind.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_5">KIND OF GAS EMPLOYED</h3> - -<p>Various have been the opinions of chemists as to the -kind of gas employed. Sir James Dewar, President of -the Royal Institution, was of the opinion that it was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page292">[292]</a></span> -liquid chlorine. Dr. F. A. Mason, of the Royal College -of Science, considered it to have been bromine. Dr. -Crocker, of the South-Western Polytechnic, said it -may have been either carbon monoxide or liquid -peroxide. Dr. W. J. Pope, Professor of Chemistry, -Cambridge, and Sir E. Rutherford, Professor of Physics, -Manchester University, agreed in thinking the gas to -have been phosgene, a compound of carbon monoxide -and chlorine, largely used in dye production in Germany.</p> - -<p>“For some years,” stated Sir James Dewar, “Germany -has been manufacturing chlorine in tremendous -quantities. . . . The Germans undoubtedly have hundreds -of tons available. If several tons of liquid are -allowed to escape into the atmosphere, where it immediately -evaporates and forms a yellow gas, and if the -wind is blowing in a favorable direction, it is the easiest -thing for the Germans to inundate the country with -poison for miles ahead of them.</p> - -<p>“The fact that the gas is three times heavier than -air makes escape from its disastrous effects almost -impossible, for it drifts like a thick fog-cloud along the -surface of the ground, overwhelming all whom it -overtakes.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef31_6">ALLIES FORCED TO USE SIMILAR METHODS</h3> - -<p>Of the German attack on the allied front near Ypres, -Secretary of War, Earl Kitchener, speaking in the -House of Lords on May 18, said:</p> - -<p>“In this attack the enemy employed vast quantities -of poisonous gases, and our soldiers and our French -allies were utterly unprepared for this diabolical<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page293">[293]</a></span> -method of attack, which undoubtedly had been long -and carefully prepared.”</p> - -<p>It was at this point that Earl Kitchener announced -the determination of the Allies to resort to similar -methods of warfare.</p> - -<p>“The Germans,” said Earl Kitchener, “have persisted -in the use of these asphyxiating gases whenever -the wind favored or other opportunity occurred, and -His Majesty’s government, no less than the French -government, feel that our troops must be adequately -protected by the employment of similar methods, so as -to remove the enormous and unjustifiable disadvantage -which must exist for them if we take no steps to meet -on his own ground the enemy who is responsible for -the introduction of this pernicious practice.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page294">[294]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">“USAGES OF WAR ON LAND”: THE -OFFICIAL GERMAN MANUAL</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef32_1">CRIMES IN BELGIUM EXPLAINED BY INSTRUCTIONS -TO GERMAN OFFICERS</a>—<a href="#SecRef32_2">UNLIMITED DESTRUCTION -THE END OF WAR</a>—<a href="#SecRef32_3">RULES OF CIVILIZED -WARFARE CLEARLY STATED</a>—<a href="#SecRef32_4">OTHER EXCELLENT -RULES.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef32_1">The black crime of Louvain, the world-lamented -destruction of the cathedral of Rheims, the denudation -of the fair land of Belgium, with all its horrible attendant -crimes, is explained, in part at least, by “Usages -of War on Land,” the official manual of instructions -to military officers compiled by the general staff of -the German army. It is an authoritative exposition -of the rules of war as practiced by the Germans.</p> - -<p>Two general principles bearing directly on the -question of the invasion of Belgium are clearly stated -in this guide:</p> - -<p>“A war conducted with energy cannot be directed -merely against the combatants of the enemy state -and the positions they occupy, but it will and must in -like manner seek to destroy the total intellectual -and material resources of the latter. Humanitarian -claims, such as the protection of men and their goods, -can only be taken into consideration in so far as the -nature and object of the war permit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page295">[295]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The fact that such limitations of the unrestricted -and reckless application of all the available means -for the conduct of war, and thereby the humanization -of the customary methods of pursuing war, really -exist, and are actually observed by the armies of all -civilized states, has in the course of the nineteenth -century often led to attempts to develop, to extend, -and thus to make universally binding these pre-existing -usages of war; to elevate them to the level -of laws binding nations and armies; in other words, -to create a law of war. All these attempts have hitherto, -with some few exceptions to be mentioned later, -completely failed. If, therefore, in the following -work the expression ‘the law of war’ is used, it must be -understood that by it is meant not a written law -introduced by the international agreements, but only -a reciprocity of mutual agreement—a limitation of -arbitrary behavior, which custom and conventionality, -human friendliness and a calculating egotism have -erected, but for the observance of which there exists -no express sanction, but only ‘the fear of reprisals’ -decides.