The Washington times., 1919-01-05

to know where the meal he has enough wit to keep
out Of the lion mouth a fools errand We shall see
The Colonel sent his aide to examine hafwitted Jean
The aide asked questions but produced his chemicals
and tested" jeans finger nails.
he profssed to discover by this that Jean had come
from another district of France and that accordingly
he must be a spy-a soldier in disguise
Colonel Alvenseben then signed the order which
meant for my gardeners. a eourtmartal and the
firing squad He boasted to that "a German officer
could not be imposed upon, and warned me that the
next time suspicious person found lettering about
my grounds would suffer as well as he
Prior 70 the coming of Rupprecht and General Won
Hirschberg, there had been what might be called u
In the imposing Of cruetes upon the people of our
neghborhood No doubt it was this condition of com.
parave mercfuness which aroused Won Hirschberg to
say to that France just begin learning what
war was. And those of us who lived near Epinoy know
that Ruppreeht and Won Hrschberg and the other COM
manders under them not the sole orgnators of the
reign of terror.
1t just at this time the Kaiser came to Epinoy
He of his periodical visits to the front He
remained four days at Canbrai at Rupprechts head.
quarters, and each day his great gray automobile with
other gray automobiles preceding and following it. shot
out along the roads to different sections of the linden
burg lne The greater part of day he remained at
Epinoy where General Hirschberg had established
his staff and from where the and support div
sions commanded.
1t after this visit that Won Hrschberg began to
discuss with the officers whom he permitted to live with
him in the chateau various of draining the sur
rounding country of whatever supplies of gold and silver
and bank notes might be hidden away.
Some of his generals had called the Kaisers at
tenton to the ingenuity with which the inhabitants of the
occupied regions had deed every mandate against the
possession of metal coins and all attempts to deplete
their store of bank notes. The vaults of every little
village bank empty when the Germans searched
them, but always money forthcoming when a mu-
nicpaty fined for innocent or imaginary in
fraction of the invaders rules Won Hrschberg must
have been cautioned by the Kaiser tc let opportunity
pass to bring forth this hidden money.
1t was young officer major, who fresh from
military school when the broke out and who had
been rapidly promoted for his efficiency in curryng favor
with aged generals such Hrschberg who hit upon
the plan of levyng wholesale fines upon all inhabitants
who had not changed their clocks to German time This
officer in scanning the records at the headquarters
records bureau in Epnoy had discovered that General
Hurt in the early days of the occupation had issued an
order requiring all residents to set their clocks to Ger
man time under penalties. The order had never
been rigdly enforced bowever and had been gradually
forgotten.
Won Hirschberg immensely pleased at this sug
geston The argument the amount of the fine to be
imposed for this oense which, the major promised would
involve almost every house in any neighborhood Such
fines always were imposed by the courtmaral president
when the ofense proved But the court-martia Of
fcer always advised to the severity of such pen
aties by his commanding officer At last again at the