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x*' ' '' , X IS8PKP gMP'WKML^ l. m. orist's sons. publisher..} % ^amilg Jeirspaper: ^or the promotion ojf the political, ?o$iaI, Jgrieoltnnl and (Commercial interests of th$ feojtty | sinolkcopr. rivijckirt. imtiiii.nhkii iftisis YORK, S. C.. FRI DAY, MARCH *2*2. 1918. NO, 24 "OVERT By ARTHUR An American Boy Who Years Before Copyright, 1!?17, l>y Arthur Guy CIIAlTKit XXI. About Turn. Tho n?-xt owning \w wi-it h Ih-wil l?y th<- ?tli hriguilo. un<l oni-?- .-igniti r? turned to rest t>ill>-ts. I |><>n arriving oi tIn mi* I.ill. is we m ri' given twenty* lour hours in wtiieli to dean up. I had jusi finished getting tlii- inu.J from my uniform when tin- orderly sergeant Inloiim-d no- that my name was in oriji rs to leave, ami that t was to report to the orderly room in the morning lor onleis, tr.anspoitatioti and rations. I nearly had a tit, hustled ahoul parking up, tilling my park with souvi iiiis sueli a l ste II heads, dud liomliM, nose raps, shrapnel halls, and a Prussian guardsman's helinet. In fart, helore I turned in that night I had everything ready to report at the orderly room at nine the next morning. I wits tlie envy ot tin- whole section, swanking around, telling of the good time I was going to have, the plaees I would visit, and the real, old Knglish heer I intended to gu/.xh-. Sort of ruhhod it into tliein, hecaust they all do it. and now that It was my linn, I took pains to gel my own haek. At nine I reported to tin- captain, ircelvitig iny travel order and |>ass. Ih iisl.eil me how much money I wanted I <rlil.lv answered. "Three hiilidrt-il t'raiics, sir:" In- just as Klihlv hninh-d mi- one hundri-d. la-port in tr al britcioh- hi-adi|uartirs. Willi tin park writ;Iniik a Inn, I waitril willi forty others, lot I In* iiiljiiliitil < ins|n-i-t lis. Aftrr ail hour's wait. In rami* out: must liavr Is-i-n son hrransr In- wasn't tioint; with us. Tin- ?|u:iiti-riuasli-r si-rui-ant issued us two days' rations, in a I it t li- white ranvas ration hat;, wlilrli we ti> I In our belts. Thi-n two motor lorrirs rami- a lout; :i in I wi- pilril in. luutiliiiitr. joking iiiul in tin- lu-st ol' spirits. \V?- i-m-ii Iom-iI tin- (Si-rmans, w<- w-i-ri- feeling so Imp py. ttur journi-y to si-vi-n ikiys' hlis? In Mlighty hail commenced. Tin- riili- in tin- lorry lasti-d ahoul two hours; li.v ttiis tiinr wi- were covered with Urn-, whitr dust from tin road, hut didn't mind, i-vni it we were nearly t-hokinic. At tin- railroad station at I-' we reported to an olliei-r, who had a white hand around his arm, whk-h ri-ad "It. T. <>." (ICo.val transportation otliccr). To us this ofHcor was Santa Onus. " *vm' WltiiTIlt tti I'TWIKI' Hinmt'11 -in.11 our orders; he Klanml through them and said. "Make >ourselves ;:oinlo,taide on tlie platform and don't leave; the train Is lialde to he along in live minutes?or live hours." It came in live hours, a shiny ol eleven tuateii boxes on big. high wheels, drawn tiy a dinky little engine with the "eon." These mateh boxes were cattle eats, on the sides ?>t which was iKiintcd lite old familiar sign. "Homines 10. Chevaux S." The It. T. it. stuck us all into one oar. We didn't care; it was good as a I'tillman to us. Two days we spent on that train, humping. stopping. Jerking ahead, and sometimes sliding hack. At three stations we stopped long enough to make some tea. hilt were unable to wash, so when we arrived at it . where we were to embark for Mighty, we were as Idaek as Turcos and. with otir unshaven faces, we looked like a lot of tramps. Though tired out, we were happy. We had packed up. preparatory to detraining, when a It. T. O. held up iiis hand for us to stop where we were and eiiitte over. This is what he said: "Itoys, I'm sorry, hut orders have just been received cancelling all leave. If >on had been three hours earlier you would have gotten away, .lust stay ill that tram, as it is going heck. Rations will he issued to >ou for your return journey to your respective stations. Iteastly rotten I know." Then lie left. ,\ dead silence resulted. Then men started lo curse, threw tlieir rilles on the iloor of the car; others said nothing. seemed to he stupelied. while some had the tears running down their cheeks. It was a hitter disap|H>intmeiit to all. Mow we Milieu :u inc cutiium that train; it was all his fault (so we reasoned ; why hadn't he speeded up ! a little or heen on time, when we would ha\e gotten ??IT tiefore tl.e order arrivedNow it was no Uliuhty for us. That return journey was misery to us: I just ean't deserihe it. When we not hark to rest billets we found that our brigade was in the trenehes (another aurora hie surprise) and that an attack was contemplated. Seventeen of the forty-one will never net another ehanee to go on leave; they were killed in the attack, .lust think if that train had been on time those seventeen would still lie alive. I hate to tell you how I was kidded by the hoys when I not hark, but it was uooil and plenty. our machine nun company took over their part of the line at seven o'clock, the night after 1 returned from my near leave. At 3:30 the following morning three waves went over and captured the first and si<cond German trenches. The machine gunners went over with the fourth wave to consolidate the captured line or "dig in" as Tommy calls it. Grossing No Man's luind without clicking any casualties, we came to the German trench and mounted our gun* on the parados of same. * -MivU <t mnvto in mv 1 i fp i ncvrr Kin o?v .. n.v.