davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Soldier Describes Battle to His
Little Son.
Tells Of Scenes in the Trenches and
Of the Work Of ArtlIIery-AIl Very
Costly, Very Destructive and
Very Useless.

London.-The following letter was
written by a British army officer in
France to his nine.year.old son, who
had asked his father what a real bat.
tie line was like:
My Dear Brian-You would like to
know what real battle line is like. In
the distance you see a hill and on the
tight some woods. Some farmhouses,
one or two still intact, and others
mere heaps of brick, lie dotted about
Near you on the right is a battery
hidden under bushes and earthworks.
Nearer you still are dugouts in which
the men live underground.
in the distance is a German an
chored balloon watching the country.
On the right and overhead is an aero
plane.
Beyond the hill and the woods are
The trenches in which the infantry face
the German infantry, also in trenches,
Somewhere near the trenches, and
where they can see them well and the
country on the German side. are the
artillery observation officers, who tele-
phone directions to the batteries and
direct their fire where they want. All
this is done very accurately on a spe-
cial system called registration, by
which having once hit target you
can always 90 on hitting it or anything
near 1t.
For instance, yesterday when ! was
the battery at one of these
places German put up tin on pole
and waved it about in the air in his
trench. saw this, told one gunner
what angle to lay at and the range, and
the next moment the shell arrived and
the tin went up in the air. What hap.
Dened in the trench | don't know, but
the shell burst in it, One burst in ours
this morning and killed one man and
wounded two others. So they can do
damage.
THE trenches are very lively places
1t night when a lot of rife fire is al !
ways going on, and one side or the !
,ther sends out patrols or snipers to |
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
HONOR THEIR DEAD

possibly afford a clue to the deaC
hero's identity-name, surname, regi
ment and rank-and then each grave
given number corresponding to the
document.
Often the number is burned on
with a red-hot bayOnet for fear by any
chance the rain or mud should obit
crate the treasured mark.
Suppose, then, after the war, q
family, English or French, or Belgian
wishes to trace the sacred soil where
lie so many buried hopes. All they
will have to do will be to address
themselves to the civil authorities OF
the town where all the plans will be
gathered together and they may OBJ
tain information as detailed and as
complete as if they had themselves
been present upon those terrible bat,
tlelields and will be guided to the
lonely grave, be It lost amid some
forest or hidden amid the quarries or
simply one of forest of similar EN-.
bIems upon some open field.
1T is holy ground, each little hum.
bic grave-ground which was not
bought by gold or by work, but by the
man S own blood that has mixed with
the dear earth that gave him rest
there just where he fell.
Is it not all marvellous? When.
ever, too, some poor corpse is dis.
covered during the course of the noe.
turnal patrol along the front of the
trenches outside the lines, there is
no rest or respite till it is brought
back to safety and to love-often at
the cost of yet another new corpse in
the rescue.
Gould any parent do more? The
soil of France i3 the French soldiers
birthright, and they feel as If the
dead could not sleep the great sleep
if German feet moved above the heads
Of their comrades, and so the chaplet
of miracles goes on, each corpse max.
ing another hero.
Weep not, you mothers, you wives.
you daughters, though the days seem
long and sad away from those spots
of sacred soil whittier your sorrows
would bid you rush and mourn.
mo, weep not, but rather rejoice
in your glory, you mothers and wives.
and when the day comes, as come it
must, when you will clasp these
crosses to your bosoms before you
take the sacred soil away--they will
seem light crosses indeed. for in that
day all your sufferings will have van.
ished before the strength of your JOY
the JOY of a victory that will give
lasting peace to a whole world"
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
WHAT WAR is LIKE,

