Chapter IV: Part 4

As threats and entreaties have proved equally vain against censorship the Paris _Temps_ attacks it with ridicule. Pierre Mille, one of the best known contributors, writes a column article, beginning:

"Regarding the origin of the convulsion which is shaking Europe, together with the least known diplomatic secrets and the most concealed strategic projects, I am going to make some most important revelations."

Before he can reveal anything here, however, the censor intervenes with a four-line cut. He continues:

"It will be remembered that Napoleon once cried before the Pyramids----" (Here is another slash.)

The writer goes on:

"But we do not need the support of history or the remembrance of the victories won by Jeanne d'Arc at (name excised) or at Valmy by (another obliteration). One fact I will add----" (Here follows a ten-line cut.)

He continues:

"His undaunted attitude at----" (This time ten lines more disappear.)

The article proceeds:

"She cried in a trembling voice, 'Oh daughter, cruel----' (the woman's speech is all excised save the words 'the devourers fight among themselves,' although the passage appears to be taken from nothing more modern or harmful than a famous tragedy).

The writer makes a last effort:

"The adversary's position was now very serious. Throwing himself upon his knees, he cried, 'Our Father, which art----' (Even of the Lord's Prayer the censor allows only this beginning and the final 'Amen.')"

"HOCH DER CZAR!"

During a fortnight's sojourn with his armies in the field the Czar spoke to thousands of wounded, according to a Petrograd correspondent. His Majesty visited the Germans and Austrians in field hospitals, addressing kindly words to them. In one ward, entirely occupied by wounded Germans, the men, who were unable to rise, spontaneously greeted the Czar with a three-fold Hoch!

The Czar inquired about the identity and direction of a column passing the imperial train. He was told they were officers and men recovered from wounds returning to their respective regiments. His Majesty alighted and asked where and how they had been wounded. It appeared they all had participated in the early battles of the war. They were anxious again to go to the firing line.

A HOLOCAUST.

A wounded English officer describes the following incident of the German attack between Dixmude and Ypres:

"A German regiment with the flag flying approached our trenches to about 300 yards. It was met by a heavy discharge of our machine guns and rifle fire, and fell back in disorder. Immediately it reassembled some distance away. Once more we saw it advance, with the ranks already thinner. It came to within 100 yards of us, when it was received as before and again beaten back.

"This time the order was sent through our trenches to let them come on to twenty yards. We did so; then the order to fire at will was given. Two-thirds of the regiment had already fallen in the first two attacks, and now the remainder was wiped out. Not one of the assailants got to our trenches."

FIGHT WITH SHOVELS.

Soldiers who have been fighting near Roye say that the hostile trenches there are only fifteen yards apart at some points, so that the enemies can hear each other talking. Last week a company of sappers were misled by the darkness right into a German trench, where a squad of Teuton sappers were at work. The men fought in the dark with picks and shovels until rifles also began to crack, whereupon each side drew back.

French cemeteries, with their strong stone tombs, sometimes play an important part in the hostilities. Thus the Germans have intrenched themselves on a cemetery height near Roye and have made it a strong position. The vaults offer a safe shelter against rain and shrapnel, while metallic coffins have been placed along the edge of the trenches as a protection against rifle fire.

"OUR LUCK WAS IN."

A thrilling incident in the wonderful retreat of the British from Mons is described by Sapper Wells of the Royal Engineers, who passes lightly over his own part in an extraordinary act of heroism.

"One of our officers asked for a man to go with him to blow up a bridge, so that the Germans could not follow us, and I went with him," says Wells.

"Well, to blow a bridge up we use guncotton and a wire fuse. It is safe enough if you take your wire well away, but this time it would not work. Our men in running back had stepped on the wire, so we had to go nearer to the bridge and try again. Even then it would not act, so the officer said to me, 'Get out of the way, Wells.' I said, 'No, I'll go with you.' We were the only two on the bridge and the Germans were shooting at us, but our luck was in. Well, we both lay down and I fired ten rounds at the guncotton with my rifle, and he did the same with a pistol, but it wouldn't work. If it had we should have gone with it, so you see what a shave we had. We made a dive back and got some more guncotton, and were making to have another go when an officer ordered us back, saying it was no use trying."

