St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 18, 1917

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Aon 1917, by RL. Goldberg | Panama Canal, ting the Idea. inspector was examining grammar; and trying to tomplex relations of ad- buns by a telling exam- istance,’’ said he, “what. ®asy question and all the @ then looked around trie, hat else?’ said the in- sO easy; but after @ tured to suggest: nere is comething more poser, but at last an in- non almost leaped from eagerness and cried: T knew, sir—an ugly lft. Like Europe. t's become of that hoe end of yours? he’s running a place in f help has he?” ters, French cooks, Ital-— nd English majds.’’ ng the place on the Eu- fighting among the dif- ities every day.” ; iter Knowledge. letter,” said the exas- to his blonde type- word in it that should Du’ve only put one.” said the girl timidly, me pon the keyboard.’’ ee ener _ “He bas simply been trained so that if ever the . Be IN Ne i pane ore hg tes A a OB 4 PF ct RE ae es, ¥ r F to A ee Tet tee pee os FR DE On eee aad eats EF cies Oy ere ie by Be adh VC a ee ee same mstie ee Ale ie , 5 z ae a? ss Hd LeaR eS Be Ny ak Cae 4 > Sg) OS ara a sare fe A ae © Set OR x a ES ERE LR TSS Bh = gee: ter Nae . eR : es + 4 - + ; + Ae sees be ons + + ~ rites re - ps ee ss . > . wees * rr] . sass . * . > > j : * : $ re eeere® . weeeeeer . s . sete : *3 : ore ees cares ee ene co tres ete * > rs yes >. cress sehen et oaee ‘ eee see Siicgoseeereserscessccoeses sees tools % tose he psse seeseecses Babli =e + ei ed —— aaa, ST. LOUIS, SUNDAY General Military Training Calls It a Truly American Plan Which Would Raise Moral and Physical Tone of the Nation—‘“‘Most Moderate and Reason- able Preparedness Plan Ever Devised.” By Henry N. Hall. A Special Correspondent of the Post-Dispatch. NEW YORK, Feb. 17. 6¢70° VERY man owes a duty to his country which he should pay \n part by personal service in time of need, and it is only fair to him that his-country should train him that if ever an emergency arises and he is called upon to serve he may do so in the most efficient man- ner and with the greatest economy of life. That is why-I am in favor of the proposal for unt- we must have miiltary training. , versal military training. This war has demonstrated one thing above all others: you cannot take men raw from the street and push them into battle. It would be nothing short of murder. So “Military training must be universal. Equality is the very Hfe-breath of democracy. The absolute civil and political equality of all citizens is a cardinal principle. of our ‘republican form of government, and whatever duty one man owe: is owed by all men alike. Whatever steps are taken to train our citizens for self-defense must apply to all—to the rich and to the poor, to the learned and to the ignorant, to the country boy and to the town lads. chance. So, military training must be universal. All must have an equal “Universal military training will do this for the United States: It will raise the moral and physical tone of the nation, it will develop the individual. It will create a sense of duty and re- sponsibility, it will instill respect for lawful au:hority and give birth .to a feeling of nationalism instead of the feeling of actionalism which still exists. Finally by training the son of the mil- lionaire alongside the son of the laborer, it wil' make democracy a living thing.” Ge Thus, in straight- flung words and clean- cut phrases Gen. George W. Goethals, the man who built the told me of his belief in unt- . versal military train- ing. The former Gov- ernor of the canal zone has hung out his shingle in New York. On the door is lettered a plain sign: “George W. Goethals, Consult- ing Engineer” — and taside the offices are familiar faces of trust- ed employes brought up from the isthmus. He was ready and willing to talk of uni- versal military serv- Ice, because he had been consulted in the drafting of the Cham- berlain bill itself. .The plan was worked out by Capt. Mosley of the Army War College and gineering. Shoals Canal, fenses. all others had failed, engineer. MAN WHO BUILT PANAMA CANAL EN GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETH- ALS was born in Brooklyn in 1858, and educated at the college of the City of New York. In 1880 he was gradu- ated at West Point, where later he was ap- pointed instructor in civil and military en- His first big work on the Tennessee River. During the Spanish-American War he was chief of engineers. After some time spent at the War College, he was appointed a member of the Board of Fortifications, which has control of coast and harbor -de- In 1907, when a Lheutenant-Colonel, he was appointed by President Roosevelt to be chief engineer