peep over the others trenches and
shoot men; and the trench mortars get
busy and send over high-eXplosive
bombs, or someone more daring than
others crawls out and throws hand
grenades into the trench.
Behind these front trenches are
other trenches, which lead in zig.2ag
way to the front, or hold more men
ready to help if the front trench is at.
tackled This is really the nastiest
place 10 be in, because the German ar.
tillery are always ready to shoot at
them, and do shoot at them when there
is any excitement.
Hidden all along the trenches are
machine guns, which fire hank-wise
and are very destructive Then come
the artillery. and behind them again
the big guns-the very big ones which
drop shells tremendous distance and
blow blocks of houses TO bits They
say one of ours not long ago dropped
a big shell into the middle Of an in
fantry regiment--a German one-and
blew 500 of them into little bits. Dot
ted about around the country where
they are most needed are the antiair
craft guns, whose shooting al birds.
as they call the aeroplanes, is very
pretty-and very bad.
Away back behind all these are the
aerodromes and captive balloons OF
our own watching the front, where all
the roads are busy with motor trans.
ports feelings the firing line with grub
and ammunition You would never
think how many men and how much
transport are necessary to do all this
A battle starts with terrific artil-
Iery bombardment, sometimes for days
and when the enemy's trenches are alb,
solutely destroyed and their men dazed
with the rain of high explosives and
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31


| gas and bombs the infantry charge
| across.
Sometimes the machine guns
haven't been knocked out and they
take a big toll of life, and always
there are plenty of men whom the
bombardment fails to knock out
There is never a soul to be seen,
There is only a terrible roar of guns
and explosions, and the perpetual
swapping of rifles and rattle of ma.
chine guns. There is view of some
broken walls, trees without leaves or
branches, and trenches everywhere
You would think there was no l'fe
anywhere if it were not for the row,
and yet one knows that If you put up
a head a thousand eyes will see it and
half a thousand fingers pull trig.
ger.
1T is all very destructive, very cost.
ly and very useless, war, but It brings
out all that is best in men. No doubt
it is for a good purpose which we do
not realize at present when we only
see the ruin and the killing and the
waste.
Sometimes the world wants clean.
ing like the pistons of a motor to
make it run smoothly, and this is tina
way it comes about. You boys later
on will reap the benefit of it all
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

dies old clothes but might bombs
pale Of think that bombs
and when leaves bomb
At one point of the sale the auoneer held nous
package from which there audible rafting
IT'S going said he going going"
IF it's going off, said gentleman, gone!"
All purchases had be removed Immediately
the
bought something absolutely
Two dollars So oneWa hurt-much
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
French War Graves Are Marked
With Care.
Authorities Aim to Have Complete
Roster of the Fallen soidiers-LiV-
ing Pay Tribute to the
Dead.

London. - Interesting details re
! garding the manner in which the
graves of soldiers who have fallen on
the field of battle are identified are
given in the following article trans
lated literally from the Paris Matin:
Leave for a minute those trenches
and earthWOrks. Let your gaze wan
der little from the firing line Look
there in that orchard or there in that
copse, or yet again on that crest.
See, one, two, three, twenty little
mounds On every mound a wooden
cross and on every cross little
Khaki or red cap. The orchard is full
of them; the copse is studded with
them the brow of the hill is fringed
with them.
Now cast your glance toward
those two soldiers sauntering along
with their pipes in their mouths or
watch that cook hurrying along with
the soup.
Suddenly they come before the
little mounds and they stop abruptly
At once the smokers take their pipes
from their mouths, and the cook lays
the pot upon the ground, and at once,
silently, solemnly, Teverently each
right hand goes up to touch each
forehead in the military salute
It's only for a moment; the tribute
to the great dead is paid, and then
they go on their way again.
Along the whole battle line from
the wooded mountains of the Vosges
down to the sand dunes of Belgium
every single sector has been placed
under a separate officer, whose sole
duty it is to identify and collect mat
ter concerning every one Of those lit.
tie mounds.
Not a single piece of information
is allowed to slip by uncatalogued;
each cross has it's own humble chron.
icle all written down and indexed and
catalogued.
Each tragedy once chronicled is
then copied in duplicate, one always
accessible in case additional nforma-
tion should crop up and the other de-
posted at the nearest general head
quarters.
Nothing is omitted which could
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

shrekng
imb on o is roypoly
He detailed hufefooted
pole stirred the guinea fowl and sent her the boughs
tapping
o a
Use boy,
the hunsman all but fell headong to dewalk.
IN She a prime
wal a o der
The hen
AS that
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
OLD LADY DRIVES AN AUTO
nty.Three.Year.Old Iowa Woman
Holds the Record in Her
County.