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef32_2">UNLIMITED DESTRUCTION THE END OF WAR</h3> - -<p>Put in plain language, these passages mean that -there is no law of war which may not be broken at the -dictates of interest. Unlimited destruction is the -end, and only fear of reprisals need limit the means. -The sentimental humanitarianism and flabby emotion -which prevail elsewhere have no place in the bright -lexicon of the German officer. “By steeping himself -in military history,” the manual clearly states, “an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page296">[296]</a></span> -officer will be able to guard himself against excessive -humanitarian notions” and learn that “certain severities -are indispensable in war,” and that “the only -true humanity often lies in a ruthless application of -them.” Then there is laid down this comprehensive -general rule:</p> - -<p>“All means of warfare may be used without which -the purpose of war cannot be achieved. On the other -hand, every act of violence and destruction which is -not demanded by the purpose of war must be condemned.”</p> - -<p>Interpreted by other passages in the volume, this -implies that the end justifies the means. Barbarities -may be forgiven if only they are useful. Thus “international -law is in no way opposed to the exploitation -of the crimes of third parties—assassination, incendiarism, -robbery and the like—to the prejudice of -the enemy.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef32_3">RULES OF CIVILIZED WARFARE CLEARLY STATED</h3> - -<p>It must not be assumed, of course, that the German -war manual is a defense of unlimited rapine. The -rules of civilized warfare are usually stated clearly -enough. But there are so many exceptions to the -application of them that a zealous officer might well -be pardoned if he regarded them as not binding whenever -it was to his interest to ignore them. Thus, -after a careful statement of the right of the inhabitants -of an invaded country to organize for its defense, -the advantages of “terrorism” are candidly set -forth as outweighing these considerations in many -instances. That policy has been illustrated in Belgium<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page297">[297]</a></span> -very significantly. The difference between precept -and practice is also seen in the prohibition of the bombardment -of churches and unfortified towns. Regarding -the latter the manual says:</p> - -<p>“A prohibition by international law of the bombardment -of open towns and villages which are not -occupied by the enemy or defended was, indeed, put -into words by The Hague regulations, but appears -superfluous, since modern military history knows of -hardly any such case.”</p> - -<p>Military history has been made since then, particularly -by the German air raids on English seashore -resorts.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef32_4">OTHER EXCELLENT RULES</h3> - -<p>Several other excellent rules in the manual may be -contrasted with German practice in the present war.</p> - -<p>“No damage, not even the smallest, must be done -unless it is done for military reasons.</p> - -<p>“Contributions of war are sums of money which -are levied by force from the people of an occupied -country. They differ in character from requisitions -in kind because they do not serve an immediate -requirement of the army. Hence, requisitions in -cash are only in the rarest cases justified by the -necessities of war.</p> - -<p>“The military government by the army of occupation -carries with it only a temporary right to enjoy -the property of others. It must, therefore, avoid every -purposeless injury, it has no right to sell or dispose -of the property.”</p> - -<p>“Usages of War on Land” makes interesting reading<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page298">[298]</a></span> -throughout, though the conclusions that the impartial -reader will draw from it will not be in every case -those which the German military authorities would -have him draw.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page299">[299]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXIII</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">THE SACRIFICE OF THE HORSE IN -WARFARE</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef33_1">DUMB ANIMALS PRESSED INTO SERVICE</a> — <a href="#SecRef33_2">PART -PLAYED BY HORSE IN WAR</a> — <a href="#SecRef33_3">AMERICAN STOCK -DEPLETED.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef33_1">So overwhelming has been the thought of -human suffering in Europe, so anxious has the world -been to relieve it, that little thought has been bestowed -on the dumb sufferers. Various war photographs have -shown us the novel sight of the dogs of Belgium impressed -into service for dragging the smaller guns; but -all contestants use horses, and when we reflect that the -average life of a cavalry horse at the front is not more -than a week, if that, we gain some idea of the sacrifice -of animals which modern warfare demands.</p> - -<p>One of the pleaders for the horse is John Galsworthy, -the English novelist, who gives in the London Westminster -Gazette this moral aspect of the use of the horse -in warfare, with the attendant obligation:</p> - -<p>“Man has only a certain capacity for feeling, and -that has been strained almost to breaking-point by -human needs. But now that the wants of our wounded -are being seen to with hundreds of motor ambulances -and hospitals fully equipped, now that the situation -is more in hand, we can surely turn a little to the companions -of man. They, poor things, have no option<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page300">[300]</a></span> -in this business; they had no responsibility, however -remote and indirect, for its inception; get no benefit -out of it of any kind whatever; know none of the sustaining -sentiments of heroism; feel no satisfaction in -duty done. They do not even—as the prayer for them -untruly says—‘offer their guileless lives for the well-being -of their countries.’ They know nothing of -countries; they do not offer themselves. Nothing so -little pitiable as that. They are pressed into this -service, which cuts them down before their time.”</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef33_2">PART PLAYED BY HORSE IN WAR</h3> - -<p>The horse still plays an important part in war, as -every army service corps officer who has had anything -to do with them well knows. The men love their -mettlesome beasts, and much trouble and worry is -pardoned and lost sight of in the comradeship which -arises between man and beast. The great part played -by motors and motor-driven vehicles in the present -war has tended to draw attention away from the work -of horses at the front, yet motor cavalry has not been -evolved. While recognizing that for moving big guns -along a well-made road motor power is very valuable, it -is still equally true that once the roads are left it is -found in practice of little use.</p> - -<p>A remarkable feature of the European war, new, -so far as we know, to military experience, has been the -use upon an extensive scale of the heavy draught horse, -whose stately pace admits of no hurrying, but whose -great strength permits of his hauling very heavy weights -where the nature of the road does not admit of the use -of the motor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page301">[301]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef33_3">AMERICAN STOCK DEPLETED</h3> - -<p>That the European war threatened to deplete the -stock of horses even in the United States is emphasized -by a careful computation which fixed at 185,023 the -number of horses shipped to the warring nations from -July 1, 1914, to March 31, 1915. The value of the -animals, according to an inventory compiled from the -manifests of ships transporting the horses is placed at -$40,695,057. During that same period 26,976 mules, -valued at $5,143,270, were sent abroad.</p> - -<p>Buyers representing the British, French and Russian -governments were reported as searching the country -for more, and, according to estimates made by shippers, -at least 120,000 animals were to be shipped to Europe -during the summer of 1915.</p> - -<p>Frank L. Neall, statistician, asserted that few persons -realized the extent of the raid made by European -buyers on the horse market. “Shipments,” he said, -“have been made from New Orleans, Newport News, -Portland, Boston and New York. During the month -of March, 33,694 horses were shipped, representing a -value of $8,088,974.”</p> - -<p>Shippers were deeply interested when it became -known for a certainty that the German government -had representatives purchasing horses in the West. -Wood Brothers, the largest horse dealers in Nebraska, -were asked to bid on a 25,000-head shipment. Ruling -prices for the grade of horses desired by foreign buyers -have ranged from $175 to $200 per head.</p> - -<p>The stockyards in New Orleans, where these animals -were assembled, cover about eight acres and shed 3,500 -animals. Horses were thoroughly examined as to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page302">[302]</a></span> -their fitness for service, both at the point of purchase -and at New Orleans.</p> - -<p>The last step before placing the horses on shipboard -was to adjust special halters to them, so that, as in the -case of many horses purchased by France, it was only -necessary, when the animal reached the other side, to -snap two straps to his head-stalls and make him instantly -ready to be hitched to a gun limber or a wagon of a -transport train.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page303">[303]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXIV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">SCOURGES THAT FOLLOW IN THE WAKE -OF BATTLE</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef34_1">THE COMMON ENEMY, DISEASE</a> — <a href="#SecRef34_2">SCOURGES OF MODERN -WARFARE</a> — <a href="#SecRef34_3">RAVAGES OF TYPHUS IN SERVIA</a> — <a href="#SecRef34_4">NO -WORD OF COMPLAINT</a> — <a href="#SecRef34_5">AMERICA TO THE RESCUE.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef34_1">In many campaigns of the past, disease has slain -its thousands where bullets and shells have killed -hundreds, and even the twentieth century with its -marvelous science of sanitation has not defeated the -direful common enemies of allies and foes. Why -disease should attack masses of men in the prime of -life, living in the open air, and on the whole well fed -and clothed, at first sight seems strange, but when we -remember that modern fighting begets an intolerable -thirst, which the soldier is naturally tempted to slake -as best he can and when he can, at least one reason is -not hard to find.</p> - -<p>All modern armies, since the striking experience of -Japan in the Manchurian campaign, pay special -attention to the drinking water, and with good -results. But an irremovable source of disease remains -in the typhus-carrying vermin, in the myriads of flies -bred in the rotting carcases of men and horses and in -the filth that inevitably collects around perpetually -shifting camps and bivouacs. As everyone now knows,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page304">[304]</a></span> -these insects are ceaseless and tireless carriers of -infection, and it is difficult to see how, under conditions -of war, the plague of them can be utterly wiped out.