CLEANING UP A
BATTLEFIELD
By William Philip Simms.
United Press Correspondent
Cleaning up a battlefield is a
whooping big job. The battle of
Champagne began months ago
and several regiments are still
trying to make it presentable.
This battlefield, which will be
known in future text books as in
many ways unique, is 15 miles
long and three miles wide, run
ning east and west. As the
French advanced they faced the
Hermans at its southern edge of
it. their trenches, cut in chalk
white as curds, being 50 to 200
yards apart.
Two months before their drive
the French began to accumulate
ammunition: mass artillery, dig
trenches, build narrow and stan
dard cuape railroads, wide, well
graded rock-and-gravel highways
and other things of the sort.
September 22 the French artil
lorv turned lose a hell’? furv of
shells. A Herman officer’s letter,
interrupted bv death, said the
shelling resembled the collapse
of a world. Pract'callv every
square vard of this 45 square
miles of ehalkv ground was toss
ed into the air bv explosives.
While as sepulchre, it is hard to
believe that ever aciin will man
be able to make his home in these
fields
For three davs the French pour
ed melinite and chedite into the
Herman’s barbed-wire entangle
ments, steel turrets, machine
guns, armored trenches, secret
trans, hidden defenses, invisible
wire coils with cutting edo-es.
centers; of r^si'c-fence, fortified
woods; and what not.
The Hermans, their food supplv
cut off because suppIv trains could
not approach, huddled at the hot
tom of their bomb-she'm>-s; ?o feet
under the ground while their
trenches were blown to nothing.
Some companies lost half their
men dunn" the bombardment
alone. Underground ammunition
stores exploded; shelters were
ripped up as though they were
roofed with paper instead of
stone and earth. The world
never saw' such shell fire.
At 9:15 a. m. on the 25th the
French infantry charged, and at
9:15 and a half the house-clean
ing began. As the attackers en
tered what was left of the Ger
man first line trenches, the clean
up began with the bayoneting all
remaining Germans who offered
resistance and making prisoners
of those who surrendered. Then
the dead were thrown out and
the position turned around for
possible counter attack.
The dead Germans were buried
in their own trenches. I have
heard that 20,009 to 2;,000 bodies
w'ere thus disposed of, while bod
ies at the bottom of cave-ins, un
der destroyed bomb-shelters and
in like places were left in the
graves of their choosing.
Brand new' cemeteries were
made for French w'ho fell. New
graves are curious. There being
no time to place crosses or head
stones to mark the graves, a wine
bottle W'ith name and matricula
tion number corked inside, is
stuck neck down in the middle of
each new mound. In cases where
identification w'as impossible,
the dead are buried in a common
grave with some such mark as
this serving for all:
“Here lie the bodies of 27
French soldiers who died for their
country.”
The dead removed, the cleaning
up continues- Broken transports,
shattered wheels, splintered
planks, clothing, German and
French helmets, ammuniton,
guns, swrords, books, shoes, re
volvers and numberless odds
and ends including arms and legs
lies promiscuously about on the
churned up earth. These all must
be disposed of.
This is a sanitary war. If there
have been no plagues it is be
cause the cleaning up has been
thorough All this gruesome Col
lection is disposed of hygenical
ly. Uuseable material is packed
and sent to the rear; guns are
stocked in orderly piles according
to make; bayonets and scabbards
and swords and headgear and a,ll
the rest, ditto. The stuff is listed
and shipped and receipts and way
bills are all properly made out
and signed and sealed.
Then the advancing army set
tles down in its new home. It
had made a fairly comfortable
place during the months of wait
ing, but all this has been left be
hind, and a new start is made.
The former quarters of German
officers and men are transformed,
with much scouring and furbish
ing and disinfecting, into quarters
for the French officers and men.
Today the battlefield of Cham
pagne is comparatively clean.
Rut one still occasionally stumps
one's toe against something or
other very unpleasant.
