Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1919-03-27
CHAPTER
(copyr'sht 1919. by Charles Alden Seitker.
All Rights Reserved)

s CHAPTER /
CARTER .CORWIN had lunched
~ alone at an exclusive little res
taurant on a side street. A certain
front-page article in the Observer
,Falltown's only daily newspaper-had
taken the edge off Corwin's appetite.
To be sure, the event had been i'm
pending-tEe somber shadow of war
had long been stretching westward
lover the mighty eXpanse of water that
certain oredulous and trusting Ameri
cans had glibly and unthinkingly re-
ferred tc as providing Immunity
from INVASION.
But the Presidents war message
had come as q distinct shock despite
the expectancy which had preceded
it-and Corwin got up from the table
with a conviction that the country
faced q task the enormity of which
could not be cOmprchended on the in.
slant. And, he grimly assured him
self as lie walked down Main street,
there were persons in America who
would never comprehend it.
Nor could Corwin entirely grasp
the mighty significance of the thing.
He was convinced that the volume of
production, hitherto fixed at certain
limits. would have to be vastly in
creased; there would have to be ex-
tensions, enlargements, and intensive
schemes tc speed up the manufacture
iOf munitions and the thousand and
,,,l1 De IL; ;oI,
+, are the essentials,o of var: there would
have to be rapid and hazardous adjust
ments; and in some cases complete
rebuilding of many industries. The
whole country would have to work
and save as 1t never worked and saved
beforehand the country would have
to work and save under the handicap
of startling labor loss. For the
khaki-clad stream that must be poured
into devastated Europe would have to
be recruited from field and Office and
factory. There was no magic by
which an army could be raised through
merely expressing the wish.
Filled with vague disquiet, Corwin
made his way down Main street until
h. reached Meridian avenue.
Main and Meridian formed thc busi-
ness center.of Iralltown. 1t was short
ly after noon when Corwin reached
the corner, and the hum of traffic had
somewhat subsidized.
Corwin had an appointment with
Gary Miller, president of the Mer-
chants Bank; and he still had fifteen
minutes to spare when he arrived at
the corner. So he halted and leaned
against one of the massive marble COL
umns that supported the ornamented
facade of the building.
The two streets formed gigantic
cross around which clustered many
business blocks. They were the only
business streets in Falltown, and the
quiet residence sections surrounding
excrted subduing influence, impart-
ing an atmosphere of peace and quiet.
The peace-atmosphere seemed to be
powerful today-at least to Corwin.
For Corwin's reflections were running
ito contrasts just at this instant-the
contrasts of the pursuits Of peace and
the appalling devastation of war.
r. One section of Main street ran east
ward. Corwin could see the street,
paved for some distance, broad and in
viting with the sunlight streaming
upon it, until it merged with the gravel
road that dipped gently into valley
beyond the edge of town. There 1t
was lost. But it reappeared farther
ION, crowning long slope and stretch.
ling on and on-a sinuous white rib
bon in the glarlng monday sun-an
artery that connected Falltown with
the puIsing, throbbing world.
However,. Corwin's thoughts did not
stop with the end of the road-they
went right on to the Atlantic coast
leaped the mysterious waters, and
took him to the shores of France
And for while, unleashing his i'm
agination, and feeding it with the
graphic accounts he had read in the
newspapers, he looked upon the bat
tlefelds; saw the Hun hordes ravagt
the land; saw them sweep on in ser
ried waves-a succession of finely
trained armies hurled at the world
throat.
1t seemed to Corwin as he Leaned
against the marble pillar of the MeE
chants Bank that he could hear tn
thunder of the mighty guns; he Wis
ualized the endless streams Of stretch
or bearers returning from the from
with their shattered human wrecks
1.-The ruined towns and villages-he say
1.-The ghastly horror unfold in grisly d