The sun. [volume], October 18, 1914, THIRD SECTION, Page 4, Image 26

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THE SUN, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1914.
OLD MEN COMMAND EUROPE'S WARRING ARMIES-
Heaviest Responsibilities Have Been
Placed on Men of Fifty Years
of Age or More
A
STRIKING feature of the war
ZA In Europe In the mature yenrs
of the lullle lenders. Youth,
perhaps, may h at n premium
on the firing line, hut ago with mllllnry
experience; Is sccmlnfrty showing Us
strategic, worth. History Is both re
penting anil reversing Itself In thin par
ticular, nnd this adds something to the
psychological ptizzln which the present
situation offers for consideration. If
It ago that makes n general, or l the
military tnlent n nntle gift rather thnn
the cumulative fruit of flelt experience.?
Nesrly nil of the ltr!tlh gcner.ils nretury service. Twelve months of his
50 years old nnd over. The heaviest
burden of nrtlve responsibility In the
field hus been placed by Krntirp upon
mn In the sl.xtlof. Germany apparently
hit looked wl men :iltanee at any
ireneral of less than threescore years.
Austria has seeniliiKl piaci-d u
mlum upon men Hint have pnss-d by
a fondly margin the half cent.irv mark.
........ .... ,
and this Is equally true of I! issM nnd
Servla.
And yet the luttle annuls of CP rm.iny
iave shown old age to be .in objection-
hie element In Its military loaders and
the overennftdence of advanced years
probably placed Prussia In Its most
critical position as n nation and brought
upon It the grave-' hi'm''isMor? It his
ever suffered- this rlrht In the wa'.ie of ' well et secure upon his sueresf:il
brllltnnt exploits nf Frederick the Clreat. , etToru in reorganizing the Prussian
When Napoleon Invaded Prussia ir. 1 armv for Its memorable campaign
.. , , i ncnlnst the Inst nf the French Km-
lor. he nnd nv." f M-imUHs ( , wnrn , ,. M ,
ranpd between 35 and 37 ye.n-4 old, i rmles ln:o Franco .;is 7.1 years old,
yet Poultney H'.uclow snvs: "On the hut he showed that he cou'd share the
Prussian side tho Klni: nlore was within ! ripors of field service with hi soldiers,
thete years. His commander In chief. (len. WlnflcM Scott was madu C'om
wns not fit to he mi horseback. mander In Chief of the Cnlted Stntcn
Out of eixty-slx colonel,, In the Infantry ' :nny In IS II At tha.i time h was
of the. lino twenty-clqht were ovc r BO
years; or zi majors eipntv-sit were.
over Rl, nr.l 130 more thnn 50 years ta
old."
Tho Duko of ilrunMvlck. then head of
the army, wr.s 70 yeais old. In one
caaa tha commandant of an Important
fortr.i was moro than 80. and what ,
rtrfg'ht bi termed exasperated inn-
turlty was characteristic of subs:an-l
tlally all of the commandants of thej
Prussian fortress c)tle. I
In tha Thirty Year War It tool: a I
slffre of seven months to capture the)
aironshold of .Mapdeburp, and yet the
Prussian commander, u count of 73
yars. .surrendered tho city In 18'Jt! to a
handful of French troops without tiring
a single shot. True, he called n coun
cil of wnr before he capltulat'd, but,
PKz, a German chronicler, tn JCucInw i
telli us, "says that tho n'.r.-'.een mem
bare of this mllltnry round ngprfyctrd
1,400 yesrs of life, wh - h pivrs a pretty
hlph averas-o for the individual."
But all of th"e furnvr pupils of1
Frederick the Orrat were not faint
hearted. One of the Oncn's present,
a man nf Vi, dared to prott-st npalnst
tha aurrender nnd urccd that there
wtro plenty of niiiltary storis nnd
troop.s cnouph to put up a pood and
long flpht. "The rominnndant promptly
called him to order In these words:
'You aro the younpest hub here. You
will plve your opinion when It Is ashed.'
