New-York tribune. [volume], January 06, 1918, Page 4, Image 26

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River of Ruin, Choking All Roads,
Flowed from Leak in Italian Line
American Born Soldier.
Fighting Where Ger<
mans Broke Through
Tells Story of Disastei
to Second Army
By an Italian-American
Headquarters of the Italian Army,
December 26.
IT ALL began with a leak, andlwai
part of the leak.
Tliia leak, sprung in that thirty
mile line of battle front along th
!?onxo River, was due morally to pcac
propaganda, physically to the loss o
two mountains. Be it remembered i
passing that when a hole is knocke
into a line of trenches if the leak i
not stopped the whole front must fal
hack until a new unleakable line i
formed.
The failure first to see this part ici:
lar leak and later to slop it cost th
Italians a 400-milc line consecrated fo
two hopeful years in their blood, 300
(?00 prisoners, 2,500 cannon, the hug
Province of Venice and a cold billio
dollars' worth of food, store?, mun
tions, bridges and railroad?.
Though an American, my father ??va
Italian born, and this is why I was i
the front line of the Italian trench?
those fateful October days, ono of th
half million men making up the Secon
Army who failed in their job to ho;
the upper Isonzo. My brigade wj
planted opposite the 1.300-foot mom
tains of Santa Maria and Santa Luci
two natural fortresses on the Italit
Mile of the river.
Followed Tactics
Of Napoleon
These mountains had never be<
wrested from the Austrian*. Ther
fore they formed the entering wed)
of the Germans who crossed the Ison:
at Tolmino, just as Napoleon had on
used them to cross to the passes
Tolmino and enter the heart of Au
tria. Why had ?J\e never wrested the
from the Austrians? This is on?
the unanswered questions leading i
to the mystery of the less of the arm
But why did not we of the Secoi
Army hold on to this key to Italj
heart? Can a man, explain why
suddenly goes mad? I think the whe
Second Army was mad. "We had be
flooded with Italian newspapers, eith
printed In Austria or by Italian S
claUsts, falsely describing conditio
at home. The very morning before t
great leak began I had read a "Giornt
d'ltalla" of Rome telling of revoluti?
ef rlota !n Naples and Florence, wi
English and French soldiers shooti
down our people. We were mad? mi
too, because we had not had leave
seven months, though promised it
we whipped the Austrians during i
August-September campaigns. Gene
Cadorna got his vacation, in fact, 1
just returned from it the day befi
the attack, so why not we?
Italians Thought
Attack Was Bluff
Anyway, it was a surprise for <
dorna as well as for ourselves. 1
Austrians in the trenches opposite 1
agreed with us not to do any m
lighting for the winter, both Austri
andjpurselves believing tho Pope wo
have made peace by then. It was If
1 learned that Mackensen's men
overnight relieved the Austrian tro<
t', make sure of us.
So when the shelling became
qr.ent the Wednesday morning of
attack we supposed it was some i
of bluff and merely kepi to co
Tlieri, just after bread and coffee, a p
under a lift in the fog showed me
trenches opposite heavily manned
with Germans. Some of them were
ready moving on the narrow ribboi
No Man's Land, threading their
carefully among its abominations.
I gave the alarm in soft voice to
comrades, leaped to the machine
and turned it upon them just as
would a garden hose on a.^rass ;
All along the line the sputtering j
and grew, hour after hour, and at c
fog lift I watched to see if the ba
wire entanglements bore any Aus
Herman fruit. Attack after attack
launched by those driven devils, i
the earth if pressed would itself
flown with their blood, as a ripe or.
?queezed would flow with juice. 1
artillery was given the tip to poi
into our front line until the cci
bound rock was crumbling about
Two-thirds of the sector lay dea
v.oundcd.
Spies Working
In Italian Lines
"It is no use, it's too late." 1 li
a comrade yell in my car. "Conn
we're being cut off. Let's run ft
The troops at Caporetto have
aerted."
I recognized in the man a Ge
who had once lived in Turin. His
form was Italian, his voice Boeh
shot him dead, but already the tra
work was done. My comrades
racing down the tiinnel to the st
line I had to follow. There we
fired on by our own carabinier!,
hated policemen, who had been g
iiig our rear for so long, shootir
when we ran. We scrambled thi
them, stubbed them, killed them b
doy.vu. From the second line w<
to the third line. A bit of shell
the curtain ?ire tore through one c
arms, disabling it. Here wo mi
si and with the reinforcements o
h o fron! lines.
