Yerington times. [volume], March 08, 1919, Page TWO, Image 2

About Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932

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FIRST AND LAST
CHURCH SHELLED
Mezieres Victim of Hun Ferocity
Even Up to Signing of
Armistice.
BELLS ARE CARRIED AWAY
After Suffering in 1521 Its First At
tack Sacred Edifice Got Germans’
Parthian Shot—Full of His
toric Interest.
By M. L’ABBE A. POULIN.
(In the New York Herald.)
Mezieres, Ardennes, France.'—It Is n
fnct known to everyone that the Ger
mans, after having desperately begged
for the armistice, shelled the town of
Mezieres, even up to the exact mo
ment of the beginning of the armistice,
cownrdly and without any military
reason whatever. They aimed espe
cially at the monuments, which were
well known to them, us they had oc
cupied the city for four years.
Among the latter the church is es
pecially to be mentioned. It Is a fine
Gothic flamboyant structure with five
naves, the largest and perhaps the
most beautiful of the country. This
church has hud, among other princely
visitors, the honor of celebrating the
marriage ceremony of Charles IX nnd
Elisabeth or Austria (1070). We make
bold to assert that it was “the last
of the churches shelled.” A fact less
known, although not less Interesting,
ts that It was also “the first of the
churches to be shelled.”
Begun in 1499, It was 22 years old
when in 1521 the Imperials besieged
Mezleres, defended by Bayard, the
knight without fenr or reproach. His
torians relate that shells were em
ployed for the first time during this
siege. The enemy shelled the town
for exactly a month, from August 31
until September 27, and one part was
entirely destroyed. The monuments
as well as the church were struck by
.the projectiles, as is proved by the
archives of the epoch, kept in the de
pository of the department of Me
sieres. Severnl Inrge holes had to be
jnended In the roof of the church
steeple as “the glass frame of the
round of the steeple which had been
broken during the siege."
k Many Times Bombarded.
I One can notice that the bombard
ments of this epoch, even compared to
those that the history of after times
was to note, were not—ns certain
people might believe—“gomes of chil
dren.” The church of Mezleres was,
however, to undergo more terrible
Ones on three different 'occasions.
Completed with difficulty In 1620,
that is to say, a hundred and twenty
seven years after the laying of the
foundation stone, it was soon to have
lived the golden age of its life. To
say nothing of the fire which broke
out in its steeple (1682), neither of the
acts of vandalism of the revolutionists,
let us speak only of the bomburdments
which it suffered*
■ The Prussians shelled it in 1815. An
Inscription on the wall reminds the
reader that it was nearly ruined. It
lost its beautiful stained-glass win
dows of the sixteenth century and the
exterior pinnacles were seriously dam
*
1 aged. Several shells penetrated intn
the Interior, causing a great deal of
damage.
Hardly had the damage of 1815 been
repaired when a new cloud nrose on
the horizon and threatened Mezleres
in 1870. New invasion, new fears and
new ruins for our town on the fron
tier.
Tlie 31st of December. 1870, and 1st
of January, 1871—German Christmas
liox—the enemy again shelled Me
zleres. The church was principally
aimed at and was once more the vic
tim of tlie shells, which spoiled the
steeple, burst tlie vaults, broke the
sculptures and stained-glass windows.
•During nearly forty-seven years
these ruins had been repaired. The
church of Mezleres had passed the
greater part of this great war without
damage, but in 1917 and 1918 the Ger
mans took away the tive beautiful
bells, the most tuneful and the loud
est in the country, and what is worse
broke the organ in order to get down
the bfells. But tlie church itself re
mained uninjured. It would have been
too much luck for our church, the des
tiny of which seemed united to all our
national woes. On November 10, less
than twenty-four hours before tlie ar
mistice, the fury of the retreating en
emy poured out In tlie vile bombard
ment of Mezleres, which lasted twen
ty hours. Among other buildings tlie
Church of Our Lady was struck. All
the stained-glass windows were either
totally or partly broken, and what is
more important, the flnmboyant raui
lions of many windows were broken.