And then they proceeded to plpn the
contract of Hhnme,"
On the evo of the bnttln nf .Tena,
fought October 14, 1S06. Klnp Frederick
William It I. rested at Auerstadt and
there called n council of war, composed
of the Duke of Hrunswlelc. Field Mnr-
of he Uuke or urunswieK. ! em Mnr-
:tr'" frrn",a" ' :i
generals and a cnupla of colonels.
Those men represented the highest
military nuthorlty then In the kingdom.
They wasted hours In np!ess talk
while the comparatively Juvenile Na
poleon pushed his army within cannon
range.
There was, however, one officer on the
alert Hlueher, relatively a boy of 64
years. He knew the datifT threaten
ing and sought to reach his royal mas
ter, hut the King was asleep and had
given orders that ho Miould not be dis
turbed. However, Frederick William
III, was rudely nrnuced sumo hours
later by the booming of Napoleon's
guns and the noisy retreat of his own
troops, who, rtirampi'd and asleep, had
been stumbled upon In the fog by the
onrushlm: French,
Napoleon was h better Judgo of gen
erals than Frederick William III., and
recognizing In Hlueher a formidable
enemy ordered tho King of Prussia to
dismiss the old soldier from his service
In 1811. This was done. Three years
later, when fortune smiled upon the
efforts of the Prussian nrmy. Hlueher
was able to retaliate and he drovo Na
poleon beyond tho Rhine and defeated
him at Laon.
Again, at Wnterhio, upon that fateful
June 18, 181.V It was the tlmly nrrlval
of Hlueher nnd his men that spoiled
Honnparto's plans nnd turned the tide of
battle In Wellingtons r.ivor. Ills 73
years hnil not hulted Hlucher's "auda
cious activity," ns one of his French
military critics described the character
of his services upon thnt day.
Tho Marshals of France nt Water-
loo were all nhout Napoleon's nge, nnd
Wellington was lesw than four months
older than his Imperial antagonist, hav
ing been horn In April, 170. Grouchy,
whose lardy arrival on the battlefield
TRANSPORTS CARRYING DOMINION TROOPS TO
and failure tu prevent Mueller's Juno
turn with Wellington had rrlppled Nn
poleon, vn the oldest of the French
Marshals, nnd he had the advantage nf
his Imperial master only liy nhout three
years. Whs It his age, 48 years, that
hampered his efficient)-?
At the fame time there was Gen.
Gtii'lscnnu of Mueller' army, a man
of nearly 5(1, and It was upon him that
fell the responsible task of pursuing
In lelenlless Prussian fashion the
French as they retreated fiom Water
loo. It wit the splendidly aggressive
manner in which he did his work that
made it possible for the allies to march
with ease nml speed t, P.uis. Here
also was a man of ,n1de and varied mill-
career hud been spent In tile pay or
George. lit. ntoitnnt the American Colo
nists, and he had learned there the
value of skirmishing tactics and quick
ness of action.
What of that splendid military trlum
vliate of King William I.. Iloon nnd
pie-,.Moltke, whose united M'rvlces put the
Merman Umpire upon Its llrm fotindn-
'"'"7 W"'" "" yn" ,M"''ke "!!Z
from Koniggrnl. after the Austrian
,.,,,, of m6 ,. wlu, yft.lr ilt.
Hn yrf heavier duties were to be placed
; up ii hm In behalf nf the fatherland
I He t wa who planned the campaign
I aRnlnst France, and by his mainly
I grasp or neiaii nnci resources ni.iiin u
possible to muster the force's that car
ried all before them In 1S70-7I.
(len. tan Itnon wa.s but threo years
Von M ltiie's lunlor. and h!s fame may
trooH ,, m(.;:v0 , irown. d his j
work ti,r t)ll. i.ap.ur 0f the capl
bilny of military action In 1SCI. hut he
was ton old to gi to the trout and wn
retired from active service n tho
u it. aim of cn.it year.
