University of South Carolina Libraries
J|- ?ijf lambraj fnalii jl| ' % One Dollar and a Half a Year. BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 25,1918 , Established 1891. AMERICANS ROUT GERMANS HEAVY TEUTONIC ATTACK REPULSEI) WITH LOSSES. Germans Succeed in Taking Part of Trench System, Only to be Driven Out by Americans. With the American Army in trance, April 21.?Aiier me neavv German attack of yesterday the American main positions remained intact and this morning after a brief bombardment the American troops . attacked and drove the enemy out of the old outposts v. hich they had maintained, thus breaking down an offensive which it is believed was intended as the beginning of a German plan to separate the Americans and French. Quiet Sunday. There was a comparative lull today along the sector northwest of Toul. The Americans engaged in pie terrific hand-to-hand fighting vesterJ"" oti/vn-a/1 tho mnet ilorintr hrflvprv ua.? 3UU " tU LllV uvoi. UU11UQ V. w v , stories of which are already being recounted. As indicating the violence of the loffensive, French ambulance men, who went through the famous battle of Verdun, declared today that, comparatively speaking, the German artilleiry against the Americans was heavier than in any single engagement on the Verdun front at any time. Attacked in Waves. German forces which attacked the American positions west of the Rennens forest northwest of Toul, Satur/ day, came across bio Man's Land in three waves. They had been especially trained for this operation. The Americans, although greatly^ outnumbered, fought for every inch of the way, giving ground slowly and pouring a deadly machine gun, rifle and automatic fire into the advancing enemy. The German barrage began just before sunrise, after a heavy oombardment of the American front and rear positions in the course of the night. In an atteknpt to put the American batteries out of action, the Germans used an unusually large number of gas shells. / Caught in Barrage. A counter-barrage"set down by the Americans caught the advancing, Germans and killed a number of them before they had opportunity to reach v the American trenches. The Germans entered the shell torn village of Seicheprey in the forenoon but only remaiQed a short time, being driven out again by a brilliant counter-attack made by the American infantry. The commander of one unit holding an outpost reported at one stage of the attack that his / men were slowly giving ground, but that they were fighting every inch of the way. ^ i?i Frowns on Barbecues. Columbia, April 20.?Political barbecues during the forthcoming campaign in South Carolina will be frowned upon by the United States food administration. William Elliott, food administrator for South Carolina, holds that the enormous waste of food incident to the political barbecues, as held heretofore every year in this State, is out of place at this time when the world cry is for food and every agency is being employed to emphasize the absolute necessity of the strictest economy, It is urged by the food administration that in holding the State and county campaign meetings during the coming summer, the barbecue feature be eliminated, and it is felt that this appeal will meet with loyal response on the part of The patriotic people of South Carolina. Club Meetings. The Colston Democratic club will meet at Colston school house on Saturday, April 27, at 3.30 o'clock, to raoreanizft and attend to any business that may come before the club. C. M. VARN, Secretary. There will be a meeting of the Bamberg Democratic club held in the court house next Saturday, 27th instant, at 3.30 p. m.v, for the purpose of reorganizing and to elect-delegates to the county convention. All members are urged to be present. J. B. BLACK, President. It is reported from Germany that wood is being largely used in place of celluloid, ivory, and other substances for the manufacture of combs. Excellent toilet combs are made from thinly cut birch and beech-wood. WOMEN' FOKCED TO SUBMIT. Awful Condition in Territory Captured by Germans. The following is a report by J. A. Marion, Esq., of an address made in Columbia on April 9th by Dr. Esther C. Lovejoy, of the conditions prevailing in territory captured and held by the Germans. The report was published in the v Yorkville Enquirer, which makes this editorial comment: The careful attention of every reader of the Yorkville Enquirer is called to the story of the recent Red Cross meeting held in Columbia, as reported by J. A. Marion, Esq. The woman who told the story or how French women are being compelled to bear German children, told only what she saw. To those who say they do not believe the story, we say they are ignorant fools. In the light of direct testimony from our people, we do not need the lessons of history on this subject. History, however, is full of the