3 OLDPIONEERS
GO OVER DIVIDE
Three more of the old pion
eers who are spending their last
days in the territorial home at
Sitka mushed over their last trail
during December They werei
Harry C. Gunn, 69, of Iditarod, I
who died on December 11, Frank1
Sears, 61, of Circle City, who died
on December 12 and H. D. Doug
glas, 71, of Nome, who died De
cember 19.
Five deaths have occurred at
the home since May, according to
Representative Arthur Shoup,
superintendent. James Graham
of Council, wdto was 73, died on
May 24. On October 31 Frank
Magnusen of Fairbanks passed
away.
The pioneers at the home have
sent letters to Juneau and Dou
glas, thanking the people who
remembered them at Chritmas
time.
ST?il>tr*''<i3WHPHPHWBBjMWBMBHBmBBMBBBWP SMBHWMmMWBMMMMflMHWBMBBBBBmBBy
The Instrumentation of the Orchestra
for the
OR HESTRAL DANCE
AND
ENTERTAINMENT
AT EAGLE HALL TONIGHT IS
Miss Bertha Johnson, Conductor
f Miss Bertha Johnson
Violins ! T. R. Hanna
! A. G. Oliver
Clarinet, A. Langworthy
| Chas. Tapp
Cornets^ Hrs. LeClerq
l Wm. Marx
Violin Cello, Dr. J. W. Bayne
Trombone, S. H. Burgh
Bass Viol, George Barbour
Drums, Chas. Lescher
Piano, O. A. Bourret
FOX RAISING
IMPORTANT
INDUSTRY
Silver fox farming, the possi
bilities of which have attracted
considerable attention in recent
years because of the money mi
lady spends for silver fox furs Is
under present conditions a highly
speculative and uncertain busi
ness, according to specialists^ of
the U. S. Department of Agricul
ture. Since 1910 the profits in
the business have been derived
chiefly from the sale of live foxes
for breeding. Recently the de
mand for these foxes has f"!Yen
off because of milady’s fancy
changed and in consequence there
ohas been a sharp decline in
prices.
As long as high prices for the
pelts are maintained, black and
silver fox farming offers good op
portunities for reasonable returns
providing that the location of the
farm and other conditions are
favorable.
The silver fox can be raised
wherever foxes live In a wild
state but the fur will be of a su
perior quality in the eastern and
northern states.
A pair of good breeding foxes
have been known to bring several
thousand dollars each on the
market but commo silvers can be
purchased for breeding purposes
for from $150 to $200 each. The
silver fox is very nervous. The
female is so nervous she will
often kill her young to protect
them from imaginary dangers.
Foxes require great sare in
feeding and a varied diet; which
includes meat, fish, mush, milk,
bread aond table scraps. Trom
$5 to $15 a year for each animal
must be allowed for feeding.
Only about half of the female
foxes produce young in an> given
year and as the average littre is
four cubs the annual increase on
fox farms does noF average above
100 percent. p
AN ENGLISH
VIEW
Alaska Citizen.
The London press finds itself
exasperated over the American
note.
None of the London papers de
nies that England has seized our
ships contrary to her own gov
ernment’s repeated assertions of
neutral rights on the seas.
The same tone runs through all
the editorial expressions. England
is at war to maintain her empire
and to retain the dominion of the
seas. Therefore, Americans ought
gladly to submit to the destruc
tion o neutral trade, because that
| neutral trade might be of use to
England’s enemies.
The characteristic feature in all
this is the calm assumption that
it is America’s duty to help Eng
land to beat her enemies.
It never seems to enter the head
of any Englishman, high or low,
that we have neither any obliga
tion nor any right to help Eng
land to beat Germany, any more
than we have to help Germany to
beat England. ,
Every English newspaper as
sumes that we ought to do the
very thing which, as a neutral, in
dependent, sovereign people, we
ought not to do.
