570 
 15 
 P5 
 opy 1 
 
 he Call to 
 
 America 
 
 By 
 
 E.Ci.Pipp 
 
 The Needs 
 
 Aii*planes 
 Munitioiis 
 
 Propaganda 
 
 and ^» 
 
 Food ^lway;i 
 
From (111 Etc)iiiis by raiil Mansard 
 
 THE SOMME 
 
 With the falling of each twig a man fell; with the breaking of 
 each bough a home was broken. The artist shows what was 
 left of the wood at the edge of the Somme battlefield; those 
 who fought and fell have gone beyond, but their cause lives. 
 
Introduction 
 
 Since my return from Europe, where 
 I went this year to make a study of war 
 conditions, I have made over forty 
 pubHc talks, trying to bring the war 
 home to the people, and to show the 
 vital part each toiler at home takes in 
 the great struggle. 
 
 This booklet is sent out for the same 
 purpose, is made up of these talks and 
 other facts a part of which I h:ive 
 written before. 
 
 E. G. PIPP. 
 Detroit, Mich., 1918. 
 
''The Call to America'' 
 
 BY E. G. PIPP 
 
 (COPYRIGHT 1918) 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 E. G. PIPP 
 
 124 BLAINE AVENUE 
 DETROIT, - - MICH. 
 
^ 
 
 61" 
 ^6 
 
 AUG i 7 1318 
 
 ©CI.A502540 
 
 '^v© I , 
 
The Call to America 
 
 What word can be given to the father or mother who 
 has seen a son march away to war? 
 
 What can be said to the parent who has tossed open-eyed 
 until dawn, wondering how it all would end? 
 
 What message can go to him or to her who has spoken 
 cheerful words when tears were welling, who has seen the 
 empty chair, who has walked into silence where once there 
 was a son's voice? 
 
 Brave fathers and mothers are they who have given up a 
 million sons to risk their all in the struggle for world de- 
 cency. Uncomplaining they go their way, but in the still 
 of the night there come thoughts. 
 
 In a London restaurant a young wife was serving at the 
 tables. A man in khaki came in— her husband. He extend- 
 ed a hand, and she pressed it in both of hers. 
 
 The husband had offered his services in the early days of 
 the war, but was rejected as physically unfit. But now — ■ 
 now England needs men to help hold the lines. So, what 
 if this man has one bad eye? He can level a gun with the 
 other. What if his form is not robust? His head has over- 
 come that before and can again. 
 
 There they stood and talked in hushed voices — husband 
 and wife, hand in hand, the scene too sacred for any thought 
 of impatience on the part of the waiting guests. 
 
 Then she kissed him, and patted his shoulder encourag- 
 ingly as he left. She watched him descend the stairs, a 
 quiver coming to her chin and lips. She asked another maid 
 to take up the work of serving her tables and disappeared 
 into a cloak room. When she came out, her eyes were 
 wet, but her head was erect, her step firm, her whole 
 bearing one of resolution. 
 
 And so it is that brave young wives of America shed 
 their tears in the secret of their closets as do the no less 
 brave wives of Britain and the equally brave wives of 
 France. 
 
 And what can there be in a message for them? 
 
We all love peace, but we are at war. 
 Can aught be gained by glossing over war when we are 
 in the conflict? 
 
 We are not a people who must deceive ourselves into the 
 thought that ours is a mere game when the instruments of 
 play are rifle and bayonet, machine gun and bomb. 
 
 He is best armed who knows his task. 
 
 Ours is a people of that stern mettle that can look Grim 
 War straight in the face and buckle in for that long, hard 
 winning fight that will beat him down. 
 
 It must be so, for we have entered and there is no turn- 
 ing back. Our people may not have been a unit for enter- 
 ing the war, but we are and must continue a unit for push- 
 ing it to a right finish and an honorable peace. 
 
 It must be so, for this is more than a war for the life of 
 a nation. This is a war for keeping pure the life blood of 
 all nations, which flows in honor among peoples, in keeping 
 sacred the given word, in ending world brigandage and in 
 cheating a ruthless military spirit of its unholy reward. 
 
 Wars of nations are won by pitting men against men — 
 justice of cause, numbers, equipment, food, skill, relative 
 position, staying quality, unity of action ; these count. 
 
 How stands it, then, with our boys over seas and those 
 to follow? Which means, how stands it with our people 
 as a nation? Which means, how stands it with the stars 
 and stripes and all they have meant to a free people ? Which 
 means, how stands it with England, proud mistress of the 
 sea? Which means, how stands it with France and other 
 nations in the conflict? Which means, how stands it with 
 world civilization? Shall its future be built in the arts of 
 peace, swayed by love in the heart, resting its hope in fer- 
 tile valleys, humming industry, peaceful firesides, or shall 
 it wear helmet and spur, riding the steed of hatred, pushing 
 its way with the thrust of the bayonet? 
 
 How it stands with these depends largely on how it stands 
 with Americans at home. 
 
 Our people must understand the enemy they have to fight ; 
 they must understand, too, the strength of our allies, and 
 that which we must supply to make the winning sure. 
 
 The great conflict centers in the western front; there 
 rages the struggle of peoples who love the arts of peace 
 against a people who would rule by the sword. 
 
The Seed and Fruit of German 
 Militarism 
 
 In 1809, when Napoleon Bonaparte was having things 
 very much his own way in Europe, he whipped Prussia, 
 took a large portion of Prussian territory and about half of 
 the Prussian subjects away from the Prussian sovereign, 
 and, finding the rulers still very much inclined toward 
 militarism, prescribed limits to their army, to which 
 Prussia agreed because she had to. 
 
 The agreement was that Prussia should not have an army 
 of over 42,000 men. Prussia lived up to that agreement to 
 the letter, but — 
 
 Even in that early day Prussia showed her ability to 
 wriggle out of an agreement that was distasteful to her, 
 and she did not live up to the spirit of it. She did not 
 maintain an army of over 42,000 men at any one time — 
 that is an active army — but she kept men in until they 
 were well trained ; then they went out and others went 
 in for training, and so it was until a very large portion 
 of the male population was drilled and ready for action 
 should necessity arise. 
 
 The military policy inaugurated then has been maintained 
 to this day, as has the policy of the rulers — they bend 
 their morals to the personal desires, and, taking the other 
 half of the step, violate agreements in letter as well is in 
 spirit. 
 
 That Prussian military spirit did not subside or even lie 
 dormant. When others thought they had it paralyzed, it 
 still thrived. In 1848, it had become so strong that many 
 Germans themselves rebelled against it, and left the country 
 rather than submit to its advocates. Hundreds of thousands 
 of others left later. 
 
 In 1871 this military spirit was even stronger, and it 
 was then that the Germans reaped the great harvest of 
 their policy, wresting Alsace and Lorraine from France. 
 
 And it is this same military spirit that the world faces 
 today. 
 
Stronger, more arrogant, grown selfish, cold and brutal, 
 militarism is trying to fasten itself on the remainder of the 
 world, to the profit of the one nation that became an armed 
 camp. 
 
 It is the fruit of this militarism that one sees everywhere 
 along the fighting front in Europe, the militarism that men- 
 aces America today as it menaces every European country 
 that has fought and is fighting to prevent its spread. 
 
 To fully understand all that this war means to us and 
 the problems America has to face — serious problems, more 
 serious than many of us have realized — we must consider 
 the situation in four important phases. They are : 
 
 What is it going to take to thoroughly whip Germany ? 
 
 How much of it can and will England do? 
 
 How much of it can and will France do? 
 
 How much must America do to finish the job? 
 
 GERMAN METHODS OF FIGHTING 
 
 We cannot understand what it is going to take to whip 
 Germany unless we know something about the German 
 methods of fighting our men must face, and what there 
 is left of Germany to whip. 
 
 In studying war conditions I went into England first, 
 where I observed all the various activities, with the view 
 of watching both men and materials from the recruiting 
 of the men, through the training in all branches, to the 
 battle front and back through base hospitals, hospital ships, 
 and into the general hospitals ; also the manufacture of 
 munitions from the factory to the front and back to the 
 salvage plants. 
 
 This brought me to the British front in March, the 
 week before the great oflfensive began. Driving through 
 all the larger cities north of the Somme and through 
 about 75 smaller villages, stopping at scores of places of 
 interest, I had the opportunity of observing all the lines 
 of British defense and of getting something of an under- 
 standing of the terrible sacrifice that an army must make 
 in an effort to break through. 
 
 As we walked through the trenches and on into the 
 various lines of defense, the British and German cannon 
 were even then sounding out each others guns and trying to 
 silence the opposition with shell fire. In one place there 
 was constant booming for two hours, the shells flying 
 
over our heads with a whiz-z-z and a whir, but we were 
 in no great danger, for the shells were aimed far enough 
 in front and back of us to pass safely over us. At times 
 we stood by cannon as they were fired at the enemy. 
 
 Everywhere was seen desolation. In Belgium and in 
 many parts of France, the ground was all shell holes, 
 pitted in so thick that they lapped into each other, and 
 all were filled with muddy water, stranded tanks, cannon, 
 shells, dead horses, helmets, bayonets, barbed wire, and 
 wrecked trucks. Here and there was the body of a Ger- 
 man soldier that probably had been buried with boots 
 and uniform on but had been blown to the surface again 
 by the explosion of shells. 
 
