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MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA.
THE MILLEDGEVM.LE NEWS
FRIDAY MORNING, MAY l 0>
iThe Cbnf0sfens
oj a Gernjai
Deserter
Written by a Prussian Off* c *£%k£
Who Participated in the
ing and Pillaging of Belgium, t
.. Conrtth h Ditroa fitu)
CHAPTER I.
I am a German soldier. Naturally
at the time when the war started we
did not know that there would be such
a war as 13 being waged today.
Dally we soldiers were told that
France nnd Russia wonted to attack
us and that the kaiser was doing ev
erything possible for our protection.
Already on July 20 we were armed to
the teeth and prepared to march away.
During these preparations, which
showed us all that war had to come,
18 men of my company deserted.
The government published, during
this time, bulletins almost hourly to
prepare the people for the war, a
subterfuge that succeeded perfectly.
Consequently two days before war was
declared, the people were overwhelm
ingly for war, but they were certain
that It was only to be between Ger
many and France.
Of the intervention of Belgium,
Russia, England and Italy, the coun
try had as little thought ns It did of
any participation of the United States.
All thought only of the promenade to
Paris, which, to the disappointment of
the people, and also, surely to the
disappointment of the nutocracy, has
been longer drawn out than had been
wished for.
In these dnys of uncertainty the
soldiers, contrary to the cruel treat
ment which they had experienced be
fore, were treated liberally with great
quantities of supplies, delicneles and
beer, so thnt most of the soldiers were
so drunk continuously that they were
unable to realize the seriousness of
the situation.
And yet the mnjority of the sol
diers could not be enthused over the
war. They cheered and were enthu
siastic because they knew It was the
orders. On July 31, 1014, one day be
fore the declaration of war, we left,
after being brought to war strength,
tor our garrison at Malnz-am-lthelne.
Where the enemy townrd which we
were to point our bayonets was we
bad not the slightest Idea. All we did
know was that we had to be truis-
ported somewhere to protect the bor
der. .
There were stirring times ns w*
started out. Tens of thousands of
people threw flowers at us and all
wanted to slinke hands. All—even
soldiers—cried 1 Many embraced their
wives or young brides. The bund*
played farewell songs nnd people
laughed nnd cried all at the same
time. Strnngers embraced and kissed
each other. “A veritable witch’s holi
day" of emotion was loosened and en
gulfed the populace like a storm. No
one, not even the strongest, could re
sist Its powers. Yet even this was
surpassed by the leave-taking at the
depot, where last farewells had to be
said. This scene will never leave me 1
IIow desperately many women clung
to their men I Muny had to be forcibly
removed.
But this was at last done and then
we were placed In cattle cars'. Night
came and we hud no lights. The truln
went slowly townrd the Rhine. It
went smoothly enough. Our company,
which had had days of great excite
ment, welcomed the rest that the Jour
ney afforded. Most of the soldiers
slept with their knapsacks as pillows..
Others looked dreamily into the fu
ture. Still otherstsecretly pulled pic
tures from their breastpockets and only
n very few killed time by discussion
and comment on their possible desti
nation.
"Where are we going?" Yes,
where? No one knew. Then after
endless hours, the train stopped. We
were In Dureu. What were we there
for? We did not know. The officers
only shrugged their shoulders at our
questions.
After a brief pause we went ahead.
On the evening of August 1 we reached
a farmyard near Duren. Our company
was billeted In a burn. No one knew
what we had to do. Ignorant of the
purpose of our being sent so near the
Belgian border we laid down on our
beds of straw. Something had to
happen soon to rescue us from this un
certainty.
How few suspected that would be
the last night for many of us on Ger
man ground. An ulurm took us from
our beds at 3 a. m. The company
gathered nnd the captain demonstrat
ed the war situation. As to the direc
tion of the march he himself was ig
norant.
Scarcely half an hour later 30 big
trucks drove up and stopped on the
road before our quarters. The driv
ers also were Ignorant and waited for
orders. Discussion of our destination
started afresh. The orderlies who
had been keeping their ears open said
we would enter Belgium that day.
Others contradicted them, no one
knew for certainty.
But the order to march did not come
and in the evening we went back to
our straw. But the rest was
short. At 1 a. m. we were again
aroused ond honored by a speech from
our captain. He said we were at war
with Belgium. He tofd us to show
ourselves brave, deserve the Iron cross
and bring honor to Germany. Then he
continued:
“We only make war against the
armed force, the Belgian army. Life
nnd property of civilians are protected
under International law. Yet yon sol
diers must not forget to keep your
lives for the fatherland or sell them as
ly t* everything which might strength
en this hope.
