These are articles from the Grit, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1918. This paper appears to be more of a, shall we say, sensationalist paper than something like the Washington Post or New York Times. It seems to collect things from all over rather than to report any local news.
FAMOUS FLYER IS MODEST
Canada’s Greatest Air "Ace" Has Returned From Western Front
Lieut. Col. BISHOP, Only Twenty-Four Years Old, Downed Seventy-Two Enemy Machines in France
Lieut. Col. W. A. BISHOP, the most famous of Canadian aviators, who is only 24 years old, has reached the United Stats on his return to Canada for a rest and a period of recuperation. BISHOP had been sent to England several times since 1915 with wounds, but always returned to action.
The air "ace" is credited with downing 7 German planes in France. Col. BISHOP is very modest in talking about his exploits but he has every decoration within the gifts of the British and French governments, with some of the decorations twice bestowed.
One of BISHOP's greatest exploits took place last June when he decided to return to the front after a rest in England. In 12 days he brought down 25 German machines. The last five were destroyed in 12 minutes.
Town Without Water
Little Community in the Southwest Has Been Excused for Not Having Any War Gardens
Hachita, N. M. claims to be the only town in the United States that has no war gardens. It never had a war garden, and probably never will. The community in the Southwest has no water supply. Water for drinking and circumspect bathing is brought from the railroad company which imports it at a considerable cost from a great distance.
The War Garden commission has expressed the opinion that Hachita may be excused from growing vegetables under the unusual conditions.
GIRL FOUGHT WRECKERS
Plucky Operator in Signal Tower Prevented Catastrophe
AMMUNITION TRAIN MENACED
Pistol Duel Followed Discovery, in Which Young Woman Fired Shot for Shot, and the Gang Finally Fled
When three desperadoes, probably German agents, attempted to wreck an ammunition train on the Pennsylvania railroad at Gist, Pa., Miss E. M. VENSEL, girl operator in a signal tower, fought them off with a revolver.
The girl barricaded herself in the tower and rained bullets upon the three men. The latter returned fire and bullets crashed through the windows and door of the girl’s haven. She fought on, returning shot for shot, until the arrival of a freight train frightened the gang away.
"I saw the men tampering with the switch and I ordered them away," said the girl, calmly, after it was all over. "They pointed revolvers at me, and I ran back to the signal tower and got out the pistol we keep there. I barricaded the door and then, opening a window, I fired down on the men. They fired back and we kept it up till the freight whistled for the crossing."
The crew of the freight train found a pile of logs upon the track. The telephone wires leading to Miss VENSEL’s tower, had been cut.
HUMOR IN HOSPITALS
Wounded American Soldiers Refuse to Admit Any Suffering
Yankees Brought in on Stretchers From the Battlefields of France, Laugh, Joke and Play Pranks
The laugh and the joke and the prank are not absent from the American military hospitals in France. There is suffering in those great institutions, but even the shrapnel-loaded Yank has his fun. One surgeon related the following story:
When the lines of stretcher cases were brought into the hospital the surgeon stood in the reception ward making quick examinations. One stretcher was brought silently in, the form of a soldier lying rigid under blankets drawn over the head indicated that the unfortunate American no longer needed help. When the last wounded man had been looked over the surgeon reverently lifted the blanket. The "dead" man sat suddenly up and cried, "Boo."
"Did you suffer very much, laddie?" asked a nurse of another soldier who lay on his cot.
"No, miss," was the shaky reply. "We marines don’t suffer, you know."
Another soldier, who will go through life with but one leg, wrote a number of artificial limb factories to have their representatives call on him.
Wife Beater May Beat Boches
When Henderson DUGEA, a cigar clerk, was brought into court at Akron, O., charged with beating his 18-year-old wife, Judge PARDEE ruled that he be turned over to the military authorities. He was sent to a training camp.
Commands First American Army
Maj. Gen. Hunter LIGGETT, as commander of the First American Field army, has charge of the operations of American troops in the Argonne forest sector. The Second American Field army, under command of Maj. Gen. BULLARD, also has been formed, but is not yet acting as an independent force. Gen. PERSHING is the commander of all the American armies in France.
Wife Betrayed Seditionist
George SETUSER, of Chicago, told his wife "he hoped Germany would win the war." Mrs. SETUSER told the Federal authorities and her husband was arrested. He is held for examination.
Got Drunk on "Toilet Water"
Two men arrested for drunkenness at Sioux Falls, S. D., dry territory, admitted they became intoxicated drinking rose leaf toilet water, which contained 60 per cent alcohol.
Mother Has Given Six to Fight Germans
"I wish I had six more children to give Uncle Sam," said Mrs. Michael HAINES of Oakland, Cal., in talking of the five sturdy sons and one pretty daughter who are all in the service. Mrs. HAINES was born in Germany, but she is a red-hot Yankee patriot. Standing with her is Will; upper left is Jack and lower left, Henry. Upper right is Earl and below is Raymond. The daughter, Anna, is a Red Cross nurse and hopes to be sent to France soon, where four of her brothers already have gone.
MARRIED TO TWO SOLDIERS?
Charge Made Against Pretty Young Woman of California
Queenie von KIRBY is under arrest at Long Beach, Cal., charged with bigamy.
It is said she married Al WOODS when she was only 14, and that recently she married Lee GILLY, soldier, without getting a divorce from WOODS.
Other soldiers have led Queenie to the altar, it is said, with the idea of making over their army allotments to her.
