Germany Will Protest Against Tanks

1916

London, Sept. 23. — An exchange telegraph despatch from Geneva says it is understood there that the German government proposes to lodge a complaint with the International Red Cross against the use of the so-called "tanks." The complaint will be on the ground that the use of these new engines of war is contrary to recognized methods of civilized warfare.

Germans Take Dutch Steamer

1916

London, Sept. 23. — The Dutch mail steamer Prins Hendrik, which left Flushing this morning for London, having on board a number of Russians, French, Belgians and British, including some escaped war prisoners, was captured 20 miles out from Flushing by the Germans and taken to Zeebrugge, where approximately half of her 64 passengers were taken off.

Several Americans were aboard the steamer, including Herbert C. Hoover, chairman of the American commission for Belgian relief, but these were not molested.

The steamer was later released and returned to Flushing. It will proceed to London Sunday.

Portuguese Gain in Africa

1916

Lisbon, via Paris, Sept. 23. — An extensive invasion of German East Africa by Portuguese troops is reported in an official statement issued by the war office. The statement says:

"After the passage of the Rovuma river our columns advanced eight miles and occupied Miobo. The left column seized Katibus and the German barracks and then proceeded toward Nacoas. These columns on the centre and right, marching toward the Migomba depot, reached Taketo on Rovuma Bay. The enemy retreated in the direction of Sasawara, west of Lindi. The natives willingly accepted Portuguese domination."

Two More Zeppelins Vanquished

1916

London, Sept. 24. — Of the 12 zeppelins which invaded the British Isles last night to deal death and destruction from the skies, two were destroyed.

One came down a flaming torch, as did the zeppelin L-21, destroyed three weeks ago, while the second, disabled by gunfire, effected a landing, which saved the lives of the crew, who tonight are prisoners. The crew of the first raider died in the consuming flames of their own ship.

Many who saw the shrapnel bursting like skyrockets above the invader which subsequently caught fire, think there must have been several direct hits. Many aeroplanes were aloft and attacked the zeppelins from all sides.

The raiders took a heavy toll of lives before their destruction, 28 persons being killed and 99 wounded in the metropolitan district of London. Two persons were killed, probably four, and 17 were wounded in the provinces.

The roar of dropping bombs was heard in many districts where the raiders were invisible.

Central Powers Were Defeated in Great Battle

1916

London, Sept. 22. — The latest official communication from Bucharest confirms the entente powers reports that the great battle in Dobrudja has ended in the defeat of the central powers after six days fighting. The battle began last Friday, and gradually increased in scope and intensity until Tuesday evening, with the result that on Wednesday the Germans, Bulgars and Turks crushed, were forced to withdraw, burning villages in their line of retreat in an effort to retard their pursuers.

The same communication referring to the Transylvania theatre announces that Rumanian forces have entered Ordernei, 50 miles northeast of Kronstadt. One-fourth of Transylvania is now in Rumanian hands.

With references to these operations, Berlin merely says that "fighting in Dobrudja has come to a standstill."

Rumanians, Russians and Serbian were pitted against the invaders, strong reinforcements having been hurried to Dobrudja when the operations under the noted German field marshal threatened to overwhelm a section of Rumania.

Earlier London Summary

1916

London, Sept. 20. — Chief of Staff von Hindenburg's vigorous efforts to turn the tide both east and west have met with indifferent success or plain failure during the last two days in all theatres of the war except southern Transylvania.

In France from 9 o'clock this morning until night the Germans threw wave after wave of infantry in heavy assaults against a three-mile front at Bouchavesnes, on the French line, half way between Combles and Peronne. At 1 o'clock the Germans after several failures reached Bouchavesnes, but were immediately driven out at the point of the bayonet.

On all other parts of this field the Teutons, broken by the French fire, ran back to their trenches, leaving great numbers of dead.

In Transylvania the Rumanians have met with serious reverse in the region of Hatszeg, whence they have been driven back to the Transylvania Alps and the town of Petroseny and Szurduk pass have been recaptured from them, according to Teutonic reports.

In Dobrudja, where the Russians and Rumanians have been heavily reinforced, Germanic accounts say the battle is fluctuating. Sofia reports successes for the Bulgars at certain points, while Bucharest claims a victory for the Rumanians near Enigea, 19 miles south of the Constanza railway.

Russia's heavy pressure, despite desperate counter blows, is steadily crowding the Germans, Austrians and Turks through the Carpathians south of the Bystritza River, where Berlin and Vienna admit Russian gains for the third successive day.

West of Lutsk in Volhynia, where a great battle is in progress, the Teutons say Russian troops that penetrated their lines were thrown back again.