~ ... ?, ?bunches of twisted barbed wire lying about, shell holes everywhere, trench all bashed In. parapets gone, and dead bodies, why, the ditch was full of them, theirs and ours. It was a regular morgue. Some were mangled horribly from our shell Are. while others were wholly or partly buried in the mud. the result of shell explosions caving in the walls of the trench. One dead German was lying on hii book, with a rifle sticking straight up HE TOP" I t GUY EMPEY Got Into the War Two I His Country. i Empy. < in the air. the bayonet of which was buried to the hilt in his chest. Across his feet lay a dead English soldier 1 with a bullet hole in his forehead. ' This Tommy must have been killed 1 just as he ran his bayonet through the Ccrmun. ' Itilles and equipment were scatter- ' ed about, and occasionally a steel ' helmet could be seen sticking out of ' the mud. i At one point, just in the entrance to I a communication trench, was a stretcher, on this stretcher a German < was lying with a white bandage around his knee, near to him lay one or the stretcher-bearers, the red cross on his arm covered with mud and his ' helmet tilled with blood and brains. I Close by, sitting up against the wall i of the trench, with head resting 011 his chest, w;us the other stretcher-hear- t cr. Ito seemed to lie alive, tlie posture 1 ..,.,.1 m.cf Kilt whi-n I got i-Iiism' 1 could sco it liti'KV, j:tKU<-*l ? hole hi his temple. The three must i hute heon kill.-,| |?y the same shell- ' hurst. I The dugouts were :i 11 smashed in I ami knocked ahout, hit; s<iuare-rut I tiiuhers splintered into hits, walls eav ed in and entrances choked. i Tommy, after taking a trench < learns to his sorrow.that the hardest : part of the work is to hold it. Iii our case this proved to lie so. i The (iertnaii artillery and machine i mms had us taped (raitKcdl for fair: ' it was worth your life to expose your- i self an instant. .? I tout think for a moment that the t ' ermans were tin- only sufferers; we i were clicking casualties so fast that i you needed an adding machine to i keep track of them. i I >id you ever see one of the steam I shovels at work on the Panama canal? Well, it would look like a hen .scratch- I ing alongside of Tommy "digging in" I while under tire. You couldn't see daylight through the clouds of dirt < from his shovel. i After losing three out of six men of ( our crew we managed to set up our machine gun. One of the legs of the l tripod was resting on the chest of a ha If-Iniried body. When the gun was i tiring, it gave the impression that the ; body was breathing. This was caused t by the excessive vibration. ; Three or four feet down the trench < -prbirri't t'mvt- feet fr-em-thr -gvoYnd.-n- i foot was protruding froin the earth. , I We knew it was a (Serman by the | hlat-k lea Hut boot. One of our crew used that foot to haiiK extra luindoilers of ammunition on. Tliis man always was a handy fellow; made use of little points that the ordinary person would overlook. I I The Hermans made three counterattacks. which were repulsed, but not without heavy loss on our side. They also suffered severely from our shell I and machine gun lire. The ground wasl spotted with their dead and dying. I The next day things were somewhat I quieter, but not ?|Uiet enough to bury I the dead. | We lived, ate and slept in that I trench with the unluiricd dead for six I days. It was awful to watch their facesl become sw ollen and discolored. To- I wards the last the stench was tierce. J What got on my nerves the most! was that foot sticking out of the dirt. I It seemed to me, at night, in t^?|l moonlight, to be trying to twist || around. Several times tills impression I, was so strong that I went to it anil I gras|H'd it in both hands, to see if 11 could feel a movement. 11 I told this to the man who had used 1| it for a hutruck Just before I lay down I for a little nap, as things were quiet, I ( and I needed a rest pretty badly. I When I w oke up the foot was gone. I lie had cut It off with our chain saw! out of the spare parts' hox and had I plastered the stump over with mud. I During the next two or three days. I before we were relieved, I missed that I foot dreadfully; seemed as if t had) suddenly lost a chum. I think the worst thing of all was to I' watch the rats, at night, and some-1 times in the day. run over and play I ultout among the dead. Near our gun, right across the para-1' pet, could be seen the body of a Her-1 man lieutenant, the head and arms of I which were hanging into our trench. I The man who had cut off the foot used I ^ to sit and carry on a one-sided conver-1 nation with this officer, used to argue, I and point out why Uermany was iu the!. wrong. During all of this monologueI him sav anything out of |' the way?anything that would haveI hurt the officer's feelings had he been alive. He was square all right: wouldn't even take advantage of a dead man in an argument. To civilians this must seem dreadful. but out here one gets so used to awful sights that it nuikes no Intpression. In passing a butcher shop you are not shocked by seeing a dead turkey hanging from a hook. Well, in France, a dead body is looked upon from the same angle. Hut. nevertheless, when our six days were up. we were tickled to death to be relieved. Our machine gun company lost ' seventeen killed and 31 wounded in ! that little local afTair of "straighten- ' ing the line." while the other com- ! panics clicked it worse than we did. After the attack wo went into re- 1 1 serve billets for six days, and on the ' seventh once again we were in rest bil- j lets. I CHAPTER XXII. Punishment* and Machine Gun Stunts. | i Soon after my arrival in France, In i fact, from my enlistment. I had found that in the British army discipline is very strict One has to be very carei ful in order to stay on the narrow path of government virtue. There are about seven million ways i of breaking the king's regulations; to . > keep one you have to break another, i I had played. He was a good sport all right, because his bullets were going away over our heads, must have been tiring into the air. 1 commenced to feel friendly toward him. This duet went on for five days. Fritz was a good pupil and learned rapidly, in fact, got better than his teacher. 