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Story
January 1, 1915
The Union Times
Union, Union County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
Andrew McGill submits a pro-German war poem to the Fatherland newspaper in New York, but its acrostic formed by first letters spells 'TO HELL WITH GERMANY', nearly deceiving editor George Sylvester Viereck.
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Put Up Job on the Editor.
Fatherland, a German newspaper in New York devoted to the Teutonic cause, narrowly escaped being made the butt of a cruel joke, whether by an accidental concatenation of letters or by malice prepense on the part of one Andrew McGill, the author of a war poem espousing the German side.
Mr. McGill, in a letter to the editor, George Sylvester Viereck, stated that while he was not of Teutonic strain (superbuous explanation from "Mac." by the way) that he could not tolerate the conduct of those cartoonists "who sneer at the German dead," and he offered his poem "in protest."
The poem follows:
"Tear them, jackals; bay and gloat
On the fields where they lie low.
Howl above their bodies—note
Every trace of pain, but know
Laughingly they fought and then
Laughed at death. This very foe
Whispers: 'Yea, they died like men.'
Insolent you gloat. Beware!
They will turn and come again
Hounded to your coward lair,
Gnash your impotence of hate,
Every German fallen there,
Rising, will revenge him. Wait!
Memories of ancient scars
Aid us, confident in Fate.
Norns of Odin, German stars,
Yield us hopeful avatars."
The poem impressed Editor Viereck as the right sort of "stuff," but, fortunately for him, before consigning it to the linotypes he happened to glance down the poem, reading the first letters in the first word of each line, from top to bottom.
What he read was:
"TO HELL WITH GERMANY."
Columbia Record.
Fatherland, a German newspaper in New York devoted to the Teutonic cause, narrowly escaped being made the butt of a cruel joke, whether by an accidental concatenation of letters or by malice prepense on the part of one Andrew McGill, the author of a war poem espousing the German side.
Mr. McGill, in a letter to the editor, George Sylvester Viereck, stated that while he was not of Teutonic strain (superbuous explanation from "Mac." by the way) that he could not tolerate the conduct of those cartoonists "who sneer at the German dead," and he offered his poem "in protest."
The poem follows:
"Tear them, jackals; bay and gloat
On the fields where they lie low.
Howl above their bodies—note
Every trace of pain, but know
Laughingly they fought and then
Laughed at death. This very foe
Whispers: 'Yea, they died like men.'
Insolent you gloat. Beware!
They will turn and come again
Hounded to your coward lair,
Gnash your impotence of hate,
Every German fallen there,
Rising, will revenge him. Wait!
Memories of ancient scars
Aid us, confident in Fate.
Norns of Odin, German stars,
Yield us hopeful avatars."
The poem impressed Editor Viereck as the right sort of "stuff," but, fortunately for him, before consigning it to the linotypes he happened to glance down the poem, reading the first letters in the first word of each line, from top to bottom.
What he read was:
"TO HELL WITH GERMANY."
Columbia Record.
What sub-type of article is it?
Deception Fraud
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Deception
What keywords are associated?
Acrostic Poem
Newspaper Hoax
German Propaganda
Editor Deception
What entities or persons were involved?
Andrew Mcgill
George Sylvester Viereck
Where did it happen?
New York
Story Details
Key Persons
Andrew Mcgill
George Sylvester Viereck
Location
New York
Story Details
Andrew McGill sends a pro-German poem to editor Viereck of the Fatherland newspaper; the poem's acrostic spells 'TO HELL WITH GERMANY', which Viereck notices before publication.