HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1938-06-03, Page 6�3a
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Driveways
e dmlveway and lawns come
!'er! there is often a source of
anoe to 'the gardener who der
Tits,a to keep his layout Spic and span.
U the -drives • are of cinders gravel,
gehertisiated stone, ear wheels or the
ynalgeters will often throw some of
'dale, mates -dal into the lawn with ap-
palling results on a sharp lawn mow-
e.r. Trhen again •t+he grass spreads
. froru lawn into 'the ,.driveway and
weedls travel in the other direction.
X$ driveway and lawn can be rigidly
separated with a permanent curb,
then.much trouble will be averted.
To do this many people are using
low hedges or a curb of flag stones
sunk deep on edge. If shrubbery is
decided upon then any of the spdreas,
barberry or other small to medium
height shrubs are used and either
capped once a year er allowed to
groat naturally. Shrubbery for this
purpose is planted about• 18 inches
to , two feet apart, depending upon
mature height. It must have good
sail and is best watered occasionally
during the first season. Sometimes„
shrubbery for the first year or two is
rein:foreed by a few strands.pf heavy
wire fastened securely to stout stakes
painted,,, brown or green.
Stone Curb and Weed Killers
When stones or brick are used they
must be securely anchored in the
earth or concrete. Only two inches
lett above the surface of drive and
lawn will be necessary. If higher
there will be difficulty in •moving
close with the lawnmower. Grass, of
course, is grown right up to the edge
of the stones. To prevent grass or
weeds growing among bhe gravel or
FULL
VALUE
FOR YOUR
Printing
Dollar
There's a
commonly used
expression:
"You get just
what you pay
for.”
The rule applies
to almost
everything you
buy—printing
included.
Good printing
can't be produced
at a poor price.
Poor printing,
even at a low price,
is expensive,
because it gives
the prospective
customer the
impression that
your service or
product is not up
to standard.
We give full value
for every dollar
you spend with us
for printing—and
our prices are
always fair.
Let us figure
, with you . when you
are ready to place
another printing
order.
Just Phone
41
The
x 'or
cinders, gardeners are advised to
spray with some of the oomrmtrcial
weed killers now available. If not
handy, gasoline will do the triek,
Care must be exercised to keep these
killers away from wanted grass,
flowers or shrubbery. Another suit-
able material for weeds or grass in
-dviveways is common salt, the cheap-
er and coarser the better. Not only
will a liberal application of 'this about
,one or two to a handful to the square
foot destroy grass, weeds, poison ivy,
etc., but it will also•,bind gravel to-
gether into an even surface, keep
down dust and repel frost. In some
parts of Canada salt is used pe all
gravel roads•and gives a surface eq-
ual• to light pavement.
Insects and Diseases
Garden insect enemies are divided
into two groups ---those that eat holes
in the foliage and ,those that suck
out the juices. For the first named,
poisons is usually applied, while the
suckers are attacked with a burning
spray which penetrates. Often when
bath are present, a combination of
poison and something that burns,
such as lime sulphur acrd arsenate,
gives 'the best results. The damage
from rhe biting insects is usually
quite apparent, but the presence of
the other kind is only shown at first
by a wilting or withering of the fol-
iage. Fob- sucking pests, chief of
which are the aphids or plant lice,
spray with whale oil soap, a quarter
pound of soap to a gallon and a 'half
of water; nicotine sulphate, or 'Black
Leaf 40,'- or any other repellent se-
cured from• a reliable seed Store.
Fungus
When fungus attacks .the plants,
the foliage usually turns yellow or
brown, or white spots like mildew
cover the leaves, Fungus is most
common in warm, murky weather.
Spraying with Bordeaux Mixture, or
dusting
with specially finely g
youn
d
sulphur is advised. Sulphur dust
will also protect hollyvhocks and
phlox from rust, if applied when oho
disease first shows itself.
