South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-11-23

create almost any kind OF a lie and BELIEVE
It. The psychology OF ha!lucination and illu-
sion offers innumerable examples
For the purpose Of psychological analysis
the war lie could probably be separated into
two divisions-lies which are the direct result
OF Official intrigue and lies that arise from the
Vapors OF rumor and misunderstanding and
hallucination
The lie Of the Official Government Press
Bureau for purposes Of deceiving the enemy is
easily understood. The official lie for pur-
poses Of home consumption-to maintain
spirit of optimism or to work UP a sustained
patriotism-we can at least recognize the mo-
tive OF this 'pernicious form of untruth. Per
haps the Government press bureaus salve
their consciencies by falling back on the clever
definition that "a lie is telling untruth to
one who has the RIGHT to know the truth"
Evidently in many instances the home people
in Europe have not the right to know the
truth Of victories and defeats.
The lie which rises from the disturbed
mental condition of the countries at war Is
the really significant lie. How they come
flooding histories Of oppression and afflic-
ton. We hear of the starvation OF popula-
tons, the destruction of works OF art the use
of prohibited bullets We hear that Germany
is in a state of revolution, that the economic
situation Is on the point Of collapse; or we
learn just the opposite, that the marvel of the
economic world is the present ability Of Ger
many to finance her war without dangerous
strain. In one paper we read:
Berlin reports that British soldiers
taken prisoners on the Western front are
tired and undiscplined, and complain OF
the ineficiency of their officers. Many of
them said they had practically been forced
TO enlist, had only been drilled in march
ing before leaving Great Britain where
they had been drilled only with wooden
rifles, and had fired their first shots after
entering the trenches They said their
losses had been fearful and their whole
army front broken up by the German ma
chine guns"
In the same issue of this paper the follow.
ing discovered:
"A new kind of gas is being used by the
Germans fighting in Champagne. Suffer
ers in Paris hospitals say they were sur
rounded for few seconds by clouds of
deep green gas of apleasant odor. Sol
diers who wore no masks were soon suffo-
Gated, while those with masks lost con-
seriousness for different periods On re-
gaining Consciousness in the hospitals
they suffered convulsive seizures resemb-
ling epileptic fits. They had weak pulses,
but showed none of the symptoms here
tofore attendant on gas poisoning. 1t Is
believed that prussic acid is used as the
basis of the new gas"
An editorial writer commenting upon these
conflicting rumors thinks this a typical con-
trast Of the war lie He compares them with
such stories as the four dummy Kaisers. At
ter the beginning of the war IL was reported
that four or more automobiles were built In
Germany which in every respect were exact
u
and attendants were dressed In the royal blue
livery, and inside of each car was soldier
selected after painstaking search because OF
his close resemblance to the Kaiser. The few
featural dssimilarities the dummy may have
possessed we're removed by clever makeup
man. These dummies were then scattered be-
tween Riga and Switzerland to encourage the
Germans and puzzle the allies There are
also stories of how King George has threat
ened to -abdicate and that the Crown Prince
has lost his mind.
Many of these rumors are undoubtedly due
10 spontaneous emotional combustion. Hallu-
cinations. individual and collective, are recog-
nized in psychology Take the recent reports
of thousands of Russian troops marching
through England. The fact has been denied
time and again. Military experts can see little
motive for such procedure: yet. evidently there
must have been thousands who believed that
they saw such troops Edmund Parrish in his
book on Authorizations and Illusions" (page
$685. quotes a number OF similar incidents
from Biblical and scientific records.
He says Although such phenomena are
not exactly OF frequent occurrence, yet a
series OF more or Jesse trustworthy accounts
exists Thus we find in Maccabees v, 2, 8,
Through all the city, for the space OF almost
forty days there were seen horsemep running
in the air, in cloth OF gold and armed with
lances, like band OF soldiers. And troops OF
horsemen in array, encountering and running
one against the other. with shaking OF shields,
and multitudes OF pixies and drawing OF
swords, and casting Of darts, and glittering OF
golden ornament and harness OF all sorts
These ASPIRATIONS are said TO have preceded
the plundering OF the temple OF Jerusalem by
Antiochus, and Josephus also narrates that
portents of the same kind appeared before
the destruction OF Jerusalem by Titus Perhaps
these and similar cases might be referred 10
peculiar atmospheric and meteorological con-
ditiols.
Thus the astronomer Heis has explained
the army at Buderich on January %, 1854.
as arising from fog bank and a mirage.
Such an origin is also indicated by the cir
cumstance that these apparitions are often
mentioned as showing themselves at sunset
after thunderstorm. Thus, in September,
1880 al ChemnitZ, a protocol was drawn up
from the sworn testimony of witnesses who
asserted that immediately after sunset they
had seen armies lighting and firing at each
other in the sky. IN the Summer OF 1871 many
inhabitants OF Prague saw visionary troop