FIFTH YEAR
. M i nil.
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JUNE#, 1915.
NUMBER 36
LOUVAIN. Belgium, June 26.—Sur
rounded by green fields that portend
unusual harvest and transform all
Belgium from the scene of desolation
that has been often pictured since the
Beginning of the war, Louvain still
stands as a monumental wreck. Little
of its former life has crept back into
its streets and the walls of practically
all of its buildings are still crumbling
ruins that have not been removed and
apparently will not be. Here and there
a wooden shack has been erected by
some enterprising vendor of tobacco
or post cards, but as a city it is still
uninhabitable.
Yet Louvain is not entirely dead,
and in one most important particular
work of renovation is going on apace
—the renovation and restitution of its
wonderful cathedral, which escaped
complete destruction only by a seem
ing miracle. The church now is in
t£e hands of a score of workmen who
are painstakingly restoring those por
3ions of the walls which are shaky or
imaged, the little panes of glass—not
stained glass—which were blown out
by bomb explosions, and the altar
which was burned by a shell that
caught fire after it tore through the
roof above.
Competent architects who have
visited the cathedral say that it has
been in no way weakened by the ter
rible shelling that destroyed the rest
of Louvain, and claim that with a very
little money it can be put back into
the shape in which it was before the
war. The beautiful stained glass in
4 the windows to the rear of the altar
is absolutely undamaged. The altar
picture was removed before the shell
came which tore open the roof, and
the majority of the works of art and
otlfcpr valuables in the building are
now safely stored in the basement of
the Hotel dp Ville across the way—
almost the only other structure in
Louvain that was not razed.
It is conceivably only Louvain’s
total demolition that has prevented
efforts to rebuild it, for that has been
accomplished in many other of the
Belgian cities that were wrecked by
the Germans as they advanced toward
France. It has been accomplished so
completely in some cases that thej
ignorant visitor would never know
there had been any war in the little
country.
%his is true of Namur, to the south
ward. Namur played a conspicuous
part in the early days of the war, and
by no^means escaped without damage
yet little of it is in evidence today,
particularly among the forts that were
held to be invincible, and that today
probably are so. Standing high above
the River Meuse, thes eforts present
an absolutely unbroken and undam
aged appearance. Where the great
shells burst in the masonry one can
only guess at, for the holes are gone.
Only the hotel at the very top of the
hill on which the fortifications are
built is still in a state of ruin.].
in this hotel, so goes the story that
TMV maintain is a fairy talk, there
was the telephone central into which
ran the wires from all the forts. The
Germans, advancing, are supposed to
have learned of this vital fact, and to
have trained their guns effectively on
this building first of all, so that the
connecting lines were cut and no one
fort had any means of communica
tion with any other.
The German officers in Namur today
smile as they tell the story and shake
their heads. They admit that it is
quite possible that the Germans should
have learned the secret of the posi
tu&of “Central" and also that the aim
of the guns might have been accurate
enough to destroy the building, but
they cannot quite believe that the
Belgians could have made so grave a
military mistake as to expose their
lines of communication, and prefer to
think that the hotel was burned in
Incendiary fashion and the loss blamed
-on the Invaders.
RAIDED GERMAN SHOP.
Attacked by Liverpool Mob
After Lusitania Disaster.
Photo by American Press Association
In the country portions of Belgium
today there is scarcely a trace of war
beyond an occasional ruined building.
And in Northern France, the landscape
is infiintely more attractive than of
old because the extensive culture of
sugar beets, with their brown growth,
has been discontinued, and wheat and
corn, with green shoots, have been
substituted.
The destruction In Belgium may
have been overestimated and exag
gerated in the beginning. Whether
that or not, the combination of the re
construction efforts of the victors and
invaders, and the forces of nature in
the springtime have been made of it
once more a pleasantly smiling coun
try that taxes the imagination to draw
a picture of war in progress.
