have upon the entire Turkish morale. It drove far in the wedge that had already begun to work toward splitting Turkey off from the Teutonic block. Its political

and to refrain from opposing any movement of the Allies in Bulgaria. This, of course, exposed Austria to direct attack from the south, and cut off Turkey from contact with Germany. It was a military triumph of the greatest importance, for it cut in two the opposition of the Allies and imposed upon Germany the choice between letting Bulgaria go or making almost fatal sacrifices of manpower on the western front, in order to reconquer the lost territory.

The news was the best since the war began, for it removed one member of the Teutonic Alliance, and gave great prom

Press Illustrating Service

GENERAL ALLENBY.

consequences promised to be most important; the work of the armies opened a way for the statesmen of the Allies.

Germany's first object is expansion. The rolling back of her invading armies in France checked forever her hope of conquering territory to the west. Her hopes in Russia are being slowly but surely blocked. Her schemes for an opening to the south will be frustrated when the victories of the Allies in the Balkans and the Holy Land are complete.

EXIT BULGARIA!

Ar the very end of the month, the Bulgarians decided to contribute a good item to THE WATCH TOWER-and it is a good one! Bulgaria quit.

In arranging an armistice with the French commander of the Allies' army in the Balkans, Bulgaria promised to disarm and disband her troops; to withdraw from conquered territory in Greece and Serbia,

Press Illustrating Service

GENERAL FRANCHET D'ESPEREY, ALLIED
COMMANDER IN THE BALKANS.

ise of the fall, first of Turkey and then of Austria, leaving Germany to stand alone. in facing the consequences of her crimes.

The fall of Bulgaria marked the failure of Germany's first and fundamental purpose in the war-to win all the territory from Berlin to Bagdad. It cut in two the great German scheme of world dominion and brought the world one long step nearer to being "safe for democracy."

THE DRAFTED ARMIES OF

DEMOCRACY.

THE German nation has been taught by its rulers that international affairs cannot be managed in the manner in which decent

people deal with each other, but must be ruled by craft and force. It has been taught, also and consequently, to submit in silence to every despotic act of the military administration through which that doctrine of force is put into practice. Nothing helped to break the national spirit of Germany in the wonderful summer of 1918 more than the realization among the disciples of Kultur of the fact that the German rulers had been feeding the German people on false doctrine. Germany fastened her faith to her military system, and to have her armies defeated, or even held in check, by the "contemptible" little ones of France, England, Italy, and despised America was to her people like having the earth turn to quicksand under their feet.

Before the work of actual military preparation could begin, America had to go through a period of moral preparation. Being decent people, and remote from the scene of conflict, we understood the Allies' danger and their need of help long before we came to see that our own fate was bound up in theirs-that, if they failed. and fell, America would be the next object of German hate and greed. When we did awaken to the truth, we had to create armies, fleets, air forces, and all the machinery of maintenance, out of a very small nucleus. We had vast resources and a brave spirit, but no military organization fit for the huge task. Out of those resources of men, material, and spirit we have made, in an incredibly short time, the military machine that is to enable the free nations to crush the monster of German militarism; after which we shall quietly return to our peaceful way of living-but with new and suitable precautions to prevent another plot against the nations' safety.

The Army of Victory is a democratic army. It is made, not of men trained all their lives to the soldier's work, but of men taken from every walk of civilian life: ignorant men and educated men; rich men and poor men; white men and black men; shopkeepers, laborers, and professional men. It is truly a nation in arms;

Press Illustrating Service

MAJOR-GENERAL ENOCH H. CROWDER.

ing the millions of men within the age limits, General Crowder stands at the head of a force that would make a goodsized field army. This force reaches out from Washington into every city, town and village, and rural district in the land. Its labors have been vast in scope, and performed with thoroughgoing efficiency. To draw men from industry without destroying it or crippling the nation's necessary activities, this has been a triumph.

The men of America have made the Provost Marshal General's task as simple and easy as it could possibly have been. The slackers are in a mighty small percentage, and probably not as numerous as

the men who have tried to get into the service, from overzeal, when they were needed in the second line, at home. Conscription on an undreamed-of scale has worked better than any one could believe it might unless we had proved it. We have a right to be proud of ourselves!

The same skill, wisdom, and thoroughness that win victories for General Pershing in the field gain success for General Crowder Over Here. We salute you. General!

THROUGH THE WATCH TOWER'S

TELESCOPE

PRESIDENT WILSON said in his draft proclamation, published September 1: "This is not a new policy. A century and a quarter ago it was deliberately ordained by those who were then responsible for the safety and defense of the nation that the duty of military service should rest upon all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45. . . . It is the call to duty to which every true man in the country will respond with pride." Democracy must surely be a good thing when it makes millions of men regard the performance of so stern a duty as a privilege.

NAVY officers say that the much-talked-of coming out of the German navy will probably never happen-because the navy is one thing among the few that Germany will have left to bargain with at the end of the war, and because it is believed that the Germans have stripped their ships not only of guns, but of all movable metal. trimmings for use in the munition plants.