Tonight's British official report says:

A captured order of Gen von Falkenhayn, dated Aug. 24, says the wastage of German cannon and ammunition in the last few months "has been considerably in excess of production," and there is a serious diminution in the reserve supply. The Army is ordered to preserve material, "for, otherwise, making good the losses and placing new formations in the field will be rendered impossible."

Bucharest's claim regarding the Dobrudja campaign is partially corroborated by the following German statement:

The Allied fleet is blockading the Greek coast occupied by BUlgaria. British aircraft have raided Deama and French aeroplanes attacked Monastir.

Iron Jewelry No Novelty

1916

Many months ago, almost from the beginning of the war, we were told that German women, following the example of their great-grandmothers, voluntarily gave up their gold rings, necklets, earrings, bracelets and ornaments of every description, to be made or coined into money for the national need.

Whatever truth there may be in this story, there is no doubt that many German women have been presented by the government with iron rings to replace the gold ones they have parted with.

But that happened a century ago. Then Prussia, crushed by Napoleon, and bankrupt, was in dire need of money, and the Prussian women gave up all their jewels and ornaments to help cope with the prevailing poverty. And out of this sacrifice a new industry arose.

This was nothing less than the manufacture of cast-iron jewelry to replace the gold and silver ornaments which the great ladies of the kingdom had given up. At first sight no material would seem less promising as a substitute for the precious metals than iron. It was entirely owing to the wonderful craftsmanship of the ironworkers that the results were so extraordinary.

Strength, of course, would be a distinguishing mark of such jewelry, and a complete set of these iron ornaments, now in the possession of a Toronto (Canada) jeweler, is as rigid and firm as on the day it was made. This particular set, comprising a pair of earrings, necklet, locket and bracelets, has not been looked after until lately.

The ornaments have a wonderfully fragile appearance, due entirely to the exquisite workmanship. Their weight, too, is astonishingly small, the lightness of every article being quite a feature of the set.

Germany's Handicap

1916

Mr. Boyce's Talks

A piece of "war news" that has been featured in the dispatches from abroad is the report from Rome that "Berlin newspapers are discussing the possibility of shortening the German front, and it is believed that this is intended to prepare the German people for the evacuation of France and Belgium."

This sort of a report will have to be taken with a large grain of salt, in view of the fact that there have been many war rumors from the same source which failed to "stand up," as the correspondents say. At this time, with Roumania added to the ring of foes about the Teutonic powers and with Greece nearly the same as in, there would naturally be strong temptation for guesswork along the lines of the dispatch from Rome. Whether Germany has reached the point where she is ready to consider withdrawing from northern France and Belgium is another question. The news of the withdrawal of large forces of German troops from the Verdun front to assist the Austrians and Bulgarians in the new Roumanian campaign is of greater significance than the Rome rumor.

Readers will remember the interview which I had at Berlin with the German Minister of Agriculture, in which he said that Germany was like a fortress surrounded by enemies. He said she was perfectly able to produce everything within herself absolutely necessary to eat and wear and for defensive purposes — and there he stopped. I gave it as my opinion that Austria-Hungary and Turkey were Germany's great weakness, and that the more Germany permitted her military machine to be scattered and the farther she got from Berlin, the more likely she would be forced back within the original German fortress. So far, Germany has been saving her own country, except for men, war materials and supplies. However, on account of the necessity of aiding Austria-Hungary and Turkey, and particularly the former, she has had to go far beyond what might be called the walls of her fortress. The more the fighting fronts are extended the more serious the situation becomes for her.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 6.

Sees Spain Aid of Allies

1916

Former Premier Says Nation Must Soon Make Choice.

PARIS, France. — Spain must decide in favor of one or other of the groups of belligerents in the opinion of Antonio Maura, former premier and leader of the conservative party, according to news dispatches from Madrid, quoting an address delivered by Senor Maura.

The address was delivered at Beranga, near Bilbao, at a meeting attended by 6,000 Mauristas. The former premier declared, according to the dispatches, that the conditions of the war made Spain's isolation henceforth impossible. He is quoted as saying that it was moreover essential that France and England should not be hostile toward Spain.

The Madrid dispatches predict that Senor Maura's speech will cause a strong impression thruout the country, as his prestige was never so high as at present. The majority of his followers are supposed to be pro-German in their sympathies.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

There Always Comes a Settling Day

1920

By W. D. Boyce (W. D. Boyce's Talks)

A few days ago leading bankers of the United States were approached by confidential agents representing bankers who had invested in Russian bonds to the amount of $300,000,000. It was a feel-out to determine whether pressure could not be brought upon Congress to recognize one of the factions in Russia which is fighting the Reds, or Bolshevists. I believe they were pretty plainly told that it would be useless to introduce such a bill, that it would get nowhere.

