Sylvia Sun from Sylvia, Kansas • 6

THE PUN. SYLVIA. KANSAS. RUSSIAN TROOPS HELPING FRENCH GEN. SIR HENRY H.WILSON Gen.

Joffre's Men Begin Offensive in Champaign and Near verdun. Ghe government is doing to heb those detained at the Ellis Island Station dur ina conflict- Commissioner Howes efforts, bearing fruit LULL ON THE BRITISH FRONT out Allies Are Preparing to Continue Big Drive Along Somme Slavs Take Baiburt yv 1 TBJ 4 il tat zMtf ht iT-L ISTEIt COMMISII, 'seuse me. When you t'Ink? Dr. Frederick CL ilowe, jOndon, July 17. Interest in the battle line in the Wrest shifted today from the Somme region to the Champagne district and the Verdun sector, where the French have undertaken commissioner of Immigration, was dozen times while showing a visitor il new offensive movements.

Northwest of Verdun, strong German positions have been captured and on the east bank of the Meuse the French have through the detention ward at Ellis Island. The commissioner listened patiently first to one and then another, giving each a kindly answer, says a writer In the New York Herald. Among those who addressed entered the German first line trenches near Thiaumont. In the Champagne, there is great activity by the French troops. On this part of the front the Russian troops sent to France several weeks ago, are operating with their allies.

A section of German trenches north Gen. Sir Henry H. Wilson is one of the British commanders directing the great offensive of the allies between the Ancre and the Somme rivers. of Aisne, near Oulches, was stormed and "cleaned out," as Paris puts it Increasing the Pressure. This Increased activity along the FLOOD DAMAGE IN THE SOUTH French front indicates that the allied generals are not content alone with the Anglo-French drive seeking to break the German line between women have been given Instruction in sewin? and Unprecedented Rain Storms Sweep Carolinas and Virginia Five Persons Have Been Drowned.

Bapaume and Peronne. And it is further evidence, observers say, that the French reserves are far from having been used up in the desperate fighting around Verdun, as was claimed Atlanta, July 17. Seriouw floods in North Carolina, South Caro him were an elderly Italian woman, who talked with a gesture expressive of the hopelessness with which she regarded her cuse; a young French woman, petite and earnest looking, who, when asked If she could cook, answered, Tres blen," and a young Russian Jew, who during a previous stay In this country served in Sing Sing and Is a member of the Welfare league. "They all want to get away," said Mr. Howe.

"We are doing everything possible to make It more comfortable ant homelike around here. We have removed many restrictions which heretofore existed, on the theory that the more freedom they have the more orderly they are Inclined to conduct themselves. "But with all this there is bound to be a feeling among those who are detained, for one reason or another, against their will that they are Imprisoned. In later years, however, some of them, 1 am sure, whether they are admitted to the country or are sent back to their native land, will look back on their stay at Ellis island as an Incident in their lives that was not altogether unpleasant" Most of the aliens now detained on the Island have been there since the European war broke out. In all there were some 500 Germans, Hungarians.

Poles, Russians and others being detained when Doctor Howe first took up his duties as commissioner of Immigration, the majority of whom had been ordered deported because of the violation of the Immigration statutes. They were men, women and children peasants for the most part from small towns and villages of Europe. Before the order of deportation could be carried out the steamship companies which had brought most of these people over were forced to withdraw their vessels from service on account of lina and Virginia today caused fivo known deaths, rendered hundreds by Berlin. Everywhere in the various war thea homeless, damaged property and crops ters, the pressure of the Allies against to the extent of $10,000,000, according to first estimates, and demoralized the Central Powers is being continued with increasing intensity. The.

Rus sians have made further gains against the Turks in Armenia and forced a railway, telegraph and telephone communication. Following the hurricane that struck the South Atlantic coast on Thursday, unprecedented rains Teuton retirement in Volhynia after capturing three thousand prisoners. provided with material to make clothes for themselves and children. A school has been temporarily opened to teach the children, and the New York city public library authorities have donated a number of books printed in German and other foreign languages for the use of those who have a desire to read. The men and women are permitted to mingle more freely In the various detention wards, and as a result of these Innovations the feeling which prevails among those who hnve been long detained at the station Is more cheerful than It was during the first few months of the war.

