davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22

regiment bears to that of division or
corps in mannuvre. 1t was part and
it had nc separate and individual value
In the second place we have to examine
the history and geography of the St.
Mhiel salient. Between the Meuse and
tne Moselle rivers in the old French
province of Lorraine and north of the
cSy ci Toul lies broad plain, the Plain
OF the Woevre, relatively fiat, marshy
and s.rewn with forests and with small
ponds or lakes. Going westward from
the Moselle valley, from Metz to Verdun,
FIR example, you cross this plain and
arrive, half a dozen miles east of the
Meuse, at the foot of an escarpment
rligc wholly like the sand dunes rising
along the seashore. The rise is abrupt
800 feet in places--and standing on
this escarpment and looking out upon
the plan at sunrise you have the impress
sion OF looking out upon the sea.
T.is ridge is known on the maps as
the Heights of the Meuse (the Cotes de
Meuse of French geography)s 1t is OBJ
viously of real military value because it
is the first natural obstacle to an invader
coming east out Of Metz and intending
for the plains of Northern France. The
French military books describe it as the
"Dike of the North," and it fairly re-
sembles dixie, stretched from the forts
of Verdun to those of Toul Along this
dixie the French had constructed various
forts, covering the crossing of the Meuse
and the entrance to the little valleys by
which passage from the Woevre to the
Meuse valley was easiest. Vaux and
Douaumont, the famous Verdun forts,
are among those commanding the routes
from the Woevre to the Meuse.
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22
Making Him Bleed From
lV1 Yet Another Wound

Wherefore Foch called upon Pershing
to use the First American Army, the
First in every sense, to make one more
of the now familiar local offensives with
a strictly limited objective, geographic
ca,iy, but having as its larger purpose
adding to the ever growing burden of
difficulty of the German by exacting
new loss at fresh front; making him
bleed from yet another wound when his
need and his desire were to recuperate
from old wounds; making him worry for
the safety Of a new sector when his
necessity was to concentrate all his
energies on existing perils.
So far as Pershing's battle had any
larger objective, this was it. He was
not starting for the Rhine or undertake
ing to capture Metz Berlin or the moon
Wodlo have been no more inaccessible at
The moment He was not even, in the
larger sense, seeking any geographical
objective. He was contributing to Foch's
general scheme, which is to destroy the
armies of Ludendorff by exactly the stra-
fegy which Grant employed with ulti-
mate success against the South, namely,
yressure everywhere, pressure all the
time, blow after blow until the armv
itself is at last broken. 1t was not the
rPpture OF Richmond which won the Civil
war; it was the decentralization of the
Confederate army in Richmond, demoral-
izatIon the consequence of which was
that when Lee retired from the lines he
had held SO long and so galantly and his
army reached the open country it melted
away.
Vittory in this war can only come
when ludendorffs armies are so beaten
that they lose their organization, their
cchs renee, cease to be armies, and either
surrender or disintegrate. Until this
time comes no decision will be had in the
war. Until it comes no geographical
cbjectives have more than limited value.
and that value is entirely comprehended
in the relation these geographical object
ives have to the main purpose, in the
degree to which they make it easier for
Focb to destroy the German armies and
harder for Ludendorff to keep his armies
in hcing.
And in the main operation, the "big
game" as it may perhaps be described.
st. Mihiel was obviously only a detail.
We are in the stage of bull fight when
the worrying and weakening of the bull
IS still IN progress, the time and the op-
por' unity to kill have not yet arrived.
We have got to wear the enemy out; he
has been weakened by losses of material
and men in half dozen partial conflicts,
rartis| because they were not and could
not be decisive. ST. Mihiel was to be one
more. AS such it was to be splendid
success, but it must not be mistaken for
someth ng more considerable. 1t bore
tn sa.1-e relation to the whole battle of
Northern France as the activity of
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22

