Newspaper Page Text
yOB&CAST Tonight and Sunday, cold and rain. THE S.& jSrnuTATts SmKMCKT (City lailu SUwiti Vol.3 MORGAN CITY, LA., SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2, 1918. No. 148 IHTTLE HERDED PENS t Testimony of Deg Accompanying De vions. to Give Food and ■ tl Mm Facing Privation U nited States' il Unheeded. among cold-llooded jj cruelty committed by the — U their everlasting dis til deportation from Mons is Official documents pub ' ip Hu committee on public ; ted part of the harrow iMl fetch of the deportations |M, ordered by German author fern hy a participant, may well _ here: 111 lake the 18th of November ]W [1916]. A week or so be • I placard was placed on the ; my capital city of Mons idays all the men of that i were BOt clergymen, who iprteets, who did not belong to MKil, would be deported. tflre.la.tlia Bmrnf.fliw ;rs nnnri tv OF FIENDISH CRUELTY ___ j I ; ! j ; j ! I I ; : j j I i i 1 j j ! { . ! I I j ! ' j •cs carried by ev ! mi connected with : P. cyatam in tbia tar. t to us at regular far win ation, regu b. ffa* that wa ca_ do *d enough for Mfa recommendation tajmlifi YOU in bring fehb to us 1 np*rt attention is M Mgaaiag broken pins, pon come here JJff lo*fost and best nu. Ay Store 46 F. W. DREIBHOLZ, Vice-President OF MORGAN 01Y H ( -è-'ï ° {JR deposit BOXES, PRICE $3.00 ' ^ **4 protect your valuable papers and Tbecebone» are made of steel. Vault larg •""Si **••** "»«It in this Pariah. SURPLUS $52,500.00 RESOURCES $420,000.00 A. B. O'BRIEN, Asst Cashier 5P&-. the is to morning on me imu oi movernoet, they walked out, men at Mons, myself mid another leading them down the cobblestones of the street und out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with , the women held hack. : "The degradation of It ! The degra dation of It as they walked Into this great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they were ! cattle — all the great men of that prov ince—the lawyers, the statesmen, the ! heads of the trades, the men that had tv niade the capital of Hainaut glorious I duriug the last 20 years . "There they were collected ; no ques tion of who they were, whether they were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go to the right ! Go to the left 1 Go to the right!' So they were turned to the one side or the other. "Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany. You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left. A hasty embrace and they were sepa rated and gone. "You saw the women In hundreds, } with bundles In their hands, beseech ing to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last that they had in life between themselves and starvation—a small bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw women ap proach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went !"—John H. Gude, in the Na tional Geographic Magazine, May, 1917. The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock: Appeal of Belgian Women. "Brussels, Nov. 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine. "His Excellency, Mr. Brand Whitlock, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. "Mr. Minister: "From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you. "In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your government, as well ns to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and defenseless people is a victim. "Since the beginning of this atro j clous war we have looked on Impotent I ly and with our hearts torn with every ; sorrow at terrible events which put ! civilization back Into the ages of the j barbarian hordes. "Mr. Minister, the crime which Is ; now being committed under your eyes, j namely, the deportation of thousands ! of men compelled to work on enemy I soil against the interests of their coun I try, cannot find any shadow of excuse ; on the ground of military necessity, for : it constitutes a violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience. Called "Monstrous Extremity, j "Whatever may be the motive. It j cannot be admitted that citizens may I be compelled to work directly or indi i rectly for the enemy against their i brothers who are fighting. 1 "The convention of The Hague h»« j consecrated this principle, j "Nevertheless, the occupying power ! Is forcing thousands of men to this { monstrous extremity, which Is con* . trary to morals and International law, ! both these men who have already been I taken to Germany and those who to I morrow will undergo the same fate, If from the outside, from neutral Eu rope and the United States, no help Is j offered. "Oh 1 The Belgian women have also ! known how to carry ont their doty In ' the hoar of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers of honor by their tears. "They have bravely given to tluir j country those whom they loved. . . . The blood of mothers Is flowing on the } ENGINES MADE FOR RUSSIA WORK FOR U. S. A. m r Marked with me insignia of the government railways, e ngines made for Russia, which have not been shipped be cause of the uucerralnty of the s'*uation there, are doing duty "somewhere in New Jersey" hauling long lines of c<uil cars-to places whore the fuel is greatly needed. The tender is marked U. S. A., and the engine is one of the many now owned by the government and being used to relieve the coal situation. } battlefields with that of their son3. "Those who are taken away today do not go to perform a glorious duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a