Estherville, la.-Estherville now
claims to have the oldest lady auto
mobile enthusiast in the state if not
in the whole country.
Mrs. NJ. E. Jehu, aged seventy.
three, proprietress of the Estherville
greenhouses, last week purchased
car, and after a few lessons from a
demonstrator, took charge OF the car
and expects to drive it regularly.
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

Berlin, Wis.-After being bound and
gagged and knocked unconscious with
q mop handle welded by thief who
ransacked the house and obtained
1870, Miss Anna Boelter managed to
get on her feet after regaining con.
sciousness and summon other mem
bers of the family by placing her chin
over the rope of the dinner bell and
ringing the bell
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
MODEL PosT oEEICE.

The office
all the devices the Of
which have been designed especially for this
possible This obtained by three devices
mail chutes
the building and sorted and finally placed waiting
ou having
pouches dropped the
the sliding
1870 which
different stations the building
ultimate destination Those which
the others the
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
PUPIL REFUSES TO sQUEAL

mate returned and said he had gone
as far as Louisville with him.
The schoolmate said the runaway
intended to go to Memphis, Tenn. The
father then went to Louisville and be.
gan a search for the boy The po-
lice are searching all through the
South for the lad.
The school authorities have been
making rigid Investigations Of cIe
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31


remaining
organizations
which have sleeping porches
tennis and basket
ball auditorium 500 The roof garden also
church activity Typical Of these the
dedication week
fully equipped with
oghts In addition
These
Sunday school reca club meetings social
while
$4,000 annually $4,000 and the cubooms and
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
DEVELOPING WOOD PULP INDUSTRIES.

The Canadian
bids from
1t stipulated that receiving
the woods and the mills
day. the receiver OF the also promising
the
within the plants
domestic labor be
woodlands
Naturally this
quotation from the United States
desire abroad build industries the
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

BTduu AFTERNOON ana as a consistent
and entertaining performer the little
squawking fowl had many another
matinee queen looking faded.
She reached the city in a coop
along with several other guinea hens,
and was given a prominent position
on the sidewalk in the market house
region. At some time during the mid
afternoon the hen saw an opening for
q bright young fowl and slipped
through. AS she wriggled out to free
dom the boss saw her and gave chase,
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
5lase.

5Iase.
The Dubwaites must be extremely
rich and fashionable
What makes you think so?"
Why, they abbreviate the names oi
some of the most famous resorts in
the world, Monte Carlo to them 10
only Monte"
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Youth Runs Away From Home Rather
Than Give Information About
Sehoolmates.

Salem, lnd.--Samuel Hobbs, the
fourteen-year-old son of MIR. and Mrs.
Leroy Hobbs Of Salem. has been miss
in since NovembeI 8. The boy dis.
appeared from home, and no trace
could be founu Of him until a school
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

