The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-11-29

ltary necessity, unreStraIned by the
Christian conscience that has held
men to prohibitions against firing up
on the Red Cross for four genera
tions. 1t was German vanity and the
materialistic philosophy that might
makes right. To say it was blood
lust, or vengeance or national peevish-
ness, is silly. Germany does nothing
for such sentimental reasons.
Prisoners Attempt to Kill Doctors
During recent months reports have
been coming in rather regularly that
German offcers-always officers,
mind you-have been killing doctors
who were attending these German of
ficers after they were taken prisoners.
One instance may be verified. At
Base Hospital No. 12-the Cleveland
unit, then under the British service
doctor came in one night during
the early part of September with a
wounded hand. He explained that
the stretcher bearers were busy bring
ing in the wounded after the lines had
moved across a German trench, and
that the doctor felt that in the name
of humanity he should go out in the
captured trenches and help to bring
in the wounded. Of course most of the
wounded were English. But a few
Germans were there. He found a
German officer, wounded in the leg.
The doctor helped the German officer
to his feet and was half earring him,
half supporting him as they walked
| back to the first casualty station.
They were talking when for some rea-
son as the conversation stopped, the
doctor looked up and saw the Ger
mans pistol at the doctors head. He
threw up his hand and knocked the
gun away just as the German fired.
But the ball went through the doc
! tors hand. The night before in the
same sector German officer on a
stretcher had tried to kill a doctor
with knife who was bending over a
patient dressing his wound.
The American ambulance drivers
| tell of scores of similar attempts of
the German officers to kill doctors
and nurses. Now that seems savage
and senseless. But when you remem-
Der that every time a doctor or a
nurse is killed a hundred men must
suffer, it has its scientific reason.
Moreover, the bombing of the hos
pitfalls by the airnen had fine re-
action-from a German viewpoint
| During the moonlight nights when
the Germans were coming to bomb
the hospitals the nurses in base hos
pitfalls from Ostend to the Alps could
not sleep. Their work suffered in
the daytime. The nurses had to be
replaced by fresh nurses oftener and
oftener, and the whole hospital serv-
ice was more or less disorganized
The result was easily foreseen by the
Germans.
But they did not foresee the splen-
did morale these atrocities pumped
; into the hearts of the allied soldiers.
The German always discounts the
courage and conscience of his enc
mics. He cannot see that so low a
civilization as that of his enemies
can produce anything but towards
and clods He has never allowed for
the stimulation of the morale of his
enemies by German scientific conduct
under military necessity.
Air Raids as military Science"
The air raids over London were
not planned and executed by a cruel
people, but by scientific national
mind. These raids were sent to keep
an English army on English soil and
out of France, and also to keep Eng
fish fighting planes out of Flanders.
To keep English soldiers and English
planes at home makes it that much
easier to win the war: And no SEN
timental nonsense about women and
children being slaughtered by the
bombs will stop the Germans from
their scientific program to win this
war. Germans have the only civiliza-
ton. II is a righteous act to spread
it and to smear it on in the blood of
lnoncombatants, whether of nurses or
doctors, or women and children
makes no difference. The world if
i it is saved from its highest efficiency
must have Germany uber alles," and
there is no other thought in the Ger
man mind.
One day in September of this year,
two Kansas pilgrims at the war front
saw a long stream of little carts NOV
ing out of the French town of Com
mercy. It was a fair, little town, and
lay red-roofed and gay in a snug lit
tie valley. But the carts, 10 miles
from the firing line, contained sad lit
tie piles of household goods. It was
an evacuation of the population. We
asked why "The Germans have be-
gun to throw bombs into their guns
from their big guns far back of the
lines" This was the answer. Why
they were bombing Commercy one did
not know. They had no hope of tax
ing it. The German line back of the
town had been blocked to Germans
for three years. But they had bat
tered up all the other French towns
back of the lines. excepting CONNER
cy, and very likely their airmen had
told them that it was Commercy's
time, so in the war game, Commercy
was getting her frightfulness. 1t was