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef34_2">SCOURGES OF MODERN WARFARE</h3> - -<p>Of the diseases which assail an army in the field, -a few stand out so prominently that all others may -practically be neglected. These are cholera, typhus, -typhoid fever, dysentery, and pneumonia; and they -have this in common, that they are all caused by -specific bacilli. Thus cholera is the child, so to speak, -of the dreaded vibrio, and pneumonia that of the -pneumococcus; while typhus, typhoid and dysentery -have each their own special microbe. The modes of -attack are, however, different, for the pneumococcus -can enter the organism by the nose and mouth only; -typhoid and dysentery through the alimentary canal; -while the way in which cholera is propagated is at -present unknown. All have this in common, that -while the microbes causing them are probably always -present—that of cholera being a doubtful exception—they -seem only to assault a subject previously weakened -by exposure, bad food, or intemperance.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef34_3">RAVAGES OF TYPHUS IN SERVIA</h3> - -<p>The dread aftermaths of war made their first visitations -upon the Servian nation. One read with dismay -that Belgium was later outdone by Poland, and Poland -seemed almost fortunate beside Servia. The account -sent by Captain E. N. Bennett, Commissioner in -Servia for the British Red Cross Society, of the conditions -prevailing in Servian hospitals and prisoners<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page305">[305]</a></span>’ -camps filled the whole world with dread. “Fires are -needed to clear Servia of typhus, just as fires were -needed to stop the great plague in London,” reported -Sir Thomas Lipton, who spent considerable time in -that country. He said:</p> - -<p>“I met on the country roads many victims too weak -to crawl to a hospital. Bullock-carts were gathering -them up. Often a woman and her children were -leading the bullocks, while in the car the husband and -father was raving with fever. Scarcely enough people -remain unstricken to dig graves for the dead, whose -bodies lie exposed in the cemeteries.</p> - -<p>“The situation is entirely beyond the control of the -present force, which imperatively needs all the help -it can get—tents, hospitals, doctors, nurses, modern -appliances, and clothing to replace the garments full -of typhus-bearing vermin.”</p> - -<p>His picture of the hospital at Ghevgheli, where Dr. -James F. Donnelly, of the American Red Cross, died, -is appalling. Sir Thomas called Dr. Donnelly one of -the greatest heroes of the war:</p> - -<p>“The place is a village in a barren, uncultivated -country, the hospital an old tobacco factory, formerly -belonging to Abdul Hamid. In it were crowded 1,400 -persons, without blankets or mattresses, or even straw—men -lying in the clothes in which they had lived in the -trenches for months, clothes swarming with vermin, -victims of different diseases, typhus, typhoid, dysentery, -and smallpox were herded together. In such a -state Dr. Donnelly found the hospital, where he had a -force of six American doctors, twelve American nurses, -and three Servian doctors. When I visited the hospital<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page306">[306]</a></span> -three of the American doctors, the three Servian -doctors, and nine of the nurses were themselves ill.</p> - -<p>“The patients were waited on by Austrian prisoners. -The fumes of illness were unbearable. The patients -objected to the windows being opened, and Dr. Donnelly -was forced to break the panes. The first thing -Dr. Donnelly did on his arrival was to test the water, -which he found infected. He then improvised boilers -of oil-drums, in which to boil water for use. The -boilers saved five hundred lives, said Dr. Donnelly. -He also built ovens in which to bake the clothes of the -patients, but he was not provided with proper sterilizing -apparatus.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef34_4">NO WORD OF COMPLAINT</h3> - -<p>“No braver people exist than the Servians. They -have never a word of complaint. In one ward I saw -a fever patient, his magnificent voice booming songs -to cheer his comrades. Some were in a delirium, calling -for ‘mother.’</p> - -<p>“One source of infection is the army black bread, -which is the only ration of the troops. The patients -in the hospital receive only a loaf each, which they -put in their bed or under their pillow. Later the -unused loaves are bought by pedlers and are resold, -spreading disease among the people, who are mediæval -in so far as sanitation is concerned. A Servian soldier -receives a rifle, some hand-grenades, and perhaps part -of a uniform, but otherwise looks after himself.</p> - -<p>“The street-cleaning and hospital-waiting are done -by Austrians, who are rapidly thinning from typhus -and other diseases.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page307">[307]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef34_5">AMERICA TO THE RESCUE</h3> - -<p>“The best hospital in the Balkans is at Belgrade, -under Dr. Edward W. Ryan, of the American contingent, -where there are 2,900 patients. Dr. Ryan kept -the hospital neutral during the Austrian occupation, -and accomplished wonders diplomatically at that time. -He is worshiped by the people.</p> - -<p>“Dr. Ryan says that the greatest task is to keep -the hospital free from vermin. The typhus affects -men the most severely. Women come next, and children -for the most part recover. The symptoms begin -like those of grip. The disease lasts fifteen days, with -fever and delirium.”