of the Panama Canal. Where sucessfully completed the great 1914, when President Wilson made him a Major-General, and appointed him first civit Governor of the canal zone, | In 1916 Gen. Goethalé retired, and is now engaged in private practice as a consulting United States is invad- ed or its coasts at- tacked, he may be able to do his part in de- fending the country in an efficient manner. He will take his place in the ranks as a trained man instead of as a raw recruit. The bill also specifically provides that he ceases to be a member of the reserve citizen army or the re- serve citizen navy and liable to be called upon for service as soon as he reaches the age of 28, “The proposed law further provides that all expenses of the men in training shall be paid by the Federal Government, and that no employer may preju- dice or imenyway pen alize an employe be- cause of training under the act. Finally, any was the Mussell’s he triumphed, and work im was put into legal form by a distinguished member of the New York bar, Edward Harding; but Gen. Goethals gave his ad- vice and experience and was ready to lend all the weight of his indorsement to it. He said: Chamberlain Bill Moderate and R easonable. “The Chamberlain bill, which has been favor- ably reported to the United Senate, is the most moderate and most reasonable plan of national training ever devised. One great thing about it is that it is a distinctly American plan. It is not an adaptation of the Australian act, nor is it the Swiss nor the Argentine system remodeled to fit the United’ States; it is a good, straight, thor- oughly practical plan, worked out by Americans for Americans, and made to fit American condi- tions. It is so simple that a child can understand it and so fair that no American who loves his country and is willing to serve it in time of need can state a reasonable objection to it. “It must be clearly borne in mind that any sys- tem of universal military training, to be success- ful, must be under Federal control. “The plan is simply this: That every Ameri- can citizen who is physically and mentally fit and who has no dependents to support shall, on reaching the age of 19, be trained for six months in a military camp or on a naval vessel. Only three months’ training will be required in the first year the act goes into effect. No training at all will be required of any man on whose earnings a wife or child or father or mother or sister or brother is wholly dependent for support; but, on the other hand, no substitutes will be accepted and no exemption from training will be purchasable. “Also, the training applies to all American citi- zens without distinction, rich and poor, college student or farmhand, and neither wealth nor pull will be able to exempt anybody; yet a man may choose whether he wishes to serve in the army or in the navy, whether he wishes to be in the artil- lery or the cavalry or the infantry. The bill goes even further than that: It permits every man to express a preference as to the time of year when it is most convenient to him to undergo training. Bost city lads will probably want to do their tenining in‘summer, but a certain number—par- ticularly of the farmers—will select other periods of the year, when training will not interfere with their regular pursuits. Can’t Be Called for Strike Duty. “Once a man has undergone his period of train- ing he becomes a member of the reserve citizen army, or the reserve citizen navy, a8 the case may be, and he is Hable to call in case of de- fensive war or in imminent danger that the coun- try is Hable to be ; this is most im- portant from the point of view, of labor—he cannot be called out for strike duty or in case of indus- trial dispute and he cannot be called upon for for- ‘ man who has under- gone a period of training will receive from the Government a certificate which will entitle him to wear a distinctive rosette showing the year’s class of which the wearer belongs.” I asked Gen. Goethals whether, in view of the fact that most European nations have always, in times of peace, insisted upon two or three years’ training and had never called men to the colors before 20, he thought that the provisions of the Chamberlain bill as to age and duration of serv- ice would withstand criticism. He said: The Question of Age. “Once we are agreed that a system of military training is essential, we have to decide on the age at which it is best that this training should be given and on how long it should last. As we have seen, the Chamberlain bill fixes the age at 19 and the duration of the training at six months. I think that all thoughtful men who will take the trouble to ascertain the facts will agree that 19 is the right age and six