The bicycles lying In the road Indi
cated that the bicycle division was in
the fight at this point. How strong
the enemy was we did not know as we
raced townrd the firing line. Every
body crouched down ns low as possi
ble while jumping to the right and
left. Before and behind us the bullets
were flying continuously, yet we
reached the firing line without tosses.
We were greeted Joyously by our hard-
pressed comrades. The bicycle regl-
left them. In contrast to the fugitives,
whom we had met before, these were
extremely frightened, appearing to be
In mortal terror of their enemy. When
ever they looked upon one of us Ger-
man soldiers they cringed In terror.
How different these jvere from the
Inhabitants of the village where we
had first stopped, who had met us in
a friendly, even polite manner. We
tried to learn the cause of this fright
and discovered that the fugitives had
witnessed In their village bitter street
fighting. They had become acquainted
their houses
ment had not suffered any losses ex- j with war—had seen
cept for a few slightly wounded men burning, had seen their little property
who were still able to take part In the j destroyed and could not forget the
fight. ; sight of their streets filled with corpses
We were lying flat on the ground ; and wounded,
and firing in the direction ordered for '
all we were worth, even though we
Honored by a Speech From Our Cap
tain.
dearly as possible. Unnecessary shed
ding of blood we will prohibit to the
civilian population. Yet I nsk you to
consider that too much consideration
borders on cowardice and that will be
punished very severely.”
After this speech of our captain we
were loaded on our uutos and at 4 a.
m. crossed the border into Belgium.
In order to make this a historical oc
casion we were ordered t:o give three
cheers. On the speedy autos we
reached our goal at 10 a. m. It whs a
beautiful little rural village. Inhabi
tants of the villages we had passed
looked at us In astonishment, so that
we nil got the impression thnt these
country people never knew why we
came to Belgium. They were fright
ened out of their sleep and looked out
at us from their windows.
As we halted and left our autos, the
had not seen our enemies. That was
apparently not interesting enough to
some of our soldiers. The/ wanted
to know how the people were looking
whom they had to shoot at They got
up to a kneeling position. Two men of
my company had to pay for their curi
osity with their lives almost instantly.
The first victim of our party went
down without a sound. The second
threw his arms high in the air and fell
on his back. Both were dead In
stantly.
It is impossible for me to describe
the feeling that overcame me in the
first real volley as we advanced and
came directly within the range of the
fire. I no longer felt any fright, only
an Impulse to get Into action ns quick
ly as possible. Yet at the sight of the
first corpse a terrible fear seized me.
For minutes I was completely stunned,
lost all self-control and was absolute
ly unable to think or do anything.
I pressed my face and hands close
to the ground. I wanted to clutch my
gun and shoot blindly. Presently I
calmed down. I suddenly became con
tented with myself and conditions
about me and when soon afterward
the command was sounded along the
whole line, “Spring out!” “Forward
march!” I chnrged as did everyone
else like one possessed. The order to
halt followed. Like wet bags we
plumped to the ground. Firing had be
gun anew.
Our firing now became more lively
momentarily and increased to n fenr-
ful loudness. If we had occnsion to
say anything to our comrades we had
to shout so loudly In their ears that It
hurt our throats.
Under the effect of our fire the ene
my grew restless, the fire weakened
and his line wavered. As only 500
meters separated us from them we
could observe exactly what happened
there. We saw about half the enemy
retire In the following manner: Every
other man quit the line, lenvlng his al
ternate In his place. Those remaining
held on until the retiring party halted.
We used this moment to Inflict the
most severe losses on the retreating j
enemy. As far ns we could scan the
horizon to the right and left we saw
the Germans advancing in several sec
tors. Also for our detachments the
order came to advance as the enemy
retreated.
The task of dinging to the heels
of the retiring enemy so tenaciously
thnt no time would be allowed to make
a new stand fell to us. We followed
the Belgiuns, tcurcely stopping to
breathe on the way, In order to pre
vent their fortifying themselves In a
village situated just ahead. We knew
thnt a bloody house-to-house fight lay
before us, yet the Belgians never at
tempted to establish themselves, but
mnnnged to escape with astonishing
cleverness.
In the meantime we received re-en-
forceraents. Our company was now
It dawned upon us that not merely
fear gave these people the appearance
of hunted animals; there was also
hatred toward the Invaders who had
fallen upon them and driven them
from their homes by night.