Attempts to escape, which were frequent at one time, have come to an end. "Ellis island Is the greatest portol In the world." said Doctor Howe. "There never lias been any portal like It for human beings. In normal times nearly a million persons enter the country through It each year. They come largely from countries where the government moans only militarism and taxes; they come to escape the feudal landlord, from Industrial and social conditions which have become Intolerable.

They come with hopes of a fresh life, of a fresh chance, of opportunities for themselves and their children. They carry with them the visions of America which hare been Indelibly printed upon their minds from the letters which have gone back to Europe from friends and relatives already in this country. The Russians Take Baiburt. London, July 17. Fighting on the eastern front was overshadowed today by the official announcement from Petrograd of the capture of the city of Baiburt, in the Caucasus, from the Turks.

Baiburt is of great strategical Im portance and lies about midway be have fallen, driving rivers and smaller streams from their banks and Imperiling many lives. The French Broad river has broken from its course near Asheville, flooding factories and homes in the lower part of the city. -At Biltmore three persons, Captain J. C. Lipe, Miss Nellie Llpe and Mrs.

Leo Mulbolland, were drowned when the Lipe house was flooded. The Vanderbilt estate at Biltmore was not damaged. Two persons were drowned at Asheville while trying to get to flood refugees in the second story of the Gleen Rock hotel. Many are marooned in their residences along the river and rescue parties for hours have fought their way against the rushing current in an effort to reach them. tween Erzerum and Trebizond, the Black Sea port.

The Turks are reported to be retiring In great haste in several sectors, destroying stores of all kinds. Constantinople does not specifically mention the Baiburt fighting in its wts wur, ana consequently those to whom admission to the country had been denied were forced to remain on Ellis island. Some of them have since been admitted to the country, either conditionally or unconditionally. The problem of making life a little more pleasant for those who remain is one which Doctor Howe has tried in a practical way to solve. He has come to know most of the unfortunate persons under his Jurisdiction personally, and IrM aim rt) 1 NAVAL COLLIER GOES DOWN iv Washington, July 15.

The naval collier Hector went down in shallow waters near Charleston, S. late today and was breaking up, according to a message received by the Navy Department tonight from Charleston. The message added that the collier was lowering small boats but did not say whether the 142 persons aboard had reached rescue ships in safety. The message was filed at Charleston at 4 o'clock this afternoon. The Hector had aboard a crew of seventy men and twelve officers and a detachment of sixty marines who were on their way from Port Royal, S.

to points in Cuba and Santo Domingo. official statement today, but says that the heavy Russian attacks In the Caucasus have been repulsed with severe losses. In the eastern part of the Black Sea Turkey claims to have sunk three Russian transports. A fourth was driven aground. The Petrograd official report says that "on the Black sea one of our torpedo boats destroyed twenty-six sailing vessels." British Make New Gains.

London, July 15. Appropriately, on the day of the French national fete when every Londoner wore in his buttonhole a tri-color ribbon in honor of his allies, came the stirring news of the successful British attack on the German second line which opened before dawn and carried a number of new positions. The Associated Press correspondent at the front describes the attacks as surpassing that of July 1 as a great spectacle and display of artillery power. Characteristic of the fighting throughout the battle of the Somme, the Germans appeared to be unable to bring up sufficient reserves to make successful counter attacks. Castro Ordered Deported.

New York, July 17. General Cip-riano Castro, former president of Venezuela, and his wife, who arrived here yesterday from the Port of Trinidad, on the steamship Vauban, were ordered deported from the United States by a special board of inquiry at the Ellis Island immigration station today. The hearing, which lasted fifty minutes, was private. The charge against General Castro, however, was said to involve moral' turpitude. The order as applied to Mrs.

Castro was characterized as technical. "And the Immigration laws of America have, in effect, If not in so many words, said that America welcomed those who did not fall within the excluded classes, those afflicted by disease or who are likely to become a charge upon the community. It held out an Invitation to the strong and able-bodied to come and share In the making of a new cation, free from abuses and oppressions of the old world. 'And of those who come over 08 per cent are admitted The rest are rejected because they fall within the Inhibited classes. And It seemed to me when I became commissioner of Immigration that the first contact of the alien with America should be one that would Impress upon his mind the thing for which America stands that the treatment they Ehould receive, the experiences they should pass through and the contact they had with officials wearing the uniform of the United States should be those of kindness, assistance and courtesy.