months the minimum period in which really efficient results can be obtained. “At the present time we are enlisting in the regular army of the United States men of 18 and even boys of 16, with the consent of their parents, but the conditions are slightly different. For a period of intensive training applicable to all citi- zens, I am well convinced that 19 is the best age. Before the war both France and Germany called ‘up their young men for military service at 20, but actual war conditions have shown that at 18 a youth can do good service in the field. Certainly at 19 the average man is strong enough to under- go training. If he is not fit at 19 there is little prospect that he will ever amount to much phys- ically. The Family Exemptions. “At the same time the man of 19, although fully developed physically, is rarely fully developed from the economic standpoint. He is usually un- married, and, of course, interruption of family interests must be avoided whenever it-is possible. If he has a wife or child solely dependent upon him for support he is to/ be exempted, and this exemption extends to all who are actually sup- porting dependents, even sisters and brothers. “But except in the case of men supporting de- pendents, the exceptions have been reduced to a minimum. This was due for reasons of justice and efficiency. I cannot lay too great stress upon the fact that universal training is the only just and democratic way. The volunteer system is the most unjust of all. That has been proved by the experience of England in the war. When Kitchener started in to raise his army the first half million men he got were volunteers. They were fine young fellows, with a strong sense of patriotism, who’threw themselves into it with all their hearts. They were the best morally and intellectually that England had to give. It would not be fair in America to take merely the flower of our youth | | Continued on Page Eight. ees . i! : Life and = ; > | : £ xi 1 # 7 TTT Th eae PPseT se, te > ee r Ss First Installment of Personal Narrative by Chief Officer of Giant Aerial Cruiser Tells of Struggle for Life in the Face of a Violent Storm and of Rescuing Pilot and Assistant From Wrecked Hydroplane—Succeeding Installments Will De- scribe Bomb-Dropping Over London and Other Cities of Eng- land, Battles With Aeroplanes and Dodging Searchlights Thousands of Feet in the Air. The Post-Dispatch today begins the on a Zeppelin airship engaged in fighting Germany’s air battles. publication of a _ narrative of life The author is the com- mander of the L-120, which is one of the new est and largest of the German aerial craft, In the course of his narrative, the author will recount many thrilling experiences he has en- countered while piloting his ship over enemy fire, while dropping bombs over English towns, and while breasting the elements in all thetr anyry moods. The succeeding install- ments will be printed soon. By THE COMMANDER OF L-120. Translated From a Book Published by Ullsteen & Co., of Berlin. station attracts the attention of the com- mander of the Zeppelin, L-120. “Hello, this is the Admiralty. Hydroplane 597 has not yet returned from the reconnoitering trip it took to Horn’s Riff yesterday. Ascend immedi- ately and search the sea of Helgoland—Pellmorn to Horn’s Riff. The fourteenth flotilla has already put to sea to search. When will you be ready to ascend?” A minute of fast thinking followed. “In half an hour I will report the time of leav- ing.” The strength of tle wind is at 4 or 5. Heavy rainclouds are coming up from the west which did not make the conditions to ascend for a long trip exactly inviting. But our comrades are fighting against the wind and waves, and there is no time to hesitate. We must try to save all who can be saved. I know my ship. I know what I can expect of it even in heavy weather. I have tried my men on many a trip—surely these were not joy rides. Immediately orders are given to the crew and T brisk .ringing of the telephone at our the men.manning.the.ropes that hold the giant ship. This is restless work and in half an hour the engineer reports: “Ship cleared for action!” The hangar is revolved so that the arship is be- fore the wind. Noislessly the big doors are slid- ing back, and the nose of the great giant, who has been sleeping inside, is visible. Slowly the large, long body appears from the shelter. The wind tries to throw the ship against the walls. But it is of no avail. Hundreds of strong hands hold the guy roppes and lead the giant clear of the hangar. Cut Her Loose | A signal from me, and the propellers are turn- ing faster and faster. First only a smooth hum, the noise of the propellers becomes louder and louder until they are running