HAS BIG SUGAR ALLOWANCE
Texas Family of Twenty-One Persons Allowed Forty-Two Pounds
Steve ROSEBOROUGH, a Negro, 69 years old, of Dallas, Tex., father and guardian of 20 children, have been given a certificate for 42 pounds of sugar a month. This probably is the biggest allotment of sugar being issued to any one family in Texas, all under one roof.
ROSEBOROUGH informed the food administrator that he had 20 children and grandchildren at his home and he could not get sugar enough to "sweeten their coffee." He made affidavit as to the size of his family and was given the certificate.
Modern Darius GREEN Failed
Frederick CRAIG, in Chicago, thought he had invented a parachute coat that would save aviators’ lives when their planes went bad. He jumped from the top of a fire station and the coat failed to open. Firemen, waiting below with a life net, saved the "inventor."
Fatally Stabbed While Hugging Woman
George BRAMBILLA, of Minneapolis, Minn., died 40 hours after the point of a hatpin had been driven into his heart. Members of his family said he told them he had received the wound while embracing a woman.
Killed by Machine Gun in Aeroplane
Soldiers at Camp Mills, L. I., received a tragic forecast of war when a machine gun attached to an aeroplane in flight accidentally went off, sending bullets among the men of a sanitary corps. One soldier was killed and two others were injured.
Five Sons in Army; Seeks to Enlist
With five sons already fighting for Uncle Sam, and two more registered and waiting to go, Joe E. STUART, a Confederate veteran of Lewisville, Ark., has demanded he be allowed to enlist. He is hale and hearty in spite of his 75 years.
Told ‘Em Where to Go
When the Germans surrounded the now famous "lost battalion" of the Seventy-seventh division in the Argonne forest, they called upon the Americans to surrender. A note, under a truce flag, was sent to Maj. WHITTLESEY, the Yankee commander, saying:
"Americans, you are surrounded on all sides. Surrender. You will be well treated."
Maj. WHITTLESEY did not hesitate.
"Go to hell," he shouted.
And every man in his command, repeated the sentence with a yell of derision.
The "lost battalion" was finally rescued after five days with no food and little ammunition.
"BOY MAYOR" UNDER BOND
United States Formally Charges "Johnny" PATTON, of Chicago, as Leader of Box Car Robbers
"Johnny" PATTON, long known to fame as the "boy mayor of Burnham," is under arrest in Chicago, charged by United Stats official with being the leader of a gang said to have robbed railroad cars of $250,000 worth of plunder since last July in the southern suburbs of Chicago.
The arrest of PATTON followed the confession of Private Benjamin SHAIKIN [sic], late of Camp Taylor, near Louisville, Ky., now in custody in Chicago. SAIKIN [sic] named sic other members of the gang and stated that PATTON had bought $140,000 of the $250,000 loot and had obtained it at bargain prices.
SHAIKIN stated further that, when he was arrested several weeks ago, PATTON arranged for his escape by bribing a police officer in South Chicago.
Army for Husband Who Stayed Out Late
Charging her husband with staying out too late at nights, Mrs. John WANDLING, of Hazleton, Pa., appeared before the exemption board of that city and asked that he be sent to the army. WANDLING had been given deferred classification.
Woman Bank President
Miss Katherine GLEASON has been appointed president of the First National bank, at East Rochester, N.Y. She has been a successful real estate operator in that city.
WAR PRISONERS BOUGHT BONDS
Several Germans in Southern Camp Have Helped to Defeat the Kaiser
Maj. Frank L. MEAGHER, who is in charge of the Liberty loan drive in Camp Wadsworth, S. C., received a tip that he might get some subscriptions among the German war prisoners. He made several trips to the stockade where the Germans are confined and succeeded in selling some bonds.
Maj. MEAGHER would not give the names of any of the prisoners nor the amount of bonds they had subscribed for. If it became known among the prisoners that certain of their number had been buying bonds, he said, there might be trouble among the Germans.
Mothers’ Parade Shamed Slacker
When John E. WALKER, of Seattle, Wash., witnessed in Milwaukee a patriotic parade of women whose sons are in the war, he walked to a police station and gave himself up, confessing he had dodged the draft. "The sight of those mother worries me; I want to go to war," he said.
Taught School 56 Years
After teaching school in Chicago for 56 consecutive years, Miss Clara H. MAHONEY has decided to retire. She is 76 years old.
Americans Escape German Prison Camp
Seventy Americans, held prisoners in a German camp in Villingen, have escaped. Three of them reached Switzerland in safely. They are Harold WILLIS, Boston; Edouard ISAACS, Portsmouth, Va., and George PURYEAR, Memphis, Tenn. WILLIS, an aviator, had been a prisoner 14 months.
Got $800 for Year in Prison
Lowrey CHANDLER, held in prison at Jackson, Miss., for one year longer than his sentence called for, has been paid $800 by the prison trustees. He had sued for $20,000.
JOHN’S WORK SMOOTH
"Master Medium" in Close Touch With the Spirit World
HIS BUSINESS MAN A WIZARD
Slater of Chicago Gulls Womenfolk and Pretends to Locate Missing Persons and Unearth Stolen Property With Equal Ease
John SLATER, who lives in Chicago, is the king of American spiritualists. It isn’t necessary to prove John’s claim to this distinction; he admits it.
Whenever John SLATER and his manager, Charles ENDOR, flit from town to town on one of their "farewell tours of the country" John SLATER’s séances are always a great draw for other mediums, mediums of the humbler ilk who will give the passer-by a "full life reading" for half a dollar.
John SLATER now holds forth in "The Lily of the West" temple on West Monroe street, in Chicago. His "control" is his own uncle, long since dead.