Cut worms, which eat through
newly set out plants at the base
of the stem, are poisoned by spread-
ing sweetened bran mixed with Paris
green or special mixtures about the
plants. Where there are only a few
plants to protect the same may be
1 rovided with paper collars. •
Still Time
Even in the warmer sections of
Canada it is quite possible to have a
splendid garden from a start mace
in Jute. As a matter of fact more
Canadian geed -ens are damaged by
too early rather than too late opera-
tions. Many flowers and vegetables
make little growth during the cooler
spring weather and very often there
is fatal damage from frost. In any
case, h'oti•evet, even if the main plant-
ings have been made of flowers and
vegetables trhere are still plenty of
things to plant which will come on
after the first bloom or first vege-
tables are over. Experienced garden -
ere in recent years 'have been pur-
posely bolding back a portion of let-
tuce, spinach, carrot and other vege-
table seeds so that the harvesting
season may be extended just that
much. longer.
Early June is the ideal time in
most of Canada to plant seed of those
hot weather things like melon, cu-
cumber, m:ediusn or'- late corn and
beans. It is not safe in. many dis-
tricts to set out celery, tomato, cab-
bage and pepper plants much sooner.
There is still plenty of time to plant
Dahlia, Gladiolus and Canna bulb's
Or CO rms.
The Collie Knows
His Muttons
(Robert H. Davis in "Bob Davis"
Abroad")
There is nothing more marvelous in
glorious, green Scotland• than the Cel -
tie sheep dog. One shepherd said he
would "gi' me a somple o' sheep -dog
intelligence wi'out worruds." He stood
at the edge of an open field and whis-
tled sharply two long, shrill notes.
From a cottage in a nearby grove, a
black Collie came bounding across the
turf. Twenty yards from his master,
the dog stopped' and stood at atten-
tion, his eyes questioning the shep-
herd-
On the slope of the hill grazed a
flock of sheep, scattered in pairs,
trios and larger groups, covering per-
haps 50 acres. I was requested to se-
lect, anywhere within a radius of 500
yards, three sheep that were grazing
together. I chose three that were
browsing among some gray granite
rocks; at a casual glance they might
easily have been mistaken for part
of the landscape.
Without speaking a word the shep-
herd, resorting ter gestures, sent the
Collie up the hill through a dozen
other groups of sheep, and had him
work the three sheep down to the
meadow within 20 feet of where toe
stood. Not =other sheep on the hill-
side was in the least disturbed. Then
the sheenterd sent the dog with the
sheep back to the exact spot where
he had collected them. Ae a further
test, he had him cut out a single
sheep—of my selections -which he
drove down to the cottage. There
the Collie opened the gate of a small
corral, worked the sheep in and- dos-
ed the gate after it. -
' A well-trained sheep dog can inter-
pret 'the algae of his master at a dis-
tanee of tine* miles. It is not urins-
val for a shephrerd -+io send his dog
out to brinfg In ''sheep that are picked
dirt With a field: glass.-
kzrgo. �,� Innocence
(Condebeed from Ken in. Reader's Digest)
The crack new British destroyer
"Tremendous" was idling on patrol
duty off the north: coast of Spain in
the summer of 1937 when a wireless
message was brought to the Com-
mander
"Stanch by to escort French trawler
Argonne with cargo Spanish refu-
gees,"
Forty-eight hours later came an-
other:
"French trawler delayed. Stand by
to receive forty-two refugee* at
dawn."
Long ..before dawn the "Tremen-
d•ous" was at the appointed place with
all her guns ready for action in case
of an attempt at interference. Pres-
ently two fishing 1Foats came creeping
silently out of the mist and in a few
moments were alon•gs•ide. A messen-
ger ran up to the bridge,
"Mr. Caning's compliments, sir.
Copy esf the list of refugees."
The, Commander's eyes opened wide
as he began to read:
1. Jose Ramon Esquenra. Aged 7
months. Orphan.
-2. Maria Dolo Carrion. Aged
m
1 year 2 months. Orphan.
3. Manolo Juan Useavilla. Aged 11
months. 'Orphan.
The Commander looked up and saw
baby after baby being handed on
board, ctecked by the boatswain, and
delivered with the utmost solemnity
into the arms of one of the Able Sea-
men who were drawn up iri lisle. The
young Lieutenant in charge cast an
agonized glance up at the bridge from
time to time, as though he were ex-•
pecting some thunderbolt to fall. But
the Commander was speeohless.
Twenty-two babies he counted, and
after that a sorry procession of ten
woolen and all except three .had bab-
ies in their arms, too.
