HIS tUlllCAL SOCIETY
'
VOLUME 16
CHEROKEE ALFALFA COUNTY OKLAHOMA NOVEMBER Iff 1918
NUMBER 18
GERMAN MENNONITES
ARE GIVEN STRINGENT
ORDERS REGARDING DUTY
Most Exciting Day in History of
Council of Defense is
Full of Interest
INTO MENNONITE CREED
Iroof that Mennonites Incited
Spirit of Resistance Among
Drafted Men and Urged Them
to Fail to Respond to Duty
One sent to Federal Prison
RESOLVED: That any person
who shall be found guilty of
a the use of the German langu-
ago In public or private within
Alfalfa county shall be fined
a minimum of twenty five dol-
lars with an Increased fine In
proportion to the offense
' 1
The above resolution was one of
the results of the session of the
Alfalfa County Council of Defense
held last Wednesday and the other
result - was the Jailing of Henry
Schmidt and Sam Kuhns of Man-
cheser two of the most prominent
Mennonites and conscientious objec-
tors In Alfalfa county Kuhns and
Schmidt were summoned by the
- local hoard along with a number o
their neighbors to clear up some
matters relative to interference with
the selective service Proof ( has
been accumulating for several
months past that there has been an
organized conspiracy among mem-
hers of the Mennonite church to en
courage resistance and to induce
men called into service to refuse to
wear the uniform or to obey orders
The most notable cases are those
of three Alfalfa county drafted men
who were condemned by Court Mar-
tial and sentenced to twenty-five
years An the federal prison at Leav-
enworth They were Privates Meis-
ter Voth and Butz Butz Is from
the Mennonite settlement In the
northeastern part of the county
The following affidavit from Os-
wald Hess a soldler'now in France
gave partial evidence regarding the
conspiracy The details are being
investigated with the regard to the
others Following is the affidavit
from Hess before he embarked over-
seas Affidavit
Camp Custer Mich Aug 24 1918
County of Calhoun State of Mlchi-
gan ss
Private Oswald Hess being first
duly sworn upon oath deposes and
says that his name is Oswald Hess
that he Is from Manchester Alfalfa
county Oklahoma that his local
board for Alfalfa county is at
Cherokee Oklahoma that he came
to Fort Riley Kansas in May 1918
having been drafted on the 27th
day of May 1918 that he left his
home to proceed to Ft Riley Kan-
sas on Monday morning that on the
day before he went to Sunday
School and Just after the school
adjourned he was approached by
Henry Sohmidt and Sam Kuhns
who took him aside into the corner
of the church and attempted to per-
suade him to refuse to put on a
uniform when he came to camp
that he (affiant) is 23 years old
and a farmer' that the said Sam
Kuhns and Henry Schmidt are
neighboring farmers that they both
are Germans that Schmidt is about
40 years old and Kuhns about 35
that they own their farms and have
no families
Affiant further states that Sam
Kuhns and Henry Schmidt are both
Mennonites that he has a friend
by name of Fred Buts pronounced
(Boots) who told him (affiant) that
the said Sam Kuhns and Henry
Schmidt advised him (Butz) when
he went to camp cot to wear the
uniform and that the said Butz is
now at Camp Travis Texas and
that he has so far persisted in re-
fusing to put on a uniform has not
put on a uniform and was Induced
not to put on a uniform by the
said Henry Schmidt and Sam Kuhns
that he (affiant) has not followed
the advice of Schmidt hnd Kuhns
and their advice had no effect upon
him as he wanted to tight for his
country and do what was right He
was born in the United States is
LAST CONTINGENT OF
SELECTED MEN ARE ’
HALTED AT TRAIN
Two Hundred From the Septem-
ber 12th Registration Mobo-
- Used When Peace Came
HONORABLY DISCHARGED
More Disappointments Among the
Bunch of Men Who Were
Called Than There Ever Was
Reluctance of any Contingent
to Go Soldier’s Brother in
Charge
The last contingent of selected
men ror service in the National
army were ‘‘resting on their arms"
when peace came and Just a short
time prior to entrainment orders
came cancelling all draft calls and
releasing the contingent The two
hundred men the largest contin-
gent ever called from this county
were mobilized Monday afternoon in
the midst of the peace celebration
It was fe’t that they would not be
sent to camp but in the absence of
orders preparations were made for
their entrainment The men were
organizod with Elmer George Gano
of Helera and Web Watkins of
Cherokee in charge Gano Is a
brother of Sergeant William Gano
wh was killed in action In France
last month
The assistant leaders appointed
temporary corporals by the local
board were as follows: Harry Gil-
dermeister Arthur L Miller Grant
H Smart Harry Kephart Edwin
Bradley Dewey Rhoades Robert
Powell Thomas Wiles Le Roy Val-
entine Harry Edwards Guy Dun
ning Ross Swem Clyde Graham