"IN HONOR BOUND."

A photographer in Southampton row showed outside his studio an apt comment on the war. Last September the Duke of Westminster and other British sportsmen sent round a circular letter asking for subscriptions to the Olympic games to be held in Berlin, and in the request were the following words: "In honor bound, Great Britain must send a team to Berlin, and ... this object can only be accomplished by efficient organization and adequate financial support."

The photographer has written below by way of comment: "The response to the above appeal has been most successful. The money has been found and the team, most thoroughly equipped, is now on its way to Berlin. Very little doubt exists that all the prizes will fall into its arms."

A HEROIC SACRIFICE.

Correspondents of Finnish newspapers report the heroic sacrifice of the crew of a picket boat in order to save a Russian cruiser, which was unwittingly approaching a mine in the Gulf of Finland.

Realizing that it was too late to signal the danger, the boat deliberately rushed at the mine at full speed. A terrific explosion followed. Six of the crew of seven perished. To the survivor, who was severely wounded, was awarded the decoration of St. George.

A TERRIBLE BAYONET CHARGE.

A dispatch to the London _Times_ from Dunkirk, France, said:

"It may be admitted that the position at Ypres two days ago was serious. The town itself was bombarded by the Germans with great violence and under the fierce cannonading the Allies had to withdraw from the town, which became a 'No Man's Land,' shells from both sides bursting across it.

"The Germans made a final effort under cover of a fierce bombardment of the British positions. They had prepared a determined onslaught. Masses of men were launched in succession at chosen points on the allied front. The assault was met in a supreme way.

"Two regiments, one Scottish and one of the Guards, went down with bayonets to stem the advance. It was the most terrible bayonet charge of the whole war. It succeeded, the break in the line was repaired and the German attack was once more driven back.

"That was their last effort. The Germans are now assailing the allied line at Arras, forty miles further to the south, but not with the same fury as they exhibited in the onslaught of the past week.

"So fierce has been the fighting around Ypres that the casualties of the Germans are believed to have reached 100,000, though these figures may prove to have been exaggerated."

COLONEL AVENGED INSULT.

"At one time in Berlin I saw two British officers guarded by twenty-four soldiers with fixed bayonets," writes a correspondent. "One of the officers was an officer of some importance, I think a colonel, a tremendous man about 6 feet 4 inches in height, with iron-gray hair and mustache. His companion was a younger man, with a red band around his cap, denoting, I believe, he belonged to the General Staff.

"The prisoners were surrounded by the usual hooting, jeering crowd. Suddenly one of the guards deliberately prodded the big colonel in the back with the butt end of his rifle. It was a brutal act. The next moment the gray-haired officer turned around and struck his tormentor full in the face with his fist. It was a fine blow.

"I saw no more, for the crowd in a paroxysm of rage closed in on the group, surging here and there. I heard afterward both prisoners were handcuffed and led away. Their fate I do not know."

WORK OF NEW AERIAL BOMB.

The London _Daily Mail's_ Paris correspondent reports an interview with a French airman on the new French air bomb.

"I have used both the dynamite bomb and the new bomb," said the aviator. "The two are very similar in size and weight, but the effect as seen from above is very different.

"When a dynamite bomb falls upon a body of men you can see the bodies leap up in air. It is like a small volcano in action. When the new bomb bursts it simply lays everything out flat within the area of its explosion. It seems to exert the whole of its force in waves like the ripples made when a large stone is thrown into a pond. The men go down like ninepins; buildings collapse like houses of playing cards; guns are turned over as if by some unseen hand.

"The explosion raises practically no dust or smoke. Even the earth disturbed by the case of the bomb striking the ground is instantly flattened out by the same extraordinary waves of force. Extreme cold is produced at the moment of the explosion. It is so intense that I felt it myself when I dropped my first bomb at a height of about 800 feet.