The church wns struck by many
bombs, some of which hit the lantern
of the steeple, tlie tower of the signal
man. Some struck the top, some the i
Put Total War Cost
;[ at 450 Billions I
i|i London.—The direct <^of |:
:i: the war is estimated nt $200c
:|: 000,000.000 in a special article m
:!: in the Daily Telegraph The f;
•!■ author estimates the indir |
:il cost of diminished trade and j.
ill financial disturbance at if-ou.- v
ooo.ooo.ooo. 1:
ill -vast sums,” be says, have i,
;j: been used for sheer destruction.
if and vast public debts havefern |
incurred for which * 1,1 ‘ !j
no corresponding property. ft
'i Tlirougliout two-tldrds ol the ft
ii! world the work of useful pro- 8
;i: duetion has been suspended dur- 8
Ing four years and its place ha ft
ill been taken for the slaughter of
||i hunlnn lives and annihilation of -
d’ accumulated wealth. ,j
id “lint there is a moral aspect
ij; to be taken Into account, "f ;;;
;j: may at least hope that we have
||i put an end forever to the dan
; Ror of Prussian mllitnrisai. it
i! out of the ruins of the last four d,
years there arises a new, bright- v
:|| er and Imppler world, then the
:|: billions that have been spent
’ will not all have been spent In
;|: vain.” i;|
vault, some the interior of the coun
terforts.
Thanks th the armistice, which came
just in time to prevent the enemy
from destroying Mezleros totally, the
damage, though considerable, is not
beyond repair. But It is certain, too.
that this bombardment is another
proof of the insincerity and the sav
agery of our enemies, and—a fact
worth noticing—that our church, the
first church to be shelled in history,
was also the last. «
BRITISH TARS TO
DIVIDE MILLIONS
London.—When W. W. Jacobs wrote
‘‘Many Cargoes” he had no notion his
Idea was ;o be plagiarized, und pla
giarized by a great naval war ut that.
But wars—like women—huve strange
ways. And not the least strange of
them Is the working of the department
of the British marshal of the ad
miralty and prize court.
In time of history It was the duty
of this hlghfaluting dignitary to ar
range for and nttend the execution of
prisoners sentenced to death for mur
der on the high seas. And It is on
record that the marshal of the olden
time attended the execution of Ad
miral Byng—a British commander,
who was shot on his own quarterdeck,
ns a pennlty for losing a battle. Times
have changed. The modern marshal Is
only a milk and water edition of his
sterner prototype. He Is the watch
man, stevedore, caretaker and guar
dian angel in chief of all German
shipping that has fallen into allied
hands during the war, and Incidentally,
of the British naval prize fund, of
which thousands of British Jack tars
and their officers are now uwaitlug
their share.
The “Many Cargoes” to be divided
vary from a priceless emerald to a tin
kettle. The gross proceeds of the sale
WHERE GERMAN ASSEMBLY CONVENED
Tills Is the Itoyal thenlor In Welmnr, where the Gerninn nntlonal assem
bly Is In session to try to settle the future government of the country.
of ships’ goods, the marshal told a
New York Sim reporter, amounted to
*70,000,000, but this included goods
seized under the blockade, which must
be held pending the conclusion of
peace. It was not pcndbM to say what
the amount of the prize fund would be.
There was plenty of work for the prize
j court.
250 Ships Seized During War.
“The president (Lord FhilUmore)
; has sat every day since he was ap
! pointed, and there would appenr to be
quite another year's wprk before tha
ctfurt,” said the marshal. “Including
vessels seized In port upon the out
break of war, which numbered over
100, ubout 250 ships have gone Into
my custody in the United Kingdom.
“Hundreds of thousands of tons of
goods of all description*—copper,
aluminum, metals, wool, cotton, lard,
oils and fats, coffee, cocoa, dried fruits,
wheat, barley, hides, leather, tobacco,
nitrates, zinc concentrates, diamonds,
pearls, human hair, false teeth and
many other things—all are among the
prize captures.”
Alluding to me quantities or norm*
nnd securities captured, he said the
Interception of these securities proved
a powerful lever In British hands,
causing serious Interruption of German
trade and damage to German credit.
Amusing Incident.
"An amusing incident," said the
marshal, "happened In the earliest
days of the war, when upon a large
enemy vessel, brought in by the navy,
'ome alligators were found. The oili
er of customs at the outport In nd
Islng me of the seizure appeared to
* very nervous of their presence,
iome he thought were dead, because
heir eyes were shut, and some were
oo much alive.