Now a bigger and wider scheme is proposed (no doubt a bill to that effect will be introduced in Congress) to send to "starving" Europe three hundred million dollars and not to collect the interest on European bonds which our Government took during the war. The balance due is going to be $1,500,000,000 (one billion five hundred million), and the Secretary of the Treasury further is quoted as stating that he had not the heart to ask the European Governments to pay what they owe us. That does not sound very good, specially as the United States Government has the heart to ask everybody to pay four times the normal taxes. We spent our money to send our boys to Europe to fight for the freedom of the world, but we never agreed to finance and set on their feet again the countries at war. We had nothing to do with bringing the fight on in the first place, and we should not be punished for the lack of foresight on the part of the Allies in not observing that Germany had been preparing for forty years to establish a Middle Europe, a German country from the North Sea to the Gulf of Persia.

I cannot understand why we should, keep on adding to our taxes in order to quickly establish Europe as our competitor in the markets of the world. If the other countries would go to work like England did they soon would be on their feet again. England exported and imported during the last twelve months $1,000,000,000 more than did the United States, yet England had been at war far more than four years. Talk about "starving Europe" can hardly be true for the war has been over now for fourteen months and Europe has had time to grow a crop. If she could live without starving for four years and at the same time keep millions of men fighting she ought to be able to get enough to eat in times of peace.

I get tired, too, of hearing and reading about the debt we owe to France. During the American Revolutionary period France sided with us, it is true, when we revolted against England. But it was because France was having trouble with both England and Germany at that time and England had a German King on her throne. The only reason France sided with us was because she wished to help rob England and Germany of prospective colonies and thus weaken her own enemies. Some of the educated French may have sincerely wished us well, but ninety out of every hundred of them didn't even know there was such a thing as the United States. Few of them could read or write and their minds were taken up with the sole objective of earning their daily bread and sour wine. France at that time was a monarchy and as a political unit had no love for republics.

Today France is the richest country in Europe, but she is hollering so loud about conditions and whining so much that the yelp of the Daschund can hardly be heard. The United States has set herself back forty years to prevent France from being subjugated by the Boche and if any debt is due now it is a debt of France to the United States.

Always there comes a settling day, and until the United States demands that Europe pay at least the interest on the money we have loaned the different countries over there they will not go to work, either to raise food enough to feed themselves or to make money enough to pay us off. If we extend any further credit we will "bust" Europe.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 6.

Berlin Smoke Free

1902

The German Capital Has Demonstrated that Smoke Nuisance is Curable

One of the cleanest cities in the world, so far as soot and smoke are concerned, is Berlin, Germany. Although a busy manufacturing city, it is of the cleanest and best kept in Europe.

The smokeless condition of Berlin is ascribed to three facts. The preponderant use of coke and briquette, which are practically smokeless; the skillful scientific construction of boiler furnaces and chimneys, and, finally, the high standard of skill that is taught and enforced among firemen who stoke furnaces with coal for steam and manufacturing purposes.

Before a man can assume such a charge he must be taught the theory and practice of economical, scientific firing by which the coal is distributed in such a manner and quantity over the grate surface as to secure the most perfect combustion of its volatile elements.

The Silesian coal used in Berlin in most large steam plants and factories is rich in bitumen and would rank below many of the bituminous coals of the United States, and yet the long, dense, trailing clouds of smoke from mill and factory chimneys which are so familiar a sight in many American cities are rarely seen in that section of Germany, where the indiscriminate shoveling of a raw bituminous coal into the steam and other furnaces is considered an ignorant and wasteful proceeding.

Small Alarm Clock — Ouch!

1903

A novelty in the way of an alarm clock has been perfected by an American jeweler. It is about the size of a hazel nut. It is made to wear on the finger. The alarm is not a bell, but a sharp pin, which pricks the finger at the time the wearer wishes to rise.


Electricity Saves Windmill

In Germany electricity, among other curious results, has rehabilitated the discarded windmill. At Neresheim a windmill applies power for thirty-six incandescent lamps that light a large paint factory. Another in Schleswig-Holstein keeps a steady current of thirty volts. At Dusseldorf a windmill winds up a heavy weight of which the descent works a powerful dynamo.

Penny Weddings

1900

The Scotland penny weddings were so called, although the guests contributed shillings and occasionally half crowns, toward the wedding feast.