"I was taking great chances in flying so low, but I wished to see the effect of the bomb. It fell on a section of Germans bivouacking in a field. I estimate that at least thirty men were killed within the area of the explosion. Death from these bombs comes instantly from intense cold and concussion."

BRITON PRAISES GERMANS.

The Hon. Aubrey Herbert, M. P. for South Somerset, a lieutenant in the Irish Guards, describing his experience in North France, says:

"I was shot and was found by some German privates after about an hour and a half.

"With other wounded men and officers I was taken away to a house that had been converted into a temporary hospital after nightfall. We remained prisoners in the hands of the Germans for eleven days, until the French occupied the village where we lay and set us at liberty.

"It is only fair to say that both on the battlefield and subsequently we were all shown courtesy and great kindness by the Germans, from all ranks, from Prussians and Bavarians alike."

He adds that from the general behavior of the British troops "one might have supposed that they were engaged in autumn manoeuvres."

NEARLY PUT ONE OVER.

"The Germans are full of resources," writes an English correspondent, "and it is one of their favorite plans to lure the allied troops on to attack them by various devices, of which an indicated intention of surrendering is the most common. If this deception is successful, a skilfully concealed machine gun turns a murderous fire upon those who have advanced either to attack or to accept surrender.

"The audacity of the enemy cannot better be illustrated than by a well-authenticated statement of what took place last night in a trench held by a Gurkha regiment. A figure, silhouetted by the moonlight and wearing a complete Gurkha uniform, approached the end of the trench and delivered the message.

"'The Gurkhas are to move further up the trench; another Gurkha contingent is advancing in support.'

"Puzzled by this announcement, the officer in command replied, 'Who are you? Where do you come from?' to which the only answer was, 'You are to move up and make room for other Gurkhas.'

"The English was good, but something excited the officer's suspicions.

"'Answer, and answer quickly,' he said; 'if you are a Gurkha, by what boat did you cross?'

"This question, under the circumstances, was no easy one to answer, and the German (for such he was) turned and fled, but he had not gone five yards before he fell, riddled with bullets.

"If the officer had been deceived the trench, of course, would have swarmed with Germans almost before the Gurkhas had made room for them."

CLOSE CALL FOR AIRMAN.

"Roland Garros had a narrow escape from death while engaged in an aerial duel with a German near Amiens," cables a correspondent. "His motor broke down and Garros made a corkscrew descent and feigned death, whereupon the German landed and approached.

"The Frenchman arose and shot the German dead with his revolver. He regained the French lines in the German aeroplane."

FASTIDIOUS SANDY.

News has come back to England of how the British soldiers taken prisoners are faring in Germany. There are 6,000 in a caserne at Daboritz.

Among them are some Highlanders. It's getting to be cold weather in Daboritz and a German officer, with the kindest of intentions, offered to provide them with trousers.

The Scots were indignant and rejected the gift.

"But why do you prefer petticoats?" the German asked of one of the Highlanders.

"Because they never bag at the knees," replied Sandy.

"IS THIS THE KAISER?"

According to a despatch from Petrograd to the London _Daily News_, the Russian soldiers pursuing the Germans in western Galicia are bringing "captured Kaisers" into camp two or three times each day.

It is the belief of the Czar's force that the war can be easily terminated by making a prisoner of Emperor William. For that reason nearly every German officer who wears a "Kaiser" mustache and is caught by the Russians is taken to headquarters. "Is this he?" is the oft repeated query. The fact that the Kaiser is still at liberty has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Russians.

"SEND ON SOME MORE DISHES!"

Appended to the French official communique recently was the following note:

"The example of the German chiefs has influenced all the German troops to plunder systematically everywhere in Belgium and France. A special train service is now admirably established to carry the chateau booty taken by the princes and lesser lords of the army back to Germany. The whole plunder service is well organized.

