St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1918-01-19
GERMANS EXCUSE
ATR0C!0uS ACTS
Murder, PiIIage and Arson Part
of Deliberate Scheme Of
Warfare.
HIGH OFFICERS GO ON RECORD
No Possible Evasion Of Responsibility
for Bestiai Acts Which for Centu-
ries Have Had No Parallel
Officially Endorsed.

are beginning 10 learn the tTlt7h con-
corning the conduct of The war By
Germany. Proof is offered that Ger
man officials deliberately lied in
their statements concerning atroci-
ties committed by the Bezgians ana
allies. That their own soldiers were
disguised by the cruelties practiced
at the order Of high officers Of the
kaiser is shown. Extracts taken
from pamphlets issued follow:
The Vorwserts Of Berlin, October %
1014, said:
I'VE have already been able to es.
tablish the falseness Of @ great number
Of assertions which have been made
with great precision and published
everywhere In the press, concerning al
legged crueities committed, by the popu'
lations of the countries with which
Germany is at war, upon German sol
diers and civilians. We are now in pc
sition to silence two others Of these
l6uLaSuC stories.
1.-THE war correspondent Of the Der
liner Tageblatt spoke a few weeks
ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with
powder alleged to have been given out
or sold to our soldiers with diabolical
intent. He even pretended that he had
seen with his own eyes hundreds OF
this kind Of cigarettes. We learn from
an authentic source that this story OF
cigars and cigarettes is nothing but g
brazen invention. Stories of soldiers
whose eyes are alleged to have been
torn out by francs-ti reurs are circulat.
ed throughout Germany. Not single
case Of this kind has been officially es
tablished.
ut matters little that reports of this
nature bear an appearance of positive
gertrude, or are even vouched for by
eye-witnesses. The desire for notoriety
the absence Of criticism, and personal
error play an unfortunate part in the
days In which we are living. Every
nose shot off or simply bound up
every eye removed, is Immediately
transformed into nose or eye torn
away by the francs-tireurs. Already the
Voikszeitung Of Cologne has been able
contrary to the very categorical asser
lions from Aix-la- Chapelle, to prove
that there was no soldier with his eyes
torn out In the field ambulance Of this
town. It was said, also, that people
wounded in this way were under treat
ment In the ne!ghborhood Of Berlin
but whenever inquiries have Been made
IN regard to these reports, their absO
lutte falsity has been demonstrated. Al
length these reports were concentrated
at Gross Lichterfelde. A newspaper
published ut noon and widely circu
lated In Berlin printed few days age
IN large type the news that at the
Lazaretto Of Lichterfelde alone there
were ten German soldiers, only slight
~ wounded, whose eyes had been wick
eddy torn out But to a request fol
information by Comrade Liebknecht
the following written reply was sent
by the chief medical officer Of tn.
aforementioned field hospital. dated
the eighteenth Of the month:
Sir: Happily there is no trutt
whatever In these stories.
Yours obediently.
PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG,'
German Soldiers Protested.
Thus the teachings of the German
War Book ard Of the German apostles
Of frightfulness, suspicion and hatred
had now begun to bear their natural
fruit. But the voice Of protest was
not entirely silent. A considerable
number of letters by German soldiers
who wero shocked by the German
atrocities were sent to Ambassador
Gerard, because he was the representa-
dive Of the United States, the leading
neutral nation. The three letters
which follow, In translation, were re
ceived by the American ambassador
from German soldiers.
Here is the protest Of a German sol
der, an eyewitness Of the slaughter OF
Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes
and swamps:
ut was frightful, heart-rending, as
these masses of human beings were
driven to destruction. Above the ter
r1ble thunder of the cannon could be
heard the heart-rending cries Of the
Russians: % Prussians! o Prussians !.
but there was no mercy. Our captain
had ordered: THE whole lot must die
q hnor1 Ry-<
men and one officer on our side went
mad from these heart-rending cries
But most Of my comrades and the Off.
.eers joked as the unarmed and helpless
Russians shrieked for mercy while
they We're being suffocated in the
swamps and shot down. The order
was: Close up and at 1t harder! Fol-
days afterwards those heart-rendine
yells followed me and dare not think
of them or I shall go mad. There iapo
God, there Is no morality and no ethics
any more. There are no human beings
any more, but only beasts. Down with
militarism.
eff you are a truth-lovlng man.
plttSt ISteINE tlieat iiiito tiSAb q So'i'
mon Prussian soldier"
Followingsis the testimony of another
~~v>-o~o~o~>o~ ->-~>5~~~-~~ro~o-~
CHARTER
Of the
ONvILLF MERCANTILE COM.
PANY, INC.
United States OF America. State OF