Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1918-11-22

bnck slowly hut surely until the
Marine was reached aud crossed by
the invading hosts and the capital
seemed to be within the grasp Of the
I";'". Then came forward the first
heroic ilgurc of the war, Marshal
Joilrc Of France Communicating
every motor vehicle In Paris, he rush
ed 10 the front HE entire force left to
defend the rnpial and In n mighty
brittle nlong the Marine the Germans
were defeated. They had spread ont
loo much ahd permitted their right
flank to be- turned and were driven
back to the northeast. Reaching lines
prepared with this possibility In view
they dug IN" aud then began n period
of trench warfare that lasted for three
years, IN the course of which there
were no remarkable gains Of territory
by either side,
Under the management of Lord
Kitchener BrlIan's millions were be-
ing enlisted and trained and trans.
| ported to The battle grounds, Not
only from the homeland did they
come, but from Cunadl, Australia,
| New Zealand, India, South Africa aud
all of the fnrflnng possessions Of the
empire, with IN artl0r that settled Tor
all time the question OF their loyalty
TO that empire Ireland alone held
back to II considerable extent, hoping
10 gain independence and making II
self the matching ground for many II
German plot. kitclicncr's great work
practically accomplished. he went Ia
his death when II Gcrmun submarine
sank the cruiser on which he was
going TO Russia.
Germany's Submarine Warfare
In the first months " the war the
British fleets, aided by the japanese,
took away Gormnnys island colonies.
and then, having almost full mastery
of the seas. established n blockade Of
Germany designed to slarve her into
submission. The reply 10 this was
quick In coming. The Germans start
ed ont their submarines al once. and
began building more and bigger IN
dersea vessels. Disregnrdng the rec
ognized laws Of warfare they declared
unrestricted war on all vessels of
their enemies. and murderous career
that finally resulted in dragging the
United States into the conflict and
bringing defeat Ia themselves. The
first notable victim Of thi, method Of
warfare was the l.usitaniu, more Than
thousand of whose passengers per
iShed. On this und many another YES.
sci that was sent down by the sub
marines We're American citizens, and
there was powerful demand On onr
government TO stop the practice or to
enter the war.
For nearly two years President VIII
son held back. writing numerous notes
of protest TO Berlin and receiving an
equal number of false promises.
Early in 1911 Berlin announced that
submarine warfare thereafter would
be unrestricted AS II had been In
reality most of the time and there
was nothing lcfI the United States hut
to declare n state of war with Ger
many. This was done on April q md
from that futetul day the doom of
Germany'> great conspiracy was set
tied.
Americas Wonderful Effort.
With amazing energy and speed
America Went M the tremendous task
Of making an army out Of its civilian
population. There were many mis-.
takes and many delays, but these are
almost forgotten Ia the contemplation
of the marvellous success with which
the thing was accomplished. After II
long and heated debate, the selectiye
adopted, AMI young men hy the hun.
drcd thousand were taken from their
civilian pursuits. put in immense
training camps and made into soldiers.
To command them, thousands of Of
iiccrs were trained in other camps. In
the incredibly short time of one year
efficient rs the world has ever seen,
had been transported across The AT.
lantic. with all The vast supplies re.
CURED aud ri nome the industries OF |
the land had been r'Organized for the |
business OF war Knowing well the
righteousness Of the task Of winning the |
war; the government bent every ef-
fort Ia II and the draft age limits were |
extended To include all men between |
the ages Of eighteen aud f0rty-siy. |.
Many thousands of those thus drafted |
were In training when the war came |
TO a close.
Americas arrival in France was .
most timely. Tnough The crown prince
had failed mlssttbly in his attempt to
force q way to Paris by The \erdui
route in 1916 she Germans never gave
mp their plans to lake the French cap
i,al, and in the spring OF 1918, with
endorsements released from the
eastern front by the collapse Of Rus.
sia, HEY began a powerful drive In
nOrthcs France. 10 the first stage
OF this they reached the Somnie, mud
in the second lney got TO the Marne
again, only 81 miles from Paris
Yankees to the Rescue.
The Yankees. who were getting
their final trni.ng behind the lines,
had not yet seen very much action,
but in this rriSlS their commander
General pcrShing, offered their imme,
dintc services 10 the British aud
French Brigadcd with HE allies,
they went into battle with rush that
inspired he tired 1onnics aud
roluS. and The adyi nee of the Huns