States marine corps, and was keenly
disappointed when Sergt. George b.
MCGEE, in charge of the local recruit
ing station, rejected him for that very
reason. Now Leque believes that If
Uncle Sam can't use a man-duck, he
still has a mission in life, and is con-
templating applying for a position as
traffic "cop" in the city of unfixed
leaks-Venice.
Sergeant MCGEE of the marines
was loath to reject Leque for what he
was nleased to term "dnckitis.n and he
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

feet inside and at end electric driven O0hoe
motor At the opposite end battles carefully
to generating
back he experiment
Coming down through the roof Of the tunnel metal which
attached the model planes
representing the full 60foo lifting
leading finally indicator
magnfyng glass The mechanism decatly
10000 will
When the plane model be
and wind force developed the
will
scale for winds various intensity and
From his data he then plots the lifting
the to drive aircraft
air against kinds
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

the country schoolmarm, so she can
educate the 100000 in her little red
schoolhouse, which is intended to
equip them to become prosperous.
Every state, county, township and
village in the country and the National
Education association are helping
Uncle Sam in this education OF edu-
Gators, with a view to ultimate ma
tional prosperity.
The first step in this campaign
was the organization of the National
Rural Teachers Reading circle,
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

nothing for something.
The auctioneer was Max Glauberg,
selling the unclaimed baggage that
had collected at the Cunard lire pier
at the foot of West Thirteenth street.
This baggage, about the most monde
script collection man could we'll i'm
agine, was piled all over the second
tier of the dock. There were trunks
and handbags, golf bags and burlap
bags, umbrellas and canes, and a num-
ber of packages that looked like bun
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

had visions the
walk the water and time hurdle kissing
from vessel another deliver his Don't the
from the admiral
But perfect feet absolutely essential
usually filed
the webfooted told that he
him join the Venetian
jected applicant told
with other accompmns and could
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

with Col w. W. iarts A
buildings and grounds and the Washington
Inst chief military aid
Commander Daniel W. Wurtsbaugh
siderable jealousy
greater number
settle the
the fighting contingent equally
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

arctic smoking among the young boys
of the school. and rather than tell. on
hi7 schoolmates young Hobbs decided
to run away. The boy was a student
of the eighth grade.
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

ney CharIes F. CIyne, but as yet the
"snipe shooter" is monarch of all he
surveys Jake" visits the federal
building at 1905 a. m. every court day
of the year, and 1t is at that time his
''pernicious activities" start and they
continue as long as there is a court in
session.
Many attorneys, court attaches,
litigants and others who enter the fed
eral courtrooms take the precaution to
leave their cigars outside. There is
only one place these may be left, on
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

Trough the of the National
public instruction H. W. Foght specialist
a in
reading
educational classics principles and methods
cation and life problems
signed education
schoo officials
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

Ihere, When the Tour bugIeTs OF The
Marine band approached the foot Of
the steps to sound the usual fanfare
for the approach Of the president aud
his cabinet IA officers in full uniform
OF blue and gold lent luster to the
event,
President Wilson had l3 aids dur.
ing his first winter in the White
House, and 1t is rather significant that
he has added another aid. 1t is sug.
gested that the superstition of fair
Virginia woman had something 10 do
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31


fulfilled the requirements OF q 1916
model" religious plant.
The recent completion OF the nine
story church building, with social
rooms, motion pictures, motel for men,
roof garden, cafeteria, barber shop,
smoking room, nursery hospital and
bowling alley, marks the largest en-
terprise Of its kind ever attempted on
the Pacific coast.
Activities Of the church and Sun.
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31

constructed at the yard will be built
on data gathered from the tests made
IN the big wooden box, where an So
mile gale can be created and its ef-
feet upon the planes of a proposed
aircraft can be weighed to within
10000 Of a pound.
The present tunnel is a temporary
one, and navy officers hope that con-
gress will authorize the construction OF
a permanent aeroplane experiment
plant when the value of the scheme is
fully realized The tunnel is eight
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
New Workers Buy Unclaimed Steamship Baggage

NEW YORKYou saying
IL take choice
and neither do You
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Uncle Sam Educating the Country Schoomarm

. the depends
the
it's cOmmunes the federal
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Navy Yard Wind Tunnel Tests Model Aircraft

r
ngon yard and is known the wind
worked out by deggn and huge Notwithstanding bpane
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Jake, the Snipe Shooter, AnnOys Chicago Lawyers