ENDOR is a good manager and the deceased uncle is a swift worker. A spirit, of course, is under not raveling expenses, but SLATER and ENDOR like good meals and comforts. They took in $50 in one hour on one afternoon, and 11 women dug up $3 each to interview the famous medium during a half hour.
SLATER’s method is to hold church circles and private readings afterward. He is a whirlwind on the platform. The spirit emanations come to him so fast and furiously that he gets all tangled up sometimes. His spirit guide, his uncle, can tell anything about anybody, from the place in which they were born to what they are carrying in the left hand corner of their pocketbooks. The future of each individual is an open book; likewise the anatomy. It is marvelous.
Two-Bits Admission
It cost 25 cents to get into the religious service at the Lily of the West temple.
SLATER appeared on the stage with a woman in a tan silk robe and took the seat of honor under a painted sky where spirit babies floated on fleecy clouds.
The admission charge to the temple included the privilege of a question to the medium, and he had a big stack in front of him when he began to speak. The church was filled with an audience composed chiefly of women. This illustrates his methods.
"I get a condition here of doubt," he said, picking up a sealed envelope. He closed his eyes and seemed to be sending something from the spirit world. "The writer of this message," he continued, "wants to know where he niece is. Her niece is in Schenectady, N.Y. The niece is in trouble. Her name is Ella HOLMES. She is in love with a soldier who has gone away, but an older man, a dark man, is after he and wants to marry her. She should beware of this dark man and wait for her lover."
Quite a Business Man
SLATER said he would give $500 to any one who could prove collusion in his message tests. He told of having located $30,000 for an express company. He told one man where he would find a stolen automobile.
"Who stole it?" asked the man.
"Ah, you have a dollar’s worth. Perhaps I will see you later."
The man stayed.
Every few minutes a woman would come out of the presence of the master smiling and radiant. One woman actually danced out.
"Isn’t he the sweetest thing!" she said.
LOST $37,000 IN GAME
Clerk Gambled Away Fortune He Stole From Employers
THEN ELOPED TO CALIFORNIA
FRISS Deserted Bride of a Year and Fled With Pretty Lunch Room Waitress To Avoid the Consequences of His Crime
After embezzling $37,000 from his employers, almost all of which he lost in a game of "carps," in Chicago, Francis C. FRISS fled to California to avoid the consequences of his crime. With him he took a pretty lunch room waitress, deserting his bride of a year.
Young FRISS’ escapade became public when he was arrested with his girl companion in a hotel in Los Angels.
FRISS confessed his crime, expressed sorrow for his young wife, and willingly accompanied the Chicago detective back to his home city.
"I’m ready to pay the penalty," he said, brokenly.
FRISS embezzled $37,000 from the banking firm of C. F. Child & Co., by which he was employed as junior clerk. He said he lost at least $35,000 of this money playing a dice game with professional gamblers in the Astor hotel, Chicago. Two men, alleged to be the gamblers who fleeced the clerk, Morris GREEN and Sol BERNSTEIN, are under arrest.
"I first lost a few dollars I had saved out of my wages," said FRISS. "I got only $175 a month, and so had to take more from the office to keep going."
FRISS insisted that Gladys HEALY, the waitress who accompanied him to the coast did not know he was an embezzler. FRISS is 22 years old. His brother, Ray FRISS, vice president of the concern, appears as complainant in the warrant on which the young embezzler was arrested.
SEARCH FOR FAMOUS PEARL
Famous traveler Disappears From New York Hospital With $8,500
Police of New York are searching for Lieut. Col. Charles Glenn COLLINS, a British traveler and adventurer, who disappeared from a hospital where he was a patient. With him is gone a pearl worth $8,000, belonging to an Indian exporting firm.
COLLINS, with a brilliant military record had been a victim of beautiful women, and beautiful jewels since he reached man’s estate, the police say.
He twice eloped with American girls, first with Natalie SCHENCK, the Newport heiress, and again with Annie Rumey WHEELER, of Chicago. Both girls were wealthy.
Innocent Man in Prison
William MURRAY, of Boston, now serving three years for robbery in the state prison, is innocent, according to the confession of John H. KILGAIN and William DONOVAN, men whose testimony convicted MURRAY. They swore away MURRAY’s liberty to protect another man.
Gypsy King’s Pride Tumbled
King STANLEY, of the associated gypsy bands in this country, was brought into court, in Cleveland, O., charged with violation of the loafing law. He promised to get a job, but admitted that he had never "done a tap of work" in his life.
BATTER UP!
Here’s Ty COBB, who headed the batting average list in baseball for 13 years, who is not batting against Bill Hohenzollern. After Ty finished the season with the Detroit team, he won a captain’s commission in the army.
PREFERRED WAR TO WIFE
Massachusetts Man Sought Service as a Result of Marital Woes
How a man must stay at home and fight, even though he prefers the more quiet life in the trenches of France, was demonstrated when an undersized man walked into a draft board at Worcester, Mass., and demanded to be drafted.
"I’m in Class 4," he said, "and always in hot water. When I’m home it’s a case of fight all the time. If I’m not home my wife goes out and hunts me up. Then it’s fight all the way home. I’m sick of it. Draft me."
Hunter Shot by Dog Tied to Gun
McKinley BROOKS, of Staunton, Va., was removed to a hospital after he had been shot in both knees by his hunting dog. BROOKS, thirsty, tied his dog to his gun and knelt down at a stream to drink. Another dog came along and a fight ensued, during which the gun was exploded, the load taking effect in BROOKS’ knees.