"A letter from Gettenau, Hesse, dated Oct. 8, to a landwehr trooper at Ste. Croix-aux-Mines shows the high development of the frenzy of plunder. It says:

"'The shoes did not fit little Hermann. All the other things pleased us very much. We have no need to hide them or be secret about what you send us because others at the front have sent much more stuff than you. Among other things the French pots are very much appreciated. If you find more French dishes or ware send them along.'"

A NEW FOE ENTERS.

Winter begins officially in Russia with the closing of navigation on the Neva, but already snow is lying on the ground on the western frontier, and in Poland there are severe frosts at night.

A new touch of horror is introduced by the freezing of the ground, which makes it practically impossible to dig graves for the great number of dead in the woods, where recent floods washed the bodies from the shallow graves in which they had been hastily buried.

The villagers report the presence of an unparalleled number of wolves, and have petitioned the army authorities to detach soldiers to shoot them.

The Germans are suffering intensely from the cold. In every town which they occupied they carried off all the available winter clothing, furs, sheepskins and leather coats. At Lodi and Shiradow, where there are great cloth factories, they commandeered the whole of the stocks and kept the plants working day and night providing materials for export to Germany. They failed, however, to bring away much of this owing to the destruction of the railway bridges by Polish guerillas, whose activities are acknowledged to have contributed to the Russian success.

THE BRIGHTER SIDE.

Life in the trenches appears by no means to be the irksome and dreadful thing it is reported to be. According to soldiers just back in Paris from the firing line troops that are supposed to face each other grimly across a fire-swept space only a few hundred yards wide are not the bloodthirsty fellows we all took them for.

They carry chivalry into their work, and certain conventions, all making for comfort, have been tacitly established between them. For example, toward midday both sides suspend fire in order that they may eat luncheon in peace. They would undoubtedly oblige each other when the evening meal is due but for the unhappy fact that the dinner hours of the contending armies do not tally.

Obviously, says a facetious Frenchman, it is somebody's duty to see that the meal hours of the opposing forces synchronize exactly. The soldiers entertain each other with music, the trenches on either side furnishing items turn and turn about.

HOW THE RUSSIANS PAY.

"Oh, yes, the Russians pay for what they take," exclaims the Koenigsberger _Zeitung_, and adds:

"The inspector of a great farm, who was riding a fine horse, his saddle and bridle ornamented with silver, encountered a troop of Russians.

"'We need that horse; dismount,' ordered the Russian commander. 'But to prove to you that we Russians are not so black as we are painted, I now pay you for the horse.'

"So saying he handed a ruble (51.5 cents) to the inspector, who discovered later that the piece was coined in the eighteenth century and is not current now."

KAISER'S CLOSE CALL.

Further details are now at hand of the Kaiser's narrow escape from death from bombs thrown by an airman attached to the allied army occupying the line from Nieuport to Ypres for five days. The Emperor was present at the operations on that front, and it was because of his presence that the enemy made such persistent and vigorous attacks on the Allies, regardless of the enormous sacrifice of life.

The Kaiser, with some of his aides, arrived by motor car at a tavern at Thielt about 5 p. m. Apartments had been reserved for the Emperor. Dinner was ready and his personal baggage had already been deposited in the bedroom prepared for him. He was in a hurry and did not dress for dinner, but immediately sat down to dine.

After the meal, instead of going to his room, he hurriedly left the tavern with two of his aides. He motored to the other end of the town, where fresh rooms were engaged. Twenty minutes after the Kaiser left the first tavern six bombs fell upon the building and the room where his baggage lay was destroyed. Two of his aides, who had remained in the tavern, were killed and the motor car in the yard wrecked.

EXTRA! RUSSIA GOES DRY!

The official bulletin of the Prefect of Petrograd published another addition to the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic drinks. Up to that date restaurants of the first class had the privilege of selling vodka and all other spirituous liquors in unlimited quantities. It was thought these establishments would only provide for the wealthier classes, and there was no danger of the common people being able to secure strong drink. It seems, however, that habitual topers even of the lower classes arrayed themselves in clothes finer than they had ever worn before in their lives and, putting up a bold front, have entered first class restaurants and got what they wanted.