Hui tres on was widening the
A young ofticer plunged into n du
?. ?;.? i he telephone, wiluiy ?enn
tiiat more men be brought up fror
THE WRECKAGE OF THE ROUT
Wounded''Italian soldiers along the line of the retreat, waiting hopelessly for aid.
; rear. There was no answer. He
dropped the receiver in despair. The
wire bad been cut. The general of
the brigade sent out cycle messengers
for help, asking our artillery to pound
the enemy. We waited, waited, suf?
fering from an ever increasing fire
from the, Germans, who had by now
1 turned our two first lines against us.
I The wounded piled up on top of the
dead. There was no one nor room to
| care for cither.
Finally came the answer to our call
for help: "We are being pressed on
the whole line; you must hold out?
let your men get a taste of real war."
.So help me God, that's the message
we got. And yet we have been put in
the coward class.
W? knew we were doomed. It was
death during daylight to stay and
death to go. We held on, minute by
minftite, hour by hour, killing every
mother's son of a German who tried
to break through the barbed wire pro?
tections. We blew up the tunnel ways,
for we knew they would surely try to
get to us when night came.
Word reached us, in mat curious
way news has of travelling, that in
truth the troops to the north at Capo?
retto had deserted to the enemy?So?
cialists from the Tuscan provinces,
where German propaganda had been
most cunning. We also heard that our
Caproni scouts had gone fifty strong
'. and bombarded these deserters, so they
; could not profit by their dishonor.
! As the darkness grew v.-e could see
| by tha rocket flares the Germans pre
i paring to storm us, with hand grenades.
I poison gases and all other deviltries.
I The Cry Was
Each for Himself
"Every man for himself." was th<
? word passed to us. We set out, tin
few hundreds remaining, toward th<
rear. Paths there were none. Thi
[ Boche artillery had cut up the ground
I fell into great black holes freshl?
! smelling of new earth. Others yawnei
j about me in the brilliant light of tin
! night rockets flaming through the for
' est. Tree branches swayed about me
? quivering from the explosions of ou
j artillery booming miles away, futilcl;
i answering Mackenscn's maids.
? The earth rocked. Comrades droppe
( headlong as they ran. Bits of lea
and steel sput about us with the smac
j of heavy raindrop?. Surely the las
\ judgment could be no worse.
The twelfth and last battle of th
Isonzo was being fought and lost thi
dreary night upon the topa of thos
two mountains of Santa Maria an
Lucia, whose pretty names mocked m
| like the music of operas heard in bel
ter days. I staggered on in the dar!
ness, faint from loss of blood an
hunger, 'taking the down grade into th
valley of the tiny river ludrio.
How rapidly the leak was widenin
into a 'torrent daylight of the sccpfi
day showed me. All the roads in sigl
wero filling with stragglers, wit
wounded, panic-stricken, betrayed so
diers, fleeing as myself to escape cap
urc, to be sent to work and starve i
Austrian mines. The wayside was li
tered already with wounded and dyin,
One poor crazed soldier, madder tha
all 'the rest, naked, running barefoi
and straight as an arrow, swiftly as
Greek messenger, bellowing as he ra
seeing nothing, yet never stumblin
dashed down the main road throug
the lines of stragglers. At last 1
leaped from the road over the emban
ment and pitched headTong down tl
mountain side.
As daylight grew stronger I could si
the road ahead dotted with long lin<
of motor-drawn artillery coming i
the valley, too late to stop the lea
Nearer up and more swiftly came do
ens of motor trucks filled with resern
In the lead was an automobile full ?
officers. At the sight of the fellov
hot-footing it away, they drew the
pblojs and began to fire.
uThi? way out," 1 exclaimed ?riml
omehow thinking of the end of
New York movie show, as the xoremo
i of the mob fell. I jumped over the
I stone fence and loped along under it
I until I got past the nastily disposed
i officers, Avho little knew how fearful
was the leak they lind been sent to
mend.
j Alpini Troops
|Die to a Man
The main rond was fast becoming
hopelessly jumbled between those re?
treating and those trying- to get for
ward to hold (he mountains. 1 cu1
across country toward Cividalc. On?
fellow? I met told me the whole of th<
line had held except where the pressure
had been put on t'ae two mountains an<
a Utile to the north, where an attemp
i was being made to break in behin:
! Udine, the army headquarters. Throi
? regiments o? Alpini, ho added, had diei
?to the last man at Monte Maggiore, de
fending this entrance to Udine.