REPQRTERVISITS
NORTHERN FANCE, June 25—To
the seeker after sensations is com
mended a luncheon at the German
front, in an "Unterstand” or protect
ed underground cave house occupied
by some officer in the immediate neigh
borhood of a batter}' of heavy artillery.
Let him preferably come directly to
the cave from the trenches at a time
when the firing has been heavy, and
where he has been able to see rows
upon rows of dead between the Ger
man and French lines; and where also
he has been given a glimpse of real
warfare and some of its hardships,
and if possible let him choose the
colonel's wedding anniversary for the
day of his visit, for then there will
be, out in the veritable wilderness,
champagne in honor of the occasion
and perhaps a lively piano to offset
the shrieking of the shells as they
tear overhead.
This opportunity to make a study
in contrasts was afforded an Associ
ated Press correspondent on a recent
tour of Northern France.
The morning had been devoted to
inspecting the remarkable trenches
that form a vertable underground city,
with “bouses” that have “all the com
forts of home.” Overhead the Ger
man shells shrieked continously, and
their devastating effect could be seen
In part by circumspect glimpses over
the top of the trenches.
The way led by the Bavarian colonel
was through the winding, twisting,
seemingly interminable “Laufgraben"
Dr connecting trenches, and led out
suddenly into a little wooded clump,
less than a thousand yards from the
French trenches and not twice that
from their batteries. Just behind the
trees was a German battery that one
could bear but not see.
With a twinkle in his eye, the
Bavarian colonel turned sharply to the
right, down a neat and well-built pair
of steps and along a path flanked by
flowers. The path led into a spacious
room, the ceiling of Which vas about
on a level with the ground, perhaps a
little lower.
At the entrance stood a mahogany
piano. Comfortable chairs stood
about. On one wall was a book case,
and on another a big map with the
German lines indicated by little flags.
In the center was a long table, with
I spotless linen and gleaming white
china. A vase of flower sadded thie
final touch. v ?
Smiling, the colonel took his place
at the head of the festive board, in
vited the correspondent to a seat at'
his side, and waved to his accompany
ing officers to take their seats. He
admitted, a little diffidently, that it
was his wedding anniversary and that
he felt like celebrating.
His officers were in the midst of con
gratulations when—bang—went one of
the guns in the battery just to the
rear, and the shell could be plainly
heard as it tore over the roof of the
little dwelling, so incongrous in the
midst of all the evidences of active
warfare. ■ •'- '
For reply one of the musically tal
ented officers jumped up and ran to
the piano and struck up the Wedding
March. Its strains boomed out in the
little room, and were drowned for a
second as another—boom—sounded
from the battery. ■ ,
No luncheon in a big city could
have been more tastefully arranged—
nor could have tasted one-half as good.
From some mysterious recess a ser
vant—summoned by an improvised
electric bell—drew forth red and white
wine, and then champagne. The col
onel apologized for the shortage of,
glasses, only one apiece, and that
champagne had to be drunk from a
claret glass rinsed out with spring
water after serving its first purpose.
To the tune of booming cannon and
shrieking shells the health of the col
onel and that of his wife were drunk
in ice-cold champagne that tastecl
fully one hundred per cent better than
it would have tasted if served from a
silver cooler. The colonel responded
with graceful words regarding the
American press. The luncheon was
over, to the regret of everyone.
A boarded up entrance to what ap
peared to be a closet or chest caught
the eye of the correspondent.
‘ That,” explained the colonel, “is
the entrance to another room, a deeper
one. We have to go down there when
the French begin using their heavy
guns against us. This room is only
proof against the lighter shells.”
:o:
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 25.—To
supply timber for the construction of
the new government railroad in
Alaska, President Wilson has signed
an order creating a timber reserve
along the proposed line of the road.
The reserve will follow the route, and
will be 200 miles long and 5 to 10
miles wide. One purpose of the order
is to forestall any speculators from
getting in and tying up the available
timber for the purpose of extorting
high prices. All settlers along the
line of the .railroad, and within the
limits of the reserve, will be allowed
to use what timber is on their land
for themselves.