“The zoological society not being
nxious to have them they were sold
o a buyer who subsequently toured
ho provinces, exhibiting them ns
prize’ alligators.
"Eighteen months later the owner
ippeared in the prize proceedings and
ibtalned a release of the proceeds of
sale only. He appeared astonished to
lad that they had been sold. I don’t
know,” said the marshal, “how he
jxpected me to feed and look after the
animals for eighteen months. I heard
thnt he expressed himself very forcibly
I to the Innocent purchaser.”
• Sailor “Human Pendulum,” f
? Rescues Girls From Fire •
• _ ;
• New York—Five girls and •
• eight men were trapped In a #
i burning loft nt No. 377 Fourth ^
• avenue. One niun was killed |
7 and four persons were Injured. •
• There were no fire escapes. Two •
| girls were rescued by a sailor ^
T who clung to a telephone wire |
7 with one hand and made a pen- (
• dulum of himself to swing the •
i girls Hto the arms of a fireman. «
Feed* Family Gratis.
Springfield, III.—W. C. Dean had a
Questionable Idea when he thought he
could take his family for meals with
out payment nt the lunch restaurant
here where he was manager. That’s
why the owners are withholding SI 5
In back p' y to Dean and the latter has
lnstltuUj> court proceedings to obtain
B. •
HUNS SAFER AT HOME
Coblenz—When a Chicago Tribune
correspondent entered one of the head
quarters offices the captain wns Just
completing what appeared to have been
an Interesting lecture to u German
civilian.
“Just take my tip," he said, "and
stay right here In Germany where you
belong. They are laying for you fel
lows back In the States, and you are a
whole lot safer right here."
“What’s the matter with the bird?"
asked the correspondent, and the cap
tain explained.
“He’s another of those damned
bodies that we call ‘American citizens
for convenience.' We have had about a ;
dozen wanting passports to the United
States. They were horn In Germany,
went to the United States and took
out citizenship papers, and then, ac
cording to their stories, eittier just hap
pened to be over here when the war
started or were forced to return and
Join the Gerrnnn array. Some fought
nil four years.
“Now they know that hnrd times
nre ahead of Germany and want to go
hack to America, where It Is compara
tively soft picking. I suppose they will
even send American money over to !
pay the Indemnity.
“There are others who merely took
their first papers and quit right there
without u thought of becoming dtp
zens. It was merely convenient for
them to be able to say ;’oy had ap
plied for citizenship. They „lso „
they love the United States better than
Germany, but don’t you believe It Yon
don’t hear of any refusing to turn their
machine gins on American troops."
A numbs* of German women also
have been *old things would not be
pleasant for them Id America.
The girl who can 'old her tongue
never lacks for a man to hold her
hand.
^TSaSiPH OF PEACE DELEGATES IN SESSION |
nndi rnuiu . —i— B
„ arrive In this, country showing the pence delegates In iesslou In p** I
y in the world. jfl
rainbow men
LIVE LIKE LORDS
__ 7?
150th Field Artillery Is Billeted in
Famous German Health
Resort.
TAKE BATHS, SHUN WATERS
Buck Privates Elevate Heels on Pri-.
vate Balconies and Hear Music as
Often as Military Duties Per.
mit in Neuenahr.
With the American Army of Occu
pation.—The competition for softest
billets, open to all members of the
American army of occupation, appears
to have been won by the One Hundred
and Fiftieth Field Artillery of the
Rainbow division.
Its members are leading near-mil
llonalres' lives, when not otherwise oc
cupied by military duties, in Rad Neu
enahr, "the Rhenish Karlsbad."
This “world fame cure and bath
resore” (according to the guide
books) was before the coming en
masse of the Americans, visited an- j
nunlly by 22,000 guests, not counting
transients; and though the Teuton
sick, who suffered from ailments for
which Rad Neuennhr's hot spring wa
ters are vouched sans specifics by Ic- !
glons of long-bearded German profes
sors, are giving the Rhenish Spa a
wide berth Just now. It Is probable that ;
between the One Hundred and Fiftieth
Field Artillery's Missouri mules and i
mixed personnel, anil the bathing fans
(locking In from neighboring garrisons
the Karlsbad of the Rhine never en
joyed a more lively or picturesque sea
son.