The story goes that hatters and milliners had been doing a rushing business selling bowler hats to men and women who hitherto had worn caps and shawls. A bowler on a man and a hat on a woman being in Russia a mark of superiority, if not of intelligence, there was no ban on champagne for the wearers.

This reached the ears of the commander-in-chief of the army, who has absolute powers. He accordingly instructed prefects of police throughout Russia to prohibit the sale of vodka and strong drink of every description, even in first-class restaurants.

"HE IS NOT A PRIEST!"

The following story illustrates the versatility of German spies: A French battalion had just entered a village which for some time previously had been occupied by the Germans. The place had been pillaged and devastated, the inhabitants had fled, but the church and priest's house were still intact. The aged curé came forth to greet the soldiers with open arms.

That evening officers invited the venerable cleric to dinner, and, as a matter of course, they invited him to say grace.

As he murmured a Latin prayer one officer, a lieutenant, became strangely interested. He became absolutely astonished as the priest went on. The lieutenant whispered to the colonel, and before the company had quite realized what was happening, four men with fixed bayonets had ranged themselves behind the curé.

"That man has never been a priest," exclaimed the officer.

Forthwith the man was searched. He was a German spy and had disguised himself as a priest in the deserted village. The real pastor was a hostage.

THOUGHT SHELLS FIREWORKS.

The London _Morning Post_ prints an extract from a letter of a cavalry officer, giving an account of how the Indian troops behaved in their first encounter with shell fire. Although a cavalry officer, the writer was serving in the trenches. In his letter, written from Belgium, he says:

"Night before last we were told that the regiment was going to be relieved by the Indians. I was delighted till I heard that my troops were to stay out to give them moral support, as it was their first go--a compliment, I suppose, although I didn't think so at the time. It was the most weird sight I've ever seen.

"There were six farms and a windmill blazing, all set alight by shell fire, when these fellows with turbans and with flashing eyes and teeth came up out of the darkness. The undefeated dragoons, of course, became firm friends with them at once. French, Belgians, Indians--they make pals with them all.

"Well, these natives had hardly got into the trenches on either side of me when the Germans opened fire. It was the worst half hour I've ever spent. As, of course, I couldn't make them understand and as they had never seen shells before I didn't know what they would do. They behaved splendidly, and I think they thought the shells were fireworks let off for their benefit.

"The officer in charge of them told me that morning that he was most frightfully anxious as to how they'd do, but they shouted with glee when they saw a German and let him know what good shots they are. In the middle of the attack one native hurled himself into my trench and spoke excitedly to me. Of course, I couldn't make out what he wanted, but thought he wanted a doctor for some one, as he kept pointing at a cartridge, so I sent down for him, but when he arrived I discovered it was more ammunition they wanted and not the doctor."

"YOU ARE AN ANGEL!"

A vivacious English woman, the wife of a very well known officer bearing a famous name, returned over the border into Holland, after an adventurous day's tour behind the German lines.

"I made up my mind to see for myself what was going on," she said, "so I disguised myself as a Flemish peasant woman, with the assistance of the national costume--earrings, headdress, and everything complete, down to the very shoes--stained my face brown with a concoction of strong coffee, borrowed a pair of spectacles and a market basket and set off across country on foot.

"On my way out of town I met a German soldier with his arm and hand dreadfully shattered. His bandages had slipped and he was trying vainly to replace them. I helped him redress his nasty wounds and rebandaged them with a pocket bandage I happened to have with me. The soldier fumbled in his pocket, and at last produced a crumpled five-franc note which he offered me. I refused it.

"'Why do you refuse good money for a good action, madame?' he said.

"'Because I am an English woman,' I replied, 'and English women do not take payment for good deeds, however great or small they may be.'

"'I cannot believe you are English,' he said, 'but you are an angel, and angels have no nationality. May I kiss your hand?'