</p> - -<p>In the spring of 1915, a large sanitary commission -was organized by the American Red Cross and the -Rockefeller Foundation, each of these organizations -donating $25,000 to the prosecution of the work. -The commission included a group of distinguished -bacteriologists and physicians, among them William -C. Gorgas, surgeon-general of the U. S. A. An initial -supply of 10,000 anti-cholera treatments was carried -to Servia by the commission, for there was danger not -only of a spread of typhus but also of an outbreak of -Asiatic cholera or some other infectious disease that -might sweep across all Europe. Heavy indeed is the -price of warfare.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page308">[308]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXV</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">WAR’S REPAIR SHOP: CARING FOR THE -WOUNDED</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef35_1">EFFICIENCY OF THE RED CROSS SERVICE</a> — <a href="#SecRef35_2">THE -BANDAGING CAMP</a> — <a href="#SecRef35_3">THE SANITATION COMPANY</a> — <a href="#SecRef35_4">THE -HOSPITAL BARGE.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef35_1">Amid the dreadful welter of carnage and its attendant -agony which spells modern warfare one ray of brightness -appears in the universal gloom in the shape of the -highly organized efficiency of the Red Cross Service, -which waits upon battle. Die Umschau, of Berlin, -printed an admirable description of its activities -from the pen of Professor Rupprecht, one of the chief -organizers of the German Military Hospital Service, -of which we give an abstract:</p> - -<p>“The stretcher-bearers of the infantry—four to each -company—who bear the Red Cross symbol on the arm, -when a battle is on hand, gather at the end of the -battalion (sixteen men with four stretchers) and then -proceed to the Infantry Sanitation Car. As soon as the -‘bandaging camp’ is made ready . . . they go to the -front with stretchers and knapsacks in order to be -ready to give aid to the wounded as soon as possible. -Musicians and others are employed as assistant -stretcher-bearers. These wear a red band on the -sleeve but do not come under the provisions of the -Geneva Treaty.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page309">[309]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef35_2">THE BANDAGING CAMP</h3> - -<p>Similar arrangements are made for the cavalry. -The so-called “bandaging camp” is for the purpose of -gathering the wounded and examining and classifying -them. It should be both protected and accessible, -and if possible near a water supply. At the end of a -battle it is the duty of the troops to search trenches, -woods, houses, etc., for the wounded, protect them -against plunderers and carry them to the bandaging -camp, as also to bury the dead.</p> - -<div class="figcenter w600"> - -<img src="images/illo341.png" alt="" width="600" height="220" /> - -<p class="caption main"><span class="smcap">Quicker and Easier Than Bandages: The “Tabloid” Adjustable -Head-Dressing.</span></p> - -<p class="caption secondjust">This dressing for head-wounds in the form of a cap, can be applied in a -few seconds, and remains comfortably in position. It can be washed, sterilized, -and used repeatedly. The diagrams show the method of adjusting -and the dressing in position.</p> - -</div><!--figcenter--> - -<p>“At the bandaging camp the surgeons and their -assistants must revive and examine the men and make -them ready for transport. Operations are seldom -practicable or necessary here. The chief concern is to -bandage wounds of bones, joints, and arteries carefully. . . . -Severe hemorrhages usually stop of -themselves, on which account it is seldom desirable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page310">[310]</a></span> -to bind the limb tightly above the wound. The wound -itself must never be touched, washed, or probed. After -the clothing is removed or cut away it must merely be -covered with the contents of the bandage package.”</p> - -<p>Every soldier carries two of these packages in a -pocket on the lower front corner of his left coat-tail. -Each package contains a gauze bandage enclosed in a -waterproof cover. There is sewed to this bandage a -gauze compress saturated with sublimate and of a red -color. It is so arranged that the bandage can be -taken hold of with both hands without touching the -red compress.</p> - -<p>It is strongly impressed upon the stretcher-bearers -and all assistants that cases having wounds in the -abdomen are not transportable and must on no account -be given food or drink; also that bleeding usually -stops of itself. They are taught, too, that touching, -washing, or probing the wound is injurious, and that -only <i>dry</i> bandages must be placed on the wound—never -those that are damp or impervious.</p> - -<p>“The wounded who are capable of marching leave -their ammunition, except for a few cartridges, at the -bandaging camp, are provided if need be with a simple -protective bandage, and march first to the nearest -‘camp for the slightly wounded,’ or to the nearest -‘resting-camp.’ The rest of the wounded are removed -as soon as possible directly to the field hospitals or -lazarets. If obliged to remain for a while before -removal they are protected by portable tents, wind-screens, -etc. . . . If it is impossible to carry the -wounded along in a retreat they are left in care of the -hospital staff under the protection of the Red Cross.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page311">[311]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef35_3">THE SANITATION COMPANY</h3> - -<p>In case of a big battle a sanitation company remains -near the bandaging camp. Every army corps has -three of these companies, which, together with the -twelve field lazarets of the corps, form a sanitation -battalion.