Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-01-24
Haunted by the fear

man empire. Haunted by the fear
that France may n day come
pouring up from the south to re-
gain her lost city, the engineers of
the kaiser have iabored with their
every talent for her defense. Far
flung, a circle of IA forts girdles
her round, and within them ram
part follows rampant, eliminating
in the mighty citadel.
What hope can an army, how
ever great, have of capturing such
a place? In the mind of every
German engineer there is Fat one
adjective, and always one, asso-
.ciated with it-impregnable.
And yet, in this mid-month Of
October, there was in the air a
feeling Of uneasiness, impalpable,
not to be defined or even spoken
of-but present, ever present.
From far distant posts of the en-
pire, troops had been hurried
southwark, until the usual. garri-
son of $4,000 had been more than
doubled. Every rampant was
manned, every wall had it's sentry,
and through the streets patrols
moved constantly, their gaze
directed at the house tops. Their
orders were to see that no one
stretched a wire to any building !;
to arrest any one found doing SO,
and send him at once to Berlin,
under guard.
The restaurants, the hotels, the
cafes-every place where crowds
assembled-swarmed with strang-
ers, speaking French, it is true,
but with an accent which, to acute
ears, betrayed their origin and
made n wonder at their pro-Gal-
lie sentiments. The French and
German residents Of the town
drew imperceptibly apart, grew a
little more formal, ceased the ex-
change of friendly visits. No one
knew what was about to happen,
but every one felt that a crisis of
some sort was at hand.
The commandant changed, in
those days, from a bluff, self con
fident and brave soldier to a
shrunken craven, trembling at
shadows. IF he had known where
the danger lay, or what it was, he
would have met it valiantly
enough; but he knew scarcely
more than did his humblest sol
der. He knew that the peril was
very great; he knew that at any
moment his magazines might blow
up beneath his feet; he knew that
what he had to guard against was
the stringing Of wires, the estab-
lishment of a wireless plant. Ev-
cry stranger must be watched, his
registration investigated, his bag
gage at all times kept under sur
VIGILANCE. A stranger carrying a
bundle in the streets must always
be followed. Every resident re-
ceiving a roomer, a boarder, or
even a guest from another city
must make immediate return to
the police.
How many times had the COM
mandant read these instructions!
And always, at the last, he read
twice over the paragraph at the
bottom Of the sheet, underlined in
red:
At all hours Of the day or night. two
operators will De OF duty at every
wireless station, their receivers at their
ears, their instruments adjusted.
Should they perceive any signal which
they are unable to explain, especially
d series of measured dashes, they will
report the same Immediately to the
commandant, who will turn out his en-
tire command and cause a thorough
search to be made at once Of all house
tops, hills and eminences Of every sort
within q radius of five miles. All wires
whose use is not fully apparent will
be torn down and all persons having
access to such wires will be arrested
and held for Interrogation. SHOULD
THE SERIES OF SIGNALS BEGIN
| A SECOND TIME, ALL MAGAZINES
| WILL AT ONCE BE FLOODED.
This last sentence, printed in
capitals to give it emphasis, the
commandant at S%trasbourg could
not understand. To flood the
magazines meant the loss of 1,OOO,-
600 marks; besides, why should it
be necessarily What possible dan
ger could threaten those great am
munition store houses, buried deep
beneath walls Of granite, protected
from every conceivable mishap,
and whose keys hung always
! above his dask2 He was cnmnlete-