Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-02-11
FRIEDRICH VlLLIER'S COLLECT
ION.
It Comprises Ieimets and spears of All
NatiOns

II Comprises helmets ana spears oil All
Nations
Frederick Niliers, The war corespon-
dent is a strong, well set up, soldierly
m; /. with tales Of travel and adven-
.u with "A strong, open, clear-cut,
handsome face, a soldier TO his finger
tips. He is one of the most popular
men on earth. An interesting man to
know and talk with.
On his studio walls hang the helmets
of many nations; the spears of Abys-
siania and of the field of FL Teb; IL.
Afghan knife Rudayard Kipling talks
about; Burmese tapestry and the lun-
cheon basket Of Eng Theebaw Of
Mandalay. Everything like tn man
himself, picturesque and with a his
I tory,
I Nillicrs told me about them as we sat
one day at lunch with old fashioned
green and pink Nuremberg glasses
before US on the table.
How do you sketch on the battlefield,
sir" l asked him.
81 take" he said 'some very small
/ sketch r. nth me; so small ] can
hold them in my hand In those
make my notes of costumes, weapons
and positions ! have TO be quick 50 as
not to be observed. THIN | have Il
/ big book l can use in the heat Of the
I engagement when people are too ex-
cit.d to notice me. Sometimes | have
/ Sketched on my thumb nails l rcmem-
! her once during the mobilization OF
/ Russian soldiers on the Roumanian
/ frontier I had hard work to escape oh
4 servation. l began sketching on my
/ thumb, forgetting it was degrees below
zero, and l nearly lost my thumb, sketch
and all by frost bite. l only knew this
/ when I got to my hotel and began to
draw from my thumb Then the pain
as it began to thaw was eXcruciadng
Didn't you feel nervous the first day
/ you were out?"
Yes; that first day l win never for
get 1t was at a place called Sinitza,
on the borders of Bosnia, that | re-
ceivgd my baptism OF fire The Ser
VANS. with whose army l was march
ing, were about to invade Turkish ter
ritory 10y attacking that town. J march
ed with the troops on foot and | heard
the crack Of the musllctry in our Inn
mediate front but this didn't appear
NOR, to me than a field day ut VIM
bleton would have done. At first one
never feels the danger when one only
hears the noise of the firing. Presently
on my left a battery of Seryian artil,
+ lery in position opened fire. SO l walk
ed UP and watched their shells bursting
/ in some scrub in our front, and present
/ ly a curious rushing noise came through
/ the air and then there was a terrific
+ explosion behind me, whee stood a
small pine forest When this explosion
/ took place the top of one Of the pines
was blown into atoms and a noise very
much like that Of a huge tuning fork
/ from the vibrations Of one Of the trees
that had been struck made me wonder
for q moment what had happened.
Very soon the Servian artillery limbere
up and began to quickly retire down the
road through the forest up to which we
had marched in the early morning !
was looking on at this to me eXtraor-
binary movement on the part OF the
Servians when a number of SerYian
infantry who had been lying under
cover Of the scrub in front Of our bat
terry rushed past me. AS the mass CT
men crowded a little on the road a
little below on which the artillery was
disappearing xone of the enemy's
shells instead Of striking the pine trees
burst I'm their very midst. Then for
The first time the horror of war burst
mon me: before the noise Of the ex-
nlosion had ceased ringing in my ears
nj least half a dozen poor fellows We're
writing in their last agony. torn to
niecas by the sedgements of the shell.
II was then. TO steady my nerves that
I began the first Of series OF war
mixtures with which / have illustrated
wars and battles In every part Of the
world"
asvho is ne most interesting soldier
Of all those whom you have known, Mt
vflliers?"
"Skobeleff. emphatically.,' he replied.
ST knew him wen-no one knew him