1 commenced to feel Jealous. When he had completely mastered the tune, he started sweeping the road again and we clicked it worse than ever. Hut he signed his death warrant by doing so, because my friendship turned to hate. Every time lie IIred he played that tune und we danced. The boys in the battalion gave us the 'Ha! Ha!" They weren't in on our little frameup. The originator of the ruse and the other two gunners had Fritz's location taped to the minute; they mounted their two guns, and also gave me the range. The next afternoon was set for the grand tlnale. Our three guns, with different elevations, had their tire so arranged that opening up together, their bullets would suddenly drop on Fritz like a hailstorm. About three the next day Fritz The worst punishment is death by a iring s?iuad or "up against the wall," Tommy rails iL This is for desertion, cowardice, muiny, giving information to the enemy, ooliiig, rape. rubbing the dead, forcng a safeguard, striking a superior, itc. Then comes the punishment of Ct Jays in the front-line trench with>ut relief. During this time you have :<> engage in all raids, working parties n No Man's l-nid, and every hazardhis undertaking that conies along. If fou live through the sixty-four days i*ou are indeed lucky. This punishment is awarded where there is a doubt as to the willful guilt itt a man who has eoiumltted an offence punishable by death. Then comes the famous lield punshrncnt No. 1. Tommy has nicknamed it "crucifixion." It means that a man s spread-eagled on a limber wheel, two hours a day for twenty-one days. During this time he only gets water. iully beef and biscuits for his eJiow. Vou get "crucified" for repeated min>r offenses. Next in order is tie-Id punishment No. 2. This is confinement in the "clink," Mthout blankets, getting water, bully jeef and biscuits for rations and doing ill (lie dirty work that can lie found.! I'his may lie for twenty-four hours or twenty days, according to the gravity ?f the offense. Then collies "pack drill" or defaulters' parade. This consists of drilling, mostly at the double, lor two hours ivitli full ei|uipnient. Tommy hates| this, because it is hard work. Sometimes lie lilts his park with straw to igliteii it, and sometimes he gets -aught. If he gets ealight, he grouses it every thing in general for twentymo days, from the vantage point of i limber wheel. The sergeant major keeps what is known as the crime sheet. When a man commits an obelise, he is crimed," that is, his name, number' iinl offense is entered oil the crime iheet. Next day at a. iii. he goes to lie "orderly room" before the captain Alio either punishes liinr with It." ?r sends him before the u. (.*, (officer .-oiiiiiianding battalion.! The captain .< ili? .in,i,:iiic ean unlv award "t". LI." Tommy tiuiny a time has thanked lie king for making that provision in lis regulations. To gain the title of u "smart soltier'" Tommy has to keep elear of the rime sheet, and you have to be darned smart to do it. 1 have been on it a few times, niosty for "Yankee impudence." During our stay of two weeks in est billets our captain put lis through i course of machine-gun drills, trying ut new stunts and theories. After parades were over, our guns' trews got together and also tried out satnt! therrrU-s-r.r "TfiWr own' im - refer>nec to handling guns. These courses md nothing to do with the advancement of the war, consisted mostly of tausing tricky jams in the gun, and then the rest of the crew would 011leavor to locate as uuickly as possible lie cause of the stoppage. This anius-J .al them for :i few days and then things came to a standstill. tie of the boys on my gun claimed that he could play a tune while the tun was actually tiring, and demonstrated this fact one day on the target range. We were very enthusiastic and lecided to become musicians. After constant practice, J became piite expert in tlie tune entitled "All 'onduetors Have Dig Keel." When I had mastered this tune, our two weeks' rest eatnc to an end, and jiiee again we went up the line anil .....b Hi.. in fi'unl of <:? - Wood. At this point the (German trenches run around the base of a hill, on the [op of which was a dense wood. This wood was infested with machine guns, which usetl to traverse our lines at tvill, and sweep the streets of a little tillage, where we were billeted while n reserve. There was one gun In particular which used to get our goats, it had the xact range of our "elephant" dugout entrance, and every morning, about the time rations were being brought up, its bullets would knock the dust jii the road; more than one Tommy went West or to Blighty by running into them. This gun got our nerves on edge, itwl Fritz seemed to know It, because lie never gave us an hour s rest. Uur reputation as machine gunners was at dake; we tried various ruses to locate ind put this gun out of action, but uach one proved to be a failure, and Fritz became a worse nuisance than iwer. He was getting fresher and more L'urelesK every day, took all kinds of liberties with us?thought he was invincible. Then one of our crew got a brilliant idea and we were all enthusiastic to put it to the test. Here was his scheme: When firing my gun, 1 was to play my tune, and Fritz, 110 doubt, would fall for it, try to imitate me tun an ulded insult. Tbis gunner and two thers would try, by the sound, to locate Fritz and his gun. After having got the location, they would mount two machine guns in! trees, in a little Mump of woods to the left of our cemetery. and while Fritz was in the middle >f his lesson, would open up and trust to luck. By our calculations it would take at le.st u week to pull off the stunt. If Fritz refused to swallow our bait. >t would be impossible