"I held out my hand. He bent low and kissed it. There were tears in his eyes, and I rather wish now I had accepted the five-franc note to keep as a souvenir of Prussian gratitude."

KILLS 40 FOR SINGING.

"Among the wounded was a young Frenchman with a gold medal about which he refused to speak, and a slight wound in the foot about which he made considerable fuss," cables a correspondent. "Disgusted by these complaints among so much suffering silently borne, my informant elicited from the youth's comrades the following story, which subsequently was verified:

"At a point where the French trenches were barely fifty yards from the enemy's a party of Germans sang songs during the night which infuriated the French--'They wouldn't let us sleep with their howling,' as one of the French soldiers put it. Finally one little chasseur, crying, 'I will silence them,' seized a rifle and disappeared before any one could detain him.

"After a moment's silence came the crackle of rapid firing, followed by German shrieks and wild volleys. The firing continued, accompanied by shouts in French as from an officer directing an attack; then in guttural tones: 'Stop! Stop! We surrender.' A few minutes later the little chasseur reappeared escorting several unarmed Germans. He said: 'You can occupy the trench; there's nothing but corpses left to defend it.'

"Advancing, the French discovered forty dead Germans in the trench, killed by the little chasseur, firing from the end, whither he had crawled unnoticed. In some cases the same bullet pierced several Germans."

RUSSIAN AIRMAN'S RUSE.

The story of the strategy of a Russian aviator which got him out of a tight corner, is cabled from Petrograd:

A Russian airman accompanied by an observation officer was flying over the enemy's territory when he was obliged to descend owing to engine trouble. The pilot and the officer were wearing leather clothes without any distinctive mark.

They were working on the motor when suddenly seven Austrian soldiers in charge of an under officer appeared over the crest of a little hill and approached them.

Resistance was impossible, for the Russians had no weapons but revolvers. Fortunately the officer knew German. Calling loudly to the Austrian officer he ordered him in a peremptory manner to come and help him mend the motor. The Austrian, believing he was in the presence of a superior officer, hastened with his men to obey, and soon the engine had been put right.

The aeroplane started off, and as it ascended in spirals to the clouds a paper fell at the feet of the gaping Austrians. It contained a short message of thanks to the officer and his men for giving such timely aid to Russian aviators.

"IT IS LOVELY HERE!"

The Earl of Kingston, who is an officer in the Irish Guards, in a letter to his wife at Kildonin Castle, County Roscommon, from France, says:

"We had a bad night last night in the trenches, as we are only 800 yards from the Germans, and both sides are as jumpy as fleas, loosing off at any moment, and the guns are keeping up a terrific fire on us, but doing little damage. We had two killed and two wounded yesterday.

"They have a large gun here that was meant for the siege of Paris. It throws a shell thirty-two inches long and makes a hole big enough to bury eighteen men in. This battle has been on for ten days and we hope for the best.

"We have a farm here that has been taken and retaken, but we have it again at present. It is lovely at night, with hundreds of shells bursting all around, and if it were not for the death they bring they might be fireworks on a large scale.

"I have lost my servant and all my kit. Please send me out some cigarettes, tobacco and matches."

THEY TOOK HIS SHOE.

One of the British flying corps, Lieut. Rainey, crossed the Channel from France in a much damaged machine, thus completing in a fitting manner a series of thrilling adventures which have befallen him since he last left English soil.

Lieut. Rainey had been engaged for three weeks in reconnoitring at the front, and so little leisure had he been able to snatch that, as he told his friends here, in the whole of that time he could not remove his clothes, or even get a wash.

He had two machines disabled by rifle and shell fire, while a third caught fire in midair. On each of these occasions he very narrowly escaped losing his life.

Once when he came down he was so exhausted that he lay with his head on his aeroplane and fell fast asleep. On waking he was astonished to find that the puttee, boot and sock of one leg had been removed by some one who, as the lieutenant himself suggested, took the opportunity of his slumber to get them as mementoes.