GEN. T2ADUMIL. PUTNIK-I
Itroiidly speaking, the civil wnr lead
ers were principally young men, as age
goes In military careers. Gen. Grant
was fifteen years younger thnn Gen.
I.ee nnd Gen. George Gordon Meade
was eight years the Junior of "I,cc
being some months1 chort of 48 when he
won his memorable victory nt Gettys
burg. It was I-ee's training nnd ripe
years that helped him to light so brill
iantly against odd ami his rich r
.
U -.n,, the overpowering forces of
Grant gathered nhout beleaguered Rich
mond. Gen, William T. Hherman was
only 41 yenrs old when the civil war
bgan.
When Kngland had the Hoer war nn
her hands she found It necessary In
battling with the burghers to call to her
service In the field the most experienced
of her soldiers, Gen. Itoberts, tho rann
Tommy Atkins admiringly nnd lovingly
called "Htns." In 1!00 Gen, Itoberts
wa.s (IS years old, nnd his long service
In India had made him Just tho man to
copo with the resourceful Hoers nnd
their manner of fighting. Ge,n. Roberts
had lino men under him, hut even so he
had to draw upon tho wholn of his
forty-eight years of military experience
to win In South Africa,
Kmpcrnr Wllllum II, properly esti
mated Lord Roherts'.s soldierly fitness,
and ns a seeming compliment Invited
him to be present at the grand manreu
vres of the German army In 1902, The
fact Is he wanted the Kngllsh Genernl
to see his troop In simulated buttle
nction, not for the 5:1 lie of tho spectacle,
ns might havo appeared, but in order
thnt ho might reap the benefit of any
criticism coming from ho competent a
source. Tho Kaiser was bent upon
profiting by Lord Roberts's campaign
tn Knuth Afrlcn, and he had a profound
respect for ago whero military Judg
ment was concerned. So apparently
havo the Hrltlsh, for Karl Roberts, now
82 yenrs old, has his placo upon Kng
land's war council to-day.
When Japan went to war with Russia
In 1001 she laid the burdens of mllltnry
and of naval responsibility upon her
oldest men In the services. The taciturn
Togo was then r 7. but a man of Iron
despite his age. Field Marshal Prlnco
I.-pon him fell the first rcaponsl- .O mM JJJJJJJJ) t Off
Gen. Alexander. .w Kluck::
lwno Oyama was at that time CO years t
old. Ho had served as n military at
tache on tho French side during the
I'rnnco-Prusslnn war, had fought
through the Hatsuma rebellion of 1S77,
playing n conspicuous pnrt In subduing
that revolt, and was very much In
evidence In Jnpan's war with China In
ISiM-Sfi. Tho part he played during tho
lttrsso-.lnpnncse conflict Is well known.
Field Marshal Mlchltsura Nodr.ti wis
born In 1841, nnd yet his sixty-three
years did not keep him from thn hnrdest
kind of campaigning in Manchuria
against tho Russians. Field Marshal
Arltomo Yamagata wan three years older
than Nodzu, and his was the onerous
task of Chief of the General .Staff of
tho Japanese army during the Mikado's
war with Russia. Gen. Kurokl was
iMirn In IS 11 nnd nt threescoro ho
carried his armies to victory on the
Ynlu and ut Ltaoyang.
Hut thn heaviest task fell to that
grim old warrior Gen, Nogl, who
entered the campaign ugnlnst Russia
with the winters of fifty-five years be
hind him, Against him was opposed
Gen. Anatoli Mikhullovltch Htoessel, a
year older, and Intrenched behind the
most formidable nrray of defences at
that time devised. We know the story
of Port Arthur, nnd we know nlso of
thn stubborn nnd relentless way In
which Nogl ntuck at his work until tho
opposing defences were well nigh
wrecked and tho garrison was reduced
nearly to starvation. Tho soldier spirit
never died In that wonderful old Japa
nese, and in his devotion to his Imperial
master ho took his own llfo when the
Kmperor died.