They come for the most part with fear in their hearts; they fear government rather than love it And their Instinct Is to expect something very like what they received at home. "First impressions are lasting, and It has been our effort at Ellis Island to make these impressions as democratic as possible, and to aid In as many ways as we could In protecting the Immigrant and assisting him to his final destination. For the Immigrant Is Imposed on he Is exploited. To prevent this as much as possible offices have been opened In New York city, one nt the Barge office, at South Ferry, and the other at 240 East Seventy-ninth street, to which the Immigrant can go and procure aid, assistance and advice about matters that concern him. Through these offices he is directed to schools and to the naturalization offices.

The offices co-operate with the police department and with all the many agencies In New York which have been created to aid the Immigrant. At these offices there are employment agencies which find work for men and women, and which aim to distribute them to farming positions to relieve the congestion In the cities. "Similar protection has been accorded the alien In transit to the West, In securing the best transportation facilities and otherwise relieving the Immigrant from the dangers which beset him while reaching his ultimate destination. "War conditions brought probably DOO men, women and children to Ellis Island who for some reason or other had to go back to their native land they were not admissible to the country. Each of these cases has been Investigated personally, their friends and relatives have been looked up, and In the great majority of cases they have been admitted on bond to some person willing to be responsible for them.

Positions have been found for hundreds, from whom periodic reports are required as to how they are getting along. Only In very rare cases have they failed to make good. In many Instances they have risen rapidly and are now earning very substantial salaries. "Similar efforts are being made to promote educational advantages for the adult Immigrant to encourage night schools. For the last year the names of all children of school age have been copied and sent to the superintendents of education all over the country, In order that they might Immediately place children In school upon their arrival at their destination.

By these means the government comes in immediate contact with the second generation of Immigrants and begins Its assimilation process as soon ai they reach this CONDENSED NEWS ITEMS wnen he visits the detention ward, which he frequently does, there are qUeStlnS t0 aDSWer cto to i Late one afternoon last October Doctor Howe, while going around the station on one of these tours of investigation, noticed a middle-aged woman, of neat, motherly appearance, with two pretty little girls cuddling up to her, sitting in the deten- tlon room. As the hour was late and he thought they were visitors Doctor Howe Inquired what they were waiting for and If he could do anything for them. The woman explained that she was British and With her children had been ordered deported. They had arrived from Great Britain about a month before, but had no friends in this country and no money and, therefore, had not been allowed to enter. The healthy appearance of the two children, their pretty faces and their evident good breeding won over the commissioner on the spot, and he immediately Interested himself in their case.

The woman's name was Mrs. Rita Horner, and her story was this "When the war broke out she was living with her family, which, besides her husband, consisted of two sons and three daughters, on a dairy farm some miles out of Capetown, South Africa. The country about them was rugged and and the girls, despite their young years, were forced to walk many miles every day to attend school. The sons, who were older, helped to work the farm. "The husband and the two boys, along with most of the able-bodied men In that section, enlisted in the British army soon after war was declared and were sent to the front They took part In the fighting In Belgium and northern France.

One son was killed and the father seriously wounded. All trace of the other son had been lost Mrs. Horner was unable to work the farm by herself, so she raised what money she could and went to England with her three daughters Una, fifteen years l'lrl. ten years old, and Itlta, nine years old. They had not been in England long when Mrs.

norner decided to come to America." On hearing Mrs. Horner's story Doctor Howe communicated with the authorities at Washington. He explained that these people were all strong and healthy, that the children were beautiful and that there was no danger of them becoming a pub-lie charge. Furthermore, he announced his willingness to be responsible for them, and a few days after the machinery had been set In motion word came back from Washington that Mrs. Horner and her children would be released in his custody.