fact that the fate of these French women has always been the fate of conquered peoples. If Germany shall finally overrun the United States we may look for the same thing here. What are our lives and property against such conditions? Who would withhold his life or his property at such a cost? The object of the Red Cross is to give as much relief as possible to the unfortunates of France, and the object of the bond issue is to enable our brave American soldiers to save us from such conditions here at home. Dr. Lovejoy is a physician who several months ago returned from Greece where she had been engaged ever since the beginning of the war in relief work. Her story, told in plain and direct way, and yet with all the earnestness and fire of one who had seen and learned first hand of unspeakable horrors, brought home to her hearers in a most vivid way, the utter inhumanity and barbarity of the Huns. "This term," she said, "is not mine but that of the kaiser himself who first pronounced it to his troops and held it up as a model they should follow." j Dr. LovCov said that for several months she had been located in the town of Evian, literally now the gateway to France, and located on Lake Geneva on the French side. It was through this town that the broken debrifc of humanity that has been rejected by German military machine as useless for military purposes, found their way and groped their way back into theip^ native country. For, said the speaker, the method Germany had in dealing with the inhabitants of the French provinces which they had overrun, and now have finder subjection, has been literally a weeding out or culling process. Of course inhabitants, all the boys over 14 and all girls over 16 aye retained?the boys to be kept from becoming soldiers of France, the girls to become the involuntary mothers of a race of barbarians who were destroying their native land. All women with one child under three years of age were also retained because it being well known that most of the children born in this territory for the last three years have been of Gerrqan paternity. In the conquered towns one of the standing orders of the Germans was that no doqrs were to be locked against the troops, and as a consequence of this there was no right bn earth that had not been violated at the hands of the Huns, and there was nothing sacred that they had' not besmirched and stained. All of the old men, old women, children under 14, women with several children were sent back into France as being useless for military purposes, and for the French to feed and to support. It was these very lines of refugees who day after day in unending procession poured down through the little town of Evian?broken, miserable driftwood of waf. Thousands of orphans, children who had forgotten how to play, furtive-eyed, shrinking, whose very soul had been seared by the flame of German hate, homeless, without means of support except what is provided for them through the instrumentality of the Red Cross: broken old women who could do nothing but eat, women helpless and despairing?all these came through the little town on their journey to the seared and broken land behind. To most of these the Red Cross offered the only solace and comfort that they had. In contrast to this sorrowful and saddened line coming in, the speaker said that she had seen a division of American soldiers going to the front, strong, noble, clear-eyed and fearless, and said she "I knew that no I evil could stand against them." They are indeed the hope of France today. The speaker declared there was but one word that would express what France had been through during the past three years and that was vivisection?that literally they had been vivisected physically and spiritually. The utter horror of the situation however was best depicted as to the women. Taken by their con ' querors as spoils of war and neid in | conditions worse than slavery, they I remained to become the mothers of [ German sons, conquered and subJ jected. A French mother always ; seemed proud that she had had sons to give to France and to die, but when the daughters were mentioned there was always the hanging of the head and the knowledge that those who had been carried off by the Germans, while they might live, would j never return 16 their native land? j conquered through an instinct stronger than even love of country?moth! er love. The unconquerable spirit I of the race however was shown in the sentiment of the boys, *who though ! just out from under the awful domi IN THE PALMETTO STATE SOME OCCURRENCES OF VARIOUS KINDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. ' State News Boiled Down for Quick Reading.?Paragraphs About Men and Happenings. Rev. C. W. Smith, of Louisville, Ky., has assumed the pastorate of the Baptist church at Fairfax. T O TJTotlrino nf Clonic f\n nnl 1 otro U . O. f? atUlUO) Vi. Vivuikiuii v\y*. v/Q w, won the medal in the intercollegiate oratory at Greenwood Friday night, the second place going to E. C. Kolb, of Furman university. An official report states that John Callahan, a negro who was drafted from McCormick county, has been killed in battle in France. Callahan is the first soldier from McCormick county to have been killed. Fire of an unknown origin destroyed Armstrong's Pharmacy, Wharton's dry goods store and Demulder's art studio in Greenville Wednesday entailing an estimated damage of $.">0,000, practically covered by insurance. O.'J. Meyer, conductor on the branch road from Union to Lockhart Shoals, was arrested Thursday on the charge of making disloyal remarks aril was placed under bond. He says his remarks were misunderstood. The name "Germania" has been eiminated from the titles of two banks in Charleston, the name "Atlantic" replacing it, while a local fire insurance company has shed "Germania" and adopted "The Peoples" instead. The war department announced that there is absolutely nothing in reported stories from Spartanburg that several young men from that place, serving with the American engineers abroad, had been taken prisoners by the Germans in one of the recent battles. How these stories originated the war department does not know but it may be authoritatively stated that they are without the least foundation. . f member. Food rQ) 0^ Puzzle-find nation of the German military machine which had tried earnestly to crush out of them all spirit of liberty came back to their broken homes singing a song about the kaiser which they had secretly nurtured and cherished in theid captivity to the effect that "he would never be happy until he had his head cut off." The spirit of such people, the speaker declared, is never conquered or broken. Dr. Lovejoy also spoke of the joy with which the Americans were being received in France and that the firm conviction of the people was that as LaFayette came with his Frenchmen 140 years ago to help in the struggle of liberty in the new world that at this latter date the descendants of these people who had gained their liberty through his aid are coming today to pay their debt of * J-? in f Iinir hnll r r\ f nonur 10 uis pcufio m uicu need. Dr. Lovejoy exhibited a mask which she said was a ga9 mask for a little child. Probably the sight of this and her next words more than anything else struck home to the hearts of her hearers: "Is there any father in this room who will not say that the kingdom of heaven on this earth is the kingdom of little children? The Huns have invaded the kingdom of heaven for they are destroying little helpless children." A pldin and direct message from the very heart of the war, Dr. Lovejoy makes the duty of the American people who are at home clear, and her message cannot be passed over. ^ i?> ^ a l Ar.nn aIi ncatto orirl A f ir?lt icra ri phfll) 1 d^OCl Vll liottto Uii V* .'i v ?r ters of the Daughters of the Revolution are .establishing "mending rooms'* in cantonments. These departments are opened for hospitals, where hundreds of garments are mended each week. 1 TREATED OFFICER ROUGHLY. I I Maj. Birkner, Tarred and Feathered i by 400 Convicts. Santa Fe, N. M., April 17.?Four hundred convicts in the State peni| tentiary this afternoon tarred and j feathered and led around with a rope I about his neck Maj. John M. Birkner, ' of Camp Cody, Deming, N. M.# held in the penitentiary as a federal pris> | oner. He is charged with violation j of the espionage act. Birkner was allowed out in the '! Drison vard for exercise with 400 ; I * * ~ ; convicts. The warden knew nothing | of what was going on until he heard i loud cheering and rushed out in the I yard to find Birkner tripped and covered with tar and feathers. The prisoners, with loud hoots, were leading him about the yard with a rope around his neck. Assistant Superintendent Dugan rescued him. The prisoners evidently in accordance with a prearranged 1 plot, had secured the feathers from their pillows, but where the tar came from is a mystery. Birkner is alleged to have made disloyal utterances such as "you cannot beat the Dutch," and "the Germans will sink American transports as fast as they are sent over." Birkner claimed the charges were spite work by subordinate officers whom he had disciplined. Major Kirkner, who was born in Nuremberg, ?ermany, but who had been in the American military forces for more than thority years, was arrested last Friday at Camp Cody, where he was an officer in the 127th field artillery. His home is in Lincoln, Neb. Swung Up, Then Released. Collinsville, Okla., April 19.? Henry R. Heimer, suspected of disloyalty, was hanged by a crowd of fifty men here tonight, but after he had swung fifteen seconds and had become semi-conscious, the police persuaded the would-be executioners ' to cut him down on the promise that | he would b& given a hearing before ! the council .of defense tomorrow. ?