HCAGo-Jake' shooter with national reputation Jake"
-
tain streeter District
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Guinea Hen Entertans a Crowd in Washington

CoMEWEERE in this wide and
unless
the District The hen audience
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Web-FOOted Man Wanted to Join Marine Corps

CYRACUsE N YBecause connecting
~ him weboed Holsvle
would make splendid for that gemaua organzaon
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
Los Angeles Has Really Progressive Church

eectcghted selfstartng
eghtcynd Methodist
Trinity auditorium million
The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-12-31
WANS[TlIINGT9IHk2 n
GOSSIP. 55........
lhite House Has Many Military and Naval Aids

AsHNGToNWhn President Wilson grand stairway
White
he preceded by the longest line military
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-30

the president and the senator talked
about some bill or other. and after
awhile the senator told me goodby and
said he'd see me again before l left
for home. Then the president pushed
q button .on his desk. and the door.
keeper came In.
81 will see nobody else this morn
ing said the president. And send
word to the housekeeper to have lunch
for two up here right away"
well, / do know" remarked Mr..
Weston in awed tones. taking a long
breath.
"He seems to have acted just like
folks" commented Joe's mother.
"Yes'm. and one of the incest gentle
men | eve saw. ! forgot all about
his being president or anything else
except just Il fine, friendly man. He
made me feel right at home. So we
got to talking about raising corn. and
| told him how | did it.
you said somethin' about argufyin'
with him." inquired Mr.. Weston any
iously.
Pm coming to that. And when |
was telling about %cultivating the corn
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-30

ness welled from her eyes. and she
threw her arms about their necks.
"Oh. I'm proud of my two boys, and
I thank you from the bottom Of my
heart, but the dearest thing to me is
that you are beginning to understand
each other and are such good COM
rades."
1--WE are sure enough pardners now.
mother, amt we. JOe|
Yes, sir-in every way"
An, mother. when we get this place
paid for we're agoin' to build a sure
enough nice house on it. with lots of
closets an SIGH. an big piazZers. an
all painted nice. an a lightnin' rod on
it too
THAT will be fine; but. Tom. l love
every log in this Gear old place. and
| don't want you and Joe to put your
selves under a big strain on that az,
count. Let's get something ahead
first"
Joe and his father lost no time get,
ting the land in shape for next year
and followed the method Joe used the
yCdI btlolt. All VIC buliltdlu LEI
tilizer was now carefully scraped uI
and saved, leaves and trash hauled ana
put into the soil as q permanent in
vestmcnt. Link Washington was hired
regularly now. and never a day passed
that the three Of them did not do q
solid days work. The place began tC
take on an entirely new aspect.
Joe sold the pigs for his mother and
Annie-$43 for the two-and he and
his father insisted that Mrs. Weston
use every cent Of it for herself and
Annie. They could not keep her from
buying a nice tie and a dozen liner
handkerchiefs each for cher boys" as
she called them, and eve Link was
made happy with a green and blue tic
and a pair of bright red ~suspenders
Mr.. Weston took the wagon da!
when they had about caught up will
work and vanished down the road to
ward the swamp. When he returned
he had four splendid young magnoli;
trees, a great clump of yellow jasmine
roots and two fine young crabapplt
trees.
"Gives a Teller a different feelin'
don't it, Joe, to own land. Now.
never cared about fiXin' up this from
lawn before, but now it's ourn. why.
want to make it pretty"
I'm glad you got those crabapples.
said Joe as he tramped the dirt abou
one Of the trees where it had been set
II think the blossoms in spring ar
just about the sweetest of any"
well, when that yellow jasmine get
to runnin' over the front porch it'll b.
hard to beat. And the magnolias \
look pretty fine. won't they?'
"You bet. Now. if We'll just get som
wOOdbine to run owe that old Oal
stump and a lot Of those yellow jon