</p> - -<p>As soon as it is apparent that the troops will remain -in one locality for some length of time the smaller -bandaging camps or stations are supplemented by a -chief bandaging station some distance in the rear, and -if possible, near a highway and near houses. At this -spot there are arranged places for the entry and exit of -the wagons carrying the wounded, for the unloading -of the wounded, for the dying and the dead, for cooking, -and a “park” for wagons and horses.</p> - -<p>Each field lazaret is capable of caring for two hundred -men, but this capacity may be extended by making -use of local aid. The supplies carried are very comprehensive, -including tents, straw mattresses and woolen -blankets, lighting materials, clothing and linen, tools, -cooking utensils, soap, writing materials, drugs and -medical appliances, sterilization ovens, bandages, instruments, -and an operating-table. As fast as possible -the patients treated are sent home on furlough or -removed to permanent military hospitals. The very -perfection of this system but deepens the tragic irony -that occasions it.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef35_4">THE HOSPITAL BARGE</h3> - -<p>One very important development in the care for the -wounded is the introduction of the hospital barge. -The rivers and canals of France offer splendid opportunities<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page312">[312]</a></span> -for conveying wounded from point to point. -This new method of transport was foreshadowed in an -article in the London Times, in which the writer, in -describing the hospital barges, said:</p> - -<p>“The north of France, as is well known, is exceedingly -rich in waterways—rivers and canals. The four great -rivers, the Oise, the Somme, the Sambre, and the -Escaut (Scheldt), are connected by a network of -canals—quiet and comfortable waterways at present -almost free of traffic. So far as the reaching of any -particular spot is concerned these waterways may be -said to be ubiquitous. They extend, too, right into -Belgium, and have connection with the coast at various -points—for example, Ostend. Here, then, is a system -of ‘roads’ for the removal of the wounded, a system -which, if properly used, can be made to relieve greatly -the stress of work imposed upon the ambulance motor -cars and trains. Here also is the ideal method of -removal.</p> - -<p>“The Ile de France is lying at present at the Quai -de Grenelle, near the Eiffel Tower. This is a Seine -barge of the usual size and type, blunt-nosed, heavily -and roomily built. You enter the hold by a step-ladder, -which is part of the hospital equipment. This -is a large chamber not much less high from floor to -ceiling than an ordinary room, well lighted, and ventilated -by means of skylights. The walls of the hold -have been painted white; the floor has been thoroughly -scrubbed out for the reception of beds, of which some -forty to fifty will be accommodated.</p> - -<p>“The forward portion of the barge can accommodate -more beds, and there is no reason why a portion of it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page313">[313]</a></span> -should not be walled in and used as an operating room, -more especially since in the bow a useful washing -apparatus is fitted. The barge is heated by stoves, -and a small electric plant could easily be installed. -The barges are used in groups of four, and a small tug -supplies the motive power. In favorable circumstances -about fifty kilometers a day can be traveled.”</p> - -<p>The barges employed are big, roomy barges one hundred -and twenty feet long, sixteen feet broad, and ten -feet high. Care is taken to use only fairly new and -clean barges which have been used in the conveyance -of timber or stone or other clean and harmless cargoes.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page314">[314]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span class="chapno">CHAPTER XXXVI</span><br /> -<span class="chaptitle">WHAT WILL THE HORRORS AND ATROCITIES -OF THE GREAT WAR LEAD TO?</span></h2> - -<p class="subjects"><a href="#SecRef36_1">WAR, A REVERSAL TO THE PRIMITIVE BRUTE IN -MAN</a> — <a href="#SecRef36_2">THE SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY</a> — <a href="#SecRef36_3">DECLINE OF -THE WAR SPIRIT</a> — <a href="#SecRef36_4">THE DAWN OF UNIVERSAL PEACE.</a></p> - -<p id="SecRef36_1">In the mobilization of armies, in the appropriation -of colossal funds and consequent imposition of intolerable -taxes, in the disregard of the neutrality of lesser -nations, in the “emergency measures” that tear apart -a home to give its bread-winner to the reeking shambles—in -all these phenomena original incentives quickly -are forgotten, as though they had never been.</p> - -<p>What imperial chancellery now remembers, or now -cares, that a sovereign’s nephew and his morganatic -wife were done to death in an obscure dependency -upon the Adriatic shores? Their hands and steel are -at each other’s throats on that pretext, but they improve -the occasion to settle all old scores that rancorous -racial antagonism in an interminable blood-feud have -created. War has thrown down the barriers of social -restraint; it has abolished the delimitations of political -adjustment; international decorum, propriety, all that -is signified in the German tongue under the untranslatable -name of “Sittlichkeit” are no more; landmarks -set in place with a thankful sense of achievement and a -pious aspiration are obliterated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page315">[315]</a></span></p> - -<p>None will deny to our heroes living, nor to those who -after warfare rest in peace, the sublimity of their -utmost pattern of devotion and of the sacrifice they -made. But with all that selfless devotion implies and -patriotism means, with all that the bugle sings or -flaunting pennons inspire, with all that the sight of old -and tattered battle-flags conveys, with all that the -histories tell, with all the exemplary careers of conquerors -that were not ruthless and armies that sang -psalms and nations whose quarrel was just and kings -who laid their crowns before the throne of God in -prayer, and their laurels in the dust of the profoundest -self-abasement—the nature of war is not changed.