Many Baths, No Bathtubs.
From morning till night, the grnml
hallway of the hath hotel Is well filled i
with men and officers, waiting their
turns to take hot mineral hnths. The j
establishment boasts 100 private bath
establishments nml as one of <>ur med- i
leal officers from the middle West i>ut
It, contains every hath fake known to
sclenee, hut our military Kur guests
wisely confine their activities to the
straight hot water variety.
There are no bathtubs. The Indi
vidual bathrooms, averaging 10 or 12 ,
feet square, are done In spotless
white tiling, sometimes figured In Pom
peiian blue. And the marble Imths
are sunk below the tiled floors, Homan
Mylc.
Bustling German women attendants
draw these, regulating the tempera
ture electrically. When the rush
ts on the men bathe in batches of
three. After the hath, there are
couches In each room on which they
may recline. The German women at
•endants, accustomed to playing mil
lionaires in unoccupied times, may
have been Inclined to be a hit snob
bish at first, and some seemed still
to wear on sir of suppressed resent
ment, but our military authorities set
to It that they give efficient service
to the buck privates and doughboys,
who, nfter nil. are distinguished both
guests of the German government,
which foots their hills.
From the bnth hotel your trsll nat
urally leads to the Kurbans, with Its
reading and conversation room*, Its
tlieuter and concert hall anil, above
ail, the springs that made Had Neu
enahr famous. Here the signs of
American military occupation ure quite
unmistakable, for certain heavy field
mortars are drawn up In line In front
of the Kurpnrk, while along the fa
vorite walks of wealthy valetudina
rians are picketed flocks of Missouri
mules and long lines of artillery
horses.
Array of Mules and Monuments.
You pick your way Judiciously
through the park between the mules
and horses nnd arrive at a large
structural Iron shed, with Its front
open and sides done In stained glass,
mostly cracked or broken. Over the
entrance arch stands the inscription
In Latin: "For the Edification and
Benefit of the Sick," while among the
mules across the pathway Is a gran
ite monument surmounted by the bust
of the discoverer of these alleged al
kali sulphurous hot springs.
Mules and M P.’s permitting, you
climb down Into the structural Iron
shed or pavilion to drink the waters.
If yon dare.
A tour of the principal hotel* of
Neuenahr showed that every man
Jack of the garrison had drawn n bed;
In many cases, the artillerist* were
billeted In expensive suites with pri
vate baths. In the garden of one ho
tel, the regimental band was giving an
Allies’ Rifle Strength
Greatest When Needed
Washington, Figure* show
j; Ing the rifle strength of the ti
lled and enemy force on the
; western front during the lag
:!: eight months of the war were re
; celved hy -the war d-pnrtment.
They show that up to July 1 the
allies were outnutnliered from
i: 200,000 to aoo.tMMi. hut Out they
reached their peak on Septem
!;! tier 1. when they Imd l.Wj/mo
'I- opposed to the German*1 1J©.
i| (MS).
Rifle Strength Is the numbet
I of “men In the trem-heo ready
! to go over the top with the Imy.
; onet." The rifle strength of ta
American division of '.‘T.noo coo
hut troops Is 12,2-V). Thl* ibotn
that the nctual nrmle* on the
western front totalis! more than
twice ns many as the rifle
i; strength figures.
I hiring the hard fighting from
September 1, the Germani*
losses were nppnlling. the fig
ure* showing a drop in their
strength from l.-T-T.MJOO to MU
000 on November l Inirlagthe
; st ine jterlod the strength at |
the Billed forces dropped onlj
J from 1.682,000 to l.litf.OOfl,
afternoon concert. Btid buck yflVflfl;
could -be seen sitting on their prtwh
balconies with their feet on the talk
smoking nnd resting after their ad
day “chow.”
It's n great life at Ncneaahr. Id
after Its fighting record. It l» generals
a greet I the regiment is fully rntitkd
! to this break of luck.
“FLU” SERUM USELESS
. n
Physicians Are Still Hunting for
a Preventive.
U. S. Laboratory Director Says No
Cure for Baffling Disease
It Known.
