Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1919-03-26
like Bit or FAIRY TALE
Yankee Division Living Amid kaieido-
scope Of international Spies,
Revolutionists, conspirators
and Beautiful Princesses.
By CAPT. ROBERT J. CASEY,
In the Chicago journal.

| Kaleidoscope of international spies,
mysterious men with black boards,
revolutionists, conspirators, counter
conspirators and beautiful Processes.
All day long the white highways are
| filed with dashing couriers. All night
long vigilance committees lie awake
trying to figure out what new plan of
government to start OFF the next day
with. 1t is certainly a strange situation
for a poor, guileless lot of infantry
and artillery.
1t isn't officially set down In the rec
ords that the general is the last word
hereabouts, but no one-even the most
ardent revolutionary leader-fails to
admit that his is the only constituted
authority. So long as he continues to
| sit in state at die kirche the plotters
| don't get much of a chance to raise a
disturbance.
The Storm Breaks.
The storm broke In the teapot the
day Battery F, 124th field artillery,
arrived here after the long march from
the Mouse.
We were Just turning across the
River Alzette when a purple limousine
all trimmed with gold and displaying
a brace of silver braided admirals In
the front seat came down the Luxem-
bourg City highway and frightened the
guidon's mule into Mysteries. The bat
terry was called to attention and sa-
lutes were exchanged before ii was
realized that the beautiful Marie AIDE
| laide, grand duchess of Luxembourg and
royal princess by her own right, had
Just passed. Not knowing anything
about local politics we couldn't guess
that something had gone wrong.
That night, however, bulletin was
tackled to the door of the schoolhouse
annex-now doing service as battery
kitchen-stating in French and Ger
man that Marie Adelaide had abdicated
in favor of her sister. Charlotte, and
that If the populace would try to keep
calm. the government would try to con-
tinue doing business at the old stand.
The story of the revolt, when trans
lated out of two or three mixed Ian
guages, is q Grimm's Fairy Tale sort of
thing. The beautiful Adelaide, it
seems, had been something of popu-
lar idol in Luxembourg prior to the war.
There is a legend connected with her
attitude toward the advancing Prus-
slams that once was current and cred
tied in all parts of the duchy. Accord
ing to this story, the grand duchess
was shocked when the Germans re-
fused to respect the neutrality Of her
country. Luxemburg's army on paper
consisted Of $50 men and actually mus
tered some 20 sturdy troopers.
The minister of war naturally fg-
ured that he didn't have much of
chance In opposing Germany, SO the
princess undertook moral suasion. She
drove out to the border and lay down
across the road and uttered the SEN
tence famous for a time throughout
the duchy: you dare not pass"
Duchess Was MIsInformed.
But, alas for the proper climax Of
the story, the beautiful Adelaide had
been misinformed. They did dare to
pass.
A couple of brawny hussars picked
| the princess up, deposited her along
side the road and executed neat for
ward march. That night the invading
generals dined at the princess palace
in Colmar-Verg.
| There is no way of determining what
was the political persuasion of the
populace during the four years that
followed. Luxembourg seems to have
been favored at the hands of the Hun
that is, SO far as Hun hands ever
favored anybody but the Hun. There
was little of the consumption of food
stuffs and farming materials as prac-
ticed in Belgium and France. Luxem-
burg was preserved as a market in
which the rich folk of the kaiser's en-
pire might purchase the delicacies that
war regulation had deprived them OF
at home.
However gently the willy Hun may
have treated Luxembourg on his first
trip into France, pro-Germanism is ar
unpopular vice in this county just now
Nobody loves loser. Hence the grand
duchess, who had become engaged to
German noble during the war. sud
denly found herself an object of sus
picion. After parley with some com
mittees another throne was vacant. W.
. don't know how long the Princes
Charlotte remained in possession, blu
she stepped down, too, and the affair
of state passed into the hands of tn
revolutionists.
This country is piece of fair
tale. 1t is called, truthfully enough
'Little Switzerland" and is peaceful
well kept, clean and simple.
Fat fowl and fat babies play abou
the cobbled door yards.
It's almost impossible to imagin
such a country after having been cor
demned to the battered villages of tn
front for six months as we were.