 ARRAS 
 
 In this row of buildings, there was left one inhabitant, the 
 Little Old Woman of Arras. She had lived here all her life 
 and refused to be driven out by German shells and bombs. 
 Her bright smile and cheery words, her enthusiasm, her grit 
 were an inspiration to the soldiers quartered in the cellars 
 of Arras. Her spirit and her determination were imparted 
 to them, and one cannot help but think of her in connection 
 with Arras. When looking at the map it is seen that in the 
 big drive of this year the line bent north of Arras and it bent 
 south of Arras, but Arras did not yield. We too can be helpful, 
 as she was helpful. We can send encouraging words to the 
 brys over there, letting them know that we are grateful for 
 their efforts; and we can give encouragement to the toilers 
 in munition plants at home, letting them understand that 
 we appreciate faithful service, for much depends on it. 
 
YPRES (in Belgium) 
 
 The Nieuwerk before and after the 
 Germans declared a treaty a scrap of paper. 
 
 10 
 
The Drive for Amiens 
 
 The cities along the British Hne of front were masses 
 of tumbled down stone, and brick, and mortar. Shells 
 had done their work everywhere. Hunt the cathedral in 
 any of those cities and you would find wreckage every 
 time. Not only cathedrals, but buildings of every kind 
 were in ruins. Now and then enough of cellars would be 
 left to afford a place of refuge for soldiers quartered there. 
 
 It was over this devasted territory that the Germans 
 proposed to make their drive for Amiens. 
 
 A study of the map v/ill readily disclose their purpose. 
 The German line was about 40 miles east of Amiens. 
 This city is an important railway center, and to capture it 
 would enable the Germans to cut the British army of the 
 north oflf from the army of the south and prevent com- 
 munication between the army of the north and the French, 
 Americans, and British south of the Somme. 
 
 Viewing the lines of defense, the cannon, howitzers, wire 
 entanglements and trenches of the British, one would not 
 think it possible for any human mind to exist so cold- 
 blooded, and with so little regard for life as to attempt to 
 push human flesh against steel to the extent required to 
 break through. For every gain there must be a price, there 
 must be a measurement of loss of life against ground 
 gained. Men of experience and sanity can figure in advance 
 to something of a certainty as to what the cost will be. and 
 no general in the British, French or American army has 
 been found so reckless of human life, so steeped in military 
 heartlessness, as to be willing to pay the price that Germany 
 paid, or willing to order the death of their own men as 
 Germany ordered in the drive for Amiens. 
 
 History records that when Napoleon was nearing his 
 finish, when it was regarded that his mind was .becoming 
 somewhat degenerate, he spent his military resource, the 
 lives of his men, with just such profligacy as was shown by 
 the Germans in the year 1918. 
 
 The Kaiser himself came to the western front to make 
 this battle his battle. Intrigue had won in Russia, but in- 
 trigue could not fool the British, nor treachery touch 
 
 11 
 
them; militarism must prevail for Germany at all cost; 
 the rulers must make another showing, whatever the loss 
 in life to the men in the ranks, who with their ancestors 
 had had training of over a century in nothing but taking 
 orders. 
 
 And so on the twenty-first day of March, the blow was 
 struck, the British resolute, determined, believing thev 
 could hold the line, the German generals striking with that 
 madness and recklessness that comes of desperation. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of men had been moved from the 
 Russian front to help in the struggle. Smoke screens were 
 thrown up to hide the movements from the observation 
 balloons and airplanes ; some of the screens had been 
 thrown up as early as the week before when we were there. 
 The German guns coughed harder, louder and more often. 
 The coughing and barking of guns and the whizzing of 
 shells made that which we heard the week before seem like 
 child's play. The Germans were shooting over their own 
 line of trenches into the first line of British defense. That 
 is the method of starting an offensive. 
 
 The German men in their own trenches had been dressed 
 in new uniforms, had been made to drink rum and ether 
 so that they would be reckless and in a frame of mind to 
 face any ordeal. The captains had not even been trusted 
 vv^ith the information that their men were being marched 
 to slaughter. At a given time the captains were to open 
 written orders, and at another given time the heavy guns 
 were to change their range from the first line of British 
 defense to the second, and it was then that the Germans 
 were to make the rush from their trenches to the first 
 line of the British. 
 
 To the surprise of the British, and to the surprise of 
 humanity, the Germans came in solid mass formation, the 
 same formation that Napoleon used in his last desperate 
 struggles. Many of the British had been killed in the bar- 
 rage, but others were there hanging on with true British 
 grit. 
 
 As that wave of Germans, a solid mass, came across the 
 land between the British and German trenches, the heavy 
 guns of the British opened on them. They had but to fire. 
 They could not miss the enemy. The Germans sank to 
 their death by thousands before those guns. But the war- 
 mad managers behind those German soldiers had planned 
 
 12 
 
for just such a slaughter of their own men. With the 
 death struggles of the first wave of Germans, came a 
 second, uniforms new, hearts beating fast, and brains 
 borne up with the stimulus of rum and ether. They, too, 
 went down before the terrific fire of the same British 
 guns. 
 
 The third wave of men came and a third wave of men 
 died. 
 
 Thousands more came in the fourth wave, and were piled 
 dead above the bodies of their comrades. 
 
 So it went, wave after wave, the German generals de- 
 termined to make "the kaiser's own battle"' a victory by 
 wearing out the British guns with German human flesh. 
 
 The British gunners actually became heart-sick with 
 killing the poor beings who marched to their death on the 
 orders of their own cruel generals. 
 
 When the ninth wave of men had come and died, the 
 cannon in the first line of British defense became so hoi 
 that they could not be fired any more. The gunners took 
 ofif the breech locks and retired to the second line of de- 
 fense. 
 
 On came the tenth wave of Germans, there to meet the 
 fate of the nine that had gone before. On came others, 
 sacrifices to the will of an autocracy determined to fasten 
 on the rest of the world the same militarism, that made 
 these subjects give up their lives. 
 
 But the German generals had more men to feed into the 
 barrage of the second line of British guns, and they fed 
 them ; fed them until more British gunners were sickened 
 by the sight and fired more from duty than hatred — ex- 
 cept such hatred that must arise in men, with red blood 
 and with human hearts, for generals who will make such 
 a sacrifice of human life. 
 
 So human flesh wore down more steel ; men paid the toll 
 with their lives until more British guns became too hot to 
 be fired. Wave after wave and column after column per- 
 ished before defense after defense. Stalwart men brought 
 from the Russian front, old men forced into the service, 
 mere boys in their teens, gave up their lives to the god of 
 war; militarism was showing ofi^ at its best and at its 
 worst. 
 
 At a terrible cost of life, human beings wore down the 
 last line of British defense, and German troops, shattered 
 
 13 
 
and weary, but still buoyed by remaining effects of the 
 stimulants, bore on to the west, even past Albert, and 
 dangerously close to the coveted goal, Amiens. 
 
 And there they were when we returned to that city on 
 the fifth day of the battle, the day of great slaughter, the 
 day on which it seemed to many that they might suc- 
 ceed, but the very day on which they were stopped in the 
 open. It was with the effects of the ether and rum gone, 
 that the men, weary and worn, who had passed trench, 
 cannon, and entanglement were brought to a halt where 
 there were no entrenchments, were brought to a halt and 
 held, held until reinforcements could come, held by the 
 valiant British until the brilliant French troops could 
 reach them. 
 
 Let us pause here for a thought. If the German generals 
 and the German military party will sacrifice their own 
 men, as they surely did sacrifice them, to gain a point 
 in strategy, what would they do to America and our allies 
 if they should gain a final victory in the war? We should 
 think of that when it comes to aiding our government and 
 the auxiliary workers in their efforts to carry on the 
 struggle to a right victory, to a right and lasting peace. 
 
 BOMBING WOMEN AND CHILDREN 
 AT AMIENS 
 
 We left Paris at 11 o'clock on the Tuesday evening fol- 
 lowing the opening of the great battle on the western 
 front. We were on our way to London. 
 
 Unable to cut off the railway communication at Amiens 
 with their land forces, the Germans had sent airplanes 
 over to blow up the railway station and tracks, to inter- 
 rupt the traffic. Bombs had been dropped in many places. 
 One hit the train that left Paris four hours ahead of us, 
 and another had hit the track just in front of us, so that 
 when dawn came we were stranded about three miles 
 from Amiens. 
 
 Looking out of the window we could see airplanes flying 
 back and forth, singly, in pairs and in threes or fours. 
 
 All along the highways people were fleeing before the 
 onrush of the Germans. Women and children had gathered 
 what few belongings they could convey and were walking 
 along the road and pathways, trying to reach the station, 
 hoping to go somewhere, anywhere, that would afford 
 
 14 
 
safety. They used wheelbarrows, baby carts, toy wagons — 
 anything with wheels that would carry a load, large or small. 
 
 As the morning wore on, passengers began to leave the 
 train. One man, with important papers that he didn't want 
 the Germans to get, caught a train back to Paris, planning 
 to reach London by way of Havre ; we were going by way 
 of Boulogne. 
 
 Hunger came with the noontime, so we left the train 
 to hunt food, which we found after a walk of about two 
 miles. A house had been abandoned and with it some bread 
 and a dish of salmon which we appropriated. 
 