New York—Considering that the In
surance companies of the United
States lost about $130,000,000 during
the three ine.ntlts la-t year when the
Influenza epidemic was at Its height.
It was hut natural that when the Asso
ciation of Life Insurance Medical Di
rectors met In annual convention In
Newark the physicians nnd public
health authorities should concern
themselves almost exclusively to the
search for some preventive measure
which would preclude another outbreak
of the plague.
And yet, although It was shown that
about 0,000.000 people In the world
perished from It. 400,000 of whom were
Americans, all ihe medical experts nd
mltted that the disease was cotnpletHy
baffling. Said I»r. <1. \V. McCoy, di
rector of the hygienic laboratory of the
' public health service In Washington.
I “There Is no serum that 1 know of
which l« of lhe slightest value In P*
venting Iqfluenwi, nor l« therein*
that Is of any use whatever la *
t rent merit of the disease. H* ‘
this statement after carefully «j*fr
menllng with serums and vardan »
all part a of the country where the*
ease had broken out, and |*rtkU*F
In Pelham Itny and the array «*
where the mortality was great
BAPAUME WANTS GODMOTHfl
French Town, Hard Hit by Wir. A*
Help From Some City te
Aid Reconstruction.
\\ ashlngton. — Ilnpauine, of J*
French towns which ’•'‘fft>r™
from the war, wants h v.1
according to an olllelnl drspat* <*
reived here. (nil
Canton Stenne, mayor of <«
|s quoted by ... ** arm
In the Petit Parlslen:
••If some great city would « * 1
pauiire ami assist It n* ha*
for some other destroyed «»«*
delighted my fellow eltlwtur
I hope that some other great <■>■ ^
cr of the obi continent »r the <**•
listen to my appeal "
CARRY FOOD BY AIR
Paris—The French government tins
decided to Install an airplane service
to feed Inhabitants of the redeemed
districts of northern France until rull
wuys destroyed by the Germans In
their retreat can be restored.
With 200 airplanes at least 200,000 ;
people of the stricken provinces can
be fed dally. It Is believed Ibis num
ber of planes eould curry IOo.ihki
pounds of Hour, 10,000 pounds of sugar, i
10,000 pounds of butter, 30,000 pounds
of vegetables and 10,000 pounds of con
densed food.
While this will be the most glgnu
tie scule on which airplanes have been
used for feeding u country, yet the
system Is not entirely new.
During the war It was successfully
used by the British In carrying food
to their troops In Mesopotamia, Pnl
estlt.e and Macedonia, la November,
lOlf, durli.g the French offensive
igl'.ast the Cbemln des Dames, it whh
I
used by the Germans. A detachment
of their troops, completely encircled,
was kept supplied with food by nlr
planes that dropped baskets containing
! bread, kraut, canned meat and other
I supplies.
For the airplanes that will be neces
sary for the new service for feeding
j the north of France, the French gov
eminent will first of all make use of !
j Its own bombing machines. After this
; I* expects to bo able to utilize not less
than 100 planes turned over by Ger
many under the terms of armistice. In I
addition, France hopes that both Kng- j
land and the United Slates will place
at her disposal a number of their
| bombing machines now lying Idle in
France.
Vital as the new service will be for
feeding the north of France, It also
"III help solve the problem of the grad
ual transformation of the military avl
1 utluu tervlce for pence times.
WW*AWi-W-t£sasssss9M*
Negro Wins War
Cross in CrapM"
; - a ■ 19
New York.—A aiafon****^
dtiin wan among the P*
; «... the (Jeorgo 'V.rtWjJ
which flocked In
I city with n lond of ’’•"’TL
Yank troopera. The raua* «y
: woe wna a Chicago neg •
Indian wan Corpora*
Know of Went Virginia. j
i iih "Chief I.lttle I»og- i
Ho won the erolx |
{ In France, but <>“ the . m*
met a Chicago negro, aw f g
lie had loat all Ida »l0D*L>g
crap game that enaued ^
hla erolx dc guerre »g«*“"£j,
and the Chicago negro I*
too. ^.^d I
All human roula, never * ^ *
cued, love tight; Hu*1* rwtf* j
Mprcudu till ill la lutujiioua.