- g ' THE SLACKER. i The Herald is in receipt of the following from the headquarters ~ c AAri+Ann /14 rr leinn of (J1 U1H OU U llicasici 11 uiuciuu, ai. I Charleston: , It has come tq the notice of this office that many people fail to re; port suspicious and dis'oyal acts or manifestations of sympathy for j the enemy, because of uncertainj ty as to the proper official to approach. It is very important that the I government should have the assisj tance of all citizens in detecting i enemy propaganda or suspicious activities of individuals, and you i will do a service in notifying your j friends that any communication j addressed to "Intelligence Officer, j Headquarters Southeastern Department, Charleston, S. C.," will receive attention and be transmit 3 nn/NrkAM Af th D teu to me piu^ci umvioi ui I government for investigation. The j names of informants will not be 1 divulged, and there need be no J fear, on the part of anybody, of j getting into trouble in case susj picions prove to be unfounded, j Informants should indicate the J nature and source of their inforj mation, as well as the time and j place. I | The order prohibiting the sale of ! flour in lots of less than 12 pounds has been suspended. Licensed dealers have been advised that they may market several sizes of packages weighing less than 12 pounds, ^vith a 1-pound minimum. < i?I ? The State council of defense in Maine has set aside c250,000 to to be loaned to farmers. LOOKS FOR HUN THRUST OFFENSIVE MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY LAUNCHED. Against Allied Lines Expected by Strategist of War Department.? Enormous Sacrifices of Enemy. Washington. April 21.?Another German thrust at the allied lines, more powerful than those that have gone before, is looked for by the war department's strategists if the present drive at the channel ports fails. The department's weekly review tonight says the enemy's enormous conrifipoe Iiovp hppn hnrrpd nf nrimarv results, but adds: "Looked at from a broad standpoint of the general military situation in the West it can not, however, be said that the battle now raging in this salient is the final nor even the most determined onslaught of the enemy. "There are indications that should the offensive here also fail to lead to some definite result, the enemy may undertake a further and even more powerful thrust." Selection of Foch Wise. The review emphasizes the harmony of action obtained through the appointment of* General Foch as commander in chief of the allied armies in the West. It tells of increased activity along the sectors held by American throops, and ^discloses that recently a numbe# of Americans who had been captured and were being 3 - - ?A ? -3 ^1 XT T fA UfjiluutJieu uirougn :uau o uauu \.\j the German lines turned upon their captors, escaped and made their way back to their own trenches. No details of the incident are given. "In what has hitherto been held the principal scene of operations, the salient stretching from north of Arras to south of the Oise Canal, with its apex in front of Amiens," says the review, "there has been no important chahge during the week in the positions of contending forces.' "An apparent slackening of hostile pressure north and south of the Somme is recorded, though it would be premature to assert that Amiens objective has been abandoned. "Along the front from the Avre to Noyon, French counter thrusts netted local advantages. "Northwest of Moreuil, the French launched a strong assault which resulted in the capture of 300 prisoners. A second attack in this vicinity gained^some 750 prisoners and enabled the French to advance their line in the neighborhood of Castel. "In the secondary theatre of the offensive, : the new salient formed by the pressing back of the British between Kedkem and the La Basse Canal, desperate fighting continued throughout the week. Here the enemy was able to win terrain of distinct tactical value and by occupying part of the Messines Ridge exerted such a threat upon the British forces in the old Ypres salient posted beyond Passchendaele and the YpresMenin Road as to force their withdrawal along a line running east of Ypres. Detail Omitted. "With the combat situation still in fluctuation it serves no purpose to discuss in detail the tactical phases of the operations taking place. "Wulverghem, Neuve Eglise, Meteren and the area stretching to the Lys was the scene of some of the bloodiest encounters of the war. "The fighting in the area centering around Mt. Kemmel continues with increasing intensity. The key posi-! tion remains in British hands, though the enemy gained a footing along its southern slopes. "The Germans have been able to gain a local advantage in Flanders, j yet surveying the combat situation as I a whole