to locate his special gun, and that's the one we were fter, because they all sound alike, a slow pup-pup-pup. our prestige was hanging by a thread. In the battalion we had to enilure all kinds of insults and fresh remarks iis to our ability in silencing Fritz. Even to the battalion that German was a sore spot Next day, Fritz o|>ened up as usual, i let hiin tire away for a while and then butted in with my "pup-pup-puppup-pup-pup." I kept this up quite a while, used two belts of ammunition. Fritz had stopped tiring to listen. Then he started in; sure enough, he had fallen for our game, his gun was trying to imitate mine, but at first he mode a horrible mesB of that tune. Again I butted in with a few bars and topped. Then he tried to copy what / started "pup-puping" that tune. I blew a sharp blast on a whistle, it was the signal agreed ujion; we turned loose and Fritz's gun suddenly stopped in t ho middle of a bar. We had cooked his goose, and our ruse hail worked. After tiring two belts each, to make sure of our job, we hurriedly dismounted our guns and took cover in the dugout. We knew what to expect soon. We didn't have to wait long, three salvos of "whiw.-bangs" came over from Fritz's artillery, a further contirmation that we had sent that musician gunner on his Westwardbound Journey. That gun never bothered us again. We wore the heroes of the battalion, our captain congratulated us, said it was a neat piece of work, and, conse!|iicutly, we were all puffed up over the stunt. There are several ways Tommy uses to disguise the location of ills machine gun and get his range. Some of tin- most commonly used stunts are as follows: At night when he mounts his gun over the top of his trench and wants to get the range of Fritz's trench he adopts the method of what he terms 'n.i? nf gelling l lie spurns. mux lunn.x.x . tiring bursts from bis gun until the i bullets hit the Herman barbed wire, j He can tell when they are cutting the i wire, because a bullet when it hits a I wire throws out a blue electric spark. |l Machine-nun lire is very damaging to I wire and causes many a wiring party | to go out at night when it is iiuiet to j repair damage. < To disguise the flare of his gun at > night when tiring Tommy uses what is 1 called a flare protector. This is a stove ' pit** nrruiigiTTitoit *wnrctt rtts ovur tflf barrel casing of the gun and screens ' the sparks from the right and left, but * not from the front. So Tommy, always resourceful, adopts this scheme: 1 About three feet or less in front of the ' gun he drives two stakes into the ' ground, about live feet apart. Across ' these stakes he stretches a curtain ' made out of empty sandbags ripped ' open. He soaks this curtain In water ] and fires through it. The water prevents it catching lire and effectively screens the llare of the tiring gun from the enemy. Sound i.s :i valuable asset in locating ' ? machine gim, but Tommy surmounts 1 Ibis obstacle by placing two machine ' guns about one hundred to one hun- 1 drcd and fifty yards apart. The gun 1 on the right to cover with its fire the ' sector of the left gun and the gun on 1 the left to cover that of the right ' gun. This makes their lire cross; they ( are fired simultaneously. My this method it sounds like one 1 gun tiring and gives the Hermans the Impression that the gun "Ts tiring from a point midway between the guns ( which ure actually tiring, and they accordingly shell that particular spot. j The maehine gunners chuckle and say. t "Fritz is a brainy boy, not "alf he ( ain't." Hut the men in our lines at the spot ( being shelled c urse Fritz for his ignoranee anil pass a few pert remarks ( down the line in reference to the ma- ( chine gunners being "windy" and afraid to take their medicine. (To He Continued.) The "Eagles."?The history of five i wars will stand behind the men who i serve aboard the submarine fighters i of the "Kngle class." the name re- j ccntly selected for the vessels now he- | ing constructed at the Ford plant, l says a Washington letter to the I'hil- i adelphia ledger. ( The statement issued by the navy i department showed the valiant part < played by ships bearing the name i "Eagle" In and since the Involution- I ary war. 1 In the war which brought indc- i pendente to ini' unncu .-Mines st *rn . vessels hearing this name took to sen < for the colonies, and left behind them i a record of sterling merit. I During the naval war with France the "Eagle" of that day was com- i manded by such illustrious men as I Commodore John Harry, Commodore s Thomas Truxton and Commodore Ste- < phen Decatur. Sr. While in active : service during the years 1799 and 1800 i she captured from the French Le Hon I'ere. La Fougueuse, La Favorite i and La Magdalen et Dolphin. I Five "Eagles" took part in the war < of 1812. One of them was captured < by the Hritlsh, only to be retaken i when, as a part of the enemy forces, s she met the American fleet under * MacDonough in the battle of Lake < Champlaln. where another "Eagle" i flew the American colors. ' The Civil war and the Spanish- 1 American war each had an "Eagle" as i l?art of the United States naval forces, < and the vessel commissioned during I the war against Spain Is still on the 1 navy list. She was once In command ' of Lieutenant F. F. Fletcher, now an 1 admiral. 1 m , I Wheat holdings by country mills and elevators on March 1, according to estimates of the department of agri- 1 culture, totaled 68,972,000. That la I about 20,000,000 bushels less than was I held on the same date last year, and ! about 86,000,000 leas than was held on I the same date of 1916. 