 It was while on this road to Amiens that we were brought 
 to a realization of what the Germans really had done. I 
 had been in the city two weeks before. It was occupied by 
 women and children and old men. Statistics show that in 
 1906 it had a population of 78,000. The streets on the first 
 visit were clean and orderly, the people well housed, feeling- 
 safe, forty miles from the battle front. But on this day 
 in March all was different. Fifty German airplanes had 
 dropped 200 bombs on the city, blowing up homes and 
 store buildings, killing women, children and old men. 
 
 Added to the population of two weeks before were 
 wounded soldiers and Red Cross nurses. We could see 
 many of the men brought from the front being carried to 
 the station on stretchers, to be taken further back to French 
 or British hospitals. 
 
 By the roadside we saw about sixty soldiers resting. They 
 were in khaki and carried packs, and they appeared weary 
 • (1 worn. A British officer told us that they had been in 
 a hospital nearer the front ; that an ambulance had gone 
 over and taken out the patients who were unable to walk, 
 and that these, so far recovered as to be nearly ready for 
 their discharges, had walked several miles to get away from 
 the German forces. I did not learn what became of the 
 hospital itself. 
 
 Beside a house with the roof gone and part of a wall 
 blown in, stood a woman with a babe wrapped in a shawl. 
 She looked about, bewildered, dazed. She could not enter 
 the home, for it w^as in ruins ; besides, there was every 
 likelihood of more bombs being dropped. She motioned 
 frantically at a man in a passing horse cart, but the 
 vehicle was crowded and he heeded not. She crossed the 
 street, sank by the roadside and hugged the babe closely 
 to her breast. 
 
 15 
 
And the German Kaiser calls on God and man to wit- 
 ness the glory of his arms. 
 
 We went back to our train but found it had gone. Again 
 we hurried through the scenes of terror and devastation 
 to the station, three miles away, hoping to catch the train 
 there. 
 
 Two weeks before, when I wanted to enter the station 
 and take a train for Paris, I had to show my American 
 passport, my British white pass, have an officer vouch for 
 me and give the ticket agent the exact fare. This time the 
 ticket agent had left, the guard and porters were missing; 
 little remained but chaos. 
 
 The only thing systematic about the whole place was the 
 orderly manner in which men were carrying in stretchers 
 bearing the wounded from the front and placing them on 
 a Red Cross train in the station. 
 
 We soon guessed that our train had not been able to pass 
 through the railroad yards, so we walked into the station 
 and along about two miles of tracks to find it. There 
 were six or eight tracks in the yards and we passed from 
 one to another, climbing over trains and through cars to 
 make sure we were not missing ours. The glass was 
 shattered in every car we saw ; bombs thrown over the 
 area had worked the havoc. 
 
 Many refugees had come into the yard and had piled on 
 cars to which no engine was attached, as if hoping by some 
 chance an engine would come along and take them some- 
 where, anywhere, to safety. There were old women and 
 young women, old men and children, huddled together, 
 fearful lest the wrath of the German hordes should over- 
 take them. We went through these scenes for over two 
 miles and found our train about a half mile from where 
 we had left it. 
 
 With a war on, the Germans had a perfect right, accord- 
 ing to the rules of international warfare, to bomb that rail- 
 way station, to blow up the tracks, for it was through that 
 station and on those tracks that men, munitions and food 
 were sent from the south to supply the army of the north, 
 and an army has a right to cut of¥ the reinforcements and 
 supplies of an enemy army; but there can be no rule of 
 humanity or decency, no right of any kind in law or pre- 
 cedent that would permit the Germans to send over air- 
 planes, and bomb women, children, old men, wounded 
 soldiers and nurses who were in Amiens that night. 
 
 16 
 
German Man Traps 
 
 In some cities occupied by the Germans after the big- 
 battle of the Somme and before Hindenbnrg's famous 
 voluntary retreat, there was any amount of evidence of 
 buildings being deliberately blown to pieces. One could 
 easily tell the difference between the irregular hits by 
 shell fire and the systematic blowing (Uit of the fronts of 
 buildings on entire streets. 
 
 When the Germans withdrew from one city after the 
 first battle of the Somme, they blew the front out of 
 buildings with such system and thoroughness that it 
 appeared as though some one had come along with a 
 huge cleaver, trying to chop oft" the front half of each 
 building. 
 
 After the battle, the Germans possessed this city, and, 
 while some of the buildings showed the result of shell 
 fire in battle, there was plenty of evidence of deliberate 
 wrecking, of explosives having been i)laced in an entire 
 row of three-story stone buildings — used for stores on 
 the first floors, and dwellings on the second and third 
 floors — and discharged with ruinous cft'ect. This was 
 done just before Hindenbnrg's famous \oluntary retreat, 
 after which the French came back to their city. 
 
 In this city the French found one Imilding intact. It 
 was their city hall. Of course, they conjectured, and 
 were even generous enough to ascribe to the German 
 generals some fine sentiment for having left their pub- 
 lic building, even when they wrought ruin all about it. 
 The mayor and others gathered to celebrate. They 
 opened the door and stepped upon the threshold. There 
 was a terrific explosion, and people and building were 
 blown to pieces. There was very little even of the cellar 
 walls left. Bombs had been placed in the building and 
 wire attached to the threshold, with the result seen. 
 
 In a residence a bouquet of flowers was left for those 
 who returned. To it a string was attached, and when 
 the bouquet was lifted there was an explosion with death 
 and wreckage following. 
 
 17 
 
In another building a bust of the kaiser was left; that 
 to prove a German joke on the British. The retreating 
 foe must have felt certain that when English troops saw 
 that bust some soldier would grab it and dash it to the 
 floor. But the British had become cautious by this time. 
 They had a German prisoner, who was familiar with the 
 city, and they told him to go in first and pick up the 
 bust. He refused. Then they retired to a distance and 
 took a shot at the Kaiser. The bust flew ofif the pedes- 
 tal, and with it came the explosion that wrecked the 
 building-. 
 
 NESLE 
 
 This shows the entrance to the city of Nesle as it was 
 after earlier battles and before the struggles of this year. 
 
 18 
 
Bombing London 
 
 London is always warned when German airplanes cross 
 the EngHsh channel. A watch is always kept at the coast. 
 As soon as the word gets to London, whistles are blown, 
 lights are put out; the city, already darkened, is made 
 darker, and people seek safety wherever they can. 
 
 The German airplanes usually come over in fleets of 
 six, seven or eight. They come up the Thames river and 
 locate London by counting bridges that cross the river. 
 As the planes approach, London puts up a curtain of 
 shrapnel fire about the city. That is, many big guns, 
 powerful enough to shoot two or three miles in the air, 
 are kept in certain positions and fired constantly, so long 
 as the enemy planes are hovering near. The guns are 
 not aimed at the planes, but so many of them are fired 
 that it is almost impossible for a plane to get over the 
 city without being hit. Most planes find the fire so hot 
 that the pilots turn back, but frequently one or two get 
 through and do their damage. 
 
 It is said, and the authority seemed good, that it cost 
 London $100,000 for powder and shells every time they 
 have to fight off German airplanes, and a fight takes place 
 on nearly every clear, moonlight night. There is a con- 
 stant booming^ of the guns of defense for two or three 
 hours at a time. 
 
 Zeppelins quit coming some time ago, because the 
 British invented a shell that would set the Zeppelin on 
 fire. So long as British shells merely punctured the 
 bottoms of the Zeppelins the Germans didn't mind, but 
 with the inflammable shell, they restrict their raids to 
 the airplanes. 
 
 The object of these airplane raids is to terrorize the 
 British women and children with the hope of bringing 
 England to a German peace. 
 
 They do terrorize many of the women and children, 
 but the effect is directly opposite that sought by the raid- 
 ers, for it only leads the British people to resent the in- 
 human type of warfare ; makes them fight the harder to 
 down the militarism that orders it. More than that, it 
 helps to arouse all Christendom against the brutal war- 
 fare of Germany. 
 
 19 
 
Four of these raids were made in the four weeks that 
 I was in London. In three of them an airplane got 
 through, and each time women and children were killed. 
 
 It is probably true that the Germans try to hit definite 
 objects in their flight, but the difficulty in aiming well 
 can be realized if you can imagine yourself on a fast 
 flying express train on the edge of a precipice, trying to 
 throw a missile from a car window to hit an object in 
 a canyon two miles below you. 
 
 The man in the bomb-throwing airplane is flying at 
 the speed of at least eighty or ninety miles an hour. The 
 British guns keep him something like two miles above 
 the city, possibly more. It is always night time when 
 he comes, and he has to locate his objects by their dis- 
 tance from the river and their proximity to the bridges, 
 which appear as mere streaks across the silvery thread 
 of the river. But hit the object sought or miss it, their 
 bombs come and usually with deadly efifect on others 
 than those aimed at. That weight of wire and metal 
 and explosives falling two miles or more will go through 
 any building that it hits, and a single bomb will wreck 
 a building 60 feet square. One bomb hit a hospital, 
 killing a mother and her child, and injuring the doctor 
 in charge. Another hit a motor bus carrying 40 persons, 
 and there was little left of bus or passengers. 
 