Resting their arguments upor
this entirely false assumption, the
English newspapers naturall)
ccme to the entirely false conclu
sion that we Americans are verj
ungrateful in objecting to the de
struction of our commerce
The astounding thing is thal
there are Americans who take the
same pnpatriotic and absurd view
and that some of these American;
hold public office.
NOTICE.
Call or rra« Mala 46 whoa you haw
ob printing to bo dona. Tho Nuggoi
loo tho moat oomploto atotk for al
■
Continued from Page 3.
Lot. Blk. Amt
Bovey & Davison, 2 to 7 ln
| elusive . 134 8.26
Fell & Hatupjn . 8 134 2.16
Bovey & Davslon, 9 to 13 In
clusive . 134 8.70
I "ell Ac Hatupln, 1 to 4 In
clusive . 135 S.S7
Bovey, J. E., 1 to 12 In
clusive . 136 22.60
Fell & Hatupln, 1 to 12 In
cuts've . 137 22.65
"ell * Hatupln, 1 to 18 in
clusive . 13S 4215
"ell .4- Hatupln, 1 to 16 In
clusive . 139 28.09
"ell & Hatupln, 1 to 12 In
eU.sIve . 140 22.65
"ell * Hatupln. 1 to 12 tn
clits've . 141 22.65
e"drlch, Jos. 1 to 15 In
clusive . 142 4.85
"clI * Hatupln, 1 to tl In
clusive . 141 24 40
imvtson. T,. A. 12 143 2 15
Fell * Hntunln .13 H3 2.15
Fell X’ Hatupln, lots 1 to
6 Inclusive . 144 14 sn
trntttnln. John .... 7 and. .8 144 6.73
| Foil a Hatupln, lots 9 to
' 12 Ineltts've. 144 8 84
i ell, Sarah, 1o*g J, 2. 1 and 4 1*5 4 41
Fell x- Hatupln _5 and 5 1-2 H5 4 *1
Fell, Sarah . 6 1 i", 2,20
Fell X- Hatupln, lots 1 to 8
Inclusive .146 18.16
Munson. Oscar, cabin on
Arthur placer . inn
Boungard. Joe, house, Ar
thur placer claim . 2.no
Fric, Andrew, 2 cabins Ar
thur placer claim . 1.00
Lot. Blk. Amt.
Lament, Fred, house Ar
thur claim . 2.On
Carlson, H. It., 2 buildings
Arthur clalpj . 2.50
Nelson, Paul, cabin, Arthur
claim . .80
Schrader, Wm., cabin Ar
thur claim . .75
Berg. Fred, cabin . l.Ou
Brown, Qhas. cabins At
thur claim . 2,66
Oration. Gus. cabin Arthur
claim . 60
Alaska Mer. Co., Improve
ments on .88 89 87 90.06
Alaska Mer. Co. Improve
ments on .41 67 10.00
Brown, cabin on .21 67 .60
Johnson, Olaf, cabin . 3 24 2.C0
’tlce. Robert, cabin on n.
1-2 . « 66 1.00
Strom, John, cabin on s. 1-2 6 56 1.60
Smith, John. cst. cabin.... 6 14 4.00
Gaffney, J. C. buildings on 35 19 6.00
Greenberg, building on .... 36 19 40.00
Reed, Chas. cabin on .... 6 60 1.00
Thels. Stephen, cabin s. 1-2
w. 1-2 . 6 64 2.00
McLeo, cabin . 7 64 2.00
I Watson, Chas, cabin . 7 63 1.00
E. GRIMM,
Clerk of the Town of Nome
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY
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or overcoats. We have them from
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and workmanship guaranteed. Over 300
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patterns to select from. And 32 over
cost patterns, besides fancy vests and
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March, so we get get them on the first
boat. Please bring us your cleaning,
pressing and repairing. We appreciate
your patronage.
Yours to please,
NOME TAILORING CO
Bet. Segerstrom & Hagen and Zehner's
Jewelry stores.
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