1 ROUSE YE AMERICANS! The Philittiaps are Upon Ut And Seek Our Ruin. The following fmtriotie message is 'fmn (.low Charles H. If rough of Artansas. and It is well worth the most lerious anil alarmed attention of every Uneriran: I nfortunately there is a Ihdshevlki n the United States as well as in Russia, eoin|tosfd as it is of persons *h > are assiduously husying thetntelves around the great cantonments n unscrupulous and clever lying as o our motives for entering the war ?nd our chances of winning the war. t feel that in this hour of our nation's stress and strife there can he 10 twilight zone in American pa.riotism. Every citizen must he either tot the president and for the flag, or iguinst the president and against the laz. We are engaged In a great struggle >f human liberty and human dem>Cntey against military autocracy and lespotism. We are lighting to make jh" world safe for democracy and lemocrary safe for the world. We Ire vindicating our rights and the freedom of the high seas sanctioned J> international law. We are projesting against the fencing off of the teas, the laying of mines in neutral (raters, the violation of a sacred reaty of Cermnny with liclgium the tilling of defenseless civilians, and .he attacks on defenseless towns and he ruthless violation of the sanctity >f womanhood. All rules of humanity wive been thrown away by the modun Huns, who through the teachings ind demands and commands of their ruling classes deserve to be called "the scourge of Clod," just as truly is Attilla and the Huns were known us the scourge of t'.od nearly 1,000 rears ago. In this great holocaust, ehich has already cost approximatey 20,004.1)00 men in killed, wound*d. and prisoners, and tin- expendi.ure of $125.?0ft.0ft0.ftftft. Ccrniany ?1 * ??.i ti?, central Teutonic powers arc making their last itaiul for feixlaltsin against oncmnng democracy. This is a war against 'eialalisin?the ripht of the castle on he hill to rule the villape below, feudalism plus science, thirteenth entury plus twentieth?this Is the elipion of the mistaken Herman that ins linked itself with the unmcntiontble Turk, that, like its scholar, has ulopted the method of Mohammed md the theory that "the state has jo conscience," and "the kinp can do 10 wrong." With the spirit of the ranntic the deluded people of the ccnrnl powers lielleve this pospel and hat It is their duty to spread it by force, for, with the I'otsdam dynasty, fmlpht is ripht and strength Is triumphant." With tar. chlorine, and hustard poisonous pases that make ivlnp a hell; with submarines that worse than the devil carrying a Mill'hi wilh-ifc HP?:HlW? tbwtSombed men and women while they deep; with a perfected and scientific system of "man's inhumanity to nan" that the modern world first leard of when Herman troops invad;d hopeless Helgiuin?Herman feudalam iy making war upon mankind. Let this spirit of evil and autocracy have its way and no man could live n America without paying toll to it. n manhood, and in mercy. We would ice ns Ki-iinee has lived for 40 years. n haunting terror. Our people need to he thoroughly roused as to the seriousness of the dtuation. We are confronted hy war. jrlm-visagcd war. (Jertnanv occupies our times as much area and has .vithin the control of her armies and ivilian population six times as much ood acreage as she occupied three ind a half years ago at the outbreak )f the war, with 2.500.000 Russian prisoners to cultivate this food acreige. She has concurred and holds toumania. Servia, Montenegro, Kusilati Poland, the entire Russian ountry up to Riga, many square nlles in Italy, 85 per cent of Bel;luni, and 246 square miles in France. Until the real issues of the war are wrought home to the Herman people hey will continue to oversubscribe ler loans ami furnish the necessary ^redit for the mobilization of her roops and resources. She Is practically the only nation in the world :hat has made a census of her man >ower, which' has been carefully selected with reference to occupation, ind we are told that she has fully 100,000 carpenters and 200,000 electricians and mechanical engineers iv,ho have never seen the trenches or ihe firing lines. Official authorities ldmit that Hcrmany can put into the Held 800,000 men each year, nnd that her average losses for the past three ind a half years have been only 400. 00 annually, leaving a tremendous reserve power upon which she can iraw. In her Ihree landstrunis in reserve we are told that there are Fully 12,000.000 men. With the colapse of Russia, and the estimated withdrawal of 140 army corps, f!erTiany is massing thousands of troops in the western frontier and Is prel>aring for a supreme effort to brenk ihe western line. She failed at the Ntarne, at Y.pres, and at Verdun; tf we properly support our government the troops of America, fighting ihoulder to shoulder with those of iur brave allies, will see that she falls it Solssons, at Champagne, or wlier?vcr she may strike this spring. But in order to accomplish this It will be necessary for everyone of us IA -1' nlol.notor ImT ftf his dntment of sacrifice. We must teach jur children and people of moderate neans to buy thrift stamps and war saving certificates: that a dollar sav*1 In the United States is a patriotic lollar; that a dollar hoarded is a slacker; and that a dollar wasted Is i traitor. We must continue to enist in the membership campaign and subscribe generously to the Red [?ross, whic^. by Its expenditure of 1100,000,000 on the battle fields of Prance, has already relieved over 200.000 French and Belgian civilian women and children. We must buy new Liberty bonds in the third crusade. A Clever Burro.?A friend tells us the following 4bout Rowdy, a burro Ite bought as a foal in Colorado and wrought home to Massachusetts for ma children: "Rowdy is now an aged baasioner, but he has been as clever a little pet and servant as one could 'J A l' wish. His friendship for the family cow has been one of the distinguishing: features of his career. They used I to stand side by side In the stalde. and in the jwsture would actually play