it can be affirmatively stated that their enormous sacrifices and heaped casualties have hitherto been | barren of primary result. j "The enemy while pushing with j vigor towards the channel ports and) increasing his pressure to a minimum has been unable to force even a strategic retirement upon the allies,! much less disorganize their order of battle. Unity of command has materially facilitated strategic problems with w. ich the allies are confronted. I "The official selection General Foch as commander in chief of the allied armies means that he now has strategic control of the belligerent strength of all of the allies in the West. "The complete harmony of allied operations is illustrated by the bringing up of a large body of trained Italian units to take part in the bat PILK OF SMOKING RUINS. 100,000 German Shells Reduce Once lieautiful City to Wreckage. Paris, April 19.?Rheims, which has been on fire for a week, is now nothing but a great pile of smoking ruins. During the past week the Germans have fired more than 100,000 shells into the heart of the city, according to Le .Matin, and flames can be seen by aviators sixty and seventy miles away. There are no traces of streets and thoroughfares, which have disappeared from view under the accumulation of debris. Ancient buildings in the place Royale a'nd the market pla.ce and the musicians' house, which dates from the sixteenth century, have been reduced to dust and ashes. The vaulting of th? famous Rheims cathedral, the correspondent says, is falling stone by stone, and soon there will be nothing left of the edifice but the west front and the pillars. .Shells are bursting all around the building. Notwithstanding the terrible bombardment forty Paris firemen are still in the city, working to save the furniture and portable effects of the inhabitants. Some of them have lost their lives. With the Paris are some local firemen, one of whom, Sergt. Eloi, has been on duty in Rheims since the outbreak of the war and has been wounded fourteen times. Rheims before the war a city of more than 100,000, has slowly been falling a victim to German hate and spitefulness. In the first advance in 1914, the Germans held Rheims far several days but the battle of the Marne stopped their advance, and they fell uchjk. lu it line a. iew uiiies uui lh auu northeast of the city. Since that the big German guns have been bombarding the city and its famous cathedral. The population of the city until a few months ago was less than 18,000, but these persons lived in dug- s outs or in cellars and the city was virtually dead. Up to November 1, 1916, the Germans had fired thousands of shells into the city, 1,000 of which had struck the cathedral. Since then, whenever the German troops met with reverses, the enemy guns took* up the bombardment anew. In January, 1917, Emperor William, in response to a request from Pope Benedict, said he would permit repairs to be made to the cathedral in his endeavor "to preserve from the terrors of war venerable places of religious worship and monuments of art, which I consider as the common property of humanity." The German military authorities have attempted to excuse the bombardment of the cathedral on the grounds that it was being used for military purposes by the French. This claim has been denied repeatedly by I Archbishop Lucon, who until a few weeks ago made his home in his residence beside the cathedral, unmindful of the German hatred. * ? > ? Patience?Why is your dog making such a noise running around that tree? Patrice?Oh, he's just trying to peel off some bark.?Yonkers Statesman. Near beer and temperance drinks coming within the designation of malt liquor are included in the president's proclamation limiting brewers of beer to 70 per cent, of the amounts of grains and other food materials that were used last year. tie in the West. "Along the sectors in the front in which our own troops are in action there was a relatively greater activity. "In the Meuse area the enemy broke into our lines but was promptly driven out with severe losses. "Increased sniping and' machine gun fire was noted both along the Meuse and north of Toul. Our counter battery work showed itself suffiI n.'nnt i - Irnoninff /-?/-, r?-n hnctilo chpll UIC11L 111 UV T* AX MMV4 ing which burst ih greater volume and intensity in restricted areas. "The first two enemy airplanes brought down by our aviators were shot down behind our lines north of Toul. "No operations of importance took place in the Italian theatre aside from intermittent artillery bombardments. "In the East the enemy continues to advance practically without opposition along the main highways leading to objectives of certain economic importance, particularly in the Ukraine. ! "In the baiKans, ureeK ana ruuj ish troops acting in cooperation crossj ed the Struma ancaptured a number j of villages.