j dark exile, threatened by hunger, j prison, death, will be called upon to i perform the most odious work—service to the enemy against the fatherland. ! Rights of Honor and Conscience. "The mothers cannot stand by while ! such an abomination is taking place i without making their voices heard in i protest. "They address you In the name of the unalterable rights of honor and conscience. "It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.' "We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal. "We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the unhap py heartbeeats of the Belgian women and will find In your broad and hu mane sympathy imperative reasons for Intervention. "Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed can counterbalance that of the German au thorities. "This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought to lend us, will it be refused to the op pressed Belgians? "Be good enough so accept, Mr. Min ister, the homage of our most distin guished consideration." (Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.) The United States government did not fail to respond to this touching ap peal and to others of a similar nature. The American embassy at Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with the chancellor and other representatives of the Ger man government In an interview with the under secretary of state for foreign affairs, Mr. Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in translation, as fol lows: German Camouflage. "Against the unemployed In Belgium, who are a borden to public charity, In order to avoid friction arising there from, compulsory measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are voluntarily Inclined to work, in accordance wt|fc the regula tion issued May iS, 1BML by the gov ernor general In order to ascertain such persons the sert stance of the mu nicipal authorities is requlréd for tits district of the governor general In Brussels, while In the districts outside of the general government, L %, lp the provinces of Flanders, lists were de manded from the presidents of the j local relief committees containing the namee of persons recelvlug relief. For the sake of establishing uniform pro- ; cedure the competent authorities have, ! In the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary Investigations re. garding such persons also In Flanders through the municipal authorities; furthd more, presidents of local relief committees who "ay b® Je^ff ! having refused to furnish such lslta will be released." Mr. Grew pointed out that the depot*. - tatlons were a breach of faith and j would Injure the German cause abroad. In bis official summary of ■ ao j negotations which be carried on he says: "I then discussed In detail with th ' under secretary of state for foreign fairs the unfortunate impression wli!-- i this decision would make abroad. : • minding him that the measures wero in principle contrary to the assurances given to the ambassador by the chan cellor at general headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which the policy might have on England's at titude towards relief work in Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated solely jg the military government in Belglv-and ■ftM - t ä* «jjfa at ! j j i ! ! i i I lie UTUU^Ql iVr iflU Vll'lliltlJUl L ! personal attention in the light of the ! consequences which the new policy j would entail. Herr Zimmermann inti mated in reply that the foreign office had very little influence with the mili tary authorities and that it was up likely that the new policy in Belgiun? could be revoked. He stated, how ever, In answer to my inquiry, that ho would not disapprove of my seeing the chancellor about the matter." Solemn Protest by United States. The formal protest of the United States was as follows: "The government of the United States has learned with the greatest concern and regret of the policy of the German government to deport from Belgium a portion of the civilian popu lation with the result of forcing them to labor in Germany, and Is constrained to protest In a friendly Spirit but most solemnly against this action which is In contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of interna tional practice which have long been accepted and followed by civilized na tions In their treatment of non comba tants in conquered territory. Further more, the government of t'.e United States is Convinced that th effect of this policy if pursued wll! u all prob ability be fatal to the 1 igtan relief work, so humanely planned so suc cessfully carried out, r result which would be generally deplored and which, It Is assumed, would seriously embarrass the Gernv : government." This protest was -'lowed by those of the pope, the king of Spain, the government of Switzerland and other neutruls. They were, of no avail ex cept, perhaps, to lead'the German au thorities to draw a tighter veil over their detestable proceedings. But ihe evidence has in some measure come through, although the iidl facts will not be known until the liberation of heroic Belgium. May Abandon Heatless Day After Monday Conference Develops Belief Fuel Problem Distinctively One of Transportation Washington, Feb. 1.