If a herd of locusts had descended
on ;his ship and started to eat the
brasswork the Commander couldn't
have been more bewildered. •As he
watched, one of the elder children
broke away from his temporary nurse,
tripped on the deck and instantly set
up a full-throated Latin yowl. This
was
thesignal fomostr
of the
other
c c t
L•illren po begin. From end to end
d
the ship became one lusty lament.
Summoning the: Chief..Petty Officer
t he Comma nder °demanded :
"Who's going on, Huggins? Who's
to look ' after these children?"
"Looks to me as though he was,
sir."
"H'm. You've checked the list?
Ara they all -pres•ent and correct?"
"Well, yes and no, sir."
"How do you mean—'yes and no'?"
"Well, sir, three of the children
ain't exactly born yet, sir,"
"But my God, Huggins, we can't
have children born on this ship!"
"No sir; but if that dratted French
trawler don't arrive soon, sir, it's my
re -anion you will 'ave, sir,"
The Commander passed a hand diz-
zily over his forehead. Huggins still
stood at attention, "Any more orders
this morning, sir?" -•
"No, no," the Commander said
wearily, "that will be enough." -
All that morning the ether vibrated
with agonized messages from the
Tremendous:
"Have taken on board ten women
and thirty-two babies. Whrat am I to
do with them?"
The flagship, at a safe, comfortable
distance, gave the unfeeling answer:
"Await French trawler and feed
them. Presume you have adequate
stores condensed milk. Rum ration
riot recommended."
The Tremendous answered with a
more urgent appeal:
"Refugees include three women li;,
able give birth any moment. Please
advise."
To this the reply was a little more
helpful: -.
"Adequate nursing staff on French
trawler. Should arrive within forty-
eight hours. Postpone delivery if pos-
sible,"
The Oomnnander realized that no
help was -.forthcoming from the flag-
ship. The bridge and his- own quar-
ters seeme-d to be the only part of
the ship not flooded with squalling in-
fants.- He was reluctant to leave this
stronghold, but he forced himself to
make an unofficial inspection. Var-
ious strange sights met -his eyes:
Able Seaman MacIlroy trying to sa-
lute with a -baby tucked under each
arm; a wonnan with no expression
wthatsoever, mechanically hunting for
lice in th.e rags of the child at her
breast; a girl aged three firmly
clutching her brother, aged twe, and
trying to pretend that she wasn't
frightened at this strange iron world;
and finally, Able Seaman Farrier do-
ing his best to comfort a misery -soak-
ed woman, "'Ere!" the was saying
rather loudly, "supposing I got you a
nice cup of tea. That'll make you
Leel better in no time." '
The woman' just gazed at him un-
compreh,endingly, ,an'd the Command-
er stepped over a crawling infant and
walked on.
All the women seemed to have that
same glazed;•• hopeless look, and the
children's large' brown eyes were far
too big for their pinched fades- The
Commander passed on saying noth-
ing, quite u',bending; but ,when he
went back to the bridge he burst out
passionately ti the seaman on duty:
"God, how I hate all people who
start fightieg!" -
The seaman said, "Yes, sir," in the
same .tone he which be replied to ev-
erything else the Commander said,
The Commander sent, for the Chief
Petty Officer again,
"Wihat about quarters for these wo-
men, Hugging?"
"They'll ave the men's quarters;
sir.,. The 'men will sleep on deck.
"And the -ei---the other three?"
"The officers 'ave tubmed out for
them, sir-"
lotted two babies and a tin bathtub
to each and gave instructions,
During ttbe"-next 24 hours the Oil-
dren were 's'ubjected to a strange mix-
ture of navy and • nursery discipline.
The .great moment of the day was
the" bath { parade at six o'clock when
all the tubs were placed in a Tow on
deck, A whistle blew and the mar-
ried men marched' up with a baby un-
der each arm. Another whistle and
the babies were undressed. Yet an-
other whistle and the washing began.
This was the signal for an outhneak
of cbmm•unity yelling; but that 'was
soon stilled, and the Commander,
watching from the ba•idge, was grati-
fied to see that some of the children
were actually laughing.
