The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-04-30
Former Cape Man Slain by
Germans in Battle in
Northern France.
BURIED IN UNMARKED
GRAVE BESIDE TRENCH
Widow to Return to This City
Army Officers Last Letter
Here.

GSOfSS L. All ndQ Deen Killed IN Dat
tie, caused a profound shock to his
host of friends in Cape Girardeau. The
telegram, announcing his death, was
received by Judge B. F. Davis from
the army officers widow, who is now
living on a large estate at Gotham,
Va.
The telegram from Mrs. Alt read:
George killed in action on the
18th. "Virgie."
The message was received during
the middle of the forenoon and two
houres later it had been communicat-
ed to almost every friend of Capt. Alt
in this city.
Capt. Alt met the death that he had
hoped would come to him. Every man
who was intimately acquainted with
the dead army officer had heard him
express the desire to be killed on the
battlefield. He was born soldier,
educated for the service, and even
though he lived for many years far
removed from the army camp, his
thoughts were of militarism and his
fondest hopes were that he would some
day lead q company of British soldiers
against the troops of a hostile coun-
try.
When the Boer uprising created a
demand for English soldiers, Capt.
George E. Alt offered mis- services, but
his father, who was a man of influ-
ence in Great Britain, prevailed upon
the authorities to reject Capt. Alt, and
he was denied permission to go to
South Africa.
Capt. Alt often said that the refusal
Of England to accept him for service
was the saddest disappointment of his
life, and he expressed the hope tina.
another opportunity would come, when
he could again volunteer and be ac-
copied.
A brother of Capt Alt was killed in
the Boer uprising, and the grief of
Capt. Alt was pathetic through many
years. He frequently said that had
he been permitted to go to Africa, his
brother would have returned from the
war alive, even though it had cost his
own life.
When the news reached this country
last August that wa had been de-
clared between England and Germany,
Capt. Alt made immediate prepara-
tons for enlistment. His wife con-
scented, because she knew that it was
the ambition of his life. A week later
he boarded a train from Virginia to
Canada, where he enlisted and crossed
the ocean on the first ship that car
ried soldiers.
Upon reaching his native heath, he
was ordered by the military officials
to report at concentration camp to
prepare himself for duty. He was told
that he would be given the rank of
Captain, which he held when he left
the army more than two decades ago.
He was soon in condition and expected
to be sent to the front, but his SUI
periors believed that additional train
ing would add to his efficiency, and he
was transferred to military training
camp in France, where he spent sew
eral months preparing young English
men for service.
Two months ago he was placed in
charge of a command and ordered to
report for duty in Northern France,
where the Allies and Germans had
been waging the bitterest campaign of
the war. He went into trenches and
for weeks did not participate in bat
tie. But in letter received a few
weeks ago, the soldiers in the oppos-
ing trenches engaged in sniping both
day and night.
During the first thirty-five hours
that Capt Ats men were on guard
duty, two sergeants and four privates
were killed by snipers. The men, in
up and down the trenches,
would occasionally become careless
and their heads would show above the
earthworks. A crack of rifle and
the unsuspecting soldier would drop
dead in his tracks.
In this letter, Capt. Alt bemoaned
the fact that he had not been permit
ted to engage in an actual battle. He
wearied of the monotony of sniping
in the trenches and longed for an OPP
portunity when he could lead his men
into the thickest of the fray.
The last letter received from Capt. !
Alt by his relatives in Missouri, was
written to B. B. Cahoon Jr., his broth
er-in-law, who is now a resident of
Cape Girardeau. The lette., which was