 During one raid I went to the top of a building at 
 the outskirts of London to watch the explosion of the 
 shells. There were constant flashes as they burst high 
 up, scattering their pieces of steel and driving back the 
 raiders. 
 
 There is always danger in London from falling shrap- 
 nel while the raid is on, for the shells are fired to fill the 
 air, let the pieces fall where they may. This makes it 
 dangerous to be on the strets, and very few people can 
 be seen going about. Women and children in their fright 
 go to the subways, seeking refuge on the platforms of 
 the underground stations or in the moving trains. Hun- 
 dreds of thousands were seen during one raid, huddled 
 together awaiting the "All clear" signal so they could 
 return to their homes with safety. 
 
 Germany is as stupid as she is cruel in this method of 
 warfare, for it demonstrates that she does not understand 
 the British character at all, failing absolutely in the object 
 sought. 
 
 20 
 
THAT LONG RANGE GUN 
 
 i'aris was not very excited, but deeply interested — 
 also puzzled. It was on a Saturday morning in March. 
 
 French airplanes were flying over the city, darting to 
 the right and to the left, going in bird circles, flying high 
 and flying low, acting as no other airplanes had been 
 seen to act in the war zone. 
 
 And the bombs continued to drop on the city. 
 
 Some of the French people had taken to the cellars and 
 subways for safety, as some always do when an air raid 
 is on. Others gathered on the street corners or went 
 about their business. As we stood on the pavement and 
 watched the airplanes, we could feel the nervous tension 
 of the aviators, transmitted in the very movement of their 
 machines as they sought in vain to locate the German 
 airplanes which they and we supposed were dropping 
 the bombs. 
 
 Then two things were observed : the bombs were drop- 
 ping with a regularity that was soon measured at 15 
 minutes between bombs, and there was a sound to the 
 explosion difl:'erent from any heard before. 
 
 There were some clouds above the city, and a theory 
 was advanced that the Germans had found a way of fly- 
 ing above the clouds, out of reach of French airplanes, 
 but the regularity of the explosions soon set that thought 
 aside. 
 
 Then pieces of the flying missies were found, which 
 disclosed the fact that shells and not bombs were being 
 used — shells that had been sent a long distance from a 
 gun. 
 
 The thought that perhaps a traitor had permitted a 
 German gun to get through the lines and shell Paris 
 from a distance of 20 miles was being discussed, when the 
 prime minister came out with the statement that the 
 Germans had invented a long range gun and were send- 
 ing shells into Paris from a distance of at least 62 miles. 
 
 "An alibi for not being able to locate the German air- 
 planes," said an American newspaper correspondent. 
 
 "Don't you think it," said another, who was just in 
 from the front, and who had observed cannon fire much 
 of the time since the beginning of the war. 
 
 The argument continued until an artillery expert en- 
 tered and proved to his own satisfaction and the satis- 
 faction of some of the others that it was absolutely impos- 
 
 21 
 
sible to send a shell 62 miles. But the shells kept on 
 coming. 
 
 The next morning in one branch of the American mil- 
 itary service, I was told that the gun had been located 
 back of the German lines ; that the shells were being 
 sent 20 miles in the air, coming all that distance and 
 dropping on the city ; that the department was being 
 telephoned every time the gun was fired, and that the 
 shells were dropping every 15 minutes. One could hold 
 his watch and listen, and the bang would come in the 15 
 minutes, almost to a second. 
 
 Then toward noon (it was on Sunday) the shells be- 
 gan to drop every seven and a half minutes. The Ger- 
 mans were evidently using two guns, alternating in the 
 fire. After lunch, the intervals again were 15 minutes, 
 and it was concluded that the first gun had become too 
 hot to fire, and that the Germans were finishing out the 
 day's entertainment with the second gun. The firing 
 ended at 3 :40 o'clock. 
 
 We went about the city that afternoon to observe the 
 effect of the shelling on the French people. 
 
 It was a spring-like day. The people thronged the 
 boulevards and the main streets ; many were in the wide 
 streets; they sat about the tables in front of the restau- 
 rants, and of course all were discussing the new German 
 method of attempting to terrorize women and children. 
 Some talked seriously about it, others were puzzled, 
 while still others joked. 
 
 People were killed on each day of the shelling, but no 
 great number. Later, on Good Friday, the German god 
 of war reaped a greater harvest. We had left the city 
 by that time, but we were told in London that the 75 
 persons killed in a certain church had not been killed by 
 the explosion of the shell that hit the church. The diam- 
 eter of the shell sent was figured at nine inches, that 
 conclusion having been reached by completing a circle 
 from fragments of the shell. The weight was estimated 
 at more than 300 pounds. When that shell came down 
 its 20 miles and hit the roof of the church, it broke a 
 beam and caused a large part of the roof to cave in, 
 killing 75 persons and injuring more than 100. 
 
 The plan failed absolutely in its object, for instead of 
 inclining the French to sue for a German peace the efifect 
 was directly opposite. It inclined them only to fight the 
 harder. 
 
 22 
 
German Prisoners of War 
 
 It is impossible to get back of the German lines to 
 learn the composition of the German army, but it is not 
 impossible to learn something of that army. This was 
 done by seeing a great many men and boys from the 
 army in prison camps in England and France. 
 
 Not far from London there is a camp for German offi- 
 cers who have been captured by the British. As we ap- 
 proached this camp, we saw 40 men in the blue-gray 
 uniform of Germany, marching along the roadside for 
 exercise. These men were permitted to take the exercise 
 outside the guarded camp on their honor to return and 
 to make no trouble for the three unarmed British officers 
 who accompanied them. They lived up to this pledge. 
 Besides having given their word, they must have realized 
 that it would be difficult to get out of England should 
 they attempt to make a break for liberty. They were 
 not permitted, however, to go near any city or village. 
 
 The camp itself was surrounded by barbed wire en- 
 tanglements and watched over by guards with rifles. 
 There were 300 German officers in the camp when we 
 visited it, and enough private soldiers, also German pris- 
 oners of war, to act as their orderlies. 
 
 We were first taken into a room the size of a small 
 church. There was a platform in one end and benches 
 in the body of the room. On the platform was a piano, 
 and a young officer was playing. Another was playing 
 a violin, and a third a cornet. Two others were working 
 at easels in another corner. 
 
 The men in this room were young, very young for 
 officers. The first one approached, a bright-eyed, kindly 
 faced youth, who said he had entered the army at 16, 
 was then 19, and a lieutenant when captured. His great 
 desire in life was to get back to his studies. Another, 
 no older, wanted to get back to his work as an engraver. 
 Many other young men in the room were under 30, and 
 all officers. One, found to be as old as 21, said that he 
 had entered the Germany army at 15, before the war, 
 but he did not seem to have the German military spirit 
 as we understand it. 
 
 23 
 
YPRES 
 
 This is the famous Halles, or cloth market in Ypres, Belgium. 
 The building was begun in 1201 and finished in 1304. This 
 shows the beautiful structure as it stood for five centuries. 
 
 24 
 
YPRES 
 
 This shows the little museum place and the famous Halles 
 or cloth market after the bombardment. Ypres had a pop- 
 ulation of 17,000 and not a single building was left whole. 
 
 25 
 
But the fact that here were a number of boys, very 
 young, all officers when captured — the fact that they 
 were in this camp made it sure they were officers — re- 
 veals how pressed Germany is for men. The school boy 
 is pressed into the service and made to carry responsibil- 
 ities. 
 
 But— 
 
 In another room were older men — majors, captains, 
 men up to 35 or 40, men steeped in German militarism, 
 men who seemed to be apart from the young men seen 
 in the first room. These older men had books, maga- 
 zines and newspapers, and were in easy chairs, leisurely 
 smoking and reading. 
 
 There could be seen in numbers men whom from their 
 very appearances you would not trust. 
 
 One major was approached, and his whole bearing 
 was so pronounced one of deception and falsehood that 
 it was not deemed worth while to waste breath on him. 
 Another talked entertainingly and plausibly. His man- 
 ner was pleasing, but there was something about it all 
 that would leave one wondering. 
 
 "What about him?" was asked an attendant. 
 "The biggest liar in camp," was the prompt reply. 
 
 There was a chapel, a part of the prison camp. In 
 this were two officers, one practicing on a musical in- 
 strument, the other working on a lithographing press, 
 printing some poetry about the Rhine. 
 
 If the clothing of the men w^as bedraggled when they 
 were taken prisoners, the British officers made them send 
 home for better uniforms, whole and clean, so that, on 
 the whole, the officers presented a very neat appearance. 
 
 They were permitted to receive packages from home, 
 and one of these, being opened while we were there, told 
 eloquently of the conditions in Germany. It had been 
 sent by. a mother to her son in the prison camp. The 
 package was about the size of a pasteboard shoe box, 
 and in it were about a dozen very small potatoes, a few 
 pieces of canned meat and other morsels of food. This 
 meagre portion told of a mother's skimping in order to 
 be able to send something to her boy prisoner who, in 
 
 26 
 
reality, was faring very well. Tales were told in Germany 
 of the want among the men in British camps, which led 
 to the sending of this and other boxes, but the fact was 
 and is that the British are living up to international law 
 in caring for enemy prisoners. 
 