tag. The cow began years ago with I her rough tongue to lick Kowdy's ] face. When he attempted to recipro- ( rate the courtesy, his smooth tongue i made no impression. This then is \ what we have seen him do a hundred , times: He would tind a small stick, take it in his teeth, and scratch the cow all about the eyes, and ears and ' horns." Can anyone call this instinct? Was such an idea tucked away in I Itowdy's brain when he was born, a ' part of his inheritance from genera- I tions of ancestral burros? That would ' seem out of the uuestion. We are in- ! dined to think that Howdy thought out the stick idea for himself.?Our I Dumb Animals. i GENERAL NEWS NOTES. I Record of Current Happenings Col- ( lected from Various Sources. < Uncle Sum wants his soldiers to be : clean shaven, and to help this along < every soldier is to be given a razor, < a mirror and a shaving brush. Police officials throughout N'ew 1 Jersey as making vigorous efforts to enforce the recently passed law of that state aguinst idleness during the 1 period of the war. The Young Alen's Christian assoclation has started a national campaign t to secure 4.000 "Y" workers for serXI vice in the red triangle huts with the , American army in France. President Wilson on Tuesday signed j the daylight saving hill. Under the t terms of the law all United States < clocks are to lie set forward one ; hour on the last Sunday in March. r Two men wore killed and thirty- 1 three Injured by the collapse of an un- 1 tinished hangar at the aviation sta- 1 tion near Miami, Fla., Tuesday. The * collapse was cuused by a heavy wind storm. (iround glass has been found in j bread, buckwheat Hour and chocolate candies by tho New York food administration within the past few days. It ' Is churged to be tho work of alien enemies. Tho Delaware legislature has ratified ( the proposed anti-liijuor amendment , to tho Federal constitution. This , makes a total of nine states that have { ratified the amendment, one-fourth of , the necessary two-thirds to ratify the t amendment. < Director General McAdoo has is- i sued an order for the curtailment of I useless railroad officers in New York ' and other centers. He is having of- I fleers of different lines consolidated in ' order to reduce unnecessary expenses. 1 Treasury officials and congressional leaders have reached an agreement , . llnder-U-hich - a Jaill -tO- authorise the government to extensively deal In pilver certificates be withdrawn from j circulation. The silver will be melted down and the bullion exported to pay trade balances. Secret service officers made Import- , ant arrests in New York Monday when ( they arrested Mine. Despina Davido- . vitch Storch, Mine. Charlotte Nix, , Baron deHeville and Count Iiobert de | Clermont. All of them were in the , employment of the German govern inent as spies. Mine. Storch is said to , have been the leader of the gang. I Advices from Argentina are to the ' effect that hundreds of horses of that < country have been inoculated with 1 germs of glanders. The horses Inoe- < ulated are intended for England, but ' very few of them aro reaching their I destination and more of the animals 1 so infected have been landed in Eng- ' land. 1 Information reaching Geneva, ' Switzerland, is to the effect that res- | idents of German cities are in a panic over the air raids of Allied airmen. In the principal cities along the Rhine it is said thut many houses have been ( vacated and their owners have moved ( further away from the German bor- ( der. It Is also said that opinion is | growing against the continuation of German air raids. An iron pot containing $115,000 in < gold was blasted out of an old well | near Hillsville, Pa., last Wednesday. | Tho money had belonged to a man j named Shaffer, who died in 1888. , Stricken by apoplexy Shaffer tried to i tell his family where tho coin was hidden but died before he could do so. The money was found by acci- | dent, although the hunt had been go- i ing on all these years. A. Uruco Hielaski, chief of the United States secret service, in an addross in .Vew York, said that while the secret service of Germany had been claimed to be the most proficient in the world, the truth of the matter is that the secret service of the United States had proved that the German service was the most blundering organization of its kind in the world. He said that the biggest part the German service had played in the United States had been the part that brought the United States into the war as Germany's strongest enemy. Cotton Seed Statistics.?Cotton seed statistics for the period from August 1 last to February 28, announced last Tuesday by the census bureau show: 1 Receipts at mills 3,802,905 tons; 1 crushed 3.203.433. and on hand February 28, 633.399. Cotton seed products statistics for the same period show: Crude oil produced 971.110.040 pounds; on hand 199,220,773. Refined oil produced 1,549,913 pounds; on hand 245,754.954. Cake and meal produced 1,540,913 tons; on hand 113,272. Ltnters produced 829,019 bales of 500 pounds: on hand 266,549. ? Hull fibre produced 138,951 bales: on hand 6,567. Imports of oil 7,452,821 pounds; exports 32,804,683. - Exports of cake and meal 17,643 tons; of llnters 120,776 running bales. Boys for Service.?Quotas of boys which each state is to furnish in the campaign to enlist a boys' working reserve of 260.000 for the farmers, which opens today has been announced by the department of labor. It Includes: Georgia, Alabama and Virginia, 8,900 each; Vorth Carolina and Arkansas. 7,000 each; South Carolina, 4,000; Florida, 2,600; Kentucky. 9.600; Oklahoma, 11,000, and Texas, 26,000. 1 IN FRONT LINE TRENCHES 3ouglas Featherstone Telia of Thrilling Work. The-following letter Is from Douglas Featherstone, son of Hon. C. C. Featherstone, well known to York county people, as a candidate to tvhom they gave a majority of their totes in 1K1U. The letter is republished from the tlreenwood Index: Feb. 13. 