Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-09-10

are the Rhine OF story and legend. for
nearly twenty years the conspicuous
thing on the Rhine has not been the
ruined or restored towers Of castles
and church, but the chimneys Of the
great industrial plants that line Its
shores almost continuously from Basel
to the German frontier adjoining Bel
gium and Holland.
And 1t Is these chimneys on the
Rhine that the airmen are after. since
they with their smoky banners rise
above the great munitions and chemi-
cal plants at Mannheim and the power
plants at Karlsruhe and Darmstadt
and the great central railroad stations
and the military industrial establish
ments at Coblenz. Bonn. and Bingen.
Dusseldorf and the imperial city OF
Frankfurt, presenting spoils that may
well tempt the enemy airmen. From
all accounts there IL hardly town In
the Rhine region and Its tributary val
leys that has not been attacked. The
lower iron district has been particular
ly favored and the new railroad sta
tion at Karlsruhe. which was just
completed the year before the war. has
been virtually destroyed. This fate
has also befallen the station that
Frankfurt prides itself upon. while
that at Cologne has been hit again
and again. And since 1t Is cheek by
jowl with the great cathedral, which
adjoins 1t across a narrow street.
some idea Of what a raid on the Rhine
towns means Is given. Under the cir
cumstances the hypocritical telegram
OF the kaiser to the people Of Frank
furt can be viewed as the measure OF
the terror and the loss Of morale, now
that the shoe Is on the other foot. For
the panic that has struck the Rhine
valley Is not only the natural panic
that comes from the imminence OF
sudden death and gross destruction.
rained from the skies. but is a demor-
alization due to the possible crippling
of the great chemical. dye and powder
plants and all the accessories that spell
success in the turning out Of num-
tions. to say nothing Of the supply de-
pots, which line the valley. the great
avenue OF approach to the frontier.
The destruction Of the famous Rhine
bridges and the shipping depots would
more than upset the calculations Of
the German general STAFF.
Indeed. the whole Rhine valley from
Basel down, walled in and canalized.
has been viewed for the past decade
as the symbol of Germany's industrial
might. And the Germans were never
so much at ease as when they were
describing how Frankfurt, an inland
town, spent seventeen millions on ca
nails and docks. and how all the other
industrial towns-Aannheim. with its
much -lauded Badische Soda und Ami.
lin Fabrika, and Dusseldorf and the
suburb Of Cologne. Deutz, and all the
iron and steel centers-had developed
over night. as 1t were. along world
compelling and imperial lines. They
gloried In the huge power chimneys
that dot the Rhine lowiands and hill
slopes and their lure meant more to
the German than the LoreleL Hence
the fact that these chimneys are now
the targets for the enemy will be gall
and wormwood to the Fatheriand. No
one over there will under r-estimate
these attacks; on the contrary. they
will give Germany the worst case Of
nerves II has had since the war began.
for all know what silencing the CHM
neys on the Rhine really means.-Phil-
adelphia Ledger.