That evening 1 crept into a school
house, dese'-'ted since the war, got fres'
water, ate a few crumbs of bread 1 ha
left and slept upon a doormat of ra
carpet. Hours later 1 was roused b
the tremble from some gigantic c?,
plosion. I afterward learned it wa
that of a huge quantity of munition
stored across the river on Bainsizz:
munitions meant to be used to invad
Austria, and now being blown up b
our Caproni scouts to prevent th
enemy from using them.
j After the tremblinp ceased I W?
'startled to hear the liquid trill of
nightingale in the. tree branches, sinj
ing all unmindful of the thunder <
cannon. 1 took to the road. The nigl
was filled with noise, with the sparl
of rocket trails describing their rap
arcs.
By now the leak had become a floo
The dam had burst. The Germai
were crowding us. Every road lea
ing to Cividalc was jammed wi'
officers Hnd soldier?, weeping ai
cursing by * turns, some well, sor
wounded. There were broken-dov
automobiles, cannon, trucks stopp
in tlveir tracks, masterless horses, kic
ing mules, meek little donkeys hitch
to great two-wheeled carts from Sicil
The whole mass moved slowly, eve
effort to get ahead merely checkii
progress. The entire Second Arn
once perhaps the strongest of 11a 1 ;
; four armies on this front, was in rit
treat.
Road Choked Like
A Sewer With Dead
At daybreak enemy cannon .trot our
range, aeroplanes dropping smoke
bombs to better indicate our position,
Shells killed dozens of men and horses
at a time, tore wide red gashes in the
: road. It was soon choked like a sewer
Men lost all soldierly training, reverted
to what they had been before the war
' became once more thieves, clerks
| plumbers, thugs, day laborers.
At the bridge entrance across the
Natisone River into Cividalc wholi
acres of ground became covered witl
frantic men. Airmen bombarded u;
; despite the efforts of the Italian scouts
Swooping low, they tired a lea?en hai
from their machine guns. Fallen mer
died in the mud like flies in :\ pigsty
I saw two soldiers lighting like devili
for the possession of a plank hot]
1 wanted to use in swimming Cue river.
skirted the. crowd and swam the swol
1er. stream.
In Cividale there were new scene
of horror, women running to and fro
, undecided ar, to whether to abandoi
.their homes, terrified children crying
?houses full of wounded, street;
' crowded with soldiers struggling ove
pieces of bread, officers giving com
mands no one heeded, and all the whib
? a steady movement toward the Udine
six miles away.
A clear-eyed young mother, holdin;
a little boy by her .-ide, stopped me.
''What's the new-!'.''' she demanded
"Must 1 go'."'
"Yes," 1 to'.d her: "he'iter be dea
? than risk falling a victim to the blon
| beasts."
I offered to take h?r to Udine. Sh
; gave me a piece of bread and cheeB
] from her precious store, and in a mt
! ment we were off.
"We'd better take the railroad track,
1 advised, knowing in what an awft
! condition would be the main road.
Others before us had thought of th
- railroad. The trains had ceased rur
ning, blocked by the rifles and baggag
' which soldiers had thrown on th
j tracks as they fled. The roadbed ws
1 littered all the way with such thing
Surrender of Key to
Country*? Heart, Loss
of 300,000 Prisoners,
2,500 Guns, Due to
! Spies and Peace Talk
VVe got nw'ay just in time. Soon thd
German advance guard reached the
Xatlsone and kept coining, disdaining
to take prisoners. Even before we left
an officer on a motorcycle had some
1 how got into the town. Mad, like the
I rest of us, he had begun to shoot at the
j statue of Adelaide Ristori, until him
? self shot by some faithful carabinier!.