 There was an agreement made before the war that 
 officers in prison camps should receive 50 cents a day, 
 and England was not regarding that as a dead letter, but 
 was paying the amount to the officers. They had good 
 food, more meat than I had seen in restaurants, plenty 
 of tobacco and cigars, and good quarters. 
 
 Another package received by one of the prisoners con- 
 tained in it a small bottle of white tablets. The British 
 officer who was inspecting all packages laid it to one side. 
 The German officer got a companion to draw the atten- 
 tion of the British officer to another package, and then 
 picked up the forbidden bottle, shoving it into his pocket. 
 "Put it down," commanded another British officer, not 
 seen until then by the German. "Why do you try to 
 take it when told not to?" 
 
 "I am a German officer," said the prisoner. "That was 
 intended for me, and you have no right to withhold from 
 an officer that which is his." 
 
 "For that, your mail and packages will be withheld for 
 30 days," was the reply from a British officer who did 
 not hold the German title in such awe and esteem as the 
 German would have him. 
 
 It revealed again the trend of mind that comes with 
 German militarism. 
 
 In other prison camps the private soldiers and non- 
 commissioned officers were kept at work on the roads 
 and repairing the salvage gathered on the battle fields and 
 made over for use in future battles. 
 
 The private soldiers did not impress one as being up 
 to the average of the French, the British, or the Ameri- 
 cans. They appeared to be men who lacked initiative, 
 but who would take orders because they had been used 
 to it all their lives. In a hand-to-hand combat, on the 
 ground or in the air, the British, French and American 
 can best them almost invariably. 
 
 27 
 
THE MERCY CALL OF THE SEA 
 
 German warfare has rendered useless the mercy call 
 of the sea. 
 
 We all know that the final act which brought America 
 into the war was Germany's declared and executed ruth- 
 less warfare on both passenger and freight shipping on 
 the ocean. 
 
 International law on destruction of belligerent and 
 neutral shipping is clear and simple — and humane so far 
 as there can be humanity in warfare. The rule provides 
 that before a boat is sunk, the destroyer must rescue the 
 passengers and make them safe ; then, under certain rules, 
 it is legal to sink the boat. 
 
 But Germany developed the submarine, and submarines 
 can act only as snakes of the sea. 
 
 The old rule of warfare, the iAd agreement, the old 
 pledge of honor, given as men and as nations, did not 
 suit the German method of warfare as applied by the 
 submarines, so honor and the given word had to go, and 
 the Germans deliberately sent boats and passengers to 
 the bottom of the ocean without warning. 
 
 But worse than that has been her action. 
 
 With the development of wireless telegraphy came the 
 distress call, or mercy call, the S. O. S. call of the sea. 
 A boat in trouble could send up this call and other boats 
 receiving it would rush to their rescue. 
 
 Now, as a result of German practice, in crossing the 
 ocean both ways we could receive wireless messages, 
 but we could send out none for fear a Fritz might pick 
 it up and sink the steamer — and he was sinking enough 
 as it was. 
 
 Our boat was kept dark at night. No one on deck 
 was permitted to have a flash-light or to smoke a cigar, 
 for fear the light would reveal the steamer's location to 
 some enemy craft. We had to make quick turns on two 
 occasions to get away. 
 
 If a steamer hears an S. O. S. call now, the steamer 
 has to continue on its way, heeding not the call. The 
 reason for this, as stated by the officers on the steamer, 
 is that two German submarines had been known to get 
 together, send out a distress call, and then, when a ship 
 came on an errand of mercy, send torpedoes into the ship 
 and destroy it. 
 
 2S 
 
When the Kaiser Wants to 
 Be Good 
 
 It was not long ago that the German government de- 
 clared that it had concluded gas warfare to be inhuman, 
 and expressed a desire to enter into an agreement with 
 the allies to do away with that method of killing: and in- 
 nictnig mjury upon soldiers during this war. 
 
 (Germany had started it; that government had sprung 
 a surprise costing the lives of a good many allied soldiers. 
 Then the Allies took it up in self-defense, also inventing 
 gas masks to protect the men in the trenches. 
 
 We watched a gas attack demonstration The gas is 
 carried by the wind, covering the ground like a thick, 
 heavy blanket. It floats along scarcely two feet above 
 the ground, sinking into the trenches as it is carried along. 
 
 We also tested the strength of various gases. Going 
 into a room twelve feet square, a small amount was 
 forced into the room from an atomizer nn larger than 
 those used for perfumery. It seemed that no more was 
 sent into the room than would be required in perfuming 
 a handkerchief, yet our eyes began to smart and water. 
 
 We saw 67 men who had been victims of German gas. 
 They were on a hospital ship. Their eyes, nostrils and 
 lips were sore and swollen. Their lungs pained them as 
 they breathed. They suffered terribly and they were not 
 the worst sufferers among the victims, for some had died 
 and others were still in a condition that made it impos- 
 sible to move them. 
 
 The wind is always necessary in a gas charge. When 
 Germany came out with a desire to agree to use gas no 
 more, the Allies naturally turned to statistics already 
 prepared, and found that the wind in the western front 
 blows so that the Allies can send a gas charge into the 
 German lines several times oftener than the Germans 
 can attack them. 
 
 29 
 
Of course, that was the key to the Kaiser's desire to 
 be good, but that was not the only one. 
 
 Later, it became known that Germany is very short 
 of rubber, an article very necessary in making the gas 
 masks that protect the soldiers. 
 
 So it is that Germany's inhuman method of warfare 
 has been turned on her and finds her poorly prepared to 
 protect herself. 
 
 The Allies find that they are acting only along the line 
 of common sense when they are suspicious every time 
 the Kaiser and his military party make an offer to be 
 good. 
 
 THE KAISER AND 
 GLORY 
 
 When the German military powers in their clever dev- 
 ilishness and in their devilish cleverness come forward 
 with some new horror in the method of taking human 
 life, the Kaiser comes out with a public statement, and 
 it is always on one theme : he calls on God and man to 
 witness the GLORY of the German arms. If it is bomb- 
 ing women and children of London, if it is shelling the 
 mothers and babes of Paris, if it is spreading poisonous 
 gases; whatever it may be, the Kaiser speaks of glory, 
 glory, glory always. Glory in taking human life ! 
 
 Other nations think of service ; of making the world 
 a better place in which to live ; of doing an unpleasant 
 task, that of curbing this military spirit of the Kaiser 
 and his military party. They regret that it is necessary 
 to kill, but the enemy of humanity and world decency 
 is abroad, and civilization must be defended. 
 
 The very spirit in which the two sides are fighting 
 marks the difference so clearly that there can be no ques- 
 tion as to the right of it, as to where justice is and victory 
 should be. 
 
 30 
 
The British Fleet 
 
 While we can rightly feel that we are doing much to 
 help England by sending our troops over to finish up 
 the struggle, we have been and now are under obliga- 
 tions to England for a great protection that we have 
 received and are still receiving. 
 
 Ofif to the north of London is a part of the British 
 fleet, a minor part, we are told. Light cruisers they are 
 in name — great masses of steel, built and manned for 
 fighting in reality. 
 
 There they lie at anchor, like dogs chained in restraint, 
 ready to be let loose at a moment's notice. One won- 
 ders that there ever was so much floating steel and power 
 and so many guns in the world. One does not wonder 
 that the German navy stays tied in Kiel, afraid to come 
 out, and one breathes thanks for America that the British 
 navy not only stands as a protection for Britain's shores 
 against an invader that now knows no law or rule of 
 decent warfare, but protects also America's shores from 
 the German navy. 
 
 Count the cruisers, one does. There is an understand- 
 ing, however, that figures shall not be published, but let 
 cverv American breathe easier for that part of the navy, 
 and let each of us, when inclined to think that we are 
 placing Great Britain under certain obligations to us in 
 sending troops over to help in the fight, remember that 
 we are under lasting obligations to Great Britain for the 
 protection she has afforded us with her fleet, ever on the 
 watch in the North Sea. 
 
 But the light cruiser squadron is not all, by any means. 
 Farther to the north is reached another and greater part 
 of the North Sea fleet. Battleships, they are. Veterans 
 of the Jutland and of the Dardanelles are there. Lunch- 
 eon was served on one that came out of the Jutland fight 
 with wounds, but it was not beyond repair. Powerful 
 and great and new. with others, the pride of the British 
 navy is there — the greatest battleship afloat. 
 
 To the left the floating fighters are seen, in great num- 
 bers and tonnage beyond comprehension. To the right 
 
 31 
 
are more battleships. Farther and farther, and still be- 
 yond in the mist are seen the forms of more hulls, more 
 stacks, more protectors of our shores and theirs. 
 
 "If the Germans would only stay and fight ; if they 
 only wouldn't run," said Durobeck, veteran admiral of 
 the Dardanelles, modest of mien, as he put to sea with 
 his squadron to take up the Avatch for his land and ours. 
 
 BOYS IN THE TRENCHES 
 
 A company of British infantry that I saw marching 
 away to the trenches was made up of boys just turning 
 19 years. England takes in the boys at 18, trains them 
 a year and then sends them to the front. With the com- 
 ing of American troops there was an agitation in Eng- 
 land to send the 18-year-old boys to the trenches with 
 six months' training instead of waiting a full year. 
 