Willis Harrington Emmet Hoge
John Preston William Llewellyn
Holbert Bonto George Westfall
Aaron Belcher Charley Roy (Law-
rence Graham Claire Brandt and
Warren David
During the mobilization the boys
wefe“ treated to a’ wonderful address
by Dr Sheppard Y M C A work-
er who was here In the United War
Work campaign Dr Shepherd told
of the conditions he had seen on the
western front and spoke with pride
a feeling of the morale of the
American soldier "It was the
American morale that marked the
turning point in the war The sol-
diers of our allies do not under-
stand yet where the boys get their
wonderful enthusiasm They do not
know that it comes largely from the
wonderful support they receive
at home”
Orders cancelling the call did not
come Monday although the rail-
roads had orders not to entrain
any more dratted men In the ab-
sence of the orders the men were
required to return Tuesday morn-
ing By the time they assembled
Tuesday morning orders from Ma-
jor Kerr were received to cancel
the call and the two hundred near
soldiers were given an honorable
discharge from the forces of the
United States Followng their dis-
charge they attended another pa-
triotic meeting addressed by Dr
Best United War Worker
an American citizen his parents are
American citizens although of Ger-
man extraction
OSWALD HESa
Subscribed end sworn to before
me this twenty-fourth day of Au-
gust nineteen hundred and eigh
teen
EUGENE RAWEST
Major Judge Advocate
Chris Buts Mrs Chris Butz fath-
er and mother of the Imprisoned
boy and also married sister were on
the stand The mother dnd sister
testified that the night before the
departure of young Buts to camp
they overheard Mrs Henry Schmidt
advise him not to wear the uniform
and to refuse to obey orders Very
little testimony affecting the Hess
boy was obtained
Henry Schmidt was placed on the
stand and the affidavit read to him
He denied any of the statements
and declared that he had not in-
terfered with the drafted men in
any way He stated that be was
born in Saxony in the German em-
pire and that he bad come to
America when he was twenty-three
years of age He made the run in-
to the Cherokee strip and filed on
(Continued on Uet page)
PEACE CELEBRATION
SOMEWHAT PREMATURE
BUT VERY SUCCESSFUL
Crowd Goes Wild When News
That Germans Had Signed
Armistice Reached This
Place
NO STOPPING THE EVENT
Even After News Was Received
Which Made Even Doubtful
the Celebration Went On
Crowd Unanimously Sentenced
Kaiser Bill to be Hanged to
Flag Pole
If it is not true it will be soon"
was the dominant sentiment of a
vast throng of excited and patriotic
citizens of Cherokee and vicinity
who Indulged in a vast peace cele-
bration the day the news was spread
by the United Press that the armis-
tice terms had been sighed 'by the
German envoys The United Press
bulletin which threw the whole
United States into a panic of fren
zied Joy reached here about noon
After a few telephone messages
were received from various towns
which confirmed the United Press
statement crowds commenced to
gather on the streets and some ex-
cited citizen turned loose an auto-'
matlc shot gun From that time on
until midnight there was no stop-
ping the celebration Every shot
gun In 'town and most other form
of arms was limbered Into action
and with the added din that Young
America can produce from tin pane
horns and other things capable of
producing a sound - pandemonium
reigned for hours
A monster parade headed by a
representation of the kaiser which
was a dry goods dummy hastily
transformed into a likeness of the
German emperor dressed in the
field grey uniform and the decora-
tions was carried down the street
followed by every one who could
find a place in the line Every
store and place of business In the
town was closed and the day and
night spent in making merry over
the news Even when news came
during the afternoon that there
were grave doubts as to the fact
of the early reports the crowds re-
fused to calm down By evening it
was pretty thoroughly established
through information received from
State Editor Perry of the Daily
Oklahoman that the rumor was a
fake but the crowds determined to
go ahead with the celebration that
had been planned
At eight p m every citizen of the
town and all residents of the sur-
rounding country who could plow
through the mud to the county seat
assembled at the court house corner
Announcement had been made that
the kaiser would be tried and that
everyone present would be asked to
serve as a Juror The various na-
tions at war with Germany were
represented by local speakers each
of whom presented the argument
for the country represented It
took the nature of a Joint debate
between the speakers as to whici
country had done the most in the
war and there was a good nature!