</p> - -<p>With all the Te Deums that have risen in cathedrals, -and hosannas that were sung for conquering Caesars -when earth and sky were shaken like a carpet with -their welcome at the gate; with all the splendor of -shining accoutrements of guardsmen and Uhlans and -cuirassiers; with all the investiture of romance that -poet and painter and even the sensitive historian have -been able to confer upon it—war remains what it is: -an abysmal and sickening reversion to the primitive -brute in man. It must still be a sight “to grieve high -heaven and make the angels mourn” that men created -in the image of their Maker, endowed with a diviner -instinct beyond the body’s need or transient existence, -could sink so far, and in the slough of primordial -animality forget the very light of life and their immortal -destiny for the sake of the mere fiction of power on -land, sea and even in the throbbing and embattled air -through which the prayers of women ascend like silent -flame to God.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page316">[316]</a></span></p> - -<div class="intellect"> - -<p class="center fsize200">The World’s Best Intellects -on War</p> - -<p class="body">JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU: War is the foulest fiend -that ever vomited forth from the mouth of hell.</p> - -<p class="body">THOMAS JEFFERSON: I abhor war and view it as the -greatest scourge of mankind.</p> - -<p class="body">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: There never was a good war -or a bad peace.</p> - -<p class="body">WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON: My country is the -world; my countrymen are all mankind.</p> - -<p class="body">NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: The more I study the world, -the more am I convinced of the inability of force to create -anything durable.</p> - -<p class="body">PAUL ON MARS HILL: God hath made of one blood all -nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.</p> - -<p class="body">ANDREW CARNEGIE: We have abolished slavery from -civilized countries, the owning of man by man. The -next great step that the world can take is to abolish war, -the killing of man by man.</p> - -<p class="body">GEORGE WASHINGTON: My first wish is to see the -whole world at peace, and the inhabitants of it as one -band of brothers, striving which should most contribute -to the happiness of mankind.</p> - -<p class="body">ABRAHAM LINCOLN: With malice toward none, with -charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives -us to see the right, let us strive<span class="nowrap"><span class="padl3">*</span><span class="padl3 padr3">*</span><span -class="padr3">*</span></span>to do all -which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace -among ourselves and with all nations.</p> - -<p class="body">EMANUEL KANT: The method by which states prosecute -their rights cannot under present conditions be -a process of law, since no court exists having jurisdiction -over them, but only war. But through war, -even if it result in victory, the question of right is not -decided.</p> - -</div><!--intellect--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page317">[317]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SecRef36_2">THE SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY</h3> - -<p>We are apt, in thinking of the consequences of the -European war, to consider the readjustment of national -boundaries as of prime importance. Such a thought -betrays a wrong perspective, or a narrowness of vision, -or both. Territorial definition is a small, material -factor. The larger, spiritual considerations that affect -all mankind are the momentous things. And probably -of all the consequences that are evolved out of the -horrors and atrocities of the great war, the spread of -the democratic spirit must be the most momentous. -Despite the fact that the ambitions of the people and -the dynasties are in accord, the effect of the war upon -monarchical institutions must be momentous. The -spirit of democracy is abroad. It has practically -abolished the British House of Lords. It has forced -the establishment of a parliament in Russia. It is so -active and alert in Germany that the Social Democratic -party is the largest and most powerful political organization -in the empire. In France it overturned the -monarchy nearly half a century ago, and is now so -firmly established that only the wildest dreamers ever -imagine that republican institutions can be displaced. -It is regnant in Portugal and nearly so in Spain. A -nation in arms, as Germany now is, will not long be -content to remain a nation without a ministry responsible -to its Parliament. The democratization of German -institutions is inevitable after the war, whatever -the result. The people, even in Russia, are no longer -driven serfs. They think, they reason, and a demonstration -of the power of 5,000,000 men on the battle-field -will not be lost on the patriots who wish also to demonstrate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page318">[318]</a></span> -the power of the same number of millions in -deciding at first hand the causes for which they will -take up arms. Whether the kings and the emperors -remain on their thrones matters little. Great Britain, -though it retains the fiction of a monarchy, is as -democratic as the United States, and its Parliament -responds with greater precision to popular sentiment -than the American Congress. The war means the end -of autocracy whether the kings remain or not.