 Three companies, seen marching along the Strand for 
 the front, were made up of men from 35 to 40 years old. 
 All over England one notices the absence of young men, 
 of men under 11 and boys over 18. They are either at 
 the front or in training. 
 
 It seemed to me that America would have to send at 
 least 10,000,000 to the front before our manhood would 
 1>e combed as close as it is combed in England. 
 
 When America distributed some regiments among the 
 troops of the Allies, that act was followed with an expres- 
 sion for combing England still closer to make sure there 
 was not a single slacker. 
 
 The manager of one shell and cannon factory said that 
 he had orders to have 700 of his men ready to go into 
 the service. There were 3,700 men and 800 women work- 
 ing there. I asked him to point out some of the men 
 fit for service from the English viewpoint, and he did. 
 They were mostly men with hair turning gray, 35 to 40, 
 men much older than we have in the service. They w^ere 
 to be replaced by women, it having been demonstrated 
 that women can do efficient work in all lines of munition 
 making. 
 
 PLAYING FAIR 
 
 When we in America deny ourselves that our allies 
 may have, we can be sure that the sacrifice is appreciated 
 and that England in no way takes advantage of what we 
 do. 
 
 32 
 
Very strict laws have been passed for conserving food 
 over there and they are enforced rigidly. 
 
 The object of the British government is so to distribute 
 the food made available that rich and poor shall be 
 served alike. To this end there are laws against hoard- 
 ing, against any one person purchasing more than the 
 government's allow^ance, and, to prevent profiteering, the 
 government fixes the price of meat and other necessities. 
 
 Gasoline and other war necessities are carefully con- 
 served. In London the number of taxicabs has been re- 
 duced, and the fare fixed. Private cars are forbidden to 
 use gasoline, and one sees no pleasure riding in England, 
 and no driving of passenger cars by private individuals 
 except in the government service. 
 
 On tvvo occasions when T was going on a tour of in- 
 spection as a guest of the government, we were to pass 
 through Hyde Park. Each time the driver asked me to 
 sign a statement showing that the car was sent out by 
 the government. Without this statement a policeman 
 would have stopped us and ordered us to appear in police 
 court. We did not see another car either time in passing 
 through the park. England wants all the gasoline saved 
 to use in transporting men and materials at the front 
 and will not permit its use for private purposes. 
 
 PERONNE (Somme) 
 
 After deliberately destroying this building and preparing to retreat, 
 the Germans posted a sign, "Do not bewail; but better smile." 
 
 33 
 
British Grit 
 
 In England, everywhere, one is impressed with the 
 wonderful spirit of the people, with the indomitable will, 
 with the grit, and the cleverness, yes, cleverness which 
 equals that of the Germans but without the German 
 bragging about it, with the capacity for taking punish- 
 ment and no whining, with the generosity which talks of 
 the achievements of others when their own are the equal 
 of any. 
 
 England has suffered, sufifered grievously ; the young 
 men have died there by the hundreds of thousands, died 
 in families in all the walks of life. But the spirit of 
 Britain still lives. 
 
 I spoke of this loss to an English ofificer. 
 
 "Yes, it is true that our young men have given up their 
 lives for international decency," he said, "but you ought 
 to wait until you get to France. There is where the 
 people have suffered ; there is where the ravages of war 
 are felt. The French are brilliant fighters ; they take 
 punishment and come back with a dash," and thus he con- 
 tinued, giving credit to others as nearly every English- 
 man does, when in reality Great Britain has carried a 
 very large share of the burden, and has been the back- 
 bone of the war on the part of the allies. 
 
 After having visited their fleet, their munition plants 
 and training camps, I remarked to a British colonel that 
 their achievements were great ; that they had come out 
 of a condition of unpreparedness and had made great 
 strides. 
 
 "Yes, we have finally gotten in shape to do a bit of 
 good work," he said. The man himself had done brilliant 
 work at the front. 
 
 "But you Americans are doing things in a big way. 
 You are accustomed to doing things on a large scale. 
 We made many blunders at the beginning, but your peo- 
 ple are shrewd enough to study them and profit by them. 
 I think the work of America has been wonderful. Your 
 government achieved great things quickly. You made 
 a great record in the first five months of the war and 
 you are still making it. In those five months America 
 
 34 
 
declared war, passed appropriation bills, passed a con- 
 scription law, treating all classes alike, built 16 great 
 cantonments, had them well equipped and ready for use, 
 and had 640,000 soldiers in them. You people may not 
 realize it, but we who were in the early struggle here 
 do realize that it was a wonderful piece of work, and it 
 is a great satisfaction to know that your people as a whole 
 are behind the movement ; that you give and give and 
 pay and pay, with ever increasing amounts — and do it 
 freely. 
 
 "Some of us were a little impatient because you did 
 not come into the war sooner. We thought that the 
 Lusitania affair should have brought you in, but, as it 
 appears to us now, your president was wiser about it 
 than we were. An army to wage a successful war must 
 have the people at home behind it heart and soul. You 
 people were not a unit for entering the war, and so your 
 president waited until you became a unit, and now the 
 splendid results that mean a sure victory for all of us 
 show that he knew the situation and what was best, 
 better than we did." 
 
 Nor was there any evidence anywhere of an effort on 
 the part of the British to "jolly" Americans into carry- 
 ing Britain's burden. The contrary seemed true to me. 
 Instead of saying, "Let America do it," the spirit seemed 
 to be more, "America has come in, now let us pitch in 
 the harder, make more sacrifices, put in every last man 
 and all together finish up the job as quickly as possible." 
 
 FRANCE BLED WHITE 
 
 In driving through something more than 75 villages 
 and cities in France, scarcely a man under 45 or a boy 
 over 18 years was seen except in uniform, and very few 
 of them. They are all at the front or in their graves. 
 
 France has been bled white. There is no more man 
 power for her to draw on. She still has a good many 
 men at the front, able-bodied and brilliant fighters. Their 
 morale is good, especially since America came into the 
 fight, but whatever additional army strength is needed 
 to give the Germans their final beating must come from 
 America, as far as France is concerned, for she can fur- 
 nish no more. 
 
 35 
 
What is There of Germany 
 to Whip 
 
 The whipping of Germany, the bringing of that ruth- 
 less warlike nation to her knees, the establishing of a 
 permanent, right and honorable peace, is a definite, con- 
 crete task — a job that must be done. 
 
 There are a definite number of soldiers serving in the 
 German army and making ready to serve in the army. 
 There is a definite amount of material at their command 
 for fighting purposes. But whatever the number of men, 
 whatever the amount of munitions, America's task is to 
 supply enough of each to overpower the German army 
 and force that nation to submit to a program of inter- 
 national decency, to the right peace that America with 
 her allies will determine on. 
 
 Our duty as a nation is to get as near as we can to a 
 correct estimate of what that power is and then defeat it. 
 
 What is there then of the German army to be beaten? 
 
 Figures that to me seemed absolutely reliable, figures 
 that were checked over carefully against the statements 
 of other authorities, and which were generally confirmed, 
 showed that at the first of the year Germany had about 
 7,100,000 soldiers on the western front, or available soon. 
 This does not mean fit soldiers as we in America regard 
 soldiers. It means all of her men in fit condition ; it 
 means her boys even to her 1920 class; it means men in 
 hospitals who are likely to recover and return to the 
 ranks, for Germany is including all of these in her army 
 roll. It means, also, almost any sort of a man able to 
 hold and level a gun, be he of inferior physical or mental 
 strength. 
 
 Men and boys in prison camps and men and boys cap- 
 tured in the big drives of this year show that Germany 
 is drawing on her male population to the utmost in 
 filling her army. And with these it is probably true that 
 
 36 
 
she had 7,100,000 available the first of the year. It must 
 be remembered, however, that the war to a large ex- 
 tent is being fought now by boys who were only 13 or 
 14 years old when hostilities commenced four years ago. 
 
 But Germany hasn't the 7,100,000 men now. 
 
 Up to the first of the year Germany lost about 4,300,- 
 000 men. Since then she has probably lost a million more. 
 
 In the first half of her drive north of the Somme which 
 began March 21, she lost 375,000 (this is on good auth- 
 ority). With the last half of that drive her total loss for 
 the entire drive went above 500,000. She has been driv- 
 ing in solid mass formation since, and has been paying 
 dearly in life for every foot of ground gained. 
 
 One British officer said to me: "It doesn't make so 
 much difiference whether the German line is there or over 
 here, but it does make a diiTerence in determining the 
 war how many dead Germans are along the way." 
 
 And when one sees the desolate country over which 
 much of the fighting has been done this year, he can get 
 the philosophy of the British viewpoint and wonder why 
 the German generals pay so much in life for so little in 
 ground gained. 
 
 When one looks at the map and sees the advance made 
 in the big drives of this year, he does not get an idea of 
 half that has taken place, for he cannot see on the map 
 the death that has been dealt to the German forces while 
 they were making that gain. 
 
 A fair estimate of the total loss to Germany in the 
 drives is three-quarters of a million men. That is very 
 conservative. 
 
 But that is not the only way in which Germany is los- 
 ing. 
 
 In ordinary trench warfare, when there is no ofifensive 
 on, no drive, Germany loses about 80,000 men a month. 
 This was stated to me in Paris by a man of the highest 
 authority, and it agrees with the statements of others. 
 Nor is it unreasonable. 
 