The main object of the Germans was
to save froni destruction the millions
of dollars' worth of stores in the ware
' bouses around Cividalc, winter stores
j so carefully freighted from the United
States. But already the plain behind
us was covering with smoke; ?he stores
were being burned by our gallant cav?
alrymen, who, obsolete as crossbow
: men until now, were sacrificing them?
selves to protect oui rear and check
the Germans until all of value could
he destroyed. Until the death of their
I leader. General, Rubin de Cervin, they
fought to the west of Cividalc all dur
; ing those first horrible four days.
We got to Udine by afternoon I j
I think it was Saturday, though I lost
all count of time. This once gay city '<
was being subjected to violent air raids !
? evory half-hour. German shells were i
i beginning to drop upon the thousands !
i upon thousands of soldiers and civil- ;
ians thronging its narrow streets. Here j
' all roads converged from the front and ?
each new arrival of soldiers convinced .
I unbelieving inhabitants that they must j
hurry away. Shops were being closed,
beautiful private, residences abandoned
by their unhappy owners, locked up in
a vain attempt to keep them safe from
the despoiling Hun.
! Old Hotel Porter
Refused to Flee
Somehow we found ourselves near !
? the courtyard of the Hotel Italia, which
I had known in happier days. All the
. occupants were gone save the old por- \
ter, who, remembering me, told me he ?
| was going to stay.
"I ran away from Trieste at the be?
ginning of tho war to escape the Aus- j
, trians, but this time 1 stick," he said.
We begged some food of him, but lie
said he had none left, that gold could
no longer buy food. An American cor?
respondent rushed up justi then and j
reminded the porter to take care of
his trunk, left in his room. As the
United States was not at war with
Austria he thought it might be re?
spected.
I stayed in L'diuc until midnight, wit
; nessing the looting of the city by the
' famished hordes that continued to ar
' rive. ? heard that ("adorna in his
rage hnd had airmen bombard the de
; sorters of the Second Army, who were
?partly responsible for the wrecking of |
j our front. I also met soldiers coming
: in from the Carso section of the Isonzo,
who told me the Third Army was re-1
: treating, though in fair condition, sav?
ing many of their cannon. Too, the i
word was passed from somewhere, tiiat
1 our new line would be that established
before the war by General Pollio be?
hind the Tagliamento River, some
: twelve miles toward Venice.
I again took the railroad track out
of tho city, the main road running '
When the dawn broke: A view of the Isonzo near where the German* cuHniouri, the If li?, ,' , ?
t?U?try m Whkh IU,y ?* d?SaSt~ ^ ???? ? 5? nver ^^A^Cl??f?"^ C'?m('Ulty * *'
parallel to it toward Ccrlrolpo being
i blocked with wagons, motor cnrs and
' thousands of people afoot.
i I witnessed the most curious sights.
; Rich women walking in high-heeled
! shoes, officers' wives carrying their
husbands' dress swords, peasant women
with immense baskets on their heads
full of household odds and ends. One
had taken in and was carrying her
! undriod wash. Soldiers who had thrown
away their rifles were now laden with
heavy loot of no value. One carried n
phonograph. A grocer was lugging his
account books.
This was the advanced part, of the
retreat. Probably 200,000 people were
ahead of us, with another thre?-quar
i tern of a million behind which must
; pass over the only avenues of retreat.
i Once f climbed a telegraph pole and
1 looked behind. All visible roads were
so full that they seemed like endless
i moving platforms winding over the
?plain. Here and there troops of the
rear guard were spread out. firing into
the enemy, who were operating in
small, separate forces. Our light ar?
tillery was still checking the advance.
When we reached Codroipo the main
f road was fed by the multitudes from
Cormons, Palmanova, the Carso army
having followed the road to Latisana,
near the Adriatic Sea. The struggle to
get ahead now reached an indescribable
degree of confusion. liny Codroipo
was taken by storm. Those ahead who
tried to stop for water were pushed on
and on as by an avalanche. We had
been moving at the rate of perhaps a
mile an hour. Mow it was scarcely half
that, what with the breakdown; of
motors carrying wounded who had to
bo transferred to other vehicles. Many
motors were abandoned because the
drivers could get ahead more rapidly
afoot.