1?1S. [>ear Mr. Holton: ? The very nice box of candy from *ou and your family came to me some Jays ago and I am sorry that my work has been so unceasing and exacting [hut I have not been able to thank >ou all before this time. You aimed the candy for somewhere in France ut cnristmas ume. n uiuu > reach me at that time due mainly to my many moves Just at the last of the rear; but when it did reach me on :he firing line I assure you that it was ten times as acceptable and nice as it tvould have been had it reached me it Christmas. I might say in passing that the candy in company with two ither packages from Greenwood found lie with gas mask, waiting for a Uoche gas attack to pass over. The Spirit That Will Win. The year 1918 has been exceedingly satisfactory to us so far. To begin nith 1 am working with one of the est. if not the best organization in he 1'nited States army?and my eonlection with it has been of the pleasintest nature itossible. With it I have >een through almost the entire I toe he iue-up of frightfulness and we have ret,to fail to give them as good as hey sent. We have met and will meet lillleulties on all sides: but tile men ire really wonders and somehow we nnnage to pull through. I have been ....... ... If. in Ihnl t have I icon (trough ex|torleneos anil situations vhich usually come with yours initcad of months on the tiring lino. Magnitude of the Task. Fighting a poworful, wonderfully >rgnnizod enomy throe thousand miles 'rorn home is a task the magnitude ot vhich wo can hardly realize ourselves tad wo have many, many lessons to earn: hut the U. S. soldiers are cutting to the scratch noltly. I have Iteen tut with our men (and the largest [tart of the battery is made up of men younger than I am?and a great many tf thorn seventeen, eighteen and ninecon years old) for three and four lays at hard work when our average deep was close to nothing and they vorked cheerfully faithfully and tteadlly. Once we were In the saddle for sixteen hours and we got in and earned that we had to go out in an tour for eight hours more (and we had tne meal when there should have teen three and that one had been fold)?one man complained out loud ind he was met with a volley ol 'what'd you come over here for anyivayT1' "Hay"you ought to've linougtit your nurse along.' "D" you come herr lo get your till of chow?" and he was rorry he hadn't kept quiet. Hot German Fire. Only n few days ago a Hochc battery opened up on us with high explosives and they weren't wasting their <hells all over the country either. The dtnation was pretty bad and everybody was ordered to take the best ihelter available. The Hochc lire got i little more previous as it went on ?nd it didn't make very nice music. Finally we got some information as tn is bat battery was tiring on us and tlx captain told me to open up on them with two guns and send the rest ol the men away from the battery position. We computed tiring data very hastily and when I stepped outxidi ind blew the whistle the men sprang aut to the puns with a yell?ami il reminded me of a footliall team when I he whistle starts the game. With <hell falling all around us we gave them ahout thirty rounds and absolutely silenced them?and if there wa> si man in the battery as scared as 1 was he didn't show it that day. A number of the men were hit, but not hurt, by fragments and I had thr?f fragments try to make a l?ell out of m> helmet when a shell burst In the toy of a nearby tree. It was one of th? happiest bunches I ever saw when II was phoned Into us a few minute; later that we had caused a big explosion and fire at the Boche batter) ind put one gun out of commission? lpparently having hit an ammunition Jump in their vicinity. In Very Front Line. I have been In a forward observation post for the past two days and I hav< in opportunity to write this only bemuse it is raining slightly and a denst fog covers things and where yesterlay I could see nearly every movement over a couple of kilometers ol front in No Man's Land enemy trenches and, with the aid of glnsses. eight 3r ten kilometers behind the enemy lines, and aerial activity still further ?today I can scarcely see the enemy'; first line trenches and It has been the quietest day since I have been at the front. Yesterday we were shelled heavily and there hasn't been an inmeeting officer around in three days? the Germans are useful for some things after all. Wire Trouble There Too. Early last night our telephone ivire* were, to use technical terms "all blowed to hell," and while II wasn't essential. It was best that the> tie replaced as soon as possible. Twc Df the five men with me picked ut their coats and helmets, shouldered their kits and started out on the lines without a word from me?and thej worked for two hours without a lighl under shell fire until the lines were repaired, covering about two kilometers of wire by feeling their way along ?and there was shelling of a light nature all the time. It ia things like this which give me a great deal ol faith in the possibilities of our army What Observation Work Is. I am here in the "O. P." to se? things and since the fog prevents thai today, my job is mainly "sticking around." With five men I am helping All (and six of us do All it up! a place about the size of a big closet We can't move outside,during the daytime and can't have a Are until it it very dark. We are getting "slum* and "coffee." hot and in buckets, from an infantry company early in th< morning and at night Our mid-daj meal for the most part just "ain't" Today the fog has enabled us to send back for supplies and since it is on< of the men's twentieth birthday and we can start an early fire, we are having quite a feed, in addition to our slum and coffee, we