The penny wedding of Germany is on a different basis. The bride receives her guests with a basin before her, in which everybody deposits a jewel, a silver spoon or piece of money. In some parts of Germany the expense of a marriage is met by each guest paying for what he eats and drinks, and, moreover, at a very high rate, so that the young couple obtain a sum sufficient to start them nicely in life. As many as 300 guests often assemble.

In Poland a girl is not eligible for marriage until she has not only made her own trousseau, but the garments for the friends that will accompany the bridegroom to the altar.

Germany's Future

1917

Columbia university has some professors who refuse to confuse moral values, among them Franklin H. Giddings, head of the department of sociology. He was recently quoted by the London Observer as follows:

"There is no reasonable doubt that Germany has lost the confidence of the civilized world. It is completely gone. I do not believe that the world will forgive Germany in a hundred years. * * * In my opinion there will be no forgiveness of Germany by the civilized world before the mature days of our grandchildren, and to obtain it then she has to show works meet for repentance."

The boycott from which Germany will suffer will not be primarily industrial and commercial, but intellectual and moral. With the most liberal trade regulations imaginable, there are millions of people in the world who, after the war, will have nothing to do with the Germans. Their isolation will not be due to any commercial pact, but to the instinctive shrinking from a nation guilty of monstrous crimes against God and man. That is a feeling that statesmen can neither create nor eliminate. Men will be unable to associate in any way with Germany as it now is, or to have any dealings with it, without feeling a sense of personal degradation and contamination. — Indianapolis News.

Ancestor of Pictorial Postcards

1910

It was in Switzerland that the mania for pictorial postcards first arose, and we well remember the astonishment evoked some dozen years ago at seeing at the Theodule Hut the excitement of a party of Germans upon their ascertaining that they could dispatch thence, via Italy, a sheaf of views of the Matterhorn.

If one may judge from the very interesting collection of old Alpine prints now on view at the Alpine club, Saville Row, our ancestors were also eager to carry away souvenirs of scenes unlike any to which they were accustomed, and of which the terrors and dangers were doubtless not unexaggerated. And so the Swiss, who were among the earliest to exploit colored engravings, provided them with material with a sufficient spice of exaggeration to satisfy those who stayed at home.

These they dedicated to the "amateurs of the marvels of nature," and for them they crowded into a single landscape a dozen Staubbachs, and any number of aiguilles and glaciers, with artists portraying them and peasants holding festival beneath them. — London Globe.

What German Soldiers Want for Christmas

1915

The Berliner Tageblatt has published the replies of the various German armies to its inquiry of what the soldier boys would like to have sent them for Christmas.

Following is a summary of what the soldiers ask for:

Army of the Crown Prince: Red wine, cigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco, canned milk, sewing materials, chocolate and cheese.

Army of Von Hindenburg: Honey cakes, herring, preserves, mitts, mufflers, ladies' muffs, sewing material, chocolates, mouth harmonicas, pocketknives.

Army of Mackensen: Sausage, lard or butter, dried fruits, chocolates, smoked fish, accordions or harmonicas. No woolen goods.

Army of Gallwitz: Cigars, cigarettes, chocolates, soap, sardines, fish, preserves, sewing materials, darning needles and wool, any kind of musical instrument, picture books and comic papers.

Army of Loewenfeld: Cigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco, chocolates, stockings, handkerchiefs, canned milk.

Army of Von Kooster: Stockings, mitts, mufflers, towels, handkerchiefs, soap, chocolates, pickled meats, wine, beer, electric pocket lamps, pocketknives, funny papers.

The list offers variety for all tastes and purses.

A Sensational Runaway

1896

A runaway couple were married on a railway train near Shelbyville, Ind., last week. The girl's parents opposed the match, and watched her closely to prevent her giving them the slip and getting married. The young man learned that the squire was to travel by a certain tram one day last week, and arranged with the girl to meet him at the station. He went to Columbus and got the license, met the girl at the station as the train came in, and the pair boarded it and were married by the squire before the train had gone many miles and before any stop was made where they could be intercepted by a telegram from the girl's parents. — New York Sun.


Lee Ephraim's Sevens

Certainly the figure seven has marked the career of Lee Ephraim, of Roanoke, Va., to an extraordinary extent. He was born in the year 1877, on the seventh day of the month and on the seventh month of the year and seventh hour of the day. He has seven letters in his surname and it requires seven letters to spell the name of the State in which he was born. He has lived in four cities, and the name of each one contained seven letters. He has seven sisters and brothers, and one time drew a valuable prize on the number 77. Oddly enough this prize was not $777. — New York Press.