Meantime the family had made friends with nearly everybody on the island. The watchman and guards petted the children and gave them many little presents. The attendants did all they could to make them comfortable. Despite these attentlpDs the children sometimes would act as if lonesome. Noticing this Doctor Howe one day asked the reason.

"We are not lonely for people, but lonely for animals," they answered. In South. Africa one of their principal pastimes had been to trek through the woods with their dogs. The Homers remained at Ellis Island for several weeks after they had been admitted to the country; then Doctor Howe took them up to a summer home he has In the woods In Westchester county. There they hnve lived all winter, enjoying life In the open country, especially when snow was on the ground and the deer tracks could be followed through the woods.

The two younger girls possess a knowledge of woodcraft which Doctor Howe says is really amazing, and they have no fear of getting lost in the woods. They walk for miles in whichever direction their fancy takes them, always finding their way back home by the same sort of Instinct as that by which an Indian Is guided. The Interest shown by Doctor Howe in this particular case was In keeping with his general policy of so administering the affairs of Ellis island that those who come to this country from other lands with the intention of making a new home for themselves will be treated with as much kindness and consideration as the enforcement of the exclusion laws permits. The enforcement of those laws Is bound to canse many hardships and disappointments, but Ellis Island is no longer a place to be dreaded. It Is clean, wholesome and comfortable.

The walls of the registry room, where the Incoming aliens receive their first Impressions of America, are no longer bare and forbidding. They have been draped with American flags and hung with portraits of the presidents and pictures of Important events in American history. Palms and other growing plants have been placed around the room. Photographs Illustrative of the natural beauties and resources of America, procured from the various government departments at Washington, have been placed In the detention room and around the corridors. Every Sunday afternoon a concert is given In the registry room, the music being furnished by some one of the organizations of foreign-born persons in and about New York city which have volunteered to furnish such entertainment A moving picture outfit has also been provided by another group of interested persons, and receptions are given every Thursday night.

These entertainments have done much to brighten the lives of those who have bem detained on the Island for months. Last summer to relieve the situation playgrounds were opened on the Island, and mothers and children were permitted to play on the lawns. The first day they were released from the station they rolled upon tRe earth and wept with Joy from contact with the green grass. During the winter months handball and other Indoor games have been provided. Classes In gymnastics have been organized for the men.

Tag Germans Surrender Freely. A second point, which Is emphasized by observers on the allied side, is that In fighting at close quarters the Germans surrender freely. Dispatches from Sir Douglas Haig, and from the press correspondents, show that the fighting again has been of the heaviest At one point the Germans, by a furious counter attack, succeeded in driving the British out of Bazentin-le-Petit. They Immediately were driven out again by a British Infantry attack, and the village remained firmly ia British possession. Britons Steadily Gain.

The day's fighting resulted in a steady Increase In British gains, leaving them in possession of the enemy's second position from Bazentin-le-Petit to Longueval, both inclusive, and the whole of Trones wood. A number of prisoners were taken, including two colonels and other superior officers. According to press correspondents, fighting was continuing hotly late today, with comparatively small British losses. The Pope Again to Appeal. Rome, July 15.

Pope Benedict, it Is reported in church circles, Is preparing to Issue a second appeal for peace on the occasion of the second anniversary of the beginning of the war, now only two weeks away. Burled Beside Heroes of '61. Washington, July 15. On the green elope where such heroes as Sheridan, Meade, Sherman and McClellan are buried, six negro troopers, members the Tenth Cavalry who died fighting at CarHzal were laid to rest today. Thirty-two persons lost their lives in the fire at Tatoi Forest that destroyed the chateaus of King Constantino of Greece and the crown prince, says a Havas dispatch from Athens.

Twenty-eight of the victims were members of the royal guards. Two columns of British troops operating on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Suez have raided sixty miles of difficult country held by the Turks, according to an announcement madf by the secretary of the British war office. Mexican women in the interior are subsisting on corn husks and wearing dresses made of flour sacks, and the peons virtually have been on the verge of starvation for months, according to the refugees. Famine riots are also feared at Acapulco. The State Department has lifted the embargo on explosives to Sonora, but to no other Mexican state.

American mining men are returning to Cana-nea, El Tigre and Nacozari to resume operations in their plants at those country,".