Grave Digging Charges Soar
City Sexton C. E. CAMPBELL, at Calais, Me., has notified all undertakers that the price for digging graves hereafter will be $8 for adult size and $4 for children’s size. The old price was $5 for all sizes.
TOLD FALSELY OF BOY’S DEATH
Girl, in Spirit of Revenge, Sent Bad News to Mother of Army Officer
Miss Martha Elizabeth SIMMONS, 28 years old, was arrested in New York city, where she pleaded guilty to a charge that she wrote a letter to Mrs. Nellie ESTES, of St. Louis, falsely intimating that her son, Lieut. Stockton M. ESTES, had been killed in France.
Miss SIMMONS said in court that she wrote the communication, which bore a fictitious signature, because Mrs. ESTES had charge of a plant from which the defendant was discharged.
"Die Wacht" Cost Singers $20
Two men and two women, who admitted they sang "Die Wacht am Rhine," were fined $20 each by Judge TRUDE in Police court in Chicago. The unwise quartet was Mary GINTER, Olga BENSING, Frank GINTER, and Frank WAGNER. "Sing "Oh Frenchy" next time, warned the judge.
"Bat" NELSON, Pugilist, Is "Broke"
"Battling" NELSON, one time pugilist and world champion lightweight, is "broke." He is ill in a hospital in Chicago, and has asked his friends to help him. "I have loaned $250,000 in my life, and it’s still coming to me," said the fighter.
WHAT SOLDIERS EAT
One Happy Yank Writes Home to Mother Warmly Praising Generosity of His Uncle Sam
What soldiers get to eat and drink in France is vividly described in a letter received by Mrs. Patrick FLAVIN, of Chicago, from her son, Francis, who is in the Army Medical Corps "over there." Here is part of Francis’ letter:
"At breakfast to-day each man received two packages of tobacco, free, Government issued. Later on we get a pound of candy every fifth day; smoking tobacco and chewing every fourth. Uncle Sam looks after his boys; nothing is missing to make them happy. I’ve yet to meet a jollier crowd of men, all contented and healthy.
"I’ve talked to some who have been up to the excitement—wounded men—and they’re so eager to get back to the trenches it’s a shame to hold them. They say they get enough of anything in any part of France, even in the trenches. Many of them could receive honorable discharges and go back to America, but they refuse; they want to stick as long as the war lasts.
DROWNED IN SIGHT OF LAND
Transport Destroyed in Collision and 365 Americans Were Killed
American troops to the number of 365 perished when the British armed mercantile cruiser Otranto and the transport Kashmir collided in the North channel, between Scotland and Ireland. Three hundred American and 30 French soldiers and 266 members of the crew of the Otranto were landed at a port in Ireland.
The troopships collided during a heavy storm, and the Otranto, with a gaping hole in her side, drifted helplessly on the rocky coast. The Kashmir landed its troops at a Scottish port without loss of life.
Paid Cook Seven Dollars a Day
A cook engaged to go to one of the logging camps, in Northern Maine, demanded $7 a day and board, and he got it. Woodsmen are getting $4 a day, and foreman all the way from $130 to $200 a month and board.
Costs $500 to Sneeze
City ordinances passed in New York provide a fine of $500 for sneezing or coughing, and not smothering the "explosion" with handkerchief or otherwise. It is an influenza epidemic emergency measure.
Has Married 1, 133 Couples
The Rev. Calvin S. BLACKWELL, pastor of the Baptist church at Lynchburg, Va., has officiated at 1,133 marriage ceremonies during his 12-year pastorate.
Girls, Attired as Sailors, Arrested
Alma GRAY, who claims Philadelphia for her home, and Thelma HODGES, giving her residence as New York city, both 19 years old, were arrested in Norfolk, Va., by agents of the Department of Justice, to be detained on charges of appearing in male attire. The girls wore regulation sailor uniforms.
(Ok, so this isn’t really genealogically important. But it is a wonderful little picture of a more pleasant side of World War I.)
DOUGHBOYS ‘EN REPOSE’
American Soldiers Enjoy High Life at Aix-les-Bains, France
EVEN GET BREAKFAST IN BED
After Weary Tour of Duty in Front Line, a Few Days in This Resort Spa Makes Lonely Man Feel He’s King of the Land
Since the beautiful resort town of Aix-les-Bains, in France, has been chosen by Gen. PERSHING as a proper place where his doughboys may while away the few glad days of their leave of absence, every few months, Aix-les-Bains has been looking up.
It’s a right canny town, is Aix-les-Bains, and since it has been a popular resort spa for a century—with European vacationists, it provides all manner of harmless amusement to which the Yanks have taken with all the joy and gaiety they might give to Coney Island itself.
And the inn-keepers and soft drinks stand owners, and confectioners of Aix-les-Bains, who are still business folk, war or no war, are not sorry.
For the Yankee soldier is as free a spender as the proverbial Jack ashore.
Arrives With a Grouch
Every soldier arrives in Aix—that is all they call it over there, just Aix—with a good working grouch. He is sore. He is lonely and he is peeved. He grouses about the army victuals and the roads and the state of his clothes and everything else he can lay tongue to.
It’s his privilege to "grouch"; he has earned the right by hard living and hard fighting in the front line.
They tell a story at Aix of two gentlemen who arrived a few weeks ago. They were there, they explained, to investigate social conditions. They had a series of blanks for recording statistics on the social shortcomings of the soldiers. They left with one entry:
"One drunk, believed insane."
