Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-04-13

faced. old young men on whom wa
had set the tense. nervous seal Of sur
get away from war forever. They wer
ferins. Of wounds. Of dread. Of desire I,
brave men. tried In a fearful furnace
but they would 70 70 the fartheres
. the least promising os lands. asywher'
that promised q pcBcc that should laai
70 the end Of their days. The Father
land was iosoins AS many men In this
ono shlp-load a. would have been
ernaca from tho lists 10 sigpallze =
great victory. Some took their FAINT
Hes. where The families had not been
starved. scattered. Or died of Rrief over
the war: others would send for their
dear onea. once they found a peaceful
home beyond the scas. some indeed
might have reconaldercd their deter
minatl0n 10 lense their native land
forever. q, the outburst OF patriotic
fcror aaiuiing The great ship and her
precious burden as they cleared the
port hut the memories OF the battle
fields. the debt cioudcd future. and the
thot that this was nationaiized. am
bitioua cheer FOR further conquest In
stead 81 tribute 70 their own heroic
deeds. overcame every patriotic scru-
pie; and the ship sailed on with them
20 the blue sea water that had been
no thoroughfare for two years past.
othor ships followed; smoke
wfcathed procession OF steel monsters.
sailing for every quarter Of the globe.
The nation soon forget 70 cheer the
departing sail time was too precious
20 waste In tdic celebrations. The ma
ton devoted itself 10 production In
stead. for further carsoes to so abroad
The wireless cracked tho news OF
the great ships going. Back from the
ship herself came messages Of progress
as the trailing smoke faded across the |
horizon. Then there came nothing
more.
Nothing ever came, She made no |
human port. OF her two thousand
lives. her ten million dollar cargo. her
own unrlyalcd speed and stanchness
and power came hack not a word. Did
the rising storm drive her Off her
courseY Did some internal disaster
wreck her machinery SO that she drift
ID q helpless hulk. out upon the broad
ocean? The Fatherland ala not know;
all might yet be well In spite OF omln-
delay. The days dragged away into
weary weeks.
iiut until there are no more men left
to gaze out over the heaving seas, and
TO feel the instinct TO saii and conquer
the wilderness OF waters and every
shore that they may lave. men will go
10 sea smiling In the face OF every mar
thine disaster that prowess OF fortune
may avert or overcome. And so, the
procession Of other steamers almost
the whole OF the marvellous navy that
the Fathcrland had conserved In the
closely guarded ports they sailed away
to rcconquer the business world.
With the fading away OF their smoke
behind the blue horizon. fate followed
them. marked them unerringly for its
own. Small ships sometimes reached 3
ports, but the big ones
disappeared. Foreign ships vcnturcd
.afciy into the harbors OF the Father {
ana. bringing commerce from other '
ands. The nation received this for
ign shipping In somhre silence: to
Jay frelghts 10 foreign bottoms. to buy {
IMPORTS on the Foreigners terms. were I
lot their desire. only necessity per- \
uadcd them to buy the imported J
GODS; even SO. they held their own Il
hipmcnts OF manufactures with which Z
o pay FOR those imports. for their own d
atlonally subsidized vessels SO one 4
y one their own great steamers were o
'aded. sent out frem their crowded e
iharfs into the teeming rivers and on b
o the SET aud then they were lost
The navy had eombcd the seas for p
be countless mines that they had SOW
q early IN the war-the murderous
mbuscades that had taken such q
.ightful coll OF alt neutral shipping. q
me BY one the floating mines had 81
cen pursued nctted exploded. until Il
lniost The whole deadly tally had been q
ccountcd for, The cncmy. too. had p
eoured the seas or their own and for p
q others Of these boating terrors. In q
te wilderness OF waters. the chance "
as negligible that even one great e
alp should strike one OF the stccl "
'frors -
Ne, inc fleets OF the Fatherland con- q
nacd to disappear. singly, then BY n
nos. By tens, by twenties. theS sailed "
way and lost 10 ken. s.
The oceans were aeain dotted With q
ass Of every nation al but the q