Bride From Altai
Joins the Rout
The crowd became more varied the
further we got. At Ripolto I saw a
bevy of little girls all dressed in white
coming out of a church where they
had received their lirst communion. All
joined us as they were. Somewhere
else I saw a woman in her wedding
dress and white slippers tramping in
the muddy road, already separated
from her husband. Peasants fleeing
from the mountains that here dominate
the plain joined us, some carrying
chickens tied under their carts, others
trying to drive their cattle a.ul hogs.
The crowd got panic fits increasing
in frequency as wo neiued the Tuglia
mento. Reports ran along the line that
our troops were blowing up the bridge,
others that the Germans had posses?
sion of it. This meant the trampling of
women, of wounded, the fright of
mules, the curses of men.
Then for a time all settled down to
ihe dreary, cheerless 'ramo, tramp.
When we came to the bridge, a wooden
one built by Napoleon ?i century ago,
the crowd, unable to pass quickly, was
thrown back upon itself, forming a
deadlock.
Frightful struggles took place to get
in the entrance line. Babes in arms
were suffocated. People abandoned
their bundles of riches. Automobile''
were overturned and flung down the
banks. Crazed men unhitched horses
and tried on them to swim the stream,
running big!?, because of the recent
rains. We were more and more fre?
quently bombarded by aeroplanes.
Women sat down refusing to move and
were trampled where they sat. A banker
from Udine, loaded with a steel box
of gold and paper money, wildly and
vainly offered 10,000 francs to the
driver of a motor about to take its
turn at the entrance to give him a ride.
Twelfth Battle
Of Isonzo Was Over
By a sudden whirlwind movement in
the crowd, caused by the dropping of a
bomb, I was thrown into its centre at
the bridge entrance and was fairly
pushed across. Once over. I didn't care
what happened. I saw a stalled ?ted
Cross motor pulled out of the road,
with its occupants all gone, '('herein I
climbed mechanically, and, dropped ex?
hausted upon its floor. I slept a good
dozen hours, the lirsi real sleep I had
had in four days. When I awoke it
was Monday afternoon. I looked out.
The road bridge was no longer there
nor that, of the railroad below. Our
troops were still coming across, how?
ever, swimming as they could. Hun?
dreds wore drowning. The five English
batteries of artillery left on the Carso,
after the Italians had returned the
other French and Fnglish batteries
previous to the offensive, came across
on rafts.
Finally the Italian troops reformed
somewhat behind the Tagliamento, the
rout became more of n retro;.I. and the
twelfth battle of the Lor;.;) was over.
leaving a part o1' the Italian army
wrecked, for the time, arid almost as
poor as when it started oui so bravely
from the Tagliamento two and a half
years ago with oniy a few field guns.
(Copyright, 1918, by Edwai ! Marshall.)
Jews Are Led Astray
Usually Wise People Sacrifice a
Friend to the Moloch qf Capitalism
By D. M. Hermalin
I.railing Hebrew ?rid Yiddish Author and Kditor
THERE are moments in the seeth?
ing caldron of human life whet
reason and truth are strangle?
and lies and passions are permitted t<
: reign.
Demagogy ia enthroned and hold
\ sway over the destinies of commun i
ties, cities, peoples, nations-aye. ove
I the greatest portion of civilized hu
| inanity.
If the ruin of a public ofi'fial is con
templated. all that one has to do i", t
: brand him as a capitalist, or at least a
being in league with capital. By circt
Iating such rumors, by advertising sue
assertions', the person put forth as
target is doomed. N'o matter ho?
honest, bow upright he may be, tli
damage is irreparable.
This procedure is prevalent now a
most everywhere or wherever a certa:
perverted theory of economics has bee
preached. The damaging influence ca
be detected in Russia, in Japan, i
France, in Mew York, and it applii
even in small hamlets.
A good many honest and upright m?
have been sacrificed o:: the altar of th
monstrous irle!. One of them was Jo!
Purroy Mitchel, Mayor of the City ?
N,w York.
Of course, the election in New Yo
City is over. Tammany Ha'i iias .>u
eeeded in electing its officials, r.:
nothing can change this decision :'
the next four years at least. Shou
these official's choose to give Xew Y.o
City an administration similar to t
(?nes Tammany has given us in the pi
(excepting the Gaynor administratioi
then no one else vi!l regret i*. mc
than the Jews of this metropolis w
helped to elect Judge liylaii by voti
for Hillquit and against Mitchel.