Grown Prince was driving south from
Montfaucon and had taken Varennes.
Meantime a German army had come out
of Metz, climbed the Heights of the
Meuse. half way between Toul and Ver-
dun, broken through the dixie, captured
the little city. of st. Mihel on the Meuse,
with the strong Fort Camp des Romans
above it, and had forced the passage of
the Meuse. On September 25 ST. Mihiel
fell and the Kaiser sent a message of
jubilation to his wife, which thrilled all
Germany.
But once more William was destined
to be disappointed. Joffre had already
begun his great turning movement be-
tween the Disc and the Somme, and in
short order all available German troops
had to be hurried from Lorraine to
Plcardy, to Artois and presently to Elan
ders. Here is an admirable example of
the value of the initiative. Joffre had
won it in the principal field at the Battle
of the Marine. Before Moltke could re-
gain it by an operation in a field still
subsidiary Joffre employed it, still in the
main field, and Moltke had to drop his
own little strategy and run westward to
prevent Joffre from reaching the flank
and rear Of all the German armies north
Of the Aisne
AS result ST. Mihiel disappeared
from the battle news, and when the lines
at last stabilized the Germans occupied
in this region a salient something like
the still more famous British salient of
4pres, but larger and far more defen-
sible, because while at Ypres the Kaiser's
troops sat on the Messines- "Whitesheetv
Ridge, as spectators sit on raised seats
at stadium, and looked down upon the
British in Tpres the Germans at St.
.Mlhiel occupied a portion of the Heights
OF the Meuse and at Hattonchatel the
highest crest of all the hills, nearly 1,4OO
teet above sea level and sweeping the
whole Woevre Plain. A spur of outlying
hills to the south, moreover gave the
Germans protected valley by which to
reinforce their troops and muniton them.
and along this valley from Thiaucourt,
"H0IC IL Llet dill eNlSJlng railway, tnoV
constructed a strategic railroad to facili-
tate transport. Despite its odd shape,
the character of the country thus made
this st. Mihiel position one Of the most
defensible along the whole line, as the
French were presently to find out.
We have seen that the St. Mihiel oper-
alton was originally undertaken in con-
junction with an operation to the north.
designed to envelop Verdun 1t had not
succeeded, but by the occupation of st.
Mlhiel and the little village of Chauvron-
court, across the river, the Germans had
cut the Toul-Verdun railway, one of the
two lines serving Verdun which were
vital to it's defence. In the same fashion
the Grown Prince at the north while he
had been checked, had come south far
enough so that, when the moment came.
ne could with his long range guns forbid
to the French the use of the Verdun
Paris railroad, and then Verdun would
be without any adequate rail communica-,
ton.
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22

impossible later Allied push out from
Verdun to the all-important Briey iron
district; third, to eliminate German hold
upon the Verdun- Toul railway, which
always carried with it certain threat
to Verdun and the German position upon
the flank of any later Allied offensive
east of the Moselle toward the Rhine, be-
tween Metz and Strassburg.
We shall see next year a great Amer-
can offensive into Alsace- Lorraine, and
such an offensive would be handicapped
if the Germans still commanded the
shortest and most direct line of commu-
nications between Paris and Nancy and
also were in a position to strike at Allied
communications from ST. Mihiel. To
take parallel, before Haig began his
great offensive in Flanders last year he
had to seize the Messines Ridge, which
gave the enemy observation and con-
venient base for attack on his own troops
preparing an advance. Thus, in a sense.
st. Mlhel was the foundation Of two
later operations, one eastward from Yer
dun to Briey, another eastward from
Nancy into Alsace- Lorraine. Moreover.
the two might ultimately be combined
into an enveloping movement around
Metz, exactly like that which the Ger
mans had attempted with respect to Yer
dun in 1914 and again in 1916 But
again, 1T is necessary to recall that the
main purpose had the present, not the
future, in view and to increase the diff
culties of Ludendorff in facing the exist
ing problem in the west.
The main attack of Pershing had nat
uraly to be from the south side of the
st. Mihie salient, because here the
ground was more favorable and the Of
fensive could be made on wider front.
while owing to the tangled nature of the
hills on the north side an advance on
this side could only be made after the
enemy had become weakened by the at.
tack on the exposed side The problem
was simple in the extreme. Pershinp
had to advance a matter of eight or ten
miles due north from the st. M hiel-Pont-
a-Mousson line; such an advance would
SuC ttll tfc INES OI communication from
Metz to St. Mihiel in the Woevre Plain:
meantime, slighter advance along the
heights would cut the roads leading over
the hills to the German rear.
If the two forces advancing behind the
nose of the salient could meet, and their
meeting place was Vigneulles, before the
Germans could get out of the pocket-
then the Germans in the salient would
be trapped and have to surrender: in anv
event large number of prisoners would
be taken and big haul of guns. But
it was essential that the Americans
should complete the ring behind the Ger
mans, and do it promptly, because if the
first assault were stepped the Germans
would have time to retire out of the
trap, even if they were unable perma-
nently to hold the line. This was what
happened in the case Of the Marine sa-
hent; Mangin did get forward far
enough to compel the Germans to retire
out Of the salient, but he could not adj
vance far enough or fast enough to block
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22
Announcing Ameri-
ica's Arrival in
Battle Line of
Ciyiliza-
ton
Bv FRANK II. SIMONDS
Author of "The World War" 'They
Shall Not Pass"

