Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-09-11
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" 6is1zsn I1rst. sp6 W&sls NC iske
@ men In u61 hFe uc4 pea tnen-
HSR(<8dN rr&eeh setRnsES, We erre them
49, 10 bsCuRe sRleh as soon SIS pos
saobe we are q tmtEfoaic orSMHsznttyn. bat
we 90 po1 wHDt anyone W have the SSea
thai ear organization il Ter Q uaIls Ger
many in America
rkhs was fhe very e2Fnssd expression of
a r. NeTtenS. president of the vestRcaDer
krheggR~ Bundles which held iis snnuzl re-
union in Omaha Saturday. swaasy and
Monday Hasa. This soe4esy Is a spnEsa Of
the Csntraj-TeTbaD6. der DeatscheT Vet
eranen und KT4eserbunde won Nord
America" Richard Mueller or New York
City IL national president and COmrade
Mertens Is national secretary George f.
Stratman OF Omaha is member of the
national executive COMMITTEES.
Next year the national convention OF the
organisation is TO be held in Omaha, in
september. Secretary Mertens announces
that preparations for Il will be begun Just
as soon as the aftermath of the recent re-
union Is cleaned up. The Omaha CONNER
claI club and its publicity bureau win CO.
operate with the German sooleties to make
the next convention the greatest ever held
These national conventions are called bien-
nally, the last one having been held in
New York. and at that time. when Mr..
Mertens was made secretary. Omaha was
selected to entertain the neyt meeting
Besides the delegates who will come 10
represent the 10000 members Of the Central
Verbsnd. many OF the societies usually at
tend in body and Secretary Mertens be-
lieves the trip to Omaha will appeal to the
membership and draw thousands here from
all parts Of the country.
Eleven subordinate branches are COM
prlsed in the national organization. scat
tered from Atlantic coast to San Francisco.
The Westlicher Krieger- Bundles has a mem
bership Of 400. in twenty-six locals. Three
others are soon to be organized, at McCook
and Hastings in Nebraska, and at Parkers-
burg, la. Towns in this district at present
having locals are Omaha. Bennington, Pa
pillion. Harrington West Point, Hlldreth,
Jansen. Grand Island Columbus. Howells,
Clatonia Seward. Auburn. Norfolk. sheri-
dan county Stanton. Falls City. Lincoln
and Leigh. in Nebraska; Manning, Denson,
Boden and New Hampton, in Iowa; Nc
Cook county, Salem. South Dakota: Marion
and Dickinson county. Kansas; Fuda, Min
nesota.
Membership is confined to veterans OF the
German wars and ex-soldiers of the Ger
man armies, whose papers show honorable
service and clean papers of discharge. A
great many entitled to membership are not
yet enrolled in the ranks but steady prog
ress Is being made in enrolment The
western division. for Instance, started with
but three locals in T. and by the close
OF the present year I,lh have thirty locals
In flonrishing condition.
The membership ranges as TO age from
the young man who has within very re-
cent years completed his army service in
the fatherand to such veterans as George
E Stratman OF 964 North Twenty-fifth
avenue Omaha who has long ago retired
from active business and had seen much
service long before the day when France
and Germany met in the struggle which
lost Alsace and Lorraine TO the French
nation. besides costing 6,OOO.OOO,OOO of war
Indemnity; in fact. the greatest indemnity
ever paid by one nation to another Some
OF these men We're present in the army,
at least, when old Kaiser Wilhelm's iron
chancellor, Bismarck. placed the imperial
crown on his head in the palace OF Yer
sailles. 1t will be recalled that in March
1871 the Germans had on French soil
more than 100000 infantry and over 60OO0
cavalry, with nearly 1900 guns.
OF the men who were in that vast milf
tary array about 300 at present belong to
this western division. which recently
marched through the streets OF Omaha
Among them was Charles Schartow, now
living at 1913 Martha street, who holds
the Iron Cross Of Prussia, decoration
for which many a rich man of his blood
would give half his fortune And in the
famous bodyguard OF the old kaiser was
Edward Gurski, holding the rank of cap
tain.
The spirit of this solid Germany soldiery
was exhibited in the old age OF many of
It's members when they refused to ride in
carriages In the parade OF last Monday
only four were 50 far incapacited physi-
eally that they could not march, and,
trudEing sturdily along behind their COM
rades In the carriages were dozens OF men
with white hair and bray boards who had
followed the black eagles OF Prince Fred
erick Charles and other generals through
many tedious march and many a Skin
nish and engagement. Some were present
al the decisive fight OF Sedan and the
capitalization OF Metz. when Marshal Ba-
zaine gained his unenviable fame
Il was July. IS7S. before the last Ger
man soldier left French soil although
the definite treaty OF peace had been con
ciuded at Frankfort-o the Main May 10.
1871. In addition TO the money indemnity
ana the two rich provinces mentioned.
Germany also took over the cities Of Metz
and strasburg and the fortress OF Belfort.
In the list OF membership OF the
Deutscher Landwehr Verein OF omaha are
10 be found the names OF men VINO served
IN the Infantry. artillery, fusneers dia-
goons. hussars. grendaiers. uhlans, pioneer