Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-12-09
MOTHERS ARE FOR
france; SONS ARE
AIDING GERMANY
''"'~ Oess1 "uVs
Alsacians Turn Guns on owr,
Flesh and Blood-Fan.-
lilies Are Divided.

Thanh. Dec. 9.-EissM here ne
nghting has been as violeu, as here IN
the VosgeS, but here. as nowhere s.Ss,
Is the poignant distress OF mothers
with French sympathies having sons
nghting in the German ranks. The
two nations which shared the Alsacian
population after 1870 are now setting
COUSIN against cousin. uncle against
nephew, and in many other cases.
brother against brother.
One of the six-inch shells tha, the
Germans were sending from Cernay
over the Engelburg into this old AL
sac!an town crashed through the roof
OF modest dwelling. on the bank of
the Thur. a column of black smoke
shot up through the hole and cloud
Of dust and smoke poured into the
street through Il big hole in the front
wall. The neishbors brought out a
woman covered with dust stained bv
a stream that flowed from a cash in
her scalp. She clutched piece of
pasteboard i'll one hand. While some
OF the rescuers washed the red stained
dust from her face, she watched 9TH
"rs bring out her husbands lifeless
body.
IF You could see what they have
done to your father she cried bitter
N gazing at the cardboard, and
what has become Of your home. you'd
turn your guns the other way" What
she was looking at was Il photogra nh
"f her two sons in the uniform of the
l'russian infantry.
Whlle those who adopted French
nationality have escaped all German
influences, the Younger generation on
the German side OF the frontier has
llnquestionably become more indiffer-
ont to The mother country. Tho re-
suit is situation which is illustrated
by the foregoing incident.
The material sufferings Of A]sace,
from the Fosses to the Valley of the
Rhlne, resulting from the alternate
occupation by Germans and French,
nave been briefly related in Dispatch
es. Inc lighting around Thanh was
particularly severe; all the way down
the Valley OF the Thur, along is miles
OF aiterna ting ridges and gulleys, ev-
cry inch of ground was stubbornly
contested: the possession of it proved
to be costly for both sides. The French
are now installed here for the second
time since August Is. They had push
ed as far as Colmar about the time
OF the taking of Mulhausen, but were
forced back again when the occupy
Ing forces were weakened to re-en-
force the armies in the north. The
Germans recaptured Cernav. and then
began systematic, incessant bonn
bardment of the ancient town.
Cling to Ruined Town.
In two months 950 sX-inch shells
have been thrown into Thanh and 800
INTO the vineyards to the north. Sixty
houses have been entirely DESTROYED
and many others partially demolished.
Many of the. streets are blocked by
the debris of crumbling houses. Yet
the tnha bitants have stuck to the
town. occupying themselves, with the
aid OF the French soldiers, in restor-
ing such houses as it ia possible to
repair. The Cathedral of Saint Thco-
bault--a real jewel of architecture
With some famous stained glass of the
fifteenth century-has thus far es-
capped damage, though a dozen shells
have fallen near it.
1t was little to the northwest of
Ihann, up the Valley OF the Thur. that
the second battalion Of chasseurs-a-
pied eight infantry ACCOMPLISHED
one OF the heroic feats of the war
The story Of it is told by Leon Cen
ton, a veteran Of the Moroccan cam
pa1Sn, with seven medals pinned on
his breast, who engaged as a volun.
teer at the outbreak of the war.
The Germans had taken Blamont
and, Badonviller. and when the chas-
seurs came through it was to hear the
story Of the shooting of the MAYORS
OF both these towns. TIL seventeenth
classeurs, from I.uneville. had all
ready chased them from these posi-
tions, and the second battalion Joined
i'm the pursuit down the valley. II
was at the period Of the war when
things turned badly for the French.
In Lorraine. as well as in Alsace, the