spirit of rivalry in presenting the
claims of the various countries The
countries were represented as fol-
lows: Belgium — Rev N C Truebolod
Franco— Walter Ferguson
England — Guy Talbot
Italy — Rev C W Harrison
Canada — Capt T A Rhodes
Serbia— Judge W E Wiles
United States — A J Titus
L R Smith chairman of the Al-
falfa county Red Cross presided ov-
er the meeting in the capacity of
Judge My Smith made a stirring
appeal for the support of the War
during the course of the meeting
Following the speaking and a num-
ber of songs from a Ladies choruB
dressed in unlonalln the verdict of
the jury was called for and it was
unanimously decided to hang the
kaiser The dummy in the field
gray uniform of ' the Prussian
Guards with the upturned mous-
tache and the iron cross ' on the
breast bearing a white flag In the
hand of the withered arm was fixed
to the rope of the flag pole and
slowly run to the top of the pole
in the glare of the following spot
lights The crowd went wild as the
grim figure was hauled to the top
AMERICANIZATION DAY
LET SLACKERS KNOW
I WAR IS NOT OVER
Those Who Have Failed to Make
- Proper Subscriptions Will '
“ Not be Let Off
MAKING THE DUTY CLEAR
Day is Spent by County Council
of Defense in Rounding up De-
linquents on War Matters
Good Work to Continue Re-
gardless of End of the War
Americanization Day in Alfalfa
county resulted in developing some
startling facts as well as emphasiz-
ing the fact that the signing of the
armistice does not mean that those
4vho have been delinquent In their
duty to the country during the war
shall escape the indignation of the
loyal element of the country The
county council of defense sum-
moned a number of citizens who
had been reported delinquent by the
officials of the various war activiti-
es for the purpose of compelling
them to perform their duty with
regard to past drives Not only
were those who failed to subscribe
ot the United War Fund but those
who slacked on the last Liberty
Bond drive and permitted Alfalfa
county to gain the unenviable rec-
ord of having been one of two
counties in the state to fall were
summoned in and given the option
of subscribing or being subjected to
whatever form of punishment the
council of defense evolved There
was a determination on the part
of all present to perform the work
at hand without the slightest hesita-
tion and as a result a number of
substantial additions were made to
the various funds ’
’ Pear Hopkins living near Jet u
farmer owning 220 acres of land
was summoned and asked to ex-
plain his failure to subscribe to any
of be various war funds in a rea-
sonable amount It ’ developed
that he had been delinquent on
bonds and donations and pleaded
Inability to buy R M Cavett de-
fenes member from his community
declared that Hopkins was able to
buy and after consideration the
council declared by unanimous vote
that he should be ordered to buy
$7550 in Liberty Bonds and do-
nate $100 to the United War fund
Hopkins declared that he was un-
able to pay and was given a short
time to make up his mind
Rev W M Jett of Jet a pastor
of the Mennonite church was called
next and declared that hia religious
faith had prevented him from pur-
chasing bonds It was found that
he owned a' sixteen thousand dollar
farm and considerable other prop-
erty He declared that he had a
religious conviction against war and
his conscience had caused him to be
negligent During the course of his
testimony he told that he owned
$500 worth of bank stock which
had paid him $200 during the past
year It was suggested that he ha!
violated a biblical injunction by ac-
cepting usury His case was heard
and the council decided to assess
him one thousand dollars in Liber-
ty bonds and one hundred dollars
to the United War Work Fund
Rev Jett accepted the sentence and
agreed to abide by the decision At
this point Mr Hopkins who had
been an interested spectator de-
clared that he was willing toi ac-
cept the judgment of the council of
defense in his case
D P Richards of Helena was
called before the council on a
charge of having failed to do his
part ' Without argument be agreed
to buy $750 worth ’of Liberty
Bonds and give fifty dollars to tho
War Fund
L H Stephens ot Aline well
known banker and citizen of the
south end was here Wednesday to
attend the meeting ot the Council
of Defense Stephens has been on
the job ever since war started and
each drive found him in the har-
ness piling ahead
ot - the pole and everyone felt that
the day and evening was jyell spent
peace on no peace At' any rate
the checks for the War Fund were
larger the next day
LIST OF PETIT JURORS DRAWN
FOR THE NOVEMBER 1018
TERM OF THE DISTRICT COURT
OF ALFALFA COUNTY I OKLA
-
TOWNSHIP ADDRESS
jfo NAME ‘
1 Jim Wilt — i -
Aline Aline
2 O B Selzer -
Aline Aline
3 L B Robinett —
Aline ’ Aline
4 J L Guffey 1
Beard Byron
5 W A Keller
Byron Byron
6 H F Murphy -—
Byron Amorita
7 John Hill
Cloud Kiowa Kan
8 K G Crowl
Cloud Kiowa Kan
9 Alex Walker
Clay Cherokee
10 Frank Lagrow
Clay Cherokee
11 C A Gass — —