Lieut. Rainey brought home with him a German helmet belonging to a man he shot, and he proudly asserted it was the first trophy of the kind taken by a British airman.

"SOLDIERS BECOMING RARE."

An official communication issued by the French War Office said:

"The following are extracts from a letter found on a German prisoner, dated Dusseldorf, Oct. 4:

"'With us officers and soldiers are becoming rare. We have no more men than are adequate. Volunteers and men of the Landwehr are all we have to-day. If you saw these soldiers you would turn your head.

"'Everybody is being taken. It is Germany's last hope. All the aged men are becoming soldiers.

"'Have you bread? Many complain they have none.'"

985 SHELLS KILL 2 HORSES.

The Paris _La Liberte's_ war correspondent says 60 per cent. of the German shells fail to explode; 985 shells fell on a single battery, killing only two horses.

The extent of invisible fighting in the war is shown by the revelation of an artilleryman now resting with his regiment. He entered the battle line at the beginning of the war and after ten weeks of continuous fighting has not seen a single German.

KILLED FOR INSULT TO WOMAN.

Proof that high German officers will not tolerate insults to women by their men is furnished in the following cable from a correspondent in Antwerp:

"Gen. von Beseler is a pleasant-looking old gentleman with a white mustache. He conducted himself most correctly toward every one in the hotel. On the other hand, one of his junior officers immediately asked for a hot bath and made exacting demands, culminating in a gross insult to the chambermaid. For this he was severely reprimanded by Von Beseler, who told the girl, patting her kindly on the shoulder, to report to him at once any further annoyance.

"A drunken soldier grossly insulted a poor woman on the street. She complained to an officer, who at once emptied a revolver into the offender's body, killing him. This had a salutary effect on the attitude of the troops toward the female population, for I heard of no similar outrage."

SOME FEE!

A fee of $35,000 was paid to a French surgeon of Epernay for operating on the wounded German Crown Prince. There was a certain retributive justice on the size of the fee, for $35,000 was the precise amount the Germans demanded as a war contribution from Epernay.

During the battling on the Marne the Crown Prince was seriously wounded. No German surgeon was in Epernay, so the Germans asked a well-known Paris surgeon, Dr. Veron, to operate, telling him they would pay any fee. Dr. Veron fixed the fee at an amount equal to the enforced war contribution, and that sum the German army treasurer paid in gold.

CALLS FOE TREACHEROUS.

In a letter written to relatives in London Corporal N. Hastings of the Guards accuses the Germans of treachery. He writes:

"If the papers were permitted to send their correspondents to the front they would have something to say which would open the eyes of the world about the Germans. It is an insult to Zulus to compare these squareheads to them for treachery. Some of them fight fair and square, but there are thousands of them who are devoid of all human feeling. Near the banks of the River Aisne they had been attacked and driven down by rifles and machine guns. A small number of the Northamptons were in a trench when 400 or 500 of the Germans held their hands up. The 'Cobblers' were ordered not to fire, and an officer asked in French and English if they surrendered.

"They came on in skulking manner and some of them threw down their rifles. In every way they showed they were giving themselves up as prisoners. The 'Cobblers' were priding themselves on the capture and the officer said, 'We have a haul here,' as they got near the trench. When they were three or four yards away they poured a murderous fire at the poor fellows. They had not a dog's chance and nearly all were knocked over. The devils then tried to get back and ran for their lives, but our battalion was soon after them. Before they got many yards a machine gun ripped them up and scores of them rolled over. Some of them got away, but our battalion got them in the rear. Our lads were simply furious at such treachery.

"I had a narrow shave as I fell over one of their wounded, and before I could get up again a bullet whizzed through the sleeve of my coat, but he who fired was shot through the head the next second. Some of the German officers are low bred. They are not like ours--gentlemen--and when they get a chance they gorge themselves and get mad drunk, so what can you expect from their men? I have spoken to several prisoners--one seemed a decent chap and spoke English well, having worked in London--and they admit it. The one who spoke English was a sergeant and he said his officers were perfectly mad because they were unable to get into Paris."