 37 
 
Germany's army, if placed along the western front, 
 would have her meft and boys every inch of the way 
 three deep, touching elbow to elbow. 
 
 The British, the French, the Italians, the Belgians, the 
 Portuguese, and now our own men are hurling trench 
 bombs at the German army every day and night of the 
 week. They have many different methods of sending 
 the bombs, so they can reach any of the German trenches. 
 To get 80,000 Germans a month means only one man a 
 day for each quarter of a mile of trench, and when one 
 sees the opportunities for trench fighting he readily un- 
 derstands the reasonableness of the statement. 
 
 That means a million men a year. That means that 
 during this year, with drives and trench warfare, Ger- 
 many will be reduced to fewer than six million men, 
 boys, and convalescents. 
 
 It is this army that must be beaten. 
 
 It cannot be said that the morale of the German army 
 is the best. There can be no question that Germany is 
 war weary. The men in the ordinary walks of life are 
 tired of killing and being killed. They know that while 
 theirs have died and are being asked to die the six sons 
 of the Kaiser still have whole skins. But the Germans 
 of high and low caste are still working together in a com- 
 pact fighting machine, doing the bidding of their war 
 lords ; many going forward to be shot simply because 
 they know that to turn back would mean death against 
 a stone wall — or without even waiting to be lined up in 
 that formal fashion. 
 
 And it can be put down to a certainty that the Kaiser 
 will have even more trouble among his own people than 
 he has had when it is definitely learned by them how he 
 has sent the sons and fathers to their death ; how he has 
 spent human lives with profligacy never known before. 
 
 But Germans are submitting and are fighting the fight 
 of the Kaiser, and Germans must be beaten, for ours is 
 an unconquered nation and an unconquered nation it 
 must remain ; it is fighting the good fight for justice, for 
 liberty, for international decency. 
 
 38 
 
Overwhelm Germany 
 
 The one answer to the millions of fathers and mothers 
 whose sons are over seas or on the way, to the wives 
 whose husbands are in the service, is that the way to 
 save lives is to make our army so great and big and 
 powerful that it can and will overwhelm Germany. 
 
 This is costing money, much money, and will cost 
 much more; but the nation should not weigh the cost 
 when so many lives are at stake. 
 
 Germany is at war as a nation. 
 
 France is at war as a nation. 
 
 England is at war as a nation. 
 
 And so America must be at war as a nation, man, 
 v.'oman and child. 
 
 Germany is at the top of her speed. She is using every- 
 thing at her command. .She is at the limit of her strength, 
 with that strength greatly reduced through the sacrifices 
 of England and France, but with still enough fighting 
 force to inflict a great deal of punishment upon the na- 
 tion that does not go over with an overwhelming 
 strength. 
 
 Our preparation should be so great and so thorough 
 that there will be not the slightest question of a doubt 
 as to what the result will be. 
 
 To accomplish this we need : 
 
 Ships. 
 
 Airplanes. 
 
 Munitions. 
 
 MEN. 
 
 Propaganda. 
 
 And Food Always. 
 
 Ships 
 
 I was told, by a good authority, that for every thousand 
 men we have in France we need 2,000 tons of shipping to 
 keep them supplied in food and munitions. 
 
 It it not for us as a people to say, "Let the ship build- 
 ers do it?" or "Why don't they speed up?" It is for us 
 
 39 
 
to remember that to build ships requires men and ma- 
 terials, requires money from the government, and en- 
 couragement to our officials. 
 
 It is for each of us to give that encouragement ; to let 
 our representatives in Washington know that we ap- 
 prove of a program of building all the ships possible ; to 
 let men working in the yards realize that they, as well 
 as the men in the trenches, are a very important part of 
 this war, and that in speeding up their work, in putting 
 in every hour they can at the building of boats, they 
 are doing more than serving themselves ; more than 
 merely earning their wages ; they are serving the nation 
 by helping to get the soldiers over there and food and 
 munitions with which to supply them. 
 
 Airplanes, Munitions and Men 
 
 Every man or woman in America working in an air- 
 plane plant or in a munition plant is a very vital part of 
 this war. 
 
 We have been taught lessons in air fighting, through 
 our experience and the experience of others in France 
 and in Belgium. 
 
 No one knows just how the final victory is coming, but 
 every one must know what are essentials to that victory. 
 
 There must be men in great number along the battle 
 front. There must be munitions without limit, so many 
 that our fighters will never be without. There must be 
 a rush through. 
 
 This rush, however, should not come with the terrible 
 sacrifice the Germans have made in their efforts to break 
 through the western front. With plenty of materials it 
 seems unnecessary that such a sacrifice should be made. 
 We can be grateful that our generals hold life more 
 sacred than to send their men to slaughter as the Ger- 
 mans have done. 
 
 If our generals should find a weakening in the German 
 lines at any time, they can be depended on to take ad- 
 vantage of the situation and go through. But if no 
 weakening should be found, it will be possible for our air 
 fighters, when massed in sufficient number and with 
 plejity of swift flying airplanes equipped with machine, 
 guns, to force an opening and to make such an attack 
 on the German lines as to scatter them. Then our land 
 
 40 
 
forces can and will go through, never stopping until 
 Berlin is reached and the Kaiser and his military clique 
 brought to book. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands of airplanes and air fight- 
 ers are needed for this ; munitions in such quantities as 
 were never produced before must be turned out. 
 
 We owe it to the million or more sons over there, to 
 the millions of mothers and fathers who sent them, not 
 only to make the army one of several millions but to 
 bend our every resource and energy at home toward 
 winning this war and ending it speedily. We must send 
 over . enough soldiers and munitions so as to leave no 
 question whatever as to the outcome. 
 
 Every citizen must realize this ; every worker in mill 
 or plant must know that our fighters over there cannot 
 win unless furnished with the materials. 
 
 Every hour is precious. The soldiers at the front must 
 be on duty all the time ; the workers at home should 
 be no less faithful to their tasks here. It means the lives 
 of their sons, brothers, chums and friends who have gone 
 across. It means the life and honor and future of our 
 nation. 
 
 Somewhat damaged, but still holding the line of defense. This 
 soldier can be seen in the trench, and we can get an idea of 
 the varying conditions under which the soldiers live and fight. 
 
 41 
 
Propaganda 
 
 Germany is fighting the war with her printing presses 
 as well as with her guns. 
 
 The German propaganda work has been thorough and 
 extensive, and, to a great extent, effective. 
 
 There is nothing that Germany has done quite so 
 thoroughly as to advertise her thoroughness — this with a 
 view of creating a feeling of awe toward her among other 
 nations. But, while Germany is and has been thorough 
 m many ways, she has done nothing and can do nothing" 
 that cannot be matched and more than matched by other 
 nations. 
 
 In a building in London are four thousand girls and 
 men, going through mail matter of all sorts, looking for 
 German propaganda, and finding much of it. It comes 
 in all sorts of forms; papers, booklets, magazines, bound 
 volumes of books, post cards, and the like. 
 
 In one room in this building sixty girls handle 14,000 
 pounds of mail a day. In another room eighty men deal 
 with a hundred and fifty-seven different languages and 
 dialects. 
 
 In still another room are samples of various books sent 
 out by Germany as propaganda. There are 2,000 vol- 
 umes, nicely bound, sent out as works on art, science, 
 literature and nearly all other subjects in which men and 
 women are interested, but in reality German propaganda 
 to the core. There are books with gold and red covers 
 to appeal to the Turks, books for nearly every nation on 
 earth, whether ally, neutral or enemy. 
 
 On a table in this same room, I saw W. J. Bryan's 
 attack on England's treatment of India printed by Ger- 
 many in twenty-seven different languages, still carrying 
 Mr. Bryan as Secretary of State of the United States, all 
 calculated to prejudice the world against England. 
 
 Through intrigue and propaganda, Germany accom- 
 plished in Russia that which she did not and could not 
 accomplish with bullets and bayonets. Germany is still 
 working among the Russians with force and persuasion 
 hoping to get aid from them in her struggle. 
 
 42 
 
Germany is working also among the people of South 
 America, sending them not only printed matter, but cheap 
 jewelry on which are kindly inscriptions regarding the 
 Kaiser and members of his clique. 
 
 German propaganda covers almost every line of 
 thought ; racial questions come in for a great deal of atten- 
 tion. In Berlin one organization will take an incident and 
 dish it up for the Irish ; another organization will put 
 its interpretation on the incident for the South American, 
 or for the Hebrew, or the American ; one set for Catholic, 
 another for Protestant. 
 
 Need of American Propaganda. 
 
 American propaganda should be distributed in every 
 way possible among the nations of the earth. 
 
 Our propaganda should not be of the deceptive sort 
 used so freely by Germany, but should continue to be of 
 that nature which gives the world to understand that 
 America, man, woman and child, is back of the President 
 when he says we are fighting a war not for gain, that 
 we want neither territory nor indemnity, but are fighting 
 to make the world a safe and decent place for future gen- 
 erations ; fighting to stamp out that military spirit which 
 has made German autocracy a menace to all civilization. 
 