A play -pen was built just aft the
torpedo tubes amidsihdps, andthe
ml`a:gried men took their watches thele
instead of in their usual stations- The
children's filthy rags were gradually
discarded, and many of them fitted
out in strange bits of old navy uni-
forms. The Commander noticed one
d
r�+
.and eyed child in a curious garment
which appeared to be made of the
pajamas which he himself intended to
wear next week; but he said nothing.
There were other more serious mat-
ters to attend to. All that night -
th,ere • was a series of messages •to
the Commander from the ship's car-
penter, who was plaeed in routine
charge of the delivery room by virtue
of being married to a. midwife, and
from the Commander to the flagship
The news from the latter was reas-
suring, and the news from below was
still unalarming. • As the blue-eyed
iLeutenant unfotunatily expressed it:
"All theeehLvomen holding their own,
sin"
But at dawn a ssenger appeared.
"Mr. Canning's • compliments, sir.
Perez given birth to a boy. Mother
and child both doing well-"
The Commander leaned against the
deck'h'ouse in relief. But almost im-
mediately there was a message from
the wireless room:
"Frenc+h trawler gone aground. Re-
gret no further assistance pos•siblle. If
very urgent proceed Bordeaux. Dis-
embaY•kre ant women. Otherwise
P gr-
proceed' direct Portland with all refu-
gees. Good luck."
The ship was ringing with orders
for full speed to .Bordeaux when yet
another appeared.
messenger ear d
.
"Mr. Canning's compliments, sir.
Cheverra given birth to a girl. Mather
and child bath doing well,"
The ease and simplicity with which
it happened was nearly the Command-
er's undoing. He was beginning to
think -that a lot of unnecessary fuss
was' made about this business of bear -
ng Children. It seemed to him that
His Majesty's Navy handled this af-
fair, like most others, much better.
Besides, he had never been a man to
leave any job half done, and he was
now so overconfident that he imagin-
ed that hie ship and his men ' were
capable of dealing with any em'e•rg-
ency. So, after a hurried consultation
with Chief Petty Officer Huggins, the
orders were changed and the "Tre-
mendous" sailed direct for Portland.
Forthe first day everything went
well. The sun was sthin'ing and the
children had taken with delight to
the play -pen and the bathing parade.
Even some of the adults were begin-
ning to show some willingness to live.
Then at eight bells on the second
day, the labor of the third woman be-
gan- This was a very difficult affair
from the other two.
For 16 hours it went on. The
whole ship's company knew that if
only gone to Bordeaux it would have
been all right. It was actually as if
the ship's honor were involved; and
the whole 125 officers and men, ex-
cept when they were actually on du-
ty, paced up and down the deck with
hands behind -their backs, like one
agitated husband.
For a long tisie distressing mes-
sages came from the makeshift ob-
stetrical ward. But at last, after a
sleepless night, a messenger caime
rushing to the bridge.
"It's all right, sir, it's all right!"
he cried. Then he remembered him-
self. "Beg pardon, sir- Mr. Can-
ning's compliments,'" sir. Escarmota
given birth to a boy. Mother and
child both doing well."
The Com+mand'er had full control of
himself again. He never fliclted nn
eyelid.
"My compliments to Mr. Canning,"
he replied, "and ask him to issue a
special ration to the whole ship's
company."
The -entry into Weymouth Harbor
was a triumph. Half the Home Fleet
was concentrated there, and the story
had already gone round: bugie•s
sounded and signals- of congratula-
tions were run up as the "Themen-
dous" passed. Tihe Commander was
satisfied with his week's work;, he
had been given a job to do and he
had done it without assistance and
without loss, and as he passed the
Admiral's flagship, he had his whole
ragged cargo of children standing at
the salute in front of the ship's coan-
pany.
Later, the Admiral, egged on by his
wife, it is true, wrote quite seriously
to the Admiralty, shggesting that the
names Perez, Cibeverra and Escarxnota
should be permanently included in the
"Tremendous's" Battle Honore.
This request the Lords! Commis -
stoners somewhat abruptly refused ;
in which dteci'Siori some people still
Milk they were matte wrong.
"Good. And these children; they're
filthy dirty, Huggins. They must be
washed and looked after,"
"Yes, sir."
"Order a -parade of all the married
men at once."