-:o:
AMESTERDAM, June 25 — The
Society of Dutch Captains and Mates
of the Mercantile Marine has passed
a resolution expressing indignation at
the German submarine war against
defenseless merchant vessels and non
combatants. The resolution also
conveys sympathy to the relatives of
all those who perished on the Lusi
tania.
■ — :o:
What is said to be the largest
pumping plant of the kind ever built,
having a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons
a minute, has been established in
Louisiana for drainage purposes.
■CHICAGO, June 25.—General Vic
torriana Huerta, the deposed presi
dent <J^ Mexico arrived here today
from New York on his way to San
Francisco. Huerta said that he had
enjoyed his stay in New York, very
much, but that he found the life in
the metropolis somewhat of a tax on
his nerves and was going to visit the
fair for rest and relaxation. He as
serted that he had not yet fully re
covered from his trying experiences
while president of Mexico. A
‘ ■'Jill - ’i. • -
-.
CHICAGO STRIKE
CHICAGO, June 25.—It is freely
predicted here that all the building
material plants in the city will shut
down within the next two weeks as
a result of the big strike of the car
penters, which has tied up the build
ing trades industry for the past two
months.
The lumber yards will all be doted
before the end of next week, and the
sash and door factories, and all con
cerns in similar lines must be forced
to follow suit. It has been estimated
that if the strike continues much
longer another 100,000 men will be
thrown out of work, and the situation
in this city among the workers will
become acute.
ALASKA EXHBirTis
ATTRACTING CROWDS
SEATTLE, June 26.—Attendance at
the Alaska exhibit, maintained by the
Chamber of Commerce in the store
building on Fourth avenue, near Sen
eca street, Seattle, has demonstrated
that interest in Alaska is widespread
and that the exhibit is a success.
Since June 1, the opening day, the
attendance has increased daily and
many of the visitors stated that they
were gathering information prepara
tory to a trip in Alaska. The Alaska
views, which are shown from 10 to 12
in the morning and 1 to 5 in the after
noon require two hours for each run.
They consist of many beautiful scenic
pictures and teach, through maps and
other means, the varied resources of
Alaska and the present state of their
development.
“The exhibit is educational as well
as entertaining,” said J. L. McPherson,
secretary" of the Alaska bureau of the
Chamber of Commerce, yesterday,
“Any one desiring knowledge of Alaska
can gain more by spending two or
three hours at this exhibit than by
hours of reading or days of travel in
Alaska.”
-:o:
Under a plan of extending the offi
cial supervision of the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad in Indiana, Ohio and
Illinois and bringing the management
in closest touch with the communities
served by its lines. J. C. Haggerty,
superintendent at Seymour, Ind., has
been promoted to the office of general
agent, and his headquarters trans
ferred to Cincinnati.
--:o:
A man named Pond recently caught
10,000 king salmon in one trap alone
at Tyonic. He has been offered $20,
000 for the-site but has refused.
-:o:..
Joe Feaster, the United States
Deputy Marshal, at Chitina broke his
collar bone b^ running his motor cycle
Into an obstruction on the baseball i
field at Chitina. i
K-6 RUNS AGROUND.
United States Submarine Which
Got Into Trouble In Naval Game.
Photo © by American Press Association.
LONDON, June —No department
of state has such an elastic organiza
tion as the British Admiralty, which
did not even feel the recent cabinet
change. For this result it can thank
Winston Churchill, since it was he
who introudced the Naval War Staff
feature, which stands behind the
First Sea Lord. The staff is the Ad
miralty’s thinking machine, and pro
vides ideas and information for who
ever may be in charge at the time. It
was created three years ago.
• No executive power is allowed the
war staff, which is purely advisory.
The subjects dealt with cover naval
operations, intelligence and mobiliza
tion. The head of the staff, obviously
should be a student of naval warfare
and an authority on questions of
strategy. He is empowered to sit with
the First Lord of the Admiralty and
the First Sea Lord at the meetings of
the Imperial Defense Committee.
