Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-17
Laon. Region Memorial to
Heroic Dead of Other
Battles
YOUTH FILLS ROADS
Stream of Soldiers Pours On.
ward Through Old Trenches.
by Old Dugouts
BY G.. II. PERRIS
Special Cable TO Erening Public Ledger

Every man going up by Laon on the
/ French front on the Scrre must pass
I over the Alsne heights and then down
across the Ailette and the canal and
through that wooded valley beside the
black huttress Of the st. Gobain massIf
| This countryside, for four years tho
cornerstone Of the German fortfcations
/ in France. can now he seen as a whole,
and | doubt whether in any of the thea
I tres Of war there is n landscape in which
so much of horror Is held in a setting so
| brilliant.
/ Seen from a distance on either side.
| from the south bank Of the Marine or
I the north bank of the Atlette, the two
valleys and hills beyond are masses Of
( varied color. for the woods have put
on their brightest autumn dress. Across
! them from the south to the north flows
! the torrent Of the French advance, a
double line of traffic which constantly
gets tied up in little knots that are un-
raveled with wonderful speed.
I Field guns on motor lorries and
| heavier pieces with their caissons jolt
! ing over the broken roads, columns of
/ marching infantry, ambulance cars,
wagons full Of provisions, not only for
I the army but for the liberated popula
| tions-all is like the immense trek Of
| host advancing into "A dessert.
/ Brave stories Ended
| The stream flows slowly through viii
. Loo saJ IN .b through
old trenches and wire fields, by old dug
outs and observatories, dumps and dress
, ing stations children of the tropics
4 with black or yellow faces and cleaning
eyes watch It, Old territorials watch
il. In intervals Of their road mending
posts left behind to clear up the litter
/ of the battlefield watch the youngsters
going up bravely TO victory and death.
! The story of the Chemin -des- Danes
of La Faux and Malmaison of the vast
Mont Parnasse cavern, where | spent
momentous day last Christmas, of the
I slopes where we were chased by boche
airmen the story of Craonne and liurte-
blse, il closed 1t and its deeds Of valor
and humble, silent sacrifices are things
of the past, part of history that Will
shine in the records.
For the moment II is eclipsed, but |
think that when this bright sun sets
/ the neghborhood woods lose their colors
and traits Of the war fall dim and cold,
then the ghosts of the dead will walk
among these abandoned trenches. Brok-
en- wire will not hinder. nor poisonous
odors disturb them. There is no longer
even sign post to show where, among
the deep Craters. once ran the Ladies
Way, but they will know. Let us leave
IL to them-tnis Golgotha between two
II tG
In all it is for me indescribable foul
ness and oppression, to be for all time
"A lesson to mankind. And some day,
! for those who cannot come so far 10
learn, new Dante may find magic
pen to put into worthy words the pic
lures from which | turn away for the
! last time with Clouded eyes and har-
/ rowed memory.
have sent only a hurried note of
what the good folk of Laon told me
about their four years martrydom.
These things should be told with scru-
pulous eXactitude. II is not exact TO
say that any hostages were taken away
in the German retreat Twenty-four in
habitants, twelve being men and twelve
women. were deported in January last
and the Germans interned the men in
Russia and the women at Holtzminden,
on the preteNt that France had similar
/ ly taken Alsatian hostages. BY an ar
rangement signed by Berne, these eX-
/ lies were either returned to Laon or
! repatriated to France last April.
The Mayor. Senator Hermant, was re-
moved on Saturday, not as hostage,
but on the preteXt that he must give
an account of his stewardship to the
American relief committee. As he could
do that as well as at Paris. ii Is evil
dent that the real reason was to pre-
vent him from speaking to his country
men. Three hundred mobilizable men
were also taken. and presumably are
now working for their captors, or are in
prison camps.
Had it not been for the noble work
Of the American relief committee. the
people Of Laon as Of all the invaded re
Gions, would long ago have suffered ac
tual famine. That mCst Of them are
alive is due TO no mercy or admins
tratiVe capacity Of the German army
but to the committee and to II alon'
and this should be never forgotten
The invaders have simply used this phil
anthropic work together with their sys
tenn Of requStion. taxation and fines, L
produce hand labor without cost Il
themselves while they were sucking ou
all the natural or accumulated wealtl
Of the country.
r Broadly, the system was this First
the population was, as far as possible
compelled by petty persecution TO chang
I its French coin or notes into Germa
2 paper money; but there Is still gold i
Laon. and even a little German golC
; Next the able-boded were called, unde
! pressure Of fines, to labor at a pittanc
70 which the municipality was required I
Z pay in municipal notes. Then, unde
e pretense of continuing the French taxa
n tion and on the cid scale, the whol
community was subjected to levy, os
tenslbly to pay the costs OF the Gel
man administration, though in a civ
sense. there was no administration, n
public service. no social organlzatio
. and no protection. The municipalit
has had to issue several millions
francs Of paper money on its own cred
h. Cor these purposes.
Fined without Cause
n Finally. the people have been con
PEELED to sell to the Germans alwa!
: for nearly worthless paper, their cus
= ions, copper utensils and other articl
n particularly wanted. and they have be-
e subject to various punitive imposition
e For instance, the town was twice fin'
$4,000 because aviators had throw
bombs on Il. Why have houses, sho
and even large cavalry barracks n
been destroyed. while many neighbo
ing farm buildings have been fred
q blown up partly
Travellers by the Calais route
Switzerland will remember that La,
* situated on a lonely hill. IL Z,
simply by threat Of development. The
e was no fighting in the town, where on
= a hundred German soldiers rename