The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-02-21

f~fN NNfN @f'EB V ~
German Invasion.
Censorship under fire is graphically
described by a writer In the Manches
ter Guardian In the following article.
After fourteen months az the front
with the British army | fondly mag
ined that | had gone through the whole
range of possible duties that al de
yolye on that bilingual jack ~ all
trades called an Interpreter.
/ had interpreted" In the streets, in
the shops, by the bedside of sick civil
ians and In the regimental court of
justice. the orderly room | had re-
moved a lunatic refugee, interviewed
alleged spies. | had interpreted in TAX
ing over fire trenches from the French
as well as In handing over our drst
lines TO them. | had linked French
engineers with British infantry com
mands, and vice versa.
Censors Civilian Letters.
But n day "A new duty was i'm
posed upon me. | was asked to lend a
hand to the French gendarmerie at
tached to the British army In censor
Ing the letters of civilians at the near
est postoffice In our rear.
The mystery attaching to this kind
OF work requires that | shouldn't be
too precise Ia my ~recollections Of this
episode. Besides, ia this first and i'm
subsequent sittings | read so many
q Ir.v1A,I. - nsn4l4A. Itaa.- thn4 .w-.
IL l tried Ii would be impossible for me-
to give illustrations of what | read.
While one gendarme slit the envelopes
open for us with "a penknife aud anoth-
er gendarme sealed them up again with
a label marked, "Controle par lauto-
rite militaire," and we read and read
until we hardly knew what each letter
was about.
We didn't like this work, but Ii had
TO be done, Who knew but some OF
these civilians living at the front
might not convey to their friends and
relatives In the rear some military
details which would afterward travel
heaven knows wheref
Postmistress a Gossip.
The postmistress or one of her assist
ants brought huge piles of outgoing
letters to us In the back room where
we We're sitting, aud she passed the
news of the day:
we had a bit of Smelling this morn
ing, although We are so far from the
front"
The dear, plueky creatures! so far
that Is. three or four miles AS the
row and the she'll fly.
Anybody hit 2"
One woman was killed in the esta
minet, and a small boy go an arm
smashed. He had gone out TO watch
The boinbardment."
The first time the captain thought II
necessary to instruct me In my duties.
| was to peruse the letters written In
English or In Flemish and to hold w
any correspondence that might against
express orders have been dropped into
the civilian letter box 10y unwary Tom
mics.
We proceeded to read the letters
love letters, business letters, letters
from parents to their soldier sons. from
wives to their soldier husbands. from
children to their soldier daddies, from
Girls longing for the return OF their sol
dier fances. oh, the love. the Patio.
md the misery of III
Postoffics Keeps Open.
AS IL to remind us of this. a shell sud
lenly went hoarsely rafting over The
little village postofice and crashed
somewhere beyond.
There they go again." said a gen
darme with a grin.
Another roar, followed by a loud ex
p%Iosion. The postmistress looked In.
"Messieurs. hadn't you better move
Town into the CELLAR 1t is quite a goot
ellar."
What about yourself, madamef Art
rou going down there?"
NO. The postofhce must remain
pen"
} Well, then. we are quite comfort
able here. thank YOU"
They win stop presently" she sale
consolingly as she retired into her OF
!, zee.
/, You know said the captain, Il an
supposed to put something In my re
,ort about the morale OF the civilian
, population In the war zone MS 1t i
revealed in this correspondence. From
he letters you have been reading, wha
70 you think Of it?"
1T Is all right. mon canitaine.
He Dointed To the door.
! Plenty more about here like thi
! postmistress. ehf"
, But it was this morning only. tel
, months later. that | read in the Eng
lish papers that this brave little wo
man. the postmistress Of X. had beer
awarded the Croix de Guerre for put
| ting her telegraphic apparatus out o
| order during the German occupation o
t her village. and that had taken place II
1914.
A Long Lived Family.
n