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef36_3">DECLINE OF THE WAR SPIRIT</h3> - -<p>It is significant that the most democratic nations -are likewise the most peace-loving. With the spread -of democracy must come the decline of the war spirit. -The teaching that war is a biological necessity for the -preservation of the heroic virtues in men has met its -fate in this war, for we have found men, whole regiments -of them, who had only been in warlike training -a few months, showing just as cool courage and just as -stubborn fighting powers as men who had been trained -to war from their youth. Even from the standpoint -of effectiveness in war the war spirit is unnecessary.</p> - -<p>And we have a right to insist that the bravery of the -battle-line is not the highest bravery, and that the -deliverance wrought by bayonet and shrapnel is not -the most necessary to the welfare of humanity. The -courage which is unmoved by the roar of great guns -and undaunted by the gleam of advancing bayonets -is good, but it is no better than the courage of the -timid woman who faces death upon the operating-table -without shrinking or complaint; and it is in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page319">[319]</a></span> -nothing superior to the courage which, in the daily -life of our people, takes up patiently the burden of the -day, and in the face of poverty, sorrow, and pain, and -bearing also the contempt of many, goes forward -without bitterness and even with cheerfulness to the -end of the journey, faithful unto death.</p> - -<h3 id="SecRef36_4">THE DAWN OF UNIVERSAL PEACE</h3> - -<p>Finally, as the spirit of democracy rises and the -spirit of war declines, the vision of universal peace -begins to crystallize. While to many it may seem that -this must always remain a vision, the real seers of the -world do not doubt that, when the awful conflict in -Europe is ended, the warring nations, viewing their -dead and their devastated countries, will welcome a -plan which promises an end of such disasters. The -practicability and feasibility of the idea of an international -tribunal is shown by the successful operation -of the American Constitutional Courts of Arbitration, -which have settled controversies between the states, -and by the so-called general arbitration treaties to -submit justiciable disputes to arbitration. And if an -international arbitration court is feasible, an international -police, to give force to the decrees of the -tribunal, is also feasible. We have only to come to -believe this and the plan itself can be formulated. -All great achievement in the world has been a matter -of great faith.</p> - -<p>The hope of humanitarianism and civilization rests -on the very enormity of the present calamity. The -horrors and atrocities of the war are so great, its waste -and devastation so enormous, its scars so deep, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page320">[320]<span -class="fnanchor"><a href="#Footnote1">[1]</a></span></span> -no one who is touched by it can want war again. The -disaster is so overwhelming that peace when it comes -must be lasting.</p> - -<div class="footnote" id="Footnote1"> - -<p><span class="label">[1]</span> The 32 pages of illustrations contained in this book are not included in -the paging. Adding these 32 pages to the 320 pages of the text makes a -total of 352 pages.</p> - -</div><!--footnote--> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="tnbot" id="TN"> - -<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Inconsistent and unusual spelling and hyphenation have been retained, except as listed below.</p> - -<p>p. 139, Todeshusaren (Death’s-Head Hussars): either the English translation should -be Death’s Hussars, or the German name should be Totenkopfhusaren.</p> - -<p>p. 148, Haybes (Belgium): Haybes is in France (albeit close to the border with Belgium).</p> - -<p>p. 153, Mme. X.: probably an error for Mme. Z.</p> - -<p>p. 155, Bignicourt-sur-Saultz: probably Bignicourt-sur-Saulx.</p> - -<p>p. 234, “A WASTEFUL WAR”: there is no such section.</p> - - -<p class="blankbefore1">Changes made:</p> - -<p>Some illustrations have been moved out of text paragraphs.</p> - -<p>Some minor obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected silently.</p> - -<p>Accents have been corrected and standardised on French and German words (Châlons, château, -Hôtel de Ville, Liège, Visé, Jäger, Pêcheurs, Pégoud), but not on English words -(debris/débris); the capitalisation of German nouns has not been corrected.</p> - -<p>p.34: several section titles added to the list of subjects cf. the actual text</p> -<p>p.109: Onsmael changed to Orsmael</p> -<p>p. 159: BURNING OF CITY SYSTEMATIC added to list of subjects</p> -<p>p. 179: Poekappelle changed to Poekapelle</p> -<p>Illustration caption after page 200: Fort Loucin changed to Fort Loncin</p> -<p>p. 280: RAPID FIRING added to list of subjects</p> - -</div><!--tnbot--> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Horrors and Atrocities of the Great War, by -Logan Marshall and Gilbert Parker and Vance Thompson and Philip Gibbs - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HORRORS AND ATROCITIES *** - -***** This file should be named 55503-h.htm or 55503-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/5/0/55503/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Harry Lamé, Hathi Trust (for some -illustrations) and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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