HOW HE WON THE V. C.

The story of how the first recommendation for the Victoria Cross was won in the present war is told in two letters. The first is from the hero himself, an English soldier named Dobson, to his wife in North Shields. He says very modestly:

"You will know by the time you receive this letter that I have been recommended for the Victoria Cross, an honor I never thought would come my way. I only took my chance and did my duty to save my comrades. It was really nothing."

The second letter is by Lady Mildred Follet, whose husband commands the company to which Dobson belongs, and is addressed to Mrs. Dobson. It reads:

"You will be glad to know that your husband is very well and has behaved with very great gallantry. Capt. Follet says: 'A thick fog came down, so I sent three men out 100 yards to our front to give warning of an attack by the enemy. After they had been there an hour the fog suddenly lifted and they were fired on at close range. One man was killed, one badly wounded and one crawled back. I didn't know how to get the wounded man back, so I called for a volunteer, and Reservist Dobson at once responded and went out to fetch him. He was heavily fired at but not hit.'"

* * * * *

The Big Furor

in books on the subject of war has been created by

GERMANY
AND THE NEXT WAR

BY GENERAL F. VON BERNHARDI

This book presents a clear exposition of the German attitude in the European War, and predicts with remarkable accuracy the plan of campaign of the German Army in their attacks on Belgium and France. General Bernhardi claims that England is stationary or retrogressive in the world's progress, that Germany is the coming world power, who by her rise will elevate the world's standard of civilization, art and commerce; that Germany's rise is in fact =civilization's greatest asset=.

The coolness with which the author assumes his views to be true, without argument or evidence, takes one's breath away.

War all around is considered with composure: war with England; France overthrown; Belgium conquered; and the balance of power in Europe to be deliberately destroyed. The two chapters on the inevitable naval war with England are of great interest.

The book is a 12 mo., contains 288 pages printed from new large type and is bound in substantial paper cover. =Price, 25 cents postpaid.=

_J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY
57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK CITY_

* * * * *

THE WAR

is the big thing in the public eye and mind today. It occupies all of the prominent space in newspapers and magazines everywhere, and will as long as it lasts; and for a number of years afterward literature, art and sculpture will show the war's effects in their general treatment.

We have just issued the

Best Stories of the
European War

_RECEIVED FROM ALL SOURCES_

Correspondents at the front or marooned in obscure places while the great conflict rages, manage daily to get through the wary censors some little grimly humorous, or tragic side-lights of the war. These we have collected into book form illustrated with some unusual war photographs.

The book contains 128 pages paper bound, illustrated.

Price, sent by mail postpaid, 25 cents.

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY
57 Rose Street, New York

* * * * *

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
AND THE WAR

By ERNEST LUDWIG

I. & R. Consul for Austria-Hungary, in Cleveland, Ohio,
with preface by his excellency

DR. KONSTANTIN THEODOR DUMBA
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United States

This book contains a comprehensive presentation of the political forces and historical developments which led to the initial clash of arms. It offers a graphic description of conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the two Austrian provinces coveted by Servia, and throws an illuminating light upon the real, the underlying causes of the world-conflict.

It gives detailed particulars of the Serajevo trial in which the assassination of the Crown Prince and his consort is proved to have been committed by members of the notorious "Narodna Odbrana" society of Servia, with the guilty fore-knowledge and complicity of the Servian Government and tells why Servia's equivocal note regarding this was not acceptable, making necessary from the Austro-Hungarian standpoint, the declaration of war against Servia which brought on the present European Conflict.

The chapter on the greater Russian propaganda is based on confidential and official reports, now made known for the first time.

The chapter dealing with economic conditions in Austria-Hungary contains entirely new facts, official and authentic.

The book contains 220 pages, size 7-1/2 × 5 inches, substantially bound in cloth. PRICE, ONE DOLLAR, net; postage 10 cents additional.

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
P. O. Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

End of Project Gutenberg's Stories and Letters From the Trenches, by Various