The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-11-04

The Americans and French are
continuing their pleasure on the
whole thirty-mile front from the re-
gion OF Attigny eastward to the
Mouse.
American big guns are lombard
ing the regions OF Contains, Mont
medy, Longuyon and Domrey. The
Franco American advance also has
brought many important German po-
sitions within the range or our tbs,
which will add their voice to the ar
tillery chorus as soon as they can
be established on the newly won
heights.
The doughboys are now less than
four miles from Stenay. the all-lm-
portant crossing OF the Meuse, pos
session of which vii render most
difficult the German retirement
along the southern borders OF the
Ardennes.
The Germans are now facing the
most serious problem or morale
since the beginning of the war. Inls
does not mean their morale is COM
pletely broken. On the contrary u
is such that they still have lot OF
hard fighting left in them, but tnelr
commanders are reSorting to state
ments that the allies contemplate
destruction and devastation In Ger
many. and that consequently the
troops must fight harder than ever.
These statements are being made.
with the idea OF bucking up the
Boche soldiers.
Many enemy divisions have had
no relief for weeks, owing to the
constant allied assaults. and grum-
bling has broken out. The seventy
sixth division, opposing the Ameri-
cans at one point, presented a pet1-
ton to the commanding general de-
manding to be taken out. AS evil
dece of the vast change in discipline,
the general replied to the petition,
stating that the allies politicians are
planning the destruction Of Germany
and that the troops must fight on.
He also revealed their desperate
situation, telling the soldiers that II
they are taken from the line here
they must. be put in elsewhere.
The commanding officer of an
other unit, which recently arrived
from Russia, was relieved because
the men wrote on the railway cars
in which they travelled:
Leave or liberty
A movement apparently is we'll I'M
der way to convince the soldiers
that unless an armistice comes they
must fight to prevent devastation OF
their homes.
In making his preparations to fight
it out along the Mouse, the Boche is
gathering one Of the greatest con-
centrations of airplanes he has ever
made. Three new fighting circuses
were identified during yesterdays
bitter air fighting, in which twelve
enemy planes and one American ma
chine were brought down.
Captain Rickenbacker scored his
! twenty-third and twenty-sourth VIC
tories, shooting down a Fokker and
setting fire to a balloon. The pilot
of the Fokker was identified as
member Of Baron Richthofen's old
circus.
/ Lieutenant Cook, Indiana. brought
down another Boche, and Lieutenant
Healy. with Lieutenant Holder, de-
stroyed balloon.
During single flight 200 allied
planes dropped tons Of bombs on
Damvillers, shot, up roads and trench
| es and cleared the air of Boche
planes which were conducting an ac-
1 tive propaganda campaign by flying
| over the American lines and drop
ping big packages of leaflets with
such headlines as What are we
fighting for?" and THE German peo-
/ pie offer peace with the German
arguments taking the nature OF an
! appeal for terms of an armistice-
/ Captain Rickenbacker, by the way
denies the story cabfed from Paris
/ that he is engaged to a movie star
who, he says. apparently is seeking
publicity