In the evening we departed and
tried to reach our own regiment. The
Belgians had concentrated somewhere
to the rear under cover of darkness.
We were quite near the neighborhood
of the fortified city of Liege. Many
settlements through which we passed
stood in flames; the Inhabitants driven
out, passed us in droves. Women,
children and old men were buffeted
about and seemed to be everywhere in
the way. Without alms or plans, with
out a place on which to lay their heads
these poor people dragged themselves
by.
(To Be Continued Next Week)
USE LESS WHEAT.
The allied nations have mnde
further Increased demnnds on
us for hreadstufTs — demnnds
that Americans are obligated to
meet.
In the meantime America's
meat supply has been greatly
increased for some months to
come by the unprecedented
shipping to market, of hogs that
averaged 232 pounds each In
stead of 203 pounds—the nor
mal.
The United Stntes Food Ad
ministration. endeavoring to ad
just the international food bal
ance, promptly removed certain
restrictions In this country on
the use of meat ond at the same
time asked for a smaller con
sumption of hrendstuffs.
We are asked to observe only
one meatless day each week—
Tuesday. We will have larger
meat stocks for awhile. But
our brend ration must be held
to a minimum.
In altering Its food conserva
tion program the Food Admin
istration emphasizes that the
food situation Is of necessity,
subject to radical changes,
enused by crop conditions at
home and abroad and by the
precarious transportation prob
lem, both In overseas shipping
and In America's overburdened
transportation system.
The Food Administration will
keep the American people fully
and frankly advised of each
change In the developing situa
tion that they may know defi
nitely the part their food sac
rifices play In the world war.
farmers came out and offered us cof- pretty well scattered and fought with
fee, brend, meat, etc. We were still
without a field kitchen, so thnt we en
joyed the enemy’s offerings more so
since those of the better clnss of vil
lagers refused any pay. They told us
the Belglnn soldiers had departed to
some unknown destination.
After a short rest we mnrehed on.
The autos returned. Hardly had we
marched an hour when we were over
taken by cuvalry, dragoons and hus
sars, who reported that (he Germans
were mnrehing all over the neighbor
hood on nil roads. Right behind enme
the bicycle corps.
Tills was comforting. We no longer
felt alone, isolated In u strange coun
try. Another bicycle division over
took us nnd passed on. Angry words
were now uttered by members of our
company. The others could ride hut
we had to walk. What we had always
taken for granted suddenly became
great injustice. If It did no good our
grumbling at toast was a diversion
from the weight of our i neks.
The heat was oppressive. The sweat
whntever unit was nearby. The body
I Joined had to remnln In the village
to senrch systematically for scattered
soldiers. From this villnge we saw
that the Germans hnd gained on all
sides. Field artillery, machine gun
detachments and other equipment ar
rived and we were all astonished at
tlielr coming so quickly.
Rut there was no time to be spent
In speculation. With fixed bnyonets
we went from house to house, door to
door, and while the results were negli
gible beenuse we found no soldiers we
did not come out quite empty-handed.
We mnde the Inhabitants deliver nil
guns and munitions and so forth In
their possession. The mayor, accom
panying the soldiers, explained to
every citizen that all found with arms
ufter the search would be punished
according to the rules of war nnd
German rules of war in Belgium
meant execution.
An hour might have pnssed when
we were again aroused by the sound
KEEP YOUNG
People with bad backs and weak
kidneys are apt lo feel old at sixty.
Many old folks say Doan’s Kidney
Pills help them keep yovng. Here’s
a Milledgeville case:
J. H. Lawrence, retired school
teacher, 113 East Baldwin street, Mill
edgeville, says: "I don’t know of an)
remedy that I could reconi.aend more
highly than Doan's Kidney Pills. We
have used them in our heme for a
number of years and always received
prompt relief. At times, my kidneys
have acted irregularly and my back
would ache. The worst attack was
about eight years ago. I was so lame
across my hack I had to lay off work
for several days. I was in one posi
tlon all the time. After 1 began tak
ing Doan's Kidney Pills, I got reliel
and they have never failed lo bring
the same good results since."
Price 60c at all dealers. Don’t sim
lief nt 2 p. m. to hnlt at an abandoned |
farm nnd rest on the grass. We j
might have lain down about ten min- j
utes when suddenly we heard firing. ;
We Jumped up like lightning and hur- |
rled to our guns. The firing which
was about three kilometers away grew j
more lively. At once we were on the
march again.