This story is repeated as an indication of the uniform sobriety of our boys. Beer and light wines are sold in the little cafes with which Aix abounds, but most of the drink trade goes to the Aix casino, now in the hands of the Y. M. C. A., where lemonade is sold. The sales average 3,000 glasses a day, which is about one glass to every man.
He Gets a Welcome
Every soldier is welcomed upon his arrival by military police, who escort him to headquarters. Here he presents his pass and is assigned to a hotel. He goes to the hotel, then, and is assumed to receive the same identical treatment as accorded to other guests. His money is as good as anybody’s.
The soldier gets three good meals a day. They are such unwonted luxuries as nice fresh eggs for breakfast, and coffee with real cream and sugar. And at luncheon there is a pat of fresh churned butter at a fellow’s elbow and hot rolls and a fried chicken.
Landlady Scandalized
One scandalized landlady entered a soldier guest’s room one morning and found him sleeping on the floor wrapped up in the window curtain. It is doubtful is she "comprongs" his explanation yet.
Another soldier woke up, saw the sun coming in the window, dressed in two minutes, shaved in one, and rushed downstairs so as not to miss his breakfast. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
A third was discovered about the same time of day propped up in bed smoking a pipe and reading a book.
"Why the flowery beds of ease—or are you sick," he was asked.
"I’m not getting up to-day," he said. "I had breakfast and dinner in bed, and I gave the garcon a franc to bring up my supper. I wish the top could see me now."
Best "Hot" in France
The Casino at Aix is undoubtedly the finest Y. M. C. A. in France. It is large, ornate and comfortable. It stands in grounds which befit it—lawn, gravel, walks, hedges, trees, and a grotto. It used to be a gambling hall, comparable to Monte Carlo. Billiards is the most blooded game offered now.
Many of the civilians—French, English, and American—who spent the summer in Aix in previous years are there this season, and although the American soldier predominates, he is by no means the whole show, not even at the Casino.
There are beautiful girls around the grounds, some of whom speak English—"a vary leet’l" (but seem to do it better with somebody else on the veranda the next day), children and old folks of unquestionably exclusive social station. But they have all taken up the Americans. Some say Americans are a fad, others that they have come to defend France and must be entertained, but one old French gentleman says it’s just because Americans are good fellows—and he is probably right.
MISSING SON IN FRANCE
Father Will Reward Lost Youth Who Is in the Canadian Army
Marshall TURLEY, 17 years old, of Lincoln, Neb., may collect a $200 reward offered by his father for information of the young man’s whereabouts.
TURLEY had advertised in vain for the boy. A few days ago he received a letter from France. It was from his son. The boy explained that he had tried to enlist before he left home, but was rejected on account of age. He then enlisted in the Canadian army and was sent overseas.
His father was so pleased at his son’s patriotism that he declared the boy shall receive the reward.
GIRL HELD AS SPY
Miss Margaret O’SULLIVAN, 19 years old, of Hoboken, N. J., is held by the federal authorities as an accomplice of Otto LOEHMER, German spy. Miss O’SULLIVAN, a cabaret singer, is charged with inducing American soldiers to drink, and then yield information about transport sailings. It is said, that by LOEHMER’s and Miss O’SULLIVAN’s work, one transport was sunk. The girl denied her guilt and said LOEHMER was merely a casual acquaintance.
Little Girl Proves Heroine
Rushing in front of a swiftly moving street car at Sharon, Pa., six-year-old Isabelle REEVES saved the life of Harry WILSON, two years old. Grabbing the toddling youngster around the waist, the little girl pulled him from the tracks as the car rolled by.
CAMERA MEN FOR FRANCE
Gen. PERSHING Needs Nervy Corps to Take Battle Pictures
MUST STAND MANY HARDSHIPS
Army Photographers Take All Chances of an Infantryman and Sometimes Even Become Part of Target to Snap Bursting Shell
The signal corps of the United States army has issued an appeal for more army photographers to assist men now in France recording the pictorial history of the war. In the appeal Gen. PERSHING declares that all applicants must have a nose for news and a firm conviction that their hides are as tough as a tank’s, so that nothing short of a 77-shell will puncture it. They must be men who can live in the mud and eat dust and strain their drinking water through their fingers. They must be able to go without sleep until they feel swollen and gummy and forget about baths or shaves; they must stand air bombardments and shell bombardments and sometimes a visit or two from a "minnie." They must always be ready to duck a little gas or a sniper. The only penalty for the man who ails to make good on the job of army photographer is that he will be assigned to driving a "Missouri flivver," which is an army mule.
Camera Men of Real Nerve
Lieut. Harry ROGERS, now one of the leading army photographers in France, is cited as a man of real nerve. While in Mexico he was capture by Villa and was sentenced to be shot. He had but 12 hours to live. Eleven hours passed, but during the twelfth Villa relented. ROGERS lost no time in getting a camera and hurrying back to prison. He took photographs of the firing squad that was then at work on his recent pals in the condemned cell.
In France, ROGERS has shown the same nerve. For a time he specialized on pictures of bursting shells. In order to get these the photographer must become a part of the target himself. If he is hit, he is out of luck. If he escapes uninjured, he has a fine photograph for the war records of the Government.
Another army photographer set up his machine near a road that was under bombardment. It was being cut by shells and so were infantrymen who were passing that way. While everybody was anxious to get off of that road there wasn’t a man who didn’t admire the gameness of the man who deliberately stayed by his camera and worked.
Little Girl Farmed 117 Acres
Gov. GARDNER, of Missouri, has just written a complimentary letter to May TERRY, a ten-year-old girl of Annada, Mo., who dragged and harrowed 117 acres on her father’s farm.