"Very good, sir."
Within a short 'time the Commnand-
er WAS inspecting trio married ,men
dt'dwn tp in line, while Huggins al -
'La .mitre Belgique'
(Condensed from "Un.'demgrou+nd.
Newsin Reader's, Digest)
In August, 1914, when the first
gray wave of German soldiers swept
into Brussels, every B'ebgdan newspa-
per .immediately ceased publication to
avoid the Indignity of enemy censor-
ship. The German Gove'amor-Genea°al's
first aot was •to subsidize a French,
language newspaper, ' named the
Bruxellois, which made a great show
ref impartiality in its pres,entataon of
war news. The German's expected it
to be a valuable medium of propa-
ganda. It probably would have been
but for Victor Jourdain.
For 30 years this 74 -yew -old editor
of the Patriote had preached faith in
the treaties guaranteeing Belgium's
nedtraldty„, and had opposed prepare -
none for war. Then, with no warn-
ing but a brutal ultimatum, Belgium
'was overrun. The invasion demon-
strated the tragic fallacy of Jour-
d•ain's policy. Suffering from a sense
of personal resporksibility for his na-
tion's helplessness, he •determined• to
publislh a secret newspaper which
would expose the perfidy of the Brux-
ellois. He found an able ally' in his
38 -year-old kinsman, Eugene van Dor-
"Well, thi worst of our spring
cleaning le over."
"What is that?"
"Oh, my wife has burned up all
the valuable papers in my desk.`'
.P1
PIPE
TOBACCO
FORA MI LI?, COOL SMOKE
The project was daring to the -point
of folly. By October, 1914, Governor-
General von Bussing had made Brus-
sels a vast concentration camp. Ev-
ei'yone had to carry an identity card
bearing a photograph, and men be-
tween the ages of 18 and 40 had to
report regularly at the Komanandan-
tui, The streets were patrolled day
and nigrh't by armed military police,
and special brigades of secret police,
employing agents provocateurs, had
been organized. From time to time
curfew orders 'were issued at a few
hours' notice and enforced with rifles.
!::very day brought some addition to
'he list of "crimes"; it was a ..crime•
to take snapshots, to make sketch -es;
"to put up or expose or distribute any
written text, engraving or illustra-
tion" not submitted to the censor; to
whistle patristic airs, ter wear any-
thing recalling the national colons of
any of the Allies'.
Such were' the conditions when
Jourdain and Van Doren 'began pub-
lishing their secret paper. They en-
listed the help of a printer in an out-
lying suburb, and worked out plans
for an underground distributing .or-
ganization-. Eugene van Doren him-
self distributed ball of the thousand
copies comprising the first issue, his
parcels of 50 copies hung in festoons
under a roomy .overcoat.
On February 1, 1915, a pretty girl
coyly delivered a scented pink envel-
ope to the sentry in front of Von
Bissing's offices. For His Excellency,
personally, and very important- Would
the orderly be kind enough to deliver
it? The orderly did. Von Kissing op-
ened it to find the first copy of La
Libre Belgique.
Thusbegan a battle of wits in
which the beat brains of the German
Secret Service, all the forces et the
German military police, and, all the
Governor -General's powers of coercion
pitted themselves against the elusive
Libre Belgique.
To the defiant title, itself a direct
challenge to the German authorities,
Van Doren bad added a note of inso-
lent mockery: "Bulletin of Patriotic
Propaganda — Regularly Irregular —
Submdtting to no Censorship."
"The aim of La Libre Belgique,"
Sourdain wrote, "is to strengthen Bel-
gian patriotism until the hour, still
unknown but certain-, of the deliver-
ance of our country, and to refute the
calumnies hawked by the censored
press against Belgium and her Al-
lies."
Within a month of its appearance
there was not a soul in Brussels who
had not heard of La Libre Belgique.
In six weeks the paper• wasappear-
ingg twice weekly with a circulation
of 5,000 copies.
