WOMAN AS MAJOR
TAKES COMMAND IN
KING PETER’S ARMY
—
At this time when the ladies of
Nome are preparing to organize a lied
Cross un'it it is fitting to quote a few
extracts of Mr. Sidney Low’s review
of "The Flaming Sword in Siberia and
Elsewhere” by Mrs. St Clair Stobert,
in the February "Contemporary."
Mrs Stobert has seen the war not
from the outside, but from within.
She did not go to Belgium, to Serbia,
to Franco to collect impreslons or to
make copy. She went to do work io
help the sick and wounded on the
field, in besieged fortresses, at the
base hospitals, she sought and found
her opportunity to bear her part in
the actual campaign.
We are used now to the idea of
“Women’s units.” We have recogniz
ed the hospital, ambulance, and trans
port detachments which are entirely
feminine in their composition with
women not alone as nurses, cooks and
orderlies, but also as dispensers, clerks
dressers, motor drivers .surgeons, and
directors, as is the case with the ex
cellent Scottish Women’s Hospital,
now ministering to the Serbians on j
tbe Macedonian front, and another
rolumn doing heroic work with the
lloumanians. But such a unit was
unknown and almost inconceivable
live years ago. Women were allowed
aa by ^lascul'ine chivalry they so often
are allowed, to do their share of the
drudgery the hard, obscure work; but
strictly 'in a subordinate position, nnd
with men to tell them what to do.
Mrs. Stobert set out lo change this
tradition. She got together a corps of
women who prepared themselves for
service in the war hospitals. She in
sisted that the training must he
thorough, that It should consist of
something more than attendance at
I
“First Aid Lectures," and that the
members of her corps, officers nnd
surgeons as well as the rank and flip
should be of her own sex.
Then came the Balkan War of 1912,
In 'influential quarters it was decided
that "the Balkan Peninsula in war
time was no place for gently nurtured
English Ladies. So while the authori
ties were still debating she mobilized
her corps and offered its services lo
Bulgaria. In due course after rough
journy’ing and camping among the
Thracian Mountians Mrs. Stobert
found herself and her detachment at
Kirk Kilisse, close to the Bulgarian
front. And here for several months
this company of English Bodies re
ceived the wounded Bulgar soldiers
and Turkish prisoners as they came in
from the fighting line, operated on
them nursed and tended them, and
sent them away healed. Th'is was the
first complete women’s unit to take
part in the war. The commandant,
the surgeons, the X Bay operators, the
dressers, the medical attendants were
all women. For the first time in his
tory women amputated limbs torn by
shrapnel and extracted bullets from1
the bodies of men.
In the present war this body of med
ical women has done notable service
in several fields. At the very begin
ning of the conflict in August 1914,
Mrs. Stobert was in Brussels when the
Germans entered the- city, was arrest
ed by the invaders in the first pa
roxysm of their anti-English fury,
was carried as a prisoner to Germany
and narrowly escaped the fate which
later befell Edith Cavell.
After her release she went back to j
Antwerp then for some months she
was at the head of a base hospital
working under the Croix Bouge in
France, till the call came from Serbia
and she led her party to that devas
ted land.
When the countr> was attacked on
two sides by the Austro-Bulgarlan,
combination officers capable of com- i
manding mobile mcd'ical contingents
were few in number. The Serbian
General Staff asked Mrs. Stobart to
take charge of an ambulance column
with the status of a Major in King I
Peter’s forces. Mrs. Stobart i be
lieve was the first woman to be
made responsible with executive rank
for the conduct, movements and dis
cipline of a body of soldiers engaged
in the operations of the field and of
the march. Mrs. Stobart accompan
ied the army through its brief ad
vance and 'its long retreat in com
mand of a column consisting of a doz- j
en of her English women doctors
and nurses, six English chafteurs,
and between sixty and seventy Serb
ian soldiers, orderlies and transport
drivers, she was with it in the rout—
when they were overwhelmed by the
Austrian artillery from the north and
the Bulgurs from the East, and with
it shared in the appal'ing tribulations
of a beaten army as it slowly tvound
its way thru the Mountain passes—
with soldiers and starving refugees
dying by the roadside as they passed,
and the Austrian, German and Bul
garian guns thundering in their rear
and sometimes on their flanks as well.
In the end the column was brought ,
down to the coast without the loss
of a single one of its members, wh'ich
was more than Could be said for any
other column in King Peter’s ser
vice. Throughout the ardous, dan
gerous, anld exhausting march, she
rode at the head of her column, direct
ing its movements, maintaining its
discipline, engaged in a ceaseless
struggle to obtain the sheer necessi
ties of life—more than once barely
escaping capture by the advancing
enemy; and performing all the while
such hospital work ns was alloted to
it
The writer of "The Flaming Sword,”
which is an actual record of personal
experience, in considering the lessons
to be learned by this world war re
gards the question of releasing the
world from the scourage of war ns
the most insistent. This 'is the Enig
ma of the Sphinx unto which our
Western Civilization must And an
answer or perish.
War and Peace, so Mrs. Stobart
holds is pre-eminently a. woman’s
question. She believes that women
are by natural law the peace loving,
non-militarist element of the human
partnership. This not because wo
| man is cowardly or spiritless, but
: because ndlure has bestowed upon her
the special function of giving and
cherishing life. Birth and death, are
deeper realities to the one sex than
to the other; for woman who buys
each new life at the risk of her own,
must be economical in her handling
THE SIEGE OF PARIS
RECALLED; HOW BISMARK
MADE PEACE WITH FRAHCE
In the autumn of 1870 Bismarck
found himself face to face with a hard
problem.