—Abandon ment of the heatless • Mondays pro gram after its enforcement next Monday was predicted tonight at the close of a prolonged conference be t^en Fuel Administratis Garfield ;and Doctor General McAdoo. ; ! A final decision was not reached ami another conference will be held Tuesday, but there was every indl cation that both officials, as well as President Wilson, who has been con su ited, feel the purpose sought can be accomplished from now on by con _ .. , . .. . , . Jtinrance of preferential coal trans Potior, and distribution and by railroad embargoes now in force, At the conclusion of the confer „nee tonight the following statement , /as issued jointly by Dr. Garfield ar.d Mr. Me A^fbd : "We have flhder consideration the question of suspending after Monday next the Monday closing order. We have not reached a final conclusion ..bout it. We shall have another conference on Tuesday next, when the results of the Monday closings and of the railroad embargoes up j to that time can be fully considered, j and shall be able to make an an nouncement next week as to whether j or not a suspension of the Monday closing order may be made." ' : j : | ! ' j Heroic Defense Prevent ed More Serious Re ils Determined Stand of Ameri can Trench Platoon Alone Checked Germans With the American army France, Thursday, Jan 31.—By the Associated Press—Conditions were quiet on the American sector all day today because of the fog which to night showed no sign of abating. Beyond a few shots from both sides at registered targets there was very little artillery firing. There was virtually no infantry actions. Additional details of yesterday's raid ; show the heroism of the pla toon in the trenches nearest the listening post raided preevnted the e;mmy from entering the trenches ard, perhaps, capturing prisoners. is soon as the barrage fire lift ed the platoon came out of its dug o-.ts and stepped to the firing plat fo ms. Their rifle fire held off a superior number of Germans who tried to approach. When the en emy saw the Americans were deter mined to hold the position, they withdrew into the fog. Later a number of bloody enemy rifles and other equipment were found be yond the American position Ameiican officers at the front have come into possesdon of docu ments said to have been take from Germans opposite our positions and which d e 1 with the treatment to be recorded prisoners. The documents say all prisoners, including commissioned and non commissioned .officers, after being captured, are to be kept in cages four days without food and compell ed to stand all the time. At the end of the four-day period only email quantities of food are to be given. Although definite information on the point is lacking, some American 1 officers today expressed belief the] order resulted from the difficulties! the in in Germans probably experienced' j j j ' TheFirst National Bank OF MORGAN CITY, LA. CapHal and Surplus $100,000. RESOURCES OVER HALF-MILLION DOLLARS Banking in all of its branchas COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT Receives deposits on accounts subject m check; loans money on commercial paper end approved colla^ral. SAVINGS DEPARTMENT Christmas Savings Club, Liberty Loan Bond Club, 3 1-2 r er cent, interest paid on Certificates of Deposit. Wo cell Foreign Exchange, Traveler's Checks, Rent Safe Deposit Boxes $1.00 and up per year. , Any Thing in Banking We Have It We invite your account large or small Herbert M. E. A. Pharr, Vice-Pres. M. E. Norman, Vice-Pres. Cotten, President K. R. Hood, Cashier, C. P. Lynch, Asst. Cashier. Morgan City's Strongest Financial Institution, "What's Being Done" War Service Work By Wo men s Federated Clubs Mrs. Josiah Evans Cowles, Presi dent General Federation Women's Clubs, in her Christmas message say.: "The record of war service pre sented at the different State Feder ation meetings is great in volume and comprehensive in extent. It must be recorded and kept as a part of the history of the General Federation, for however difficult life may be at this time, it is inspiring to realize we are an active part of history in the making." We must never forget, as women, that the Federation of Women's Clubs is doing far-reaching war work. To desert the Federation now is to desert our viral relations with our Government. The Department of the General Federation are receiving wide rec ognition for their war work and oth er activities. The Bureau of Inform tion of the United States Depart ment of Literature and Liberty Ex tension to send them three hundred copies of their bulletin on Latin Am erica and Pan Americanism. The State Department desires to send these to their correspondents to show what the General Federation is do ing for this subject. The Mother's Club of Arcadia, has adopted for the year's programme list of subjects sent out by the Wo men's Committee of the National Council of Defense. The Twentieth Century Club of Shreveport, organized to maintain the Khaki Club, where hospitality is of fered to the soldiers encamped here doing guard duty; providing also a rest room, furnished with magazines and writing materials. Mrs. John D. Wilkinson, oi Shreve port, has been appointed as Chair man of the Industrial and Social Conditions Department, to fill the place of Mrs John D. Webb. Under present conditions this department is (Continued on last page) in extracting information from the first American prisoners captured in November. Such treatment of prisoners it is felt could be designed only to make them give up military information. We Have Secured the Dodge Agency And are able to make Immediate Delivery. Dodge Touring Car $980] Delivered St Mary Garage And Machine Shojï Franklin, La.