The scheme of circulation was built
upon a series of distributing circles,
continually growing until bundreds
were involved, radiating from Van
Doren. He remained unknown to all
except the vital contacts in the next
circle, and even. to those he posed as
a simple distributor. No one beyond
Van Doren knew of Jourdain's con-
nection with the affair. Th.e secret
of the system was so well kept that
many of the collaborators didn't dis-
cover until after the war that their
closest friends and neighbors were
fellow' conspirators- Even. the man
wtbo was in control of the paper at
the close of the war dlidsat know the
names of any of the editors who had
preceded him, nor of the majority of
the contributors, whose material
reached him through devious chan-
nels. •
When the paper continued to ap-
pear, week after week, it became a
nightmare to Von Biasing and to the
German secret police. It turned up
exasperatingly int Von Bissing's mail;
it was found in unexpected places in
his own quarters in Brussels; and
moreover, it was completely neutral-
izing the work of his- expensively sub-
sidized "inspired press." Something
had to be dope quickly.
WithTeutonic thoroughness the
city was combed. Day atter day raid-
ing parties burst into news agents'
stores and bookstalls. Edery printing
"shop known to the German police was
raided. -
Soon Van Doren realized that his
suburban printer could not hope to
avoid suspicion much longer, and he
decided to take a daring" step. There
was an empty factory back of his
haute -and in one corner of the fac-
tory was an embrasure which, if con- li
sealed by a m'as'king wall, would form
a perfect secret chamber some 13"
feet by seven. There he installed this
press. Bricks were brought in -one
at a time and a wall .closing the em-
brasure was built, whitewashed and
suitably dirtied. In the corner of the
loft above, two boards were loos'en'ed
to allow entrance, and -the trap was
concealed beneath a heap of lumber,
This hideout wad to be safe for al-
most a year.
]'or a celebration, Van Doren plan-
ned a streCial mnmberl- ".a treat for
our friend',Von Biasing." Lal, Libre
Belgique, No. 30, dated dune 1, 1915,
appeared with Its first illustration, a
portrait of Von. Bisahn+g cleverly fak-
ed tO l'ePregalit hi= Wading La Libre
correspondents
,(Continued from Page -2)
utas were NOT continued, for some
reason, that might be news.
2. Similarly, tt isn''t necessary to:
say "The • Meeting adjourned." P]v-
erybody„ knows it must" have adjourn-
ed or ,it'would be going yet: (These
two tangs would' starp you as an
"amateur" if you apP'lied for a job
on a big city paper).
3. Don't say "Hymn. 451 was sung"
or "Luke 6:6" was reatd. A moment's
thought will ,show the season why.
Who knows. what Hymn 451 is ajldout?
Who is going -to get a hymn: 1 &b1t-
end look it uf? Three to one, the
reader belongs to some other denom-
inati.4'n anyway and hasn't' that hymn
book. Instead of interesting, the. read-
er, you are annoying him—and that'e
bad! For similar reasons, it may be
proper to refer to "The 23rd Psalm,"
since- at least a large proportion et.
the readers know it by number, but
other Bible references by number of
chapter and verse 'are taboo. -
4. Be careful -how you use the word
"very." This doesn't seem important
to you, but you do not know how ser-
iously the word is 'over-worked. In
most .cases, it adds nothing worth
while. For instance, the paragraph
would sound no better if it was re-
written': "Be very careful how you
use the word; 'wrryy.' This doesn't
seem very important to you, but you
do not know how very seriously the
word is overworked."
5. Give more prominence to the
main items, less to mere. routine.
Dont start your sentences with
"then." (It is unnecessary). . Re-
member that a newspaper report dif-
fers from the • minutes kept by the
secretary. It isn't con•sid•ered• good
form to use the letters indicating de-
grees each as "B.A.," ((Reg. N." or
"D -D." in ordinary news items, though
people who should know better do
use them, but im special cases, as in
engagement and wedding announce-
ments, or where 'the degree has some
direct bearing on what is being done,
the men -tion -of these degrees is not
only permitted but encouraged,
One other hint. Long experience
has shown newstpatper editors that
"what,' "bow," "Why" and. "'who" are
more interesting than "when,' or
"where." For that reason, it is wiser
not to start out by writing: "On
Tuesday last, en the main street,• an
accident happened to Mrs. A., which
sent her to the hospital." Mrs. A's
accident is the interestitsg thing and
should be mentioned first, or the
reader may skim over the opening
wordsantl thinking
them uninterest-
ing,' skip that item entirely.