Jews Above Others
Defeated Mitchel
To be sure, the Jews were not '
only ones to throw away their votes
Hillquit, but it is, nevertheless,
lamentable fact that the?- voted aim
en masse for Hillquit. and they, ab'
all others, should have voted
Mitchel.
It would be superfluous to mi
words and ascribe fantastic causes
the failure 01" Mitchii's re?lecti
There is only one real reason ?.
Mitchel did- not succeed himself.
this is because ho was accused of
ing a friend of the rich, and he
the enemy of the poor. iTe was
attacked for inefficiency in office,
allying himself with crook- and eu.
or for not keeping his promises,
only sin was that he was suppje
to favor capitalism.
The atmosphere that envelops a g
many of the unsophisticated now
such that should the faintest cry
raised against anybody branding
as an ally of capita!, even if he 1
Kerensky, bis strength would
aval! against the onslaught.
The human mind is now rum
amuck, and beginning with the
tetar?an who has been taught
capitalism i-; the destroyer of i
kind, it ends with the professer in
university proclaiming that unless
money power is crushed and s
hilated it will be ultimately the
terminator of society.
Xow let us approach the str
facts pertaining to the Jewish v<
of Xew York City.
Tammany Real
Lnemy of Jews
Tammany Hall has indirectly s<
smirched the name of the Jews of
York that they became the epithc
opprobrium, shame and indec
throughout the civilized countries,
merous books and dissertations
published in different f?uropean
guages on vice, gambling and j
sters in Xew York City, and the
were principally identi?ed with tl
None'others could feel this i
and malignant accusation more k
than the Jews of Xew York did
none rejoiced more than the same
when the Mitchel administration (
;ated this evil.
Were the assertions against
lews founded on facts? The i
:ion of the "writer is not. to enga
whitewashing or defending the
However, the truth must be told.
Throughout the benighted peri
icwish oppression, of false accusi
aid criminal libels heaped again:
lew by malevolent individuals,
?ven whole nations, there was s
>ne great virtue about the Jew
ven his bitterest enemies coul
leny the purity of Jewish horn
f it was not praised and lauded
ightly deserved, it'was at least i
ached.
Shakespeare, who did not hesi't
?icture the Jew Shylock as a' h
nonster, could not help but dep
enderest feelings for the honor
laughter. German anti-Scmitis
it the door of the Jew all sc
tegradation, but among them le
vas not mentioned.
True, there were exceptions.
ew who ever dared to deal in vi
?arter with woman's honor in t
Vorld could hope ever to enter i
rogue, to be accepted as a men
be Jewish community, or eve
lose to a Jewish neighborhood.
A German writer, Franz Ho
lUthor of "Das Laster Xew
"Vice in Xew York": Berlin.
naintains that it was the Jew v
reduced prostitution in this city
as hitherto a "Puritan centre.
The writer vividly recollects
?val in Xew York in the fall i
le ?.vas then lodged in a house t
beth Street. What he saw t?
ay on that street astounded hi
inning at about 2 in the af
nd continuing until dawn the
ig day, hundred? of unfortunat
?i were parading the sidewalks
trect, exchanging plcasantrie
he uniformed police, whil? t
ccosting the men who happens ?
pass. Similar behavior was s??., Z
.he Bowery, Christie Street and oWf.
owntown districts.
The writer -.vas not a social rc?o?>
rnought persecution did, pernaps,?!
one more degradation to his p*o?l- !
He wanted to be convinced, and sotMH
the trouble to look into the face, !!
those women whom he suspected ??
Jewess?!:. To bis delight, he dit.iw '
In th ? course of time the evil becaae
so widespread, so great and so darbt
that every Jewish n< hborhood wa<
pointed out as the dumping ground fot
! he outca - of so :scty.
^1 iddish Press Made
Continual Protest
Among every group of human? then
are invariably such persons that if tt?
. bonds of restriction are loosened th
derelict2 take advantage < f it. H
weak Jewish youth who did not geti
proper :chooling or who did not get?
ade ; ia'.' training from his parents,en?
gaged i,n the hard struggle for exi<:
encc in a strange land, becanu contais
ins! id in the foul air which environed
him and ended by becoming a cadet <
a professional seducer of women.