rN AMERICAN HISTORY hereaf-
ter, in the history of the World
War, September IL and Is, 1918,
will have very real significance.
On these days we began our actual par
ticipation in the European struggle as
full grown ally. The date CORE
spends to July /, 1916, in the history Of
the new British army, the date on which
Haig began the Battle of the Somme.
Our own beginning was made away out
at the other end of the line and our OBJ
jective was St. Mihiel salient, which for
four years had faced the Allies and in
that time had become one of the really
permanent landmarks in the whole front
from the sea to Switzerland
The Battle of St. Mihiel, for thus it
is bound to be known, has three aspects:
We must view it in relation to the larger
strategy of Foch, and thus as detail
in the main campaign against Luden-
dorff, comparable with the various
thrusts of Rawlinson, Horne, Byng,
Mangin, in the other sectors: we must
view it as a whole in itself, so far as the
local field Of operations was concerned;
and, lastly, we must examine it as the
expression in fighting terms of the mean
ing of our new American army, now
graduated from necessary but not less
i1ksorhe leading strings and making its
bcw upon the platform of the world
struggle.
AS for the relation of the struggle in
Lorraine to the main battle to the Battle
of Northern France, since it is essential
to look at the campaign now in progress
as single conflict, the explanation is
sin ple Foch was bound to retain the
initiative in the whole western field. He
mad temporarily exhausted the possibili-
ties of attack in the sectors between
Rheims and Ypres. The enemy had, in
some distress and at a great expense in
men and material, retired behind the
Hindenburg line, and any effort to get
him out of that line either by mannuvre
or direct attack required time for organ
ization. Meanwhile it was essential that
the enemy should not have time to repair
his situation, to recover from his disor-
ganizaton. The strain must he kept
upon him.
New-York tribune., 1918-09-22

-N AMERICAN HISTORY hereaf-
ter, in the history of the World
War, September IL and Is, 1918,
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22

be frightened, little dove; he has the
makings of a great soldier. Now,
then, it is growing cool and the night
carries fevers. Creep into your bed
and dream about that handsome lover
of yours"
Rosa obeyed, although reluctantly.
'I'n sleep for while" she compro-i
missed, "then I'll come out and takei
my turn" l
Dawn was still long way off
when, true to her promise, Rosa
emerged from the hut with an apol-
ogy for having slept so long. Evan
gelina protested, though her eyes
were heavy and she had been yawn-
ing prodigiously for hours. But for
once the girl was firm. Having f.
naIly prevailed in her determination,
she seated herself in the warm place
Evangelina had vacated, and, curling
her small feet under her, she settled
herself, chin in hand to think of
O'Reilly 1t was good time to think,
for the jungle was very still and the
night like a velvet curtain.
eve had better leave the horses
here" Pancho Cueto hesitatingly ad-
dressed the dim blur which he knew
to be Colonel Cobo. The colonel of
volunteers was in a vile temper what
with the long night ride and an error
of Cueto's which had considerably
heightened the journey.
"Where is the house?' growled the
officer
mot far. But the path is rocky
and the horses feet"
Eyes, yesl" There was a creak of
saddle feathers and a groan as the
colonel dismounted. "Now, my good,
Cueto," he threatened, another oil
your mistakes and I'll give you some
thing to remember me by"
A curt order brought his men out
of their saddles. One of their num-
Der was detailed to guard the ami
mails, while the rest fell in behind
Cueto and followed him up the trail
by the starglow.
Ito be Continued
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
Cure for Dysentery