When first organized, Churchill
foresaw it would suffer from a lack
of officers trained for staff duties. This
lack was supplied by giving the most
brilliant of the young officers a spe
cial course of training at the Naval
War College. Admiral Sir Henry
Jackson, who, as precident of the col
lege, put the scheme into operation,
was later called to the post of Chief
of the War Staff. Although his place
was later taken by Admiral Sir Dove
ton Sturdee, he remains at the Admir
alty on special service.
:o:
MEN REWARDED
IF FLAGS ARE
BERNE, June 25—An Italian manu
facturer, Signor Clerici, has given
$10,000 to be distributed in five re
wards of $2,000 each to the soldiers
who capture the first five German or
Austrian flags in battle. Slmiliar
patriotic offers are being made in
many Italians towns.
In Vienna, Baron Leopold Chlum
ecky has offered a prize of $2500 to
the first Austrian or Hungarian who
captured an Italian flag.
--:o:
LONDON, June 25.—Sit James
Crichton-Browne, who stands in the
forefront of English authorities on
mental and nervous diseases, says that
one of the saddest results of the war
will be a great increase in the number
of lunatics.
Addressing the annaul meeting of
the Asylums Workers’ Association, he
said: “Much of the aftermath of war
will find its way into asylums. The
enormous number of cranial injuries
will undoubtedly lead to much mental
impairment. The large number of
cases of shock to the nerves and over
strain will cause much neurasthenia
and other disorders. There has been
throughout the whole country im
measurable sorrow and bereavement
rhich in many cases will deepen into
aorbid melancholy.”
■ BOV^QQN'E, France, June 26—“The
land boatrace was ^he feature of the
Battalion Athletic Meet at camp this
week,” writes a British soldier from
the front near Ypres. The race is a
new thing, he explains, which has re
cently become very popular in the
army. It is conducted as follows:
“Six men have a large pole and sit
astride it, with another man at the
end as coxswain. They run with it
backwards like a rowing eight, the
coxswain steering, round a series of
hurdles and back. It is most excit
ing.”
:o:
FRESNO, Cal., June 25.—The Bar
ton winery in this city, containing
over a million gallons of wine, caught
Are last night, and was totally de
stroyed with a loss of half a million
dollars. The fire was spectacular in
the extreme, and was one of the bit
terest conflagrations that the fire de
partment has had to face for years.
The loss is partly covered by insur
ance.
:o:
HOLLAND TRADE
AMSTERDAM, June 26.—The Tele
graaf’s weekly trade reports from cor
respondents on the German border in
dicate that Dutch trade with Germany,
both import and export, is increasing
rapidly, as facilities are improved and
the proper channels of goods bound
for the Unted States. The exports are
mainly food supplies.
The Telegraaf's report from Win
terewyk says:
“Traffic with Germany, both import
and export, was again exceptionally
heavy during the past week. About
350 more carloads of fuel were im
ported than the week before, and the
supply of various kinds of manufac
tured goods is still maintained in the
same degree and is especially of Im
portance to America.
“Altogether there came from Ger
many into Winterswyk ,2,000 carloads,
of which 440 were manufactured goods
and the rest coal, briquettes and.coke.
There were also large quantities of
cement, pig iron and toys.
“The export to Germany has hardly
ever been as heavy as during" the past
week. This was in the first place
caused by large consignments of po
tatoes and meat, reaching a total of
275 carloads. In addition there was
butter, cheese, eggs, tropical fruits,
tapioca, arrowroot, bananas, tobacco,
raw cotton, old iron, and an Eastern
root, the flour of which can be utilized
in the preparation of bread.”
--:o:-—
It Was Ever Thus
An unknown man was found dead
in the outskirts of a small Kansas
town recently. A revolver and $100
In cash were found on his person.
The coroner held an inquest and it
took $75 to defray the expenses and
bury the body. The police Judge fined
the corpse $25 for carrying concealed
weapons and confiscated the gun. The
local editor, who published the
obituary, got nothing.