The Russian Generals were commonly
much younger than their Japanese
rlvnls, nnd tho Czar's mllltnry lender,
Alexel Nlcholnlvltch Kuropatkln, was
but Gfi years old when he measured
forces with the Mikado's armies. Gen,
Kuropatkln's career hod been varied
und apparently successful, for ho was
simply littered with decorations because
of his military activities. Hut ho was
no match for his .Japanese antagonists
of riper yenra nnd less spectacular
careers. True, Kuropatkln was hnm
pered by the remoteness of the theatre
of war ns well as the disorganization
of tho mllltnry bureaus nt fit, IVters-
i i ill cWJUkHWfmwi t imi ii mm iimmbm in i i
I 111 lBt'ilrH HAH m MMJJLLJ I I I I I
i 1 mmStt cMMmrxtii 1 '
COUNT rftjDlrJAND HW ZEPPELIN to JP&W
I f fT (V71 IV 7 M 111 I P " m My ryArM J
Count Gottlieb von haeseler.:. Gen. sir. John French
kji mm mm
mm mm mm
GEN. HELLMUTH LUDWIG WM0LTKE
GEN..P0N DER. GOL.TZ-.
burg, but the fact remains that older
men won tho day.
Tho problem of Kngland's battles on
land rests to-day In tho hand- of
Horntlo Herbert Kitchener, Karl
Kitchener of Khartum, a man of three
scoro years nnd four, whose years of
maturity have been spent either 'n
warfnro or In responsible mllltnry posi
tions of administration. Kitchener Is
the samo hard driving soldier to-day
that he was when ho tirelessly blazed
his wny ngalnst grave physical ob
stacles In Kgypt and never rested until
ho drove the enejny out of his strong
hold of Khartum. As a military orgnn
Izer Kitchener now Is n greater man
thnn ho was then, nnd his hns been the
responsibility of picking tho leaders
whom Great Hrltaln hns sent nnd Is
sending to the front In France.
On thn field Kngland's supremo In
command is (ren, Sir John Denton
Plnkstonn French, born sixty-two yenrs
ago, nnd one. of Knglnnd's most strik
ing military figures. Much wa.s heard
about French In tho Hoer war. Hncce
seemed to crown nil of his efforts, nnd
desplto tho beleaguering .burghers he
helped to hold Iindysmlth until It be
came necessary for him to reach thn
Capo. Then, under the seat of a Becond
ENGLAND FROM THE SECRET
GEN. MofclTZ. you AllFFENDERG
class carriage In n train supposedly,
carrying only women and children out
of the way of tho Hoers' bombarding
puns, ho got through the enemy's line
and south to tho llrltlsh colonial seat
of Government at Capo Town.
Thero he was given the command of
S.000 cavalrymen, ami that wqnderful
rnce to, the north stands to-day as an
unsurpassed exnmple of daring nnd de
termination. Gen. French nnd his men
kept ever 011 dny and night and reached
their goal, Klmberley, Just In time to
save It from surrender.
Gen. French Is both brilliant and per
sistent. He exemplified these traits
when Gen. von Kluck, after days of bat
tling and sacrifice, asked for an nrmis
tlco in which to bury his dead. Gen.
French suspected a ruso and promptly
and curtly refused tho request, saying,
ns ho hammered aay nt tho enemy's
yielding lines, "I never hnlt a Job until
the work i.s done." This Is the man
who I.s leading what Kmperor William
Is said tn hnvo described ns "that con
temptible little llrltlsh nrmy." Gen.
French has Imbued IiIh entlro fighting
force with his relentlessly aggressive
spirit. Nearly all of the men who are
his division lenders aro tried soldiers of
moro than fifty years of age; some of
thrm nre even older.