at their top speed. “Cut her loose!” With the wind behind her, the air cruiser rises speedily. With all their power, the propellers are thrumming the air behind them and sending the ship on its selected course. Now we are over the sea. At first we are crossing Helgoland and then we are nearing the coast of Holstein. I am searching in a zig-zag course, according to the orders given to me. A sharp lookout is kept on all sides over the water. Far and near, nothing can be seen of the miss- ing hydroplane. A dozen torpedo and patrol boats are also searching, strung out in a long line. But my men in the air cruiser can search over a much wider area. At top speed, we are flying over them. L-120 is already nearing Lister when the sharp eyes of one of my signal mates suddenly discovers far ahead of us to port a speck on the water. All our eyes are turned in this direction, but nothing further can be seen. L-120 is racing for this speck. A few minutes more and the missing are found. Help Arrives at Last Minute Our help had come to them at the last minute. Half on top and half under the water, the badly damaged hydroplane was drifting to its end. Clearly I see the Iron Cross on its planes. Now we also observe the men. One of them is appar- ently at the end of his strength, for he is wab- bling in his seat all doubled over. With a final effort he is attempting to turn the hydroplane with the help of its motors, which are still work- ing, but very irregularly, to the wind. His com- panion is seated near him and signaling to his rescuers. Mercilessly, the waves roll along, one after the other breaking over the men. Both must have been half frozen by the icy cold water, and the experience of the terrible night spent in the crippled hydroplane must have brought them near to their finish. : I realize it is difficult to save the men fro the airship because it is sure to be damaged itself by the heavy seas. I resort to our wireless and order: “Signal Mate, give the position, Hydroplane 597 found 15 miles west-northwest of Sylt, badly damaged. The crew is still alive. The rescue of ‘the aviator dnd his assistant by L-120 would be extremely difficult in the heavy sea. Send help immediately by the nearest ships.” ’ Within a few seconds I have an answer from one of the boats, that at top speed it is racing to- wards us. I am calling through my megaphone to the men in the wrecked hydroplane to hold out. The wind carries my words to them, and they understand, realizing that their comrades are near them and that they will soon be saved. The Rescue by Torpedo Boat The first torpedo boat appears. It approaches at a reckless rate of speed. Frequently the waves break over the bridge in the heavy sea. The white, oil smoke is pouring from her funnels. Rougher and rougher becomes the sea. The storm ( is getting worse. Slowly the hydroplane is sink- ing. Its port side is already under water, and it is in danger of capsizing now, with help at hand. We are throwing ropes to them, and I order the ship to descend even nearer the surface of the sea, so that the waves are already touching the cabin and pontoons. L-120 must again ascend. Those two men down there; now hanging to one! of the pontoons, cannot let go and neither can they reach our ropes. Now the torpedo boat has arrived. At the same minute, as the hydroplane {fs sinking fast, life belts are thrown to them. The torpedo boat is rolling heavily in the sea, but it is coming closer and closer, in spite of the waves that wash over her constantly. Boat hooks are pushed out to the men, but they cannot reach them any more. They are so Weak they do not dare loosen their grip. There! One of the mates, with a rope tied around his waist, dives into the sea. He reaches the men, and, with much difficulty, ties them to the lines which are thrown from the torpedo boat. Then they are all hauled aboard, ‘where they im- mediately collapse from exhaustion. Too great had been the physical and méntal strain to which they had been put. With the aid of the ship’s doctor, woolen blankets and good brandy they are soon brought back to life. The airship and the torpedo boat turn homeward once more. All my men are in good spirits over the rescue. To the Admiralty I send the report that the airmen have been saved by torpedo boat V-13. | Zeppelin L120 Battles Gale a L-120 is still near Sylt when suddenly from the northwest dark clouds appear. Within a few minutes they come up out of the sea like a great mountain and darken the whole western horizon. With unbelievable repidity, they are spreading as they come nearer and nearer, and we know it is a gale. Higher and higher the waves break below us, running against one another like wild beasts so that the sea