THE home folks must have credit for a share in the spirit that wins battles for the soldiers overseas. Did we show quite as much patriotism and heroism in facing the Hooverized dinner-table last winter as it required, on the pleasant Sundays of late summer and early fall, to lock the garage door-with the car on the inside? And all the more credit must be given to the self-denying owners of cars, because they did their part on the strength of a request, not an order, from Washington.

IN September the Germans bombarded the British armies-with printed propaganda. Leaflets dropped from airplanes were worded in a crafty endeavor to make the British soldiers regard America with fear and envy as rivals of Great Britain in commerce. It is not for one moment to be believed that even the German pastmasters in the art of misrepresentation (what a lot of syllables to use in place of the short and simple word "lying"!) can ever succeed in such an endeavor to destroy the friendship of the English-speaking peoples on the two sides of the Atlantic. There will, certainly, be trade competition after the war, and it will be severe; but it will be fair, honorable, and utterly un-German. But we must be careful not to help Germany by saying one word against Great Britain-and, really, there are some Americans who seem to think George III is still King of England!

WAS there ever a man-including Nero and some other monsters of iniquity whose names have come down through the ages as symbols of shame-was there ever a man whom the world could spare so conveniently as Lenine? His crimes against Russia were second only to those of the Kaiser against his own people and the nations that are warring now against tyrannous autocracy.

THE air-mail service, New York to Philadelphia, worked so well that, in September, the line was extended to Chicago. How far is it to San Francisco, please?

THE WATCH TOWER would be tempted to offer prizes for suggestion of topics not connected with the war-except for the fact that everything interesting, these days, does inevitably hitch up, somehow or other, with the "affair" in France; even Thanksgiving-which may you all enjoy!-and Christmas, which we are urged to arrange for early, to avoid interference with things more "essential" than the giving of the usual Christmas presents. By the way, what a lot of thrift stamps and W. S. S. a stocking will hold!

PEACH-PITS AS LIFE-SAVERS SINCE our Government called for donations of fruit-pits and nutshells, many of us have wondered what the response to the request has been and in just what way

passes off from the retorts (or ovens in which the roasting process takes place), while the solid matter remains behind as charcoal. Every tiny cell of the matter so treated gives up its particle of gas dur

ing the process and leaves in its place a minute pore in the material, which then has the property of absorbing certain gases, as a sponge soaks up water. The more active the charcoal, the more absorbing power can be packed into the small metal box, or "canister," which forms part of each gas - mask and through which the wearer draws the air

Illustrated Press Service PEACH-PITS AT A GOVERNMENT WHARF.

these seemingly waste products, which were usually cast aside as of no value, can become the means of saving precious lives.

The three pictures which we print answer these questions almost at a glance. The first, showing a shipment of pits from western fruitcanners, gives an idea of the quantities that are pouring in. These are the raw material for making the best grade of absorbent charcoal ever produced. Charcoal, as many of us know, is made by roasting wood, or other organic matter, thereby decomposing it into two parts, one gaseous, the other solid. The first

that he breathes. The poisonous gases, as they pass through the canister, are caught by the porous charcoal and remain in the box, where they are neutralized by certain chemicals which the box also contains,

for the hazel, but after a while the little tree had increased so much in size that, where it was lodged, it could no longer find sufficient nourishment. So what did it do? Well, this clever hazel sent down a root through the hollow interior of the trunk of the willow to the ground beneath. To do this it had to travel a distance of no less than twelve feet. Reaching the ground, the root penetrated the soil and thenceforward the hazel went on flourishing amazingly. It is difficult to understand just how it was that the hazel knew that its roots would finally reach the soil at the end of the journey through the hollow trunk. Something of the same kind was observed in the case of a hollow beechtree, where the tree sent down its own

Illustrated Press Service

FILLING GAS-MASK CANISTERS.

while the rest of the air that has been inhaled passes on, purified and harmless, into the lungs.

It is necessary, of course, that when these masks are needed they should be adjusted very promptly, so our soldiers, as part of their training, are put through a special drill in which they learn to have their masks in place in just six seconds after the gas-alarm sounds.

HAVE ROOTS AN INTELLIGENCE?

ALMOST every one who has studied the habits of the roots of plants is bound to admit that their behavior is not always easy to explain. It really does seem as if roots were possessed of certain powers, concerning which we know very little indeed. Just consider the following cases, and I think you will be bound to admit that the roots of plants sometimes show signs of a power that is strangely like intelligence.

Some years ago a hazel-nut was lodged in the upper part of an old willow. Probably a bird or a squirrel carried it thither. However that may be, the nut grew into a small tree. Now, for the first few years, the rotting wood and leaves at the top of the willow provided good rooting-ground

THE HAZEL GROWING IN THE OLD WILLOW-TREE NEXT TO THE HOUSE.

roots through the hollow trunk to the soil beneath.

A little fern that the writer had in his possession provided a singular instance of what one may call root intelligence. The plant was kept growing in a pot which was always standing in a saucer of water.