Gen. Joseph JofTrc, tho French com
mander in chief, Is 62, and until about
a yer ago ho was virtually unknown to
the military world, Then ho shocked
the Parisian public, after tho annual
ninno-uvred, by bru.sqnely dismissing
n number of tho most popular of the
French genernls, nnd he was Instru
mental in Inaugurating the threo year
period of active service with tho colors.
JofTro Is not n man of many wordsj
In fact, conversation may be termed his
short suit, but ho Is abundantly actlvp.
His mllltnry cwvlco has been long and
laborious laborious Inasmuch as ho
has always taken tho work cut out for
him seriously and has dono It thor
oughly nnd well. Moro than nny othor
man, ho has prepared the French nrmy
for Us present struggle, nnd is lending It
lo-day ns ho planned nnd with consum
mato strategy.
Mnjor-Gcn. lentil Mario Cesar Jerald
Pau Is a ono armed veteran of tho
Frnnco-Prttsslnn wnr; ho numbers
threescore years nnd six Ho is n
Interesting Psychological Situation
Offered by Men Holding Reins in Con
flictWhat Makes Great Generals?
natural bom fighter; Indeed, like some
of Ills llrltlsh allien. It has In-eu said
ho would not know It If he wero
whipped. It was in this spirit that ho
fought In 1870-71, and his aggressive
ness Is. not diminished to-day desplto
the Withered ycjirs. (len. l'ntt Is ex-
. tremely popular with the French public
.unci the French soldier, nnd he wnH
railed back from his retirement to take
I tho Held as .loffre's second in command.
Wo know what he hua been doing on
'tho right of the French front In Alsace,
l nnd the grip ho him upon that lost
' provlnci) he Is not likely to loosen unless
, utterly overwhelmed by a auperlor
force.
Gen. de Curleres do CsMelnau of
, tho General HtHff Is tho third of the
I oommnndtng trio of the French nrmy
I and is well up In the sixties. Gon. Gal-
llenl, in chnrgo of the defences of Paris,
Is in tho neighborhood nf 70,
Old ugo in the German urmy might
almost be said to bo tho hallmark of
military aggressiveness, for one of tho
most active men in tho field Is Count
Gottlieb von HueUen-IIaescler. Despite
hLs seventy-eight yearn thla gallant old
soldier hnH displayed his energies beside
those of men many years younger and
has not suffered by the test. Indeed
the story is told of htm that recently
In thn cnmpulpn agnlnst tho allien ho
! took a Frenchman prisoner with his
own hands. Tho enemy wero routed,
hut Instend of leaving it to his Juniors
to lead tn tho pursuit he took that
dangerous duty upon his own shoulders,
sending his subordinates to the rear
nnd to nafoty. Then It was that he
made, the capturo reported. Certulnly
this Is going Komo In a man of nearly
fourscoro years!
Field Marshal Kotmar von der Ooltr.
is the Heeond oldest penernl, being 71,
that the Kaiser has sent to the western
war zone. Von der Ooltr. became Inter
nationally conspicuous when the Turk
ish nrmy, which he had reorganized,
was bentun by the ilulgars and their
allies. The Turks would probably have
suffered worao bad It not been for tho
manner of their training under this
splendid teacher. For more thnn half
a century Field Marshal Kolmar von
i der Goltz hns been writing on military
Vubjecta and fighting betimes. His
usefulness us nn adviser has not been
I Impaired by his fathering years, and his
GEN. .PAUL Wt fcENNEMKAMFT
(7ZUSStAj
position nt Brussels calls for Just tho
rare qualities which are his.
Gen Alejcnnder von Kluck Is thn
Knlser's main reliance against the
allies, nnd when stnrting out upon tho
present campnlgn tho Instructions of
his lmperlnl master aro said to have
been that ho should take Paris or die.