What happened to the Jewish youtt
also happened to many a Jewish girl.
1 he ??! iddis:? press, even the one bonjki
by Tammany Hall for campaign par
'?? es, ,:f'V'v ceased prote ting against
his -?.'.. ,. t! ings. But Tammany
i;...! i m iv the tim J Jewish frame o!
mind, and ihu.- continued its evil prat
tice unftl ash? d.
The Jewish 'fi?et became also a gata
bier and a gangster. The latter wi
ready to commit even murder for hii
Good, tender Jewish mothers cria
and wept, but o,f no avail. A go*,
many Jewish parents wished they hi:
remained in Russia and become victim
of pogroms rather than live to see the:
children grow into womanhood ts?
manhood amid such surroundings. They
ought not to be blamed when they as?
serted that Russia, with all her evils,
was pr< " ral le to America, which took
away their offspring and gav I em ti
Moloch.
Xot until the administration o'
Mayor Gaynor did this situation un
dergo any notice;.!!? change. But it
took Mayor Mitchells strong, fearless
and energetic work of reform to bring
about a complete metamorphosis. He
cleansed all the districts, and the Jew?
ish districts in particular, of lili:
evil and rid the city of almost every
dissolute woman, cadet and gangster
TI e Jew breathed freelj once mon
and ?'is heart was filled with tra
gratitude to the man who helped fai
his daughter from an abyss of I
and his son from ruin and crime. Hai
Mayor Mitchel been a candidate a year
ago he would have obtained every Jew?
ish vote in the greater city. But what
was it that changed the minds of the
Jews, who were in duty bound to sup
port the Mayor, who had don ; su muet
for good government which cleared
their name and rescued their children
from dreadful pitfalls?
There lies the rub.
How the Plot
Wa
s Arrange
w
ve a \ iddi? .1 paper in this
city named 'Tie Jewish Daily For?
ward." It pretends to be socialistic,
but its ways aro mysterious. Inciden?
tally this sheet has u larger circula?
tion than ail other Jewish newspaper?
Did it combino to help Tammany Ha'
elect its officers? This we do v0'
know. We were not present at their
conclaves nor at any deal, if there w
such. But what wc do know is con?
clusive. It actually supported Diftrir'
Attorney Swann, Tammany Hall'
candida'e. The job was cleverly done.
The representatives of "The For
ward." who nominated the Socialist
ticket, put up a dummy for District
Attorney. Among Jewish circles a ru?
mor was spread that ?t was Mr. Swann
who had 'liberated the Jewish striM
leaders, accused innocently of all sort*
of crime and whom the capitalists de?
sired to execute for murder. It **'
thus the duty of ever;. Jew U> re
elect Mr. Swann, a man whom capita
ists cannot, swerve from his allegian?
to those who toil. ir
The most interesting part, h""'"-'"
is the mayoralty campaign. Hiriq?
was the Socialist candidate. None?!
ticipated his election. But everybody?
the midst of the Socialists knew that?
vote for Hillquit meant one less W*
Mitchel; that those same voters we*?
support Mitchel in a choice bet we?
Mitchel and Hylan. What could wa
say against Mitchel? They corcoctf1
the legend that if Mitchel were deft?;
ed and Hillquit elected peace would ??_
low imm?diat >lv because the war ?'
declared by Wall Street, by capital'??
whose interest Mitchel was setting
All that Mitchel end done for tn
saving of Jewish homes. Jewish l'on '
and Jewish decency was brushed asio ?
Jt was one great outburst against "
war of capital and against Mrtcheb
?catspaw" f Wall Street. They oUl'
did Hearst in every .--pert and >''';
.eeded in alienating the Jewish? '.
ers from Mitchel. to the delight ';
Murphy, and thus Tammany Hail cam?
into Rower again. , ,
Will Judge Hylan follow in the ie?v
steps of his infamous predecessors *
cause again a contamination ot -^
???wish districts? We hope net.
tremble at the thought, and weL*?*JBL
hi the contemplation of s r?gira? ,
Now York City where the good wor*
Mayor Mitchel should be undone.
What pain-, us most is that the ***
whom Mayo- Mitchel helped ?^
habilitate themselves in th ? <*>'?? ?JT
world, have brought about hi? d?le? '