a re having corned i beef, buttered toast and jam, a can of peaches and some candy. We have had no mid-day meal and we'll do a i lot of damage when we fall to in ' about an hour, it has lieen dump and cold and we have shivered in overcoats through the day. A tire that we have just started helps the cause along wonderfully. Hair Cut in Tranchti. Another treat that the fog brought ' was a hair cut which I had needed for weeks. I couldn't leave my post ' and after sending several times a barber from an Infantry comtiany came up and did the job almost it! the ' Roche's faces?and not knowing how far off the next one would l?e. I had It 1 clipped so close that it looks like a ' shave. i The gift from your family was far i from being necessary as evidence of Mon.luhiif 1)11f it U:m 1 thoughtful and afforded tile much enjoyment. i Please pass this across the street? I may not get in another for days? the music has just started and the rattle of machine guns and thud of trench mortars may l>e the beginning of something that will keep It from being the quietest day I've gone through. My best to all the Hoi tons. r>. p. John H. Pentlierstone. 2nd Ft. Hattery "It" Mli P. A.. A. F-. P. INCOME TAX IN BRIEF. The Requirements Boiled Down for Busy Folks. Iteturns must be tiled on or before April I. 191H. Tax due may be paid now or on or before June 1.*. 1918. If you are single and your net Income for 1917 was $1,000 or more you must tile a return. If you were married and living with | wife tor husband) and had a net Income of $2,ono or more for 1917 you must tile a return. Husband's and wife's income must be considered jointly, plus income of minor children. Income of a minor or incompetent, derived from a separate estate, must he reported by his legal representative. Severe penalties are provided for those who neglect or evade the law. For false or fraudulent return there is a penalty not exceeding 12,000 tine or year's Imprisonment, or both, plus loo per cent of tux. For failure to make return on or before April I, loix, line Is from $20 to $1,000, plus fiO per rent of tux due. Returns must be tiled with the col, lector of Internal revenue of district In which you live. Jft.agrn? way f.k rctnni <ui a pw- 1 " [ son who Is ill, absent from the country or otherwise Incapacitated. ICuch return must be signed and sworn or affirmed by person executing it. Single persons are ullowed $1,000 , exemption in computing normal tax. A married person living with wife (or husband) is allowed $2,000 exemp tlon, plus $L'ou fur each dependent child under 18. A head of family, though Mingle, i? allowed $2,000 exemption if actually j supporting one or more relatives. Hit urns must show the entire amount of earnings, gains and profits , received during the year. Officials and employes are not toxuble on the salaries or wages received from u state, county, city or town in , the I'nitcd States. Interest on state and municipal | bonds Issued within the U. 8. is ext empt from Federal income tax and should be omitted. Interest on United States govern( mcnt bonds is also exempt, except on I individual holdings of Liberty Fours in excess of $5,000 par value. Dividends are not subject to normal , tax, but must be reported and included . in net income. , Gift* and legacies are not incomo . and should not be included on the return of the beneficiary. , Life insurance received as a beneficiary or as premiums paid back at . maturity or surrender of policy is not income. Payments received for real or peri sonul property sold ts not income, but the profit realized thereon is income for the year of sale. Amounts received in payment of 1 notes or mortgages is not income, but ' the Interest on such notes or mortgages is taxable income. From the entire gross income certain allowances are made in arriving at the net income. Necessary expenses actually paid In ' the conduct or bUHiness, trade or profession may be claimed. A farmer can claim payment for labor, aeed, fertilizer, stock feed, re' puirM on buildings, except his dwelling; repairs of fences and farm machinery, materials and small tools for Immediate use. i The amount of rent paid for a farm muy also be claimed as a tenant farmI er'a expense. Payments for live stock are allowable If bought for resale. But If bought - for breeding purposes cattle are an In vestment, not an expense, and cannot be allowed. A storekeeper can claim amounts paid for advertising, clerk hire, tele' phone, water, light and fuel, also drayi age and freight bills and cost of opcrating and repairing wagons and trucks. ' A physician can claim cost of his i professional supplies, rent, office help, > telephone, expense of team or auto. mobile use in making professional calls and expenses attending medical 1 conventions. r A dentist can claim similar items, , except team or auto expense, which are not necessary in his profession. ! Expenses that are personal or con nected In any way with the support or f well being of a person or family are ! not allowable. The costs of machines, instruments. ' vehicles or implements that are more r or less permanent in character are not allowable as an expense. They are investments. Interest paid on a mortgage or other ? personal indebtedness is allowable on I a personal return. , All taxes paid within the year can be taken out on a Federal return, ex' cept Federal income taxes, inheritance i taxes and assessments for local lm, provements. Losses sustained in business or through Are, storm or shipwreck or by 1 theft, except when compensated by In' suranee or otherwise. , Wear and tear of rented bulldlno or ( machinery used in business may be - claimed. ' Tou can also claim amount paid . to the Red Cross and to other charita. ble, religious or educational organisations to the extent of 16 per cent of 1 your net income. ' \ * v . - l : . ,