 Keeping ourselves right and letting the world under- 
 stand, without bragging or self-glorification, that we 
 mean to do only that which is right and will quit only 
 when right prevails will help much. This will bind our 
 Allies closer to us and cannot be without its effect in 
 Germany if we are persistent enough to get the real truth 
 to the German people. 
 
 I do not mean to say that it is probable that this would 
 make a break in Germany, but from what I have seen of 
 German prisoners of war, I believe it is possible to make 
 it harder for the Kaiser and his clique to keep his people 
 in line, which means that it would be correspondingly 
 easier for our men. 
 
 Propaganda w^ork should in no way lead to a let up in 
 the material preparation, but should increase it. 
 
 America should get good and ready to give Germany 
 the whipping of her history, and not stop until Kaiserism 
 and the Kaiser's militarism are brought to their knees, 
 submissive to the dictates of right and decency. 
 
 43 
 
Common Sense Back of 
 Censorship 
 
 We Americans have formed a habit of thinking that the 
 Germans have some uncanny method of learning all about 
 the Allied armies, and that to print a bit of news regarding 
 men connected with the army doesn't make any difference, 
 because the Germans know all about it anyhow. 
 
 Germany gets her information about the Allied armies as 
 she gets everything else, by working hard, thoroughly and 
 persistently at it. And, unfortunately, she is helped a great 
 deal by well-meaning and seemingly harmless items appear- 
 ing in newspapers. 
 
 In one place in Switzerland there are 40 men at work 
 early and late looking through American papers published 
 in the smaller towns — seeking information for the German 
 army. 
 
 At another place are more men working just as hard 
 on papers of all descriptions, gleaning every column for 
 bits of news that will throw light on the situation as 
 regards the Allied armies. 
 
 At another place are perhaps more men working through 
 technical journals and other publications seeking indications 
 regarding the development of the fighting machinery of the 
 Allies. The technical journals are a great source of infor- 
 mation for the Germans. 
 
 In Holland, too, are forces of men at the same work, 
 though of late the greatest activity has shifted to Switzer- 
 land. 
 
 These men develop marvelous accuracy in spotting even 
 a brief item in a whole page. And when we are likely to 
 fuss and fume over censorship, are inclined to say that it 
 is imposed regardless of the feeling of fathers and mothers 
 at home, we should remember that the sole object of the 
 censor is to save life, and his task is done with regard to 
 the safety of the son at the front. 
 
 Let us not forget for a minute that Germany is out to 
 win this war by any means possible ; that the more of our 
 men and boys her soldiers can kill the better her rulers 
 
 44 
 
like it. That is their game, to kill, kill, all the time ; to 
 press forward and kill more and more. And the more 
 they know of our armies the more they are able to 
 accomplish. 
 
 Our soldiers are not in Europe on a picnic or a frolic; 
 they are there on a serious business — the most serious 
 business ever faced by any people on this globe. The 
 business involves more lives than ever hung in the bal- 
 ance before. 
 
 Then, with the millions involved, what difference does it 
 make if the devoted mother and father at home, who have 
 given up a son, know where that son is, and the home paper, 
 be it large or small, prints an item, telling the neighbors 
 about it? Why deprive them of the crumb of comfort that 
 comes with knowledge? 
 
 Let us suppose the son belongs to a certain regiment, and 
 that a certain paper reports him well or otherwise, at a 
 given point. 
 
 Surely no harm in that ! But isn't there ? 
 
 Suppose up to this time the Germans had not known 
 that the regiment was at that given point. The paper 
 finds its way to the Mexican border, or to some South 
 American point, then to Spain ; then it is easy so far as 
 getting to Switzerland goes. 
 
 The item is soon picked out of this paper there, and 
 immediately German army officials know another regi- 
 ment has been added ; they know where it is located and 
 provide accordingly — with a cost of lives to America and 
 her allies. 
 
 Suppose Germany believed that only one brigade was 
 at a given point, and the clipping experts should find in a 
 paper that one man of the 9th was hurt there ; in another 
 paper that another man of the 16th was hurt there; in an- 
 other that another man of the 27th was hurt there. These 
 clippings are brought together, and immediately Germany 
 knows there are at least three brigades there instead oi one, 
 and provides accordingly, eventually costing the lives of 
 some of the men. 
 
 Remote! Would you say? 
 
 Not at all. Germany hasn't these hundreds of men comb- 
 ing the papers of the allied countries for nothing. 
 
 45 
 
Many a life has paid the penalty of well-meant and seem- 
 ingly harmless newspaper items. 
 
 And we are likely to complain because our sons cannot 
 send home more information as to their whereabouts and 
 doings. They need the backing and encouragement of the 
 home folk, and to keep up our spirit and enthusiasm we 
 should be told more, is the plea. 
 
 Yes, ours is a hardship, the hardship of uncertainty, but 
 the sons are the ones who suffer the real hardships, whose 
 lives are at stake, and should we add to their danger that 
 we might bring to ourselves greater peace of mind? Should 
 we not be the ones to lend encouragement, to do all we can 
 at home as the sons of America and the Allies are doing all 
 they can in camps and at the front? 
 
 A French soldier knew from preparations that were being 
 made that certain army movements were contemplated as 
 a surprise on the Germans. He wrote a letter to his parents 
 about it. That letter did not have a chance of getting by 
 the censor, but before he had an opportunity of trying to 
 mail it he was captured in a small raid by the Germans. 
 They got the letter, and as a result, when they saw great 
 battalions of blue-helmeted French soldiers moving in a 
 certain direction, they knew what it meant, met it, and at 
 the cost of many French lives as well as their own, pre- 
 vented what might have been a surprise attack and a victory. 
 
 So long as England published her casualty list in the 
 manner she did at the beginning of the war, Germany had 
 easy picking in locating British forces. If a captain in a 
 certain regiment was injured in a certain place Germany 
 knew the regiment was there. If an officer in another regi- 
 ment was injured there, Germany knew his regiment was 
 there too. So Germany kept track of a great many regi- 
 ments by watching the casualty lists. 
 
 When England altered the manner of publishing these 
 lists, Germany issued a statement saying that this very 
 good means of locating British troops had been stopped 
 They then began studying the provincial papers, and risk- 
 ing and losing lives in raids to get information which had 
 come easily before. 
 
 Newspapers in America should be as careful about pub- 
 lishing facts regarding the British and French armies as 
 about our own, for they are all fighting together in a com- 
 mon cause, their interests and perils being identical. 
 
 46 
 
The four great cardinal principles that should be ob- 
 served are : 
 
 Do not tell what you are going to do. 
 
 Do not tell where your forces are. 
 
 Do not tell the strength of your forces. 
 
 Do not tell the composition of your forces. 
 
 These facts can be and often are disclosed by locating a 
 single individual either dead or alive, often revealed by an 
 unguarded statement. 
 
 Our mothers and fathers should console themselves with 
 this one thought: "It is better to have our sons safe and 
 add to their safety than to know exactly where they are." 
 
 To be sure, one feels that no harm could come from 
 a letter written by a son to his mother. Surely not if it 
 could be made certain that the letter wovild reach the mother 
 only. But there is a wide space between the French front 
 and the American home, and letters pass through many 
 hands and sometimes go astray. So the censor has to 
 treat every letter as though it were going to fall into 
 German hands and he must see to it that there is nothing 
 passed that would give valuable information to th,e enemy. 
 This is not done to punish anybody, much less the mother 
 or son, but solely to protect the son. 
 
 To be sure one can hear instances of what is regarded 
 as poor judgment by censors. Investigation often reveals 
 the fact that perhaps the censor showed better judgment 
 than the man who complained. 
 
 One instance is shown in the case of a newspaper man 
 who complained because his article was held up 40 days 
 before being released. That was because it was 40 days 
 before conditions were such that his article could do no 
 harm. Time killed much of the value of his story ; time 
 also made for the safety of the soldiers involved. 
 
 Yet there are no doubt instances of bad judgment being 
 used by individual censors out of the large numbers em- 
 ployed. That must be true in all human efforts. Every- 
 thing human has its mistakes, and the censorship no doubt 
 has its, but if there are errors they might better be on the 
 side of safety. 
 
 It is up to the civilian to adjust himself to the war, its 
 requirements and hardships. We are often inclined to say, 
 "If the army wants our support, it must do this or that," as 
 
 47 
 
though the army had gone to war for fun or as a personal 
 proposition of gain. 
 
 It is for us to remember that the army is a part of our 
 national being, that it has gone to war for us, to protect our 
 country and our interests, and that when we render it sup- 
 port we are not making it a gift of anything. 
 
 We are rendering only a small part of what we actually 
 owe the army, and to give it support short of anything to 
 the utmost of our ability is to shirk our duty, to neglect a 
 sacred obligation; and if we cannot learn all that we 
 would know about it, it is for us not to whine but to face 
 the disappointment with the same fortitude that our sons 
 face the enemy at the front. 
 
 It is for us, too, to use every hour of our time, every bit 
 of our energy, every dollar at our command that the boys 
 at the front may be provided with weapons and muni- 
 tions with which to make sure and speedy the victory 
 that must come. 
 
 PERONNE (Somme) 
 
 A view in one of the main streets. This shows a city as the 
 Germans left it after the first battle of the Somme. Peronne 
 is again in the hands of the Germans. This shows the 
 general condition of the cities they fought to regain. 
 
 48 
 
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