DIVORCED COUPLE REMARRIED
War Drew Parents Together Again to Please Sons in France
A middle-aged couple divorced three years ago, were remarried at St. Paul, Minn., to bring happiness to two sons in service overseas.
Gustave PULS, of Beadle county, S. D., and Augusta PULS, of Burnett county, Wis., appeared at the Court house a few days ago where they were wedded by the court commissioner.
We know this will make our soldier boys a lot happier and they can go on fighting with the feeling that they need not worry about their parents," said Mr. PULS.
Woman Riveter Established Record
Miss Annie TOBEY, an operative in the electrical shop at the navy yard at Portsmouth, N. H., won a contest for women riveters when she drove 264 copper rivets in two hours.
KILLS HUSBAND; ASKS FOR CAT
Woman Who Committed Bloody Crime Most Concerned About Pet
When Mrs. Hilda EXLUND, of Chicago, was arrested on a charge of murdering her husband, she was most worried about what would become of her pet cat.
Mrs. EXLUND said her husband refused to cut wood for the kitchen fire, so she could cook supper, so she stabbed him to death with a butcher knife.
"I guess my mind was frozen," she said.
ROOKIE STARTLED CAMP
Draftee Astonished Officers by His Mental Calculations
PRIVATE ADVANCED RAPIDLY
Brilliant (words lost) Been Sent to Officer’s Training Camp to Prepare Himself for Aerial Observation Work
A dark young man, stockily built, arrived at Camp Upton, Long Island, with a big delegation of selective service men. The young man gave his name as Jacob SHAPIRO; age, 23 years; place of birth, Russia; occupation, efficiency engineer. Despite these qualifications, he secured no better rank than private in the One Hundred and Fifty-second Depot brigade.
Private SHAPIRO had been in camp for a short time when he was assigned to the "kitchen" police, where he was scheduled to spend a day as scullion, scrub and all-around grease remover. One of the thorny difficulties connected with the food problem is how to properly portion out the twice-a-week recurring beans. SHAPIRO, who brought genius and beans into unique kinship, astonished the camp and made his first step toward glory in the army by dishing out a correct quantity of beans to each man, so that there was just enough to go around.
SHAPIRO figured out how many beans were due each soldier, and when serving them in the usual hurly-burly haste of mess time, computed each man’s portion so dexterously and correctly that when the last man had received his due, the calculation of 360 beans to the man was found to have been exact.
SHAPIRO’s Magic Pass
It was not long before SHAPIRO’s fame spread throughout the camp. He was assigned to duty assisting medical officers in examinations. One day the weary officer asked: "How the deuce many more are waiting outside?" SHAPIRO took a fleeting glance and answered, "Two hundred and thiry-seven."
The astonished medical officer took the young private to the cantonment adjutant, Maj. R. V. SISCOE, and later SHAPIRO was taken before the chief of staff, Col. POWERS. The officer emptied a box of matches on the floor. "How many?" he asked. SHAPIRO named the correct number.
Maj. SISCOE saw clearly that invaluable as SHAPIRO was in the personnel office, he would be of far greater value elsewhere. The major offered SHAPIRO the option of remaining at Camp Upton or going to the officers’ artillery training school, Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Ky., and training for aerial observation work. SHAPIRO jumped at the chance, asking only that he should be sent for real work in France as soon as possible.
(Does this town still exist? Has the cemetery been catalogued?)
Only Two Natural Deaths on This Burial Record
Of the sixty persons buried in the cemetery at Chesuncook, Me., 58 died with their boots on. The two who died natural deaths were a baby and a 70-year-old woman. One of the man was shot during a fight and another was stabbed to death by his wife during a family quarrel. Several were victims of hunting accidents, having been either mistaken for a deer or were shot by the accidental discharge of their own guns. More than a dozen committed suicide, while the others lost their lives by accidents in the lumber woods or on the log drives. As a result of this record the little burying ground is known as Maine’s bloodiest graveyard. Chesuncook is in the heart of the great Maine forest, 100 miles from any large settlement. It has a population of about 50 persons, many of whom live in log cabins and tents, working in the forest.
(An interesting article, considering the present situation.)
Ancient Glories of Old Bagdad [sic] Are Returning Under British Rule
By James Hamilton Byrd
The entry of British troops under Gen. MAUDE into Bagdad after a persistent and difficult campaign in Turkey was perhaps the hundredth capture of this famous city. For thousands of years, after shorter or longer intervals of peace and prosperity, Bagdad has fallen into the hands of enemy invading armies, been demolished, its inhabitants slaughtered, been rebuilt, waxed strong and prideful and again fallen to victorious foes. Bagdad was the greatest city in the world with a population of 2,000,000. Bagdad was then geographically the center of the world, pre-eminent in literature, art and science. On all the great surrounding plains a vast system of irrigation canals was maintained to support the huge and prosperous population. The wealth of the Orient was there centered and Bagdad was known as the "Glorious City." But its wealth betrayed it. First came the Turkish guards and then the hordes of the Jenghiz [sic] Khan dynasty took and sacked the city and the rich surrounding country was plundered and robbed by the Mongols and Tartars. Finally it was fought over, harried and possessed alternately by Persian and Turk. For the past 300 years it has been a part of the Turkish empire, the rulers of which by their ignorance and neglect have completed the destruction of its waterways and made the surrounding land a desert. Where once dwelt a population variously estimated at from 12,000,000 to 20,000,000 there are now a few hundred thousand and Bagdad itself has a population of about 100,000. These, however, are a remarkable mixture. At least one-fourth are Jews, descendants of the Babylonian captivity who through all these long centuries have played an important part in the economic life of the country. There are also Christians, Armenians, Syrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Romans, and of course many Turks. Bagdad is the capital of a large territory inhabited by wild wandering Arabs, who dwell in tents and move freely from place to place or live in reed huts clustered about the mud castle of a petty chief, and till the soil most primitively. To these Bagdad is the incarnation of splendor and luxury, which they openly flaunt and secretly covet, while the proud townsman of Bagdad despises them as uncouth barbarians at the same time that he fears them.
