The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-03-14
CYCLOPEO|A OF THE WAR
ISSUED BY GOVERNMENT
WAR FACTS coNcisELY AND AU'
THoRlTATivELY COMPILED
AND PUBLISHED.

A war Cyclopedla is the latest
special war publication of the govern
ment issued through the committee on
public information 1t is a handbook
Tor ready reference on the great war,
and contains in some 300 pages
great mass of information simply ar
ranged and clearly stated. 1t is issu-
ed in response to an insistent demand
from many students, writer's, clergy
men, lawyers, business mon and the
public at large for authentic state
ments of the outstanding facts con-
corning the war In alphabetical ar
rangement.
The War Cyclopedia' was edited
by Frederick l.. Paxton. University OF
Wisconsin; Edwin S. Corwin, Prince
ton university and Samuel B. Hard
Ing Indiana university, the editors
drawing freely upon the time and the
patriotic good will of large number
of special writer's from all parts of
the country. Because of it's special
value and the high cost of printing
small price of rs cents copy has
been fixed by the government to cover
the cost of production and distribu
ton. It may be obtained from the
committee on public information, 10
Jackson Place, washington, D. C.
In foreword Chairman George
Creel of the committee, says; "Other
handbooks have been and will be made
by other agencies; all will serve their
end, for this war Is not to be won by
an established doctrine nor by an OFF,
cial theory, but by an enlightened
opinion based on the truth. The facts
Of history and life are the only ar
senal to which Americans need resort
in order to defend their cause. Tho
deeper their study, the firmer becomes
their conviction. The War Cyclope-
dia' represents an effort to arrange in
simple form the facts most needed"
Articles on persons have been left
out except as the editors have deemed
biographical notes to be absolutely in
dispensable; knowledge of American
public men in particular has been as
sumed.
Range of Publication.
An indication of the character and
the wide range of the information
provided may be had from the follow
ing citations made at random through
the alphabetical arrangement;
Under the title Alsace- Lorraine
something of the history and the
character of that province now in
world dispute is given, and Professor
Otfried Nippold, a German scholar
formerly in the diplomatic service but
now of Berne, is quoted as saying:
when one looks back into the history
of Europe during the last forty years,
II seems inconceivable that anyone
can be unwilling to admit that the an
nexation Of Alsace- Lorraine was a po-
litical mistake" and that "the Ger
mans have shown themselves incom-
petent in their government of the peo-
pie Of Alsace- Lorraine"
In connection with Alsace- Lorraine
the cyclopedia refers the reader to the
Iabern affair. This is explained UNI
der its proper classification as oppres-
sive acts on the part of the German
garrison officers at Saverne German
Zabern. town in Alsace) against the
native population. 1t eliminated in
the wounding of lame cobbler by n |
young lieutenant named Forstner, be-
cause of "contemptuous cries." though |
the mayor of the town asserted that it |
was only children who had jeered the
officer. Forstner's unpopularity had |
arisen from an overzealous espousal |
OF his superior officers contempt for |
the civilian population and his in
structions to his command that if they
stabbed an Alsatian who insulted them
they would not only go unpublished.
but receive a reward. A great hue and |
cry followed the wounding of the lame
reichstag, where a vote of censure was
passed; but while Forstner was SEN
fenced by courtmartial to detention for
a short period, he was soon afterward
promoted. thus receiving the promis-
ed reward.
Roche Means Bonehead.
The term ''Boche," now so common
ly appearing in American newspaper
dispatches as a familiar designation of h
the Germans, is shown to have origin
ated before the war in Paris The
German assistants of Paris printers
were so designated. The term "boche"
was probably also used in the Franco
Prussian war in 1870, for lola, in his II
novel La Debacle," put the term in
the mouths Of French soldiers to des-
lgnate Germans. The term zee boche"
was used, before the Franco Prussian II
war at least, as equivalent to that
,hump." "Tete de boche" Is the {
French slang for wooden pate" or q
'blockhead."
The war cyclopedia gives a remark Y
IDLY succinct and comprehensive story O
IF the execution of Edith Cavell. f
All of the great war measures in the
United States, such as the espionage 8
yet. the various acts concerning alien n
enemies, the selective draft, the volun- 1,
airy censorship of the press, etc, and
IN of fba INSTITUTIONS bo,o