"While | was in Ashland, Kansas,
gentleman, overheard me speaking of
Chamberlain's Collie Diarrhoea Rem
edy," writes William Whitelaw, of
Des Moines, Iowa. He told me in
detail of what it had done for his fam
lily, but more especially his daughter
who was lying at the point of death
with violent attack of dysentery,
and had been given up by the family
physician. Some of his neighbors adj
vised him to give Chamberlain's Collie
and Diarrhoea Remedy, which he did,
and fully believes that by doing SO
saved the life Of his child He stated
that he had also used this remedy
himself with equally gratifying re-
suits"
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Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
their knowledge largely thru

their knowledge largely thru
the avenue of experimentation,
an expensive and oftimes unsat-
isfactory method-The old say
ing that experience teaches a
dear school" has been quite true
with US, and one of our greatest
benefactors as a nation has been
the critic, keen and farsighted,
who delved into our plans and
courageously pointed out their
defects, showing where, perad-
venture, we were being buncoed
by INSCRIPTIONS individuals, as
has occurred in numerous in
stances, or where some less ex-
pensive plan might be adopted
etc. etc. and this benefactor has
saved the country millions Of
dollars, speeded up war prepa-
rations, caused the renovation
Of departments that were load
ed down with wet logs and swiv-
ell chair attaches Of no value to
the country nor the administra-
ton, and in various other ways
rendered us invaluable services
and it would be a fatal mistake
to put the curb upon him to
crafty a few incompetents or
self seeking individuals who are
afraid to have the light turned
oa.-The Philippi Republican.
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22

Estebss Whispered, TH the WE'LL"
the water. Isabel searched for years !;
If that treasure had been above ground
her sharp nose would have smelled it
out, and now Cueto has moved the very
EARTH"
Rosa sat back disappointed. $50
that's your theoryT
tits more than a theory" the boy
insisted. Look at thisn From the
pocket of his cotton trousers he pro-
duced an odd-looking coin, which he
placed in Rosa's hand.
"Why, it's gold! It's Spanish
doubloon," she said. Its the first one
I ever saw. Where did you find it?"
You'll think I'm crazy when l tell
II sometimes / think so myself. l
foaad it in IsabeFs hand when l took
he. from the wellr'
Jsosa was stricken speeches..
"she clutched it tightly" Esteban
hurried on, ''but as / made the rope
fast her hand relaxed and | saw it in
the lantern light 1t was as if--well,
as if she gave it to me. | was too
badly frightened to think much about
it, as you may imagine. it was hor-
rible place, all slime and foul water; ;
the rocks were slippery. But that coin
was in her fingers !"
Rosa managed to say: impossible I!
Then she must have had it when she
fell"
No, MOI / saw her hands up
stretched, her fingers open, in the
moonlight"
TITS uncanny. Perhaps"
eyes. Perhaps some unseen hsa3
ted her to the place so that we should
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
yht's ride. There's no one except