Von Kluck sot about his task with
characterise vigor, making light of
Ills sixty-eight yenrs; and the worlds
mows now ciobo no came to niH goal.
Probably but for Uhn impetuosity of thn
Crown Prlnco ho wjuld havo fulfilled
the Knlser's Injunction to tho letter.
That he has not given up hope of
Kluck'a desperate and persistently ag
gressive battling with the allies I.s am
ple proof, Gen. von Kluck comes from
the people, nnd by sheer merit reached
tho rank of colonel ero tho Kaiser saw
fit to bestow upon him the ''von" of
nobility. This soldier of few words nnd
much nction Is extremely popular with
his men, nnd besides being nn Ideal
lender ho has marked academic quail
ties, for his works upon strategy nro
recognized by military critics as being
of tho highest order.
Gen. Otto von Kmmlch, who had the
task of carrying tho defences of Liege,
is HG, Gen. Karl von liuelow, who has
worked shoulder to shoulder with Von
Kluck In tho centre nnd in supporting
hla brother general on tho right wing,
U CS years and Gen. Max von Koehn Is
but three years younger. Gen. Paul von
Hlndenburg, tho Kalsci's hope against
thn Russians, is one of Germany's mos
pleturesquq figures. Though 07, h,s
lmperlnl master has given him a task
that might stagger tho physical and
mental vigor of a much younger man.
Dut Von Hlndenburg Is a man of iron
In will and strength of body nnd sin
gularly calm In tho face of the greatest
difficulties.
lllndenburg's strategy resulted In .the
capturo of 70,000 Russians In tho early
stages of tho Czar's campnlgn In Knst
Prussia, nnd he has gono now to Gall
rla to supersede tho Austrlnn com
mander In .chief and tn tako up tho
most difficult task confronting the Ger
man nation In tho enstern theatre of
war. Von Hlndenburg began his career
of nudaclous dieds In tho wnr with
Aumrln In 1806, und upon every oc
RENDEZVOUS
casion iflnoo he hns shone. This ex
plains why he has thrico won th
Iron Cross.
inero is no neeu or mentioning m de
lull tho rest of the Knlser's fighting
lenders. Most of them nre what nre com
monly recognized ns old men, and they
hnvo txittla records dating from n
Franco-Prussian war nnd upon ciMer
earlier occasions. Years and exper. tic
aro nt n premium in tho Kaiser r.. .
mate.
Perhaps the most picturesque tlgnrs
among t)if German forces is c ont
Ferdinand Zeppelin, who hns gnun to
tho front to direct tho operations ,f
tho great dirigibles. Although 75
years old this wonderfully a.'tUe o'd
man Is still full of the fighting sphlt
Tho Kaiser already owes much to
tho genius of this undaunted tn
ventor, -who hns given to tho fnth"r
land its notable superiority In the mat
ter of nlrshlps.
Tho debt will he n bigger one If Cour.t
Ferdinand succeed In humiliating F.n.
land by an aerial nttnek upon I.indm.
Ho announced the other day that ti
llrltlsh would hear from him n cliis
senson, nnd there was something gr m
In tho Implied threat. No wond. r fin
German soldiers nr battling as thy
nre when men of such advanced yean
enn cet an example both In rt ,r.ig
und In nction,
. 1 . . . , , 1 ... ... . . . .
1 iu iviirniiwi ira.ier, ine tirnrm iu
Nicholas, I.s ns, Ho hm had tne lir.p.
fill advice of Gen. .SukhomllnofT a w-;
tried soldier, verging upon 70 v
Together these two mti hnw n rrj
hard nnd earnestly In bringing :; ths
Russian army to Its present mi o ,,f
elllclency, and the manner of,lt m.ih .
izatlon, the speed of thnt work iiimI t h
success In battle of the troops '.. ii0
brilliantly they have tevcdittl inz-,1 ths
fervlce since the war with Japan
Among the picturesque figutes of th
Russlnn nrmy nonn looms up mors
vividly than Gen. Paul von Hrnnnn.