looks like a big whirlpool, a mass of boiling, white foam. The gale is here. The barometer has fallen to 742 millimeters. There is no escape from the dark, angry, wind-filled clouds. It is not possible to go either to the right or left of them, so we must hold out and go through them. It is now absolutely dark. Horizontal and vertical violent gales are tossing the L-120. Heavy rain and hail is falling, making the airship so much heavier. Now the gale is driving it up, the next moment the ship is thrown hundreds of meters down. The thermometer registers 6 below zero (Cent.). Our woolen and leather clothing no longer keeps out the cold. The icy wind goes through the thickest coats and freezes our blood. Hardly can our stiff hands pull the controlling levers. 7 Ballast and more ballast is thrown overboard. Harder and harder the rain falls on the frame of the Zeppelin, where it freezes as soon as it touches our ship. The ballast is quickly melting away as we throw it overboard. As a last re- sore, #9 still have some water in our supply tank and next the benzine tanks must go, and the rest of our equipment, and then? | As if the storm were trying to finish us, it is now right on us, and we are in the middle of it, taking hold of L-120 and tossing us to and fro. My men can hardly stand on their feet. They are often thrown about, vainly trying to: find something to hold. The ship hardly minds its rudder—and now I al - NR = A er rene en ee me Re ER rE FE I EE ER ee PRIN 62 ™ Brea’ Riss. ee 7 eR De piste a a “ ES sO fs 54 ee “ oo as . ~ eee “ PLS 3 : re rhe Ser Em 2 — ie : : 2 ae basen Bh. e ee PS PR GN Oem met — ~-+ - *&* Se 2060 te Vee See $ . How a Zeppelin Does Its Destructive Work grind my teeth together—does that mean our end? One of our rudders is out of commission, we lose control of the ship, dnd the heavy wind grabs it and throws it down. With all their strength my mates are trying to bring the ship into position again on an even keel. It is of no avail. The rudder does not move. It is set as if held by iron. The sky is now black and dark. Another toss of the wind throws the L-120 nearer to the waves, which, like a polyp, are stretching toward us as if to grab their vic- tim. With muscles like steel we are fighting for our lives. Our veins bulge from us as if they would burst. Now several of the steel trusses are broken. A minute seems like an age to us, and I realize the great responsibility of my ship and crew, resting on me. With nerves of frou I give my orders calmly. Slowly the. bow is ris- ing. The rudders work again. Our danger is passed. The storm is losing its strength, the weather ; is clearing and the sun appears again. The air cruiser has not suffered heavy damage, and, thanks to the ability of my men, we got off lucky. At top speed, L-120 races homewards, and I send a wireless we will arrive in an hour. There had been great anxiety over our fate at the port. The storm had also worked havoc there, and they had feared that the L-120 would be lost. One hour more and land is sighted. I had just enough ballast to make a safe landing, and then the hands of hundreds of men grabbed the guy ropes, leading the giant to his resting place, where he may stay until a new order again calls him out to a new fight—to a new victory. The Great Ship in Her Hangar Softly and noiselessly snow is falling from the clouded sky. It covers the fields, trees, the great hangar and the houses in the background. As fn times of peace, all is silent. A guard is pacing his sentry beat with collar turned up and his face red from the cold. One }\ can see far, but nothing is happening. A pair of sea gulls comes sailing, shrieking and resting on the roof of the hangar, looking about for prey, but soon they disappear in the direction where bright glittering tells of the sea. cially on those centers of industry called by the horrors of war. And with an iron hand tiey have hammered against the wall of alleged: vincibility which British affrontery had built cause of the centuries it had been immune £ attack. But like in the wind, this vincibility shattered by the detonations of German a F . : | Meeting of the Zeppelin Com ni The war in all its: flerceness was withi very vitals of: the country and with it fear, and death. 4 ce ee A deadened noise attracts attention and then — the shriek of an automobile horn is. heard. At great speed a gray car appears, turning into the entrance ard stopping before the building im which our casino is located. = wet ‘Two heavily muffled figures leave the car 4 Wisappear into the corridor, where they # Lloyd-George “the backbone of England’s fight- (. ing forces,” where day and night arms and muni- tions are manufactured in enormous quantities;