"
Reports of the acts of Forstner and other officers were rapidly
spread among the population. The two newspapers of Zabern published
articles. The excitement grew, and there were demonstrations
against the officials and especially against Forstner. Finally,
conditions became so bad that Colonel von Reuter requested the
head of the local civil administration, Director Mahler, to restore
order, stating that he would take the matter into his own hands
if order was not restored. The director, a native of a small
village near Zabern, replied coolly that he saw no necessity
for interfering with peace loving and law abiding people. On
November twenty-ninth, 1913, a large crowd assembled in front
of the barracks. Colonel von Reuter ordered Lieutenant Schad,
commanding the Guard as officer of the day, to disperse the crowd.
Accordingly Lieutenant Schad called the Guard to arms and three
times summoned the crowd to disperse and go home. The soldiers
charged and drove the multitude across the Square and into a
side street and arrested about fifteen persons, among them the
President, two Judges and the State Attorney of the Zabern Supreme
Court, who had just come out from the court building and who were
caught in the crowd.
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