The scientifically-trained German
armies everywhere defeated the mis
erably-equipped and wretchedly-led
French troops. Nevertheless the
French fought on. They refused to
make peace, thus putting to contu
sion the ideo of Moltke and other
German staff officers that France,
would show the white flag as soon
as German Jinnies appeared before
Paris. Mohke's correspondence shows
that he expected to Join in the pl«aa
ures of game shooting In Silesia by i
the end of October, 1870.
Bismarck was anxious to find a way !
of forcing peace upon a high-spirit
ed and defiant people. And he soon
found it in the decision to reduce
Paris, the very henrt of France, by
blockade. It was a rather slow rather
slow method, but a sure one. In
September the Gorman armies began
movements to envelop the city. Tiie
iron ring closed in upon the popula
tion of two million. On September 16,
1870, the last mall left Paris. Two
days later the gates were closed, and
from that hour no supplies entered
the capital.
As Is well known, the "man of blood
and iron" had scant respect for so
called neutral and humanity rights.
Bismarck brushed aside in scorn and
jest a few timid protests from neutrals,
citisena of the United States and
Great Britlan In the 'invested area,
but he cared nothing for that Nor can
we find much more compunction in his
successor* On March 4 1892, Count
Caprlvl who succeeded Bismarck as
chancellor of the empire, made this
clear declaration with regard to cut
ting oft food during * naval blockade:
“War is a rough and terrible busi
ness. Th'is applies equally to warfare
on land and at sea. Whoever is en
gaged In the war wishes to attain
his object, and if he is vigorous he
will employ every means (o attain It.
In a naval war the cutting oft of the
enemy's trade is one of the means.
No one can forego It. And really, is
it anything more than is done on land?
If during the seige of Paris someone
had equipped a train with foodstuffs
for the Parisians, that train would
simply been stopped.
. . . I must Say that if states act
in this way they use the only means
which war gives them. In such con- [
duct could see absoltuely no barbar
ity, or any differene from the meas
ures taken in war on land. And I
believe that, inasmuch as no naval war
has been waged on a large scale since i
the days of Nelson, v*icws about naval |
war have arisen which underestimates
its force and power.”
Germans should remember such close
adherence to precedents when they
raise their voices against the “inhu
manity" of the Franco-Brltish block
ade.
In huge glee Bismarck talked of let
ting the Parisians "stew in their own
jtftce.” The function of the German
army outside Paris was simply to ;
keep i isolated. It was a mathematical j
certainty that the supply of food woul<* (
give out in time. On the twelfth day
of the blockade the American minister,
Mr. Washbourne, who remained within
noticed that the meat was growing
scarce. Lack of and proper food sent
up the death rate among the ch'illdren
of the poor. The Germans were arked
to allow the women and children to
leave the city, but they refused point
ing out that their absence would put !
off the days of starvation.
Forage soon gave out and horses
could not be kept. They were sold
nt that date for $5 to $10 and slaugh
tered.
Gradually general misery increased.
Fuel began to fail. After two months
of selge butter cost $3.84 a pound, tur
keys journeyed to $15 and $20 apiece,
chickens to $0, rabbits $3.50 and eggH
$1.40 a dozen. Bread still remained
cheap, as the price was fixed by gov
ernment order. A cat fetched $1.40 to
$1.75, a rat 3fi cents, and fat dogs 50 J
cents a pound. By Christinas day
prices climbed still higher; a goose
cost $20 and a chicken $7. Then all
fresh meat vnnished from the shops
except horse flesh.
The blockade continued its pressure,
but it was slow. Bismarck grew im
patient. He wished to bring near the
day of surrender. He demanded of
the German staff that the rtty be bom
barded. Like the American general,
Sheridan, it was held that the enemy's
people In war time should be left with
only their eyes to weep over the ru'ins.
Bismarck had his way. Nine day’s
bombardment resulted in comparative
ly little damage because of the limited
destructive power of the artillery of
that day. It was perhaps equal to the
mischief wrought by a Zeppelin visit.
But the relentless gnawing of hunger
was more infinitely more, effective
than the cannon balls. Some time
after the bombardment an armistice
was signed It was virtually the sur
render of Baris to famine. The sur
render of France followed. Thus Bis
marck obtained what he wanted by
blockade and starvation.—Illustrated
London News.
Visiting Cards at tha Nuggat Offiea
of the treasure if only from the in - | /
stinct of self-preservation. And so if |
war, wh'ich In essence is merely kill- i
ing "en gros," is to to c<!ase, It will j
be only when woman the thrifty I
guardian of life, has equal power with
man, the spendthrift.
SPRING TIME IS HERE
fOR THE BE8T
LINE IN TAILORING
For the best wont In tailoring see us.
We make alterations.
We do cleaning, pressing and re- !
pairing for ladles and gentlemen.
We make suits to order.
First class workmanship, modern ;
method and prompt service. j -
We appreciate your patronage. (
Tours to please,
NOME TAILORING CO,.
Next door to Segerstrom & Hagen, !
COMPARATIVE
TEMPERATURES
Following tie me lowest recorded j
lemperatures for this year and Iasi
on the days lesignated. The minus
sign before a number moans below
*ero.
U. S Weather Bureau. j I
1»1« 1917
May 1 . 23 22 a
May 2 . 28 30
May 3 . 23 22
May 4 . 16 6
May 5 . 18 4 |
May 6 . 8 8 |
May 7.14 12
May 8 .6 12
May 9.12 14
May 10.21 20
May 11 .32 28
May 13. 28 32
May 12 . 32 28
May 14.28 28 J
May 15. 25 33'
May 16. 26 -U j
May 17 . 35 84 1
May IX. 33 38 I
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