Baxter Springs news., 1917-08-23

~ are part Of the conscious or uncOn'
scions propaganda for the maintenance
OF morale. When incidents occur they
print only what they are told by the
ofiiclal press bureau. A paragraph ike
this, for instance. means little to q
reader not familiar with such mat
tiers:
Last night at seven o'clock on the
Boulevard de Ia vallette brawl start
cd, for trining reasons among nve SOL
diers. Some Kabyles emerging from
q nearby factory and passersby were
mixed up In the scsfie. The police
intervened to re-establish order. sew
eral arrests were made"
What really occurred, though not .
newspaper 30 much a. hinted at II,
was rather more serious. The soldiers
who were ON leave from the front,
had heard that the Kabyles, who are
Arabs imported to clean the streets,
were 10 be used to repress disturb
ances among the civilian population.
They had been told 80 by their wives,
one OF whom had been ogled By a
Kabyle. When the 'pollus" attacked
them the Kabyles naturally resisted.
and q riot ensued In which q dozen
persons were severely wounded.
This ARRAY was preceded by an
even bloodier affair, in which q num-
Der Of Annamite soldiers were attack
ed by u crowd Of women and "permis'
sionaires" and several were killed. An
Annamite battalion was brought to
Paris at time when the strikes were
at their height. and the rumOr spread
with miraculous swiftness all through
the city that the Annamites had been
summoned because the French garri-
son would refuse to fire upon the
crowd In the event Of riot.
Depressing Rumors Flood City.
That there was any truth In this
may be doubted. but certainly the pres
ence Of the Monsolian troops at 80
stressful q period was unfortunate. An
namites are anathema TO all Parisians
nowadays. simply as result OF the
rumors and the really furious Tight that
arose out OF them. Yet, beyond for
NAL communiQue no more communi-
cative than that about the Kabyles,
there has been no mention Of the mat
ter In print.
Paris Is flooded with rumOrs these
DAYS, as It has never been since the
first weeks Of the war. Most of them
are depressing and doubtless q con-
siderable percentage are deliberately
inspired by pacifists and pro-Germans,
of whom there are a good many to be
found in the Greek and Spanish colo
nies. Whether they are true Is OF lit
tle consequence the important thing
Is they are believed tO large extent,
even by persons well informed about
the situation us a whole.
One of the minor problems con-
nected with the ''pernissionaires'
who. released for the time being from
direct discipline, have tendency to
become unruly. Is the evil that Hes III
wait for them at the railroad stations
In Paris. Almost oil Of them pass
through the capital On their way TO
and from the front, and at the sta
tons they are preyed upon not only
by merchants Of Vice, but by the
agents OF anarchy aud prO.Germans as
well. who seek to inculcate peace-at-
any.price Ideas, and the desire TO re-
volt by spreading stories OF the terri
BILE conditions prevailing In the rear.
The "poilus' learn in their own homes
that most of these yarns are not true,
but on the other hand they hear mass
Of rumors which have almost the same
effect upon weaker characters, and
they believe them all the more really
because they come from their own
wives or relatives.