Approaching Bagdad as did the British troops, from the desert, the city appears a delectable haven, a mass of verdant palms rising out of the treeless plain, and glittering above these the wonderful gold domes of the mosque tombs. There is no type of architecture in the city. There are uncouth recent structures of adobe and bricks which have been used over many times, and there are some things so old that as you view them you wonder whether you are living in the present or in some ancient past. The remains of a quay on the bank of the River Tigris contains handmade bricks bearing the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar, while on the outskirts of the city still stands a pineapple-topped tomb or sarcophagus of the favorite wife of Harun-er Bashid who ruled the city in the days of the Arabian Nights, near ten centuries ago.
Bagdad is not quite, but almost synonymous with Babylon. Our history of the civilization of Babylon and the great Babylonian plain runs back some 9,000 years, a history possible through wonderful excavations made in recent years. Here was indeed the cradle of civilization. For the earliest 3,000 years we are able to identify by strange names, cities in various parts of the Babylonian valley and plain and their kings who warred with one another, making incursions as far as Asia Minor and the Mediterranean and resisting the raids from Arabia. About 2000 B. C., this history became what we may call definite world history. At that time Hammurabi—the Amraphel of the Bible, where he is represented as a contemporary of Abraham (Genesis 14)—drove out the Elamites, made the land safe and peaceful, built and repaired the irrigation canals and dykes, promoted learning, established a just and universal code of laws which stands translated to-day as one of the most wonderful documents of the world, and united the various Babylonian cities. From this time on for nearly 2,000 years Babylon was the greatest city in the world. It reached the climax of its splendor, wealth, and power under Nebuchadnezzar when Greece was in its infancy. What is actually now Bagdad was rebuilt in the present Christian era largely from old Nebuchadnezzar’s bricks.
Bagdad is nothing more than an island protected by dykes from the waters of the River Tigris which is here but a chain of lakes. Both the Tigris and the Euphrates flood the level plain of Babylonia which in these days of neglect is either a morass or a parched desert, according to the seasons. In days gone by the floods of these two great rivers were restrained by countless dykes and dams, the surplus water was collected and held in reservoirs and the rivers were controlled and distributed by a vast network of canals. Doubtless this was the greatest artificial irrigation system which the world has ever seen, not excepting the Nile valley. While to-day the floods do more harm than good, in the days of the glory of Bagdad the floods were the streams of life, watering the land and continually fertilizing it with new deposits so that as Herodotus, the Greek historian, tells us, the ground produced yearly three crops of wheat. Wheat and the date palm were native to the soil, which also furnished bricks and tablets of clay to draw and write upon. Hundreds of thousands of clay tablets have been dug out of the few excavated ruins of ancient cities of Babylonia recording the history of the people. As the rivers were brought more and more under control and harnessed to human needs, the country became enormously wealthy and populous, comparable to if not exceeding Holland.
These next five articles are from a page called:
FOR WOMAN’S BRAIN AND HAND
Edited by Katherine DOUGLASS
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SINGS FOR WAR FUND
To make the world a safe place to live in and a proper place in which to rear her little son, Robert, the noted opera singer, Alma GLUCK is doing her bit by singing for the war fund.
Before her marriage this "girl with a golden voice" was Miss Beba (elsewhere, I have learned that her name was Reba) FIERSON, a native of Bucharest, Rumania. She came to this country in 1889 where she studied music under the best teacher, and where she has been identified with musical circles ever since. Her debut in opera was made in 1909, but before that she was well known in concert work.
Alma GLUCK is a heavy contributor to all funds which have the winning of the war and alleviation of suffering for their object. She appeals to the mothers of our country to do everything in their power to shorten the time of war and to help make the world safe for the children and future generations.
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Grit’s Tried Recipes
Shortcake
Sift together 1 ½ cups rice flour, 1 ½ cups wheat flour, 1 cup soy bean flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoons baking powder. Use enough sweet milk to make like layer cake batter, add ¼ cup melted fat, beat well and bake in a shallow pan. When partly cool split and spread fruit or berries over it. This will serve 16 persons.
Potato Biscuits
½ cup flour, 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, ¼ teaspoonful salt, ½ cup mashed potato, 1 tablespoon fat, 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls milk. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut into this the massed potato, and when thoroughly mixed cut in the fat. Add enough milk to hold the mixture together. Roll and cut. Bake in a moderate oven.
Drawn Butter Sauce
4 tablespoons butter or butter substitute, 2 tablespoons corn flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, 1 cup water, 2 chopped cucumber pickles. Melt two tablespoons of the butter or butter substitute, add corn flour and seasoning, and cook until the mixture bubbles. Add the water slowly, beat and stir until sauce thickens. Remove from fire and beat in the rest of the fat slowly. A few chopped cucumber pickles added to this sauce make it appetizing with warmed-over fish. Caper Sauce—To one cup of drawn butter sauce add two tablespoonfuls of capers.