From the expressions on the faces .
of the soldiers we could read the minds
of the men. Something took posses
sion of them which they had never ex
perienced before. As for myself I
became very restless. Fright and curi
osity lashed my brain. Everything
whirled around In tuy head and my
heart was beating wildly. Bnt I strove
to conceal my fright from my com
rades. I atn sure that I tried energeti
cally. I don’t know that I succeeded
better than my companions.
Although I knew we would be in
the fight In an hour, I tried to per
suade myself that our Interference
would not be necessary. 1 clung tight-
Mr. 'Lawrence had. Foster-Wilburn
Co., Mfrs., Buffalo. N. Y.—Adv. 42
See about your supply ol
printed or ruled paper. It
will assure you of no delay to
of artillery and gunfire. A new battle
came from all pores. The new and ! bn d begun. \\ liether the artillery was
stiff leather trappings rubbed us sore, | busy on both sides could not he Judged P'. v ask for a kidney remedy — get
especially upon our hips. It was a re- 1 f rom our village. The bombardment Doan’s Kidney Pills—the same that
was tremendous. The ground shook
from the growling nnd moaning thnt
rolled backward nnd forward, always
seeming to become stronger.
The ambulance columns now
brought In the first wounded. Cour
iers sped by us. War hnd set in In
all Its phases.
Darkness came over us before we
had finished our house-to-house seurch. order in time
We dragged all the mattresses, straw
sacks and feather beds thnt we could
lay our hands on, to the community
school nnd church to cure for the
wounded. They were made as com
fortable as possible. From other sur
rounding villages now cutne the first
fugitives. They may have been ntnrch-
ing, for they .looked tired and utterly
exhausted. |
Women, old men nnd children were
huddled together In one mass. They
hnd saved nothing except their hare
lives. In baby buggies or on wheel
barrows these unfortunates curried
whatever the rude force of war hud
THE A AVERAGE -
All - year -’round
Soft Drink
for the Bluejackets
Our boys in the navy enjoy their
Bevo. The esteem in which it is
held by the Navy Department is
clearly indicated by the fact that
it is sold and served on U. S.
vessels and in training camps.
Afloat or ashore, you will find
Bevo unusually refreshing, good
and healthful.
Soft in the strictest sense, but a
thoroughgoing man’s drink. Try
it by itself, or with a bite to eat.
Served everywhere—families
supplied by grocers, druggists
or dealers.
Manufactured and bottled exclusively by
Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis
WHITFIELD GROC. CO.
Distributors MILLEDGEVILLE, GA.
Be Strong
Strength of body, strength of nerves, strength of mind,
depend very largely on whether you have enough iron in
your blood. The world makes way for the strong people
and they generally get what they want, out of life. Pale,
weak, sickly, nervous, peevish, thin, dyspeptic individuals,
need iron to build them up.
ZIRON
Iron Tonic
will put iron into your blood and help restore your health
and strength. Eminent physicians agree as to the vital
need of iron by the run-down system. ZIRON will give
it to you.
J. E. Clifton, R. F. D. 3, Lyons, Ga., writes: “Last
summer I had typhoid fever and had hemorrhages . . .
and my health was wretched. I seemed to be unable to
f et my strength back. I had no appetite. I had no energy.
didn’t think I was ever going to get well. My knees
were weak, my flesh felt clammy. I was in a pretty bad
condition. 1 heard of ZIRON and what a good tonic and
strengthener it was and I sent for it at once. It helped
me, I began to improve, and soon felt much better and
stronger. My nerves were strengthened and I felt like
doing something. We have nothing but words of praise
for ZIRON”. Try ZIRON.
At All Druggists
Z. A 4
Gojstjpat^n
i. . . . :■■■■■
•Formally years l”vas troubled, in
pile of all so called remedies I u»rd
Ac lust I found quick reliel aiideu,,,
m those mild, yet thorough and!
really wonderful
KING’S
DR
lewLifePI!
Adolph Schineocl:, Buffalo, X. Y.
I P 25CEN1ii r>ER BOTTLE «TALU SVr CVS
■SHOE I
POLISHES.
KEEP YOUR SHOES NEAT
LIQUIDS AND PASTES. FOR BLACK. WHITE.
TAN, DARK BROWN OR OX.RLOOD SHOES.
PRESERVE THE LEATHER.
THI M PAlLtY COBHOQIkTIOm. UMUtP. NUFfXLO.M.V
BE SURE
Put your money where you know it is safe—*
You can’t find a saier place for it than in the
Merchants & Farmers Bank
Capital, $40,000. Surplus, $85,000.
Deposits greater than ever in its history.