Finally, it is only fair to add that
these rules are not of our creation,
They have be -en discovered over the
centuries by a multitude of writers
and editors. We hope that this was
what our correspondent wanted. In
reporting Institute meetings, as in all
other cases, it might be suggested
that the things which interests the
press correspondent the •niost is prob-
ably the things which will interest
the newspaper readers also. -
Belgique. The caption read: ' "Our
dear Governor, sickened by the lies
of the censored papers, seeks the
truth in La Libre Belgique." This ex-
asperated the Governor- He took it
out on the civilians in a thousand
petty tyrannies.
Finally Van Doren's principal dis-
tributor was discovered and executed.
The distribution service was reorgan-
ized
eorganized with greater caution. Instead of
going to the houses of his sub -distri-
butors, Van Doren met thein at some
prearranged place: in a store, in a
tram shelter pr a. cafe, and never at
the samie place twice in succession,
A favorite rendezvous was in the
lifts at one of the big stores. With-
out a sign of recognition he and his
distributor would go up together. At
the first floor, Van Doren would get
out, leaving a parcel of La Libre Bel-
gique with his confederate.
By the end of 1915, the distribution
service extended over all occupied ter-
ritory. So severe was the surveil-
lance on some routes that it frequent-
ly took two days to make a 30 -mile
journey. Secret police patrolledf all
roads leading into towns, and were
authorized to shoot anyone who ran
away when summoned to open a par-
cel. Yet there was no lack of volun-
teers to distribute La,I.ibre Belgique,
Young girls made hazardous trips,
carrying the papers under their skirts.
One man carried, them', wrapped
around his body; some papers were
transported in parcels of fish marked
"Perishable."
The arrest and execution of some
link in the' chain was an almost daily
_occurretrce. On the 13th of April,
1916, Van Doren had. just flnishedi sup-
per when one of his daughters spied
the police congregating in front of
the drouse. He barely had time to
seize a coat and, still in carpet slip-
pers, clamber. over the rear garden
wall. Mrs. van Doren was arrested
and taken to be questioned, That in-
terrogation became a veritable pro-
cession; every few .minutes another
prisoner was brought in. About the
only chief conspirator not implicated
en this debacle was Jourdain. Thdn
came the news that the clandestine
press had been ak overed aa.] copy
for La Lib,•e LItegique co•ttl',cated,
The disaster c es complete.
Mrs. Van Doren spent' two and a
half 'months in --a. dell as hostage for
herhusband, and then was relea'ted.
The trial of the others, all accused of
"Thigh treason " ended with the. sen-
tence of 43 out of 46 to varying fines,
terms of ,penal servitude up to 12
years,. and some to German concen-
tration camps. Van Doren remained
,hidden in a friend's house for move
than two years, but his usefulness to
the paper was ended.
Twelve days after the, devastating
coup of the 13th of April, Von Bis
'sing found in 'his' mail a copy of Na
72 of La Libre Belgique, "with the
editor's com'plimen'ts." He searched
in vain for any reference to the mass
arrests, for any trade of the shatter-
ing blow. The articled' signed with
the eaimeefamiliar pseudonyms, were
fret one whit lese bitterly aggressive.
Thus, as tappemed time' and again
before and aftervwars, when the Ger•
mans believed. they -had at last laid
hands on the -'brains of the organize -
tion," tite .paper immediately ;reap- I
petrol to Stock thWitt. -
,,
4.1
t.
Jourdaau ,had, found a new printer,
sled had thrown copy together for
Nos. 72 and 73. Within a few days
of the appearance of No. 73, Jourdain
was amazed to find a No. 74 of La.
Libre Belgique in circulation- He
guessed it must have been produced -
by some isolated group trying to
nuke their presence known, and he
discovered that Albert Le Raux, a
stat'oner, hitherto head of the dis-
tributing organization,. was respon-
sible. As the German police were
now c;ose to the trail of Jourdain, ha
let Le itoux ' b.ecome the hub of the
crgariization. To minimize suspicion,
two printers were used. alternately: -
In March, 1917,- another series of
blows fell in quick succession, and
Le Roux himself was betrayed by a .
reader. He was away from his shop
when the police came for him, and
his wife marlaged to warn him, so on
the night of March 31st he escaped )
from the country-
P.pd now the young Abbe van 'dem
flout took charge of the paper- He
was a man of cold, implacable ener-
gy, and by regarding La Libre Bel-
gique'as a game to be played as hard
as was humanly possible, he manag-
ed to stay in• the mobile editorial
chair for the remainder of the war—
almost two years.
