The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-03-14
HUNS WILL NOT
BREAK THRn"CH
SPECIAL FEATURE ADDED 6 THE
REGISTERS NEWS FRO
WAR FRONT
HARRY c. EVANS TO SEND WEEKLY : &
Y. M. c. A. Secretary in France v
For Syndicate of Ameri-
can Papers
By Harry c. Evans
(COpYright 1879

'oo ~ "
cate of papers who will have the exclu-
sive right to the publication of letters
from this noted publisher and maya
zine writer while he is acting as a T..
NJ. c. A. secretary back of the battle
front in France. This is the first one
Of the series.
Somewhere in France, February Is.
Those who are frightened over the
looked for offensive by the Germans on
the western front should remember
that the Germans have had little fight
ing to do on the Russian lines for
seven months, that the transfer of
troops has been in progress for a long
time, and that the offensive has been
discounted by the allies. 1t should al
so be remembered that it is not alto
gether a question of the number of
men, or man power, on the western
front.
Only a given number of men can
be used on a given area. There is
only room for four thousand men on
a mile of trench line. The Germans
used every man there was room for
at Verdun and did not get through.
Moreover, there are stories of a
break in the morale of the German
troops on the Russian frontier. They
were told that if they conquered
Russia the wal would be over, and
they would have M more fighting to
do. They insist they have completed
that bloody line on the west, where
their comrades rave not gained an
inch in three years, but are constantly
being whipped back-this proposition
is not received with acclaim, and there
are stories of mutinies and disturban-
ces.
The Fourth regiment of the Prus-
sian guard was stationed at Lith-
uania. On November 90 it was order
ed transferred to western France. Five
hundred men, nearly one fourth of the
regiments strength, deserted en- route.
After a journey of three weeks the bal
ance of the regiment reached its deS-
tination on the French line. Two
French airmen bombed the train as il
waited in the railway yards, destroying
four coaches and killing or wounding
140 men, Two days later the regiment
was sent into the trenches at Verdun,
in punishment for the assertions. The
men We're caught in an artillery bar
rage Of the French and the regiment
literally melted. A few survivors
reached the French trenches and sur
rendered, terrified, dazed and appalled,
by the violence Of the French fire.
The Fourth regiment of the Prussian
imperial guard had ceased to exist! 1t
was damaged in transit,
talked today with a French soldier.
home on leave of absence, He said:
France has long known the Ger
mans. Our fathers and grandmothers
knew them. Their wild, insane invd-
siOns of France have been been going
on for years. These same Prussians
came in 1892, 1898, 1914. 1915 and IN
1870, and they are here again. They
simply swarm. We whip them, but
damn them, they come back. It seems
no use to kill them. When they invade
a district you may do what you please.
They are like field mice. The more
you kill the more there seem to be.
At the Meuse they died like flies, those
Germans. Our quick firers cut down
their dense ranks as a man cuts wheat
with a scythe, and our 75s tore great
holes in them. Blu still they came On
singing. as il nothing could stop them,
in numbers without c%easing, in solid
columns as if they We're glad to die.
But even their numbers and their dis
cipline could not withstand the losses
we inflicted and after awhile there was
a breathing spell. Things on that
scale cannot last. They are not in ma.
ture. So some fine morning we'll find
the Germans have gone"
The French soldier is not boastfu'.
He is quiet, silent, logged. 1t is dill.
ficult to get him to talk of the war,
and he never exploits his own deeds. !
was having dinner at a United States
army club. Another guest was a French
colonel. After much persuasion he ex-
pressed himself on the possibility Of