Driftwood
12 P W Cloyd
Driftwood
13 D B Shutt —
Eagle Chief
14 W H Oakley
Eagle Chief
15 Dan Lecrone
Helena
18 E D Keiffer
Helena
17 John Couch
Helena
18 G H Voss
Karoma
19 John Wethtngton
Karoma
20 C A Bradley —
Karoma
21 Ed McGuire
Keith Kiowa Kans
22 S B Thomason
Keith Kiowa Kana
23 P R Burns
Lincoln Cherokee
24 Adam Erlon -
Lincoln - Cherokee
25-' M CBarkey——
40 C I Overstreet
fherokee City
Cherokee
NAVY BOY WRITES
In a recent letter from Lee An
derson of the U S Navy who Is
stationed with the battleship Mon-
tana he says that he is kept on the
Jump all the time and that the boysj
In his branch of the service are not
accustomed to rest They are on
the Job all the time In part he
says:
“We are looking forward to for-
eign duty again soon The flu has
been very bad in the east and a
large number of soldiers and sail-
ors have died from it I was laid
up for a time with a scalded hand
but am back on duty now I want-
ed to be home Christmas but know
now that it will be Impossible I
don’t think I will get to come home
before April 1921 and then it will
be for good You pfeople at home
have no idea of what this war is
You hear and see nothing but news-
paper stuff and that is very heavily
censored”
Young Anderson left here for vol-
unteer service in the navy In April
of 1917 immediately after war was
declared Anderson Is the oldest
sonot Mr and Mrs T E Anderson
ot this city
ALFALFA COUNTY FIRST
IN THE ENTIRE STATE
TO SUBSCRIBE QUOTA
County Goes “Over the Top” Be-
fore Ten O’clock First Day
: of the Drive
GOING AFTER MAXIMUM
Charles Griever chairman of dis-
trict Around Carmen is First
to Reach the Amount Came
During Midst of Peace Cele-
bration To be the first county out of the
seventy-seven in the state of Okla-
homa is the honor won tor Alfalfa
county by Chairman E M Blue of -the
United War Fund campaign
Before ten o’clock Monday morning
the opening 4day of the drive Mr
Blue had received enough reports
from his committeemen over the
county to total the minimum coun-
ty quota and telephoned the fact to
E W Marland state chairman The
Minimum quota Is $30500
With the information that the
minimum quota had been raised
Mr Blue sent an urgent appeal to
the various workers to continue the
work without stopping until the
oversubscription goal has been
reached It has been the hope that
fifty thousand dollars will be sub-
scribed in Alfalfa county and Mr
Blue is making every effort to real-
ize that amount With the serious
Interruptions of the peace celebra-
tions and the two anxious days of
the draft mobilization there has been -an
impediment to the work The
committeemen are busy on the plan
to reach the maximum amount
The first committeeman in the
county to make the report ot his
success was Charley Griever of Car-
men one of the best known war
workers He had his forces orga-
nized for early morning work and
by nine o’clock he was over the top
The following chairmen have reach-
ed their maximum quota: E C t
tolb Cherokee aud Harry Pryor
Cherokee
A slacker list is being prepared
by each ot the committeemen which
will Include the names of all who
reject the opportunity to subscribe
to the fund The county council of
defense by resolution decided to
make a round-up of all who fail to
make a contribution in proportion
to their ability It is expected that
the slacker round-up will occur ear-
ly next week and that a substantial
reason must be given for failure to
subscribe
Three big features of the week
were war speeches by stars Dr
H R Best of Camp Travis a vet-
eran Y M C A worker spoke to
three thousand excited and enthu-
siastic people on the streets of
Cherokee Tuesday morning Monday
afternoon Dr Sheppard combined a
United War Fund campaign address
with a red hot victory speech He
has just returned from the wes-
tern front and in part said:
‘‘It is not a repentant Germany
that we are facing There is not
a repentant German on earth
"They cannot help it They are
atavists They are a nation of era-
brutalized savages whipped into do-
cillty of orders from military com--manders
as a result of forty years—
or more ot militarism
“They are as Incapable of self-
government as the American ne-
groes were in 1865 They would
turn Central Europe into shambles
if the American people would per-
mit it The French and English
would not stop them in self slaugh-
ter for they hate them”
Wednesday afternoon Lieut
Whittaker a British officer with tho
Royal Flying Corps who has been
In active service on the western
front spoke to a good crowd and
told ot Great Britain's part in the
war
There is rather a remarkable fact
existing with regard to a farm ''
south ot Cherokee which was
farmed by two Alfalfa county men
who have both been killed in action
In France Corporal Alfred Mlnk3
of the Canadian Overseas Forces liv-
ed on the place prior to' his removal
to Canada Later the farm was
leased by Delza Clegg who was the '
first Alfalfa county soldier to be
killed in France Minks was killed
shortly after the news of Clegg's
death reached here