Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1918-01-11
RED CROSS WORK AT FRONT
Is DESCRIBED BY DIR. PERRY IN
INTERESTING ADDRESS AT
HIGH SCHOOL .

DR.. Frederick A. Perry, man who
has spent considerable time investigat-
ing conditions at the front in France,
and who therefore is exceptionally well
informed on same, delivered a most in
teresting and instructive address on the
work that the Red Cross is doing there,
at the high school Wednesday evening,
before an audience Of over three hun
dred people. Not alone was his talk
interesting but he disclosed some facts
which to most people were entirely new
and most startling. DR.. Perry came
back from France very recently, in
fact, just before the big campaign for
$35,0CO,000 for the Y. M. G. A. war
fund started.
At the outset Of his talk DR.. Perry
stated that he had no desire whatever
to cause any hatred for any people
and that he was determined to tell the
absolute truth. He said that he had
been at the front to see everything
whereof he was to speak and that
therefore he knew what he was talking
about. Before starting on the prin-
cipal part of his address he stated that
he had found Red Cross enthusiasm
here splendid and he urged that there
be no letup but that instead the en-
thusiasm be increased.
Mr.. Perry mentioned the fact that
he was member of the clergy but he
added that his religion was being.
spoiled by men in this country who
carry on pro-German propaganda. He
said that man has the right to be
proc German if he is sincere in it and
the only place where he joined issue
with such man was where he goes
out and breaches pro-German propa-
ganda, trying to induce others to be-
lieve as he does. That man is then
trying to hinder the government in the
successful prosecution Of the war,
which he has no right to do and he is
a traitor. A man who opposes the gov
ernment now either ought to pack up
and 60 back to Germany or shut up,
he said. But he went on to say that
he was more disappointed with the
pacifst than with the pro- German, as
the pacifist refuses to fight for the
preservation of the great treasures of
his country.
DR.. Perry stated that autocracy is
the same mean, low, devilish thing that
it always has been, that it has been
the cause Of all the wars that the
world has ever seen. He said that he
had Travelled extensively and that he
h"' seen all the different forms of gov
c,n'leAt. There is no contrast, he said,
a;d J." wondered, he said, if the people
Of t.l country could say that they
wanted autocracy and not democracy.
If we know how to pray, we should do
so that democracy may come to Ger
many, he continued. If they continue
to be ruled by junkers, then this war
must continue Indefinitely, he said, but
if they can be awakened to the cause
of democracy and liberty, then the
war will end shortly.
The speaker brought forth rounds
of applause when he said that we must
not be pro-German, pro-French, pro-
English, or pro-Italian, but Americans
pure and simple, devoted followers Of
Old Glory.
In describing conditions at the front
DR.. Perry first told Of the introduction
of liquid fire by the Germans in war
fare. He described how men were
burned about the entire body by this
deadly fame, causing untold agony and
suffering followed by death in most,
cases. Then he described the intro
.duction by the Germans of the poison
Gus gas and he said that this was
most terrible thing. If the Germans
had known what gas would accomplish
when they used it the first time they
could have gone straight on to Paris
as there was absolutely nothing to him
der their progress, so terrible were the
results of the gas. Loss Of men from
gas has been largely overcome, he said,
by the use of the gas masks, but
man must be able to don them in 6
seconds when the signal is given that
gas is coming.
The speaker said that before he vis-
tied the front and England he could
not believe that it was possible that
the Germans were bombing defenseless
cities like she did. But he saw it with
his own eyes, he. said, and he described
one instance where bombs were drop
ped short distance from the hotel at
which he was staying, causing the
death of fifteen persons and the injur-
ing Of many others. He said that he
did not believe that the German SOL
diers were responsible for this but that
the higher up officers forced them to
do it, by failing to praise them or re-
ward them for bravery unless it was
something like this. They say in Ger
many, he said, that such things as
this are saving tens of thousands Of
their soldiers at the front, which. how
ever, is not true. These actions have
Mortified the entire world, he sad.
DR.. Perry described the, terrible
treatment which the women and chill
dren Of Belgium have received at the
hands Of the Germans, such as women
being tied and their babes having their
brains beaten out before their very
eyes. He told also of the depths to
which the white slavery is carried on
by the German soldiers, in the trench
es, the evidences having been found in
the captured trenches.
If the autoeracy breaks Europe
down and Italy is downed, France is
forced to make a separate peace, then
must bear the brunt Of the
fighting until she is vanquishcd and
lastly it will be up to US, the speaker
said. He went on to say that tho next
few weeks would see a big decision,