knmpff Th! brilliant invnlr.- leader
has worried the Germans in Knf l'ni
sla nnd when seemingly trapped br
the Knlser's troops his ciutn.tig ,M
fox of slMy-four doubled on Ins tnvks
nmld morasses and achieved an n,
tnnt victory. Gen. von Rcnnonkanipff
was one nf the shining figures d'ir'ng
tho war with Japan, nnd hail m.re of
his associates been of thn rami' s'rlpe
the outcome would probably have Wn
very different.
Oen. Ruzsky. the hero of Lumber
and tho commander of the Russlnn
army In Gallcln, Is well up in the fifties
nnd an olllcer who has had much dis
tinguished service to his credit
The Archduke Fiederick of Austria
Is uS, nnd Itfo Ills keeping th
Kmperor has placed the respons'hilltr
of Austria's battle honorrt, In Galleia
Gen. Morltz von Auffcnberg, r,2 yearn oil,
and Gen. Viktor Ilankl, Just short of 40,
have felt the brunt of the Russian at
tack nnd have been pushed befnie it
Hoth nro soldiers of experience. Von
AufTenherg's enreer being one of un
usual hrlllianne.
Kcrvla turned to Gen. Radmn'.l
Putnlk in thn present crisis, and at
commander in chief of the Servian
firrcoH he hns shown tho fitness of the
choice. Gen. Putnlk wr b orn la
1819, and though from southern Aus
tria Is Servian in every fibre, I'nl.ka
t.o many nf the Balkan generals. I'ir
nlk Is a man averse to parade, and d
llberately wears tho simplest sor o!
uniform. His work during the Hilk.in
war showed tho Muff of wh!i li he ,s
made, nnd as a leader of men and a
strategist he easily mounted tn pre
eminence. Without going into further rlnh 'ra
tion, It Is clear that the men itcnr.nj
the brunt of lendershlp to-day :n f 1
wnr offices and on thn battle ,.ms nf
Kuropo are elderly; indeed, are unit
tho world is pleased ordlunr 1 . 1 all
old men.
Youth, broadly. Is bearing the f,r, k .f
attack on thn firing line, and luniib
needed to meet the tax levied tn-ilny bv
mnchlno made wnr, but stinig n
these hardships nre thn gentinl oltloe-s
of fifty years and upward, ai.d. 1
addition to this physical stress, th' i
nre carrying the grnve burdens nf
leadership. The bodily drains of wir
to-dny nre far greater than the ev"
wero before. Troop.s move at n p.iea
that was undreamed of 11 feu yiirs
hack. The strnteglo and menul pi '
lems nro increased accordingly I''"
splto these conditions that would seem
logically to call for men of vouneT
years nnd physical prime, tl.n kittlliu
nations roll nlph with complete unanim
ity haW asked tho most of their oMtst
men,
Ac ?. psyc.hetiglcnl study the itu.v
tlon lr of deep Interest. Measur d by
the enormity of the duties Impost a, tV
generals to-day nro cnlled upon ,0
nchlnvo now what staggered the agi
leaders of Frederick William III 1"
yenrs ago. They are living thrmifh
well nigh continuous warfare tot
twenty-four hours of every dav, an!
yet they are succeeding despite their
years.
I.s it posslhlo that thn battle V.idiT
cannot bo Judged by the ninmon
standards of a, physical prime" Pee'
the spirit of the natural born ."iillr
make him a sort of reversion to tvpe.
thus giving to him a primitive indiffer
ence to suffering und prlvntr n r '1. 8t
the samo time, endowing him with an
enduring robustness? In short, is the
true mllltnry genius n sort of s irvlval
of thn savago with a veneer of irpff
resting upon nntlvo cunning" ("'''
wlsn why should old men hold th
reins to-day'
ON CASPE COAST