nights ride. There's no one except
the boy to reckon with"
"How much is he worth to you"
bluntly inquired the soldier, and Cueto
sat down to make the best terms pos
sible
r
''Do you think he received my let
teri" Rosa asked of her brother one
evening as they sat on the board bench
by Asensio's door. 1t was a familiar
question to Esteban; he had answered
it many times.
ooh, yes!" he declared. Lopez mes
senger got through to Key West"
"Then why doesn't he Gomez
"But, my dear, you must be patient.
Think of his difficulties"
This subject always distressed young
Varona; therefore he changed it.
Come! You haven't heard of my good
fortune. I captured another fine snake
today, a big, sleepy fellow Believe me,
he'll wake up when l set fire to his
tail. He'll go like the wind, and with
every foot he goes away will go more
of Pancho Cueto's profits"
"You intend to burn more of his
fields?" absently inquired the girl. at
seems terrible to destroy our own
property"
Esteban broke out excitedly; he
could not discuss Pancho Cueto with
out losing control of himself. would
you permit that traitor to fatten upon
the profits of our plantations? l shall
ruin him, as he ruined u.s."
Rosa shook her dark head sadly.
"And we are indeed ruined. Think of
our beautiful house; all our beautiful
things, tool We used to consider our
selves poor, but-how little we knew
of real poverty. There are SO many
things | want. Have we nothing left?"
81 thought 1t best to buy those rifles"
the brother murmured, dropping his
eyes. SIT was one chance in a mil
lion."
mo doubt it was. 1t seems those
Spaniards will sell their souls"
Exactly. We can dig food from the
earth and pluck it from the trees, but
good Mausers don't grow on every
bush. Besides, of what use would
money be to US when we have no place
to spend it?"
"True!'' After a moment Rosa
unused aloud: 81 wonder if Cueto found
the treasure? If only we had that"
"He didn't find it," Esteban declared,
positively. "I"-he hesitated-'I think
1 know why he didn't. think l know
where it is"
"Where is it?' breathlessly inquired
the girl.
After a furtive look over his Shout
der Esteban whispered, "In the we'll"
you're joking"
mo, mol Think for yourself. 1t
was old Sebastian who dug that
we'll"
"Yes."
"And he alone shared fathers conf
dence. That sunken garden was all
Sebastian's work. No one else was al
lowed to tend it. Why? I'll tell you.
They feared to let anyone else draw
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22nd, 1918.
CRITICISM NOT ALWAYS FAULT
FINDING

There seems to be an insist
ent effort on the part of some
nervous friends of the admins
tration to suppress all criticism
in connection with the conduct
of the war, lest the enemy re-
ceive comfort and encourage
ment.
This effort is i'll advised and
no more un-American thing could
be done than to attempt the
elimination of our public forum,
for it is this open and frank dis
cussion of conditions, purposes
and plans that differentates us
from the nations who are now
waging war against US.
1t is to perpetuate these very
privileges that our boys are so
willingly giving themselves to
the service of their country, and
to establish a different regime
from the one that now obtains
in this Republic, would be to in
cite suspicion, discomfort and
possibly rebellion.
When officials reach the point
where they are no longer will
ling to take their constituents
into their confidence the public
will cease to trust them, and
distrust of those in power is al
ways disastrous to government.
Sane, sensible criticism based
upon facts is always in order,
but it differs quite materially
from mere fault finding.
The fault finder is animated
by a spirit of envy, and oftimes
righteousness, whereas the crit
ic has at heart the best interests
of the public, and he is prompt
ed by a desire to render a real
service to all.
In our school days we had our
critic in our literary societies
and we always looked upon him
as a benefactor and we listened
with interest to his criticisms
and tried to profit from them.
No human institution can be
absolutely perfect and, in order
to remedy defects, there must
be willingness on the part Of
those in power to listen with
proper respect to those whc
have the courage to point Out
these shortcomings, and en-
deavor to remedy conditions.
No thoughtful individual
could possibly give unreserveC
endorsement to every thing
that has been done in connec
ton with the conduct Of the wal
but we must remember that W.
were a peaceful nation, disin-
terested in the arts of war, anl
that our officials had to gather
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
The BelingtOn Progressive
"a
PEOPLES PAPER N
oIIR BouNDEN DUTY

This newspaper must first of all be
clean, it must be fair, it must be hon
est and without malice in its opinions
and expressions, and it must, at all
times. devote itself unainchingly and
fearlessly to the public service in the
interests of the masses of the people.
II must always combat evil and in
justice.
1t must always fight for progress
and reform.
1t must never tolerate cOrruptions.
1t must be in sympathy with the
poor and the unfortunate.
For Belington it must always stand
with unselfsh devotion, for the
achievement of the finest ideals, of
every high purpose, of every enter
prise, of every step in the march of
progress.
1t must stand for good government,
freedom, equality, the public welfare,
civic and true patriotism and undying
love of country.
Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
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Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-08-22
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