Great Antlers

At a recent exhibition of antlers at Berlin the Emperor took two prizes, one for the best collection and one for the best single head.

Wood for Resisting Fires

1896

A report from Consul Robertson on the free port system of Hamburg, just published by the State Department, contains the curious item of information that in the great new warehouses constructed in the German port wood is being substituted for iron to secure better protection against fire.

These buildings were originally provided with iron beams and girders, but when one of them was burned some years ago it was found that the iron had been so bent and twisted by the heat as to become a source of great danger to the adjoining structures. "In all the warehouses, therefore, which have since been built," observes Mr. Robertson, "it has been deemed advisable to substitute wood for iron as much as possible." Probably a heavy wooden beam, imbedded in some non-conducting material that would exclude the air, would be as nearly fireproof as anything except brick or stone. It might be charred on the outside, but the interior would probably remain sound in any ordinary heat.

It is a curious speculation to imagine what would have happened if the present method of construction in Chicago had been in vogue before the great fire. A twenty-five-story, steel-cage building warping into a corkscrew and boring a hole in the sky would be a spectacle worth going miles to see.


Derivation of Whiskers

The word whiskers is derived from whisk, and the Anglo-Saxon wisch, which means a slight brush. Less than a century ago the expression was unheard of, the whiskers as well as the mustache being spoken of as part of the beard. It was only when the latter was divided, and the true whiskers disappeared as well, that their name was changed to the mutton chop part of the beard left on the cheek.

Much-Shaken Japan

1900

In 1893 the Japanese government appointed an investigating committee on earthquakes. This committee, which has now nearly completed its labors, reports, among other things, that it seems likely that one part or another of Japan will be visited by a destructive earthquake once in every two-and-a-half years.

That portion of the land bordering the Japan Sea is seldom disturbed by other than local earthquakes, while the Pacific coast of the country frequently suffers from great shocks originating under the ocean. When a region is shaken by constantly recurring small earthquakes, it appears to be rendered safe against the occurrence of destructive shocks, because the accumulation of stress in the earth's crust at that point is prevented.


Modern Bullets

Sir William MacCormac writes in the Lancet that in most cases the damage done by modern bullets, and especially the Mauser, cannot be compared with that inflicted by the projectiles of the needle-guns or the Chassepôt rifle, weapons employed in the Franco-German War. A similar result is obtained when comparison is made with the work of the bullets used in our Civil War.


Studying A Prodigy

At Indiana University a 19-year-old boy who possesses extraordinary powers of arithmetical calculation is under investigation to determine, scientifically, the nature of his mental processes.

It has been found that a tenacious memory underlies much of his singular power, the rapidity of his calculations depending upon the great quantity of number relations which he has memorized, as well as upon the short cuts that he has invented. — Youth's Companion.

Secret Correspondence Using Invisible Ink

1900

Inks Composed Mainly of Salts and Cobalt Are the Best

Of the many invisible and sympathetic inks that have been used for secret correspondence perhaps the best known are those composed mainly of salts of cobalt. Marks made with these fluids remained invisible until they were subjected to heat, and then were revealed in lines of pale green. The phenomenon was transient and entirely dependent on the temperature. As soon as the sheet of paper grew cool writing would disappear.

Now, to those who had occasion to employ such means of communication it was desirable to know whether any one tampered with their letters or not. So long as the fact of the correspondence was kept secret, of course, there would be no danger. But if that once became known the contents of a private letter might be ascertained by anyone through whose hands the letter passed. Cobalt writing can be made to appear and disappear a dozen times without giving the least evidence of having been read.

But a patent was recently granted in Germany which meets this difficulty, and in some other respects, also, is an improvement on the old system. In the first place the paper used is soaked in the cobalt solution and is prepared in advance. The inventor aims to put his stationery on the market. The writing is done with a solution of common salt and behaves as the cobalt ink did formerly. It can be seen only when warmed and disappears immediately on cooling. Moreover, it appears as often as heat is applied. Its color is a bluish green.

But the German also provides what he calls a "control ink." This may be prepared by adding two grains of resorcin to eight drops of water and six drops of sulphuric acid. When a person has written his letter with salt water he makes a few supplementary remarks, in a spot previously agreed upon, with the control ink. So long as the letter remains cool these test marks are invisible, but when the heat is applied they come out and they come out to stay. They are of a brown hue, different from that of the salt writing, and they will not disappear when the green writing does. If the authorized recipient of a letter finds these marks on a letter before he himself warms it he has reason to suspect that his secret is known. But if they are missing the opposite conclusion is justified.