In January, 1918, the police struck
again. The pick of the German coup-
ter -espionage operatives had gone- re-
lentlessly to work and had arrested
roost of the contributors and distribu-
te rs, and had even surprised the
1 ditien of the
r witha whole e
to
printer
piper. The capture of practically the
wtole staff of La Libre Belgique and
the suppression, "final and complete"
of tee clan -destine paper was front-
page news in -Germany. At the Kom-
mendantrfr in Brussels there was wild ••
exultation. Two days after the big
coup the new Governor-General, Von
Falkenhausen, gave a banquet to the
secret police. It was a memorable
occasion. A telegram of congratula- ••""
tions was read from the All Highest,
and Von Falkenb.ausen and this guests
drank in champagne to the death of
La Libre Belgique- As- the dinner
was drawing to a close aa orderly
entered, saluted, and handed to Von
Falkenhausen a sealed envelope,
marked "Urgent" Negligently the
Governor-General tore it open—and
withdrew a copy of La Libre Belgique
No. '143. White and trembling with.
anger - he crushed the paper in his
hands, flung it aside and strode from'
the room. '-
His guests smoothed out the crump-
led paper and gathered round to see
what had provoked .the Governor's
rage. Among the words they read
were these: "For three years it rias
been decided to put a.n end to us,
and for three years we have surviv-
ed, , , - And so long as a German
remains on our soil we will be there
to oppose and defy 'him; so long as
Right and Justice are violated we
will be there to protest; so lung as
they try to conceal the Truth, raising
ever higher the walls of our prison,
we will be there to fling -the Truth in
the face of our gaolers. . . - We
will hold out to the bitter end. . .
To complete their mortification the
baffled sleuths found. that the articles
were signed with the pseudonyms and
bore the unmistakable imprint of the
style ,pf the .mer- whose capture they
had just been celebrating. They would
have found the situation no less in-
furiating had they known that somo
of the articles were written in: prison
and smuggled out under their very
roses, in the hollow handle of a food
hamper which the prisoners were reg-
ularly permitted to receive.
A few days before, when Van den
Lout's description and photographs
Were circulated, -he was faced with
two alternatives—to leave the country
or go into hiding. He did neither. He
let his 'beard grow and., with a clever
disguise, he became Monsieur Court-
ade, barrister, With a• faked identity
card the remained that 'character un-
til the end of the war. He was often
in danger of starvation because he
had no official existence, no legal
domicile and therefore no place on
the rations list. But he survived and
got out the paper.
And so La Libre Belgique contin-
ued 'on its gallant way, tormenting
the oppressor with undiminished zest.
Its editorials' determined national pro-
cedure on the many problems that a-
rose in the difficult relations between
the Belgian people and the enemy oc-
cupant, and this endowed the pager
with importance over and above the
moral stimulation its mere appear-
ance gave the oppressed people: IID
to the very end, La Libre Belgique
cautioned: "Belgians, calm! Keep
your heads ami your dignity to the
end-"
There were many faces missing
when King Albert rode back into his
capital at, the head of tris victorloua
troops in 1918. Some of the staff of
La Libre Belgique slept in the bursa(
ground hard by thine place of execu-
tion. Others lay beneath .numbered,
graves - in German prison( camps,
while others, namtelese couriers, were
bleaching skeletons hanglm;g on the
frontier wires.' And cad Victor join':
dein, had. died On. the eve of the vie -
tory which he 'had never, ceased to
proelaiin,
But La Libre Belgique was there,
2+00,000 Copies of it, recalling with leg-
.itimate pride the' bold oath made just
12 months before in the. 135th issue:
"'Coat What It may, we s'olemnnly swear
ft, Your Majesty will find proclaim-
ing him, on the day of his triurpthall
entry into bis be:oved capital, a spa-
tial edition of Ju? Libre fl'eigique."
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