Evening star., 1919-04-20
HUNS HAVE WAR
!. SCARED CITIES
Ksagdeburg Is Notable Ex-
ample, Says Geographic
Society Bulletin.
SCENE OF BARBARISM

OF her own" says bulletin from the
tional Geographic Society. ana
of her self-infiicted scars is
- igeburg. just now the scene OF
b.;fer fighting between Spartacans
and the Berlin government troops.
Magdeburg suffered the most bar
oarous cruelties from her own coun-
tyymen when Johann ,Tilly. the Hin
nenburg of Emperor Ferdinand ii,
captured it in 1851. Three thousand
soidiers aided by few thousand
( armed civilians. held the shriyeled.
ugly and remorseless Tilly and his
10000 men at bay for more than
month He wreaked his vengeance
by making the site of the city WEI
ter of ashes and blood.
10000 Are Slaughtered.
"Of the 10000 civilians, men. wom-
on and children who were not burned
alive or crushed by topping walls.
lhe remainder were slain or drowned.
only the cathedral and a few houses
and some 1000 citizens VINO TOOK
refuge in the former. were spared
i.ven the morose Tilly was stirred
Tor once, by the spectacle and wrote
mis- emperor that since the fall OF
Troy and Jerusalem such victory
has never been SEEN. and expressed
poIite regret that 1.-The ladies of your
imperial family could not nave oeeh
present as spectators
VERY different was the outcome
of protracted siege eighty years
earlier by Maurice of Saxony at the
command of Charles V. For year
that prince waited before h9 ea.es
while the city we'll fortified ana pro
Visioned, defied him. Weary OIL TINS
ridiculous position. and chatting un-
der the suggestion that he was
traitor, he turned one, made secret
agreement with Henry IL OF France
and started off to capture lnnsoruck'
where Charles was known to be-
Had not that monarch scurried across
the Alps he would have been caught.
Wallenstein Also Resisted.
"WalIenstein that mysterious mil
itary figure of the reign OF Ferol
nand II, shrewd and able general. ana
simpie-minded believer in astrology,
al so was resisted successfully Dy the
independent Magdeburg citizens two
years before Tilly's atrocious ven
geance.
"Wallenstein had military successes
elsewhere which threatened his mon
arch's power. After his northern con-
guests he styled himself admiral OF
the Baltic and the ocean. When he
was murdered Ferdinand is SAID 70
have wept, ordered 5000 masses said
for him, but to have elevated the
assassirs and rewarded them rlchly
"Magdeburg was the home city OF
Otto Won Guericke, inventor OF tne
air pump, one of the few Original IN
ventions that can be credited TO Ger
many. despite the German-1ostereo
impression to the contrary.
Students of physics will recall
principle of physics proved by what
is often called the .Magdeburg expert
ment' Won Guericke is said to have
demonstrated his discovery of the pos
sibilities of the vacuum to Ferdinand
III by cIamping together two parts of
a copper sphere. from which the air
had been exhausted, and hftching
nfteen horses to each hemisphere Inc
story that the horses could not pun
the hemisphere apart may be an ex-
aggeration, but the principle is sound.
Luther Sang in Streets.
Martin Luther sang in the streets
of Magdeburg along with other
church choristerS, for the bread ana
coins that citizens might bestow. This
begging was the recognized means
door schools attended by sons OF
peasants. who obtained free lodging
at the hospices of the church. had
free tuition, and were granted the
In return they were expected to sing
In the choir of the church which sup
ported their school
Modern Magdeburg is the capital OF
the Prussian province of Saxony. The
city was well fortified. 1t is nearly
ninety miles southwest of Berlin. lies
mostly on the left bank of the Elbe.
and is an important railway center.
1t was leading market for sugar
and chicory. Its other industries be-
{ fore the war included making of
chemicals, pottery. gloves. chocolate.
cement and varniSh.