The evening bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1887-1905, 1896-06-20


Better that he lay dead here before us than
20 rise in the ranks Of our foemen.
Brother or no brother, said Louis, "if
saw him before me should shoot at him
Is If he were Il stranger"
And l should shoot quicker" added
Joseph, $50 as 10 stop the disgrace to our
family"
But falling on her knees by the table
and giving way to her tears the poor bro
ken hearted mother sobbed:
Franz is my last born and my love.
Let us Judge him by his motives, for the
boy means right
In the brief, bloody war that followed
France FELL but not through the weakness
or cowardice of the citizens of Alsace and
Lorraine. Not even the men from Brit
tany, Normandy or the Mediterranean
provinces fought more CALAMITY or suffered
so severely for la belle France as did these
soldiers whose grandfathers adopted the
tricolor at the bidding Of the great Corsi-
can conqueror.
Louis and Joseph Neuman took service
under Bazaine, and the old merchant,
their father, stopped at no sacrifice of
wealth to keep the Saxons and Pomerani-
ans of the Red Prince from entering the
gates of his beloved city.
But incompetency and some say treason
on the part of the French commander,
though history must give the credit to the
skill and number of the Germans, resulted
in the surrender of Metz and the capitu-
lation of an army so great and so well
equipped that people of the English speak
ing race are amazed as they read the story.
Soon after this peace was proclaimed,
and old Louis Neuman and his two sons
took the oath of allegiance to the newly
created emperor of Germany.
In the meantime Franz, the artist, had
gone on with Unser Fritz from the Rhine
to st. Privat, from st. Privat to Sedan and
from Sedan to Paris, where the war and
the Napoleonic dynasty ended
The sublieutenant Franz Neuman had
become n captain His promotion was due
to his conspicuous gallantry, and he would
have been retained in the service of tho
emperor but for IA severe wound in the
breast received at the close of the siege.
A pittancc of pension and an iron cross
for the breast We're all the empire could do
to heal the wound and these were more
than the young soldier asked for.
Franz felt thankful that the war had not
brought him face to face with his brothers,
not that he feared their skill as marksmen,
but that he shrunk from the thought of
doing them harm.
Pale and with the iron cross on the
breast Of his white blouse, Captain Neu-
man made his way back to his mother and
the substantial house in which he had
been born.
The mother, as might have been expect
ed, met her youngest son with all the old
love and warmth but he had not been in
the house half hour when his father en-
tered.
Without any salutation the old man
pointed to the door and said:
you are no son of mine. My son Franz
died to me the day he put on German
uniform. 1 have two sons left. Go before
they see you, for they still know how to
shoot :"
The young captain kissed his mother,
who chung to him, and turning at the
threshold he said to his father:
you have done what their rifles may
finish. You have blasted my life. One
day their bullets will end it,"
These words, which, if noticed by the
enraged old man, were supposed to be wild
and rambling, were afterward recalled with
the agony and bitterness of death.
And so the crippled captain went away
from Metz and the merchant and his
sons worked all the harder in their stores
and vineyards TO make up for the losses of
the war
Four years went by, during which time
the storm old merchant never permitted the
name of his youngest son to be mentioned
in his presence.
Now and then the heart hungry mother
spoke to the other sons about their Ger
man brother" and they tried to comfort
her with the assurance that he had gone to
America with many of his old comrades
The years brought much prosperity to
the brothers Louis and Joseph. Each mar
ried wife as rich as himself, and each
had kept up his love for rifle practice, and
there were no men in Metz who had won
so many trophies at the targets.
One day the blind walls of the city were
covered with the announcement of great
circus. The principal features Of the circus
were horseback riding and shooting, and
great prizes were offered to any who ex-
celled the members of the company in their
specialtics.
The troop claimed to como from Mexico,
and the star Of the company was Don
Nuevohermano. This man, after giving ex-
hibitions Of riding and shooting, handed
cartridges to the audience to prove that the
bullets were lead Then in the presence
of all he loaded two rifles, called for the
best shots in the audience and let them fire
at him at distance of so feet.
To ease the nervous, Don Nuevohermano
wore breastplate of heavy leather, but his
claim was that no man could hit him
while he WAS leaking Mt him the rl1le ha-
ing that the riflemen must not shoot till
the living target gave the word
Here was a chance for Louis and Joseph
Neuman TO show their skill, and their
friends told them So There was no danger
In it, for the man with the Spanish name,
the star of the show, had proved this in
England and in many towns Of France.
A great white tent was erected in the
LII 49, L.