Potato Bread
1 cup mashed potato, 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 ½ cups flour (more if necessary), 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls liquid yeast or ½ cake dry yeast, or 1-6 (sic, maybe 1/6?) to ½ cake compressed yeast; 4 tablespoonfuls water. Short process—Mix the salt with the mashed potatoes, which are free from lumps and cooled until lukewarm. Add 1-6 to ½ cake compressed yeast, softened in 4 tablespoons warm water, or 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls liquid yeast, or ½ cake dry yeast. When liquid yeast is used no additional water must be added. Blend with this potato and yeast mixture 1 cup flour. Stir until smooth, cover and set to rise. When this sponge is light and soft, knead in enough flour to make a rather stiff but elastic dough. Be sure that it is stiffer than ordinary dough. Cover and let rise again until very light. Knead down, mold and place in lightly greased pan. Let rise in pan until as high as ordinary white bread, then bake at least one hour in a moderately hot oven. Bake very thoroughly. This makes one loaf.
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TAKES HUSBAND’S PLACE
When her husband was called to don a uniform and go with his regiment to the front to fight for his family and his country, Mrs. Harry BROWN, of "somewhere in America" said that she had no intention of sitting down and fretting over the fact that her husband joined the army and left her with the management of a large farm. But, like many another (words lost, unfortunately, I think her name—maybe you recognize her from the picture) jumped into overalls and went to work to make the farm pay better this year than ever.
Mrs. BROWN was a "city girl" before she came to live on the broad acres of her farmer husband’s place in the country. She had never milked a cow or fed the chickens or churned or done anything that the average country girl knows all about. But she had the advantage over some country lassies—she was possessed of a college education and was proud of the fact.
"If a woman has a good education and has sense enough to apply it to her every day work, she is pretty sure to come out on top no matter what she is called upon to do. I did not study one thing about farming when I attended college, but I did study chemistry and efficiency in management and a few other things which have helped me a great deal in taking hold of the work of running a farm and making a success of it. One thing I learned was to listen to advice from those who knew more than I and to follow that advice when it seemed best. While I don’t know all about farming after one season of it, I know enough to make it pay—and that’s a great deal."
Mrs. BROWN is one of the noble women who belong to that vast land army who stand back of our men at the front and are willing to serve early and late in order to produce food for our men and the Allied armies "over there." She does a man’s work and does it well. And she is proud of her farmer’s "uniform."
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Patriotic Women Work on Railroads
Miss Grace LA FOLLETTE, a cousin of Senator LA FOLLETTE, but not proud of the fact, is a section hand in the employ of the Rock Island railroad. Her home is in Minooka, Ill., and the section over which she has supervision is located near there. With two friends, Mrs. Robert JOHNSON and Mrs. Albert GREEN, Miss LA FOLLETTE is doing this work as her share of endeavor to help win the war.
These brave women offered their services to the railroad company when a call for help was sent out. By doing this work, which, by the way, they all enjoy, these women have released men who have gone to the front in our army. Several other women have joined the "women’s section" and are doing excellent work in keeping the tracks well cared for, rubbish cleaned up and the weeds out. They keep the roadbed well balanced and handle pick and shovel with all the skill of a man.
Miss LA FOLLETTE wears a blue denim bloomer uniform and heavy calfskin shoes. Some of the women working with her have adopted this costume, and others cling to their skirts. Of course, the women section hands are a novelty and people will stare at them as they pass, but no men are allowed on the section they work and they are not annoyed. Their duty is a patriotic one, for they really do not need the money they earn, but since they put all this money into Liberty bonds, they are doing their country a double service and are putting to shame some of the slacker sisters.
(I don’t remember this last part in the longer article on this which appeared in another paper. It said nothing about them not needing the money, but, rather that two of the women said they earned a whole lot more doing this than working as waitresses.)
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Down in "South Jersey" lives a little woman who has found one way to help win peace and democracy for the world. That sounds like a pretty big job, doesn’t it? It is, but in the last analysis it is our job—our woman’s job to give every ounce of our strength, if need be, to bring our sons home from "over there," and peace to the world.
Mrs. Cora June SHEPPARD wants to pass on to her sisters, the world over, some of the ways she has discovered to do her part in this great fight for liberty.
In the first place she believes that many women who have in their minds the purchase of new clothing for the fall and winter will be able to save the price—the high price—of new materials if they will follow her example and make over the garments they have on hand. From chests and boxes in the storeroom she found materials which had been laid away for years. Dresses that had belonged to her grandmother were ripped up, sponged, pressed, recut and made into up to date garments that no woman could be ashamed of.
In the community where she lives there is no circulating library. Instead of loaning books to neighbors who might be careless about returning them, it is suggested that women can earn considerable for the purchase of War Savings stamps by opening a "circulating library" in their own homes where one may borrow books and magazines for a small sum each week.
From her garden came vegetable and fruits which will feed her family during the winter. The family have learned to appreciate many vegetable prepared to take the place of meat, and one member has changed her 150 pounds of poor health to 120 pounds of good health by tending the garden and eating less rich food since the war began. Try this plan, you women who are searching for ways to "reduce."
Bees have gathered sweetness from the flowers and deposited it for winter use. Much of the "sugar" for preserving fruit has been borrowed from the bees’ store, and Mrs. SHEPPARD has found that honey can be used in place of sugar in many ways. A secret that all may not know is, to mix honey with milk or water and slowly warm it until it blends perfectly, then use to sweeten desserts—yes, even ice cream.
This war will show us who are the "savers" and who the "spenders." A woman can save all along the line if she really is in earnest and desires to help win the war. Just a little study will show you what are the essentials and what the non-essentials. It’s our job to gain this knowledge so that we may have nothing to regret when our boys come home again.