Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-16
THE COMING MAN OF WAR Count Won WaIdersee as Von
 MoItke's Successor. HE 0UTWITTED THE KAISER And Covered Himself With Glory in the Annual : Maneuyers at Stettn. CRITICISM OF THE GERMAN TROOPS The Men Stood the Hardships With Forti- tude, But the Cavalry Played Out,
 The Lance a Failure and the
 Commissariat Also.
 
CRITICISM OF THE GERMAN TROOPS

Berlin, Sept. 15.-The military experts
 who have just returned from participa-
 tion in the annual maneuvers at Stettin
 are unanimous in their praise of the mas
 terly generalship of Count Won Walder-
 see, who reversed the whole programme and snatched unforeseen advantages | from. the kaiser himself. The manner | in which he conducted his part of the | operation has confirmed the opinion that | he will be the che who will guide the Ger man armies in the next European war
 which Germany shall be a combatant, as he is almost the equal of the late Vo,l 1 Moltke, and in respect to dash and en-
 ergy is second to no general that Ger many has ever had.
 In regard to the fighting qualities of the l German troops the notions formed by the various experts and correspondents | differ somewhat, but in the main are l favorable. One correspondent says the l reserve men during the heat of the movements lay about on the ground | making it look like field of battle strewn with wounded. During the climb 1 1nS of the slOopes for an assault the men dropped from the effects of the heat as though they had been shot, and the army doctors rode around among them and administered reviving cordials to them. The sanitary corps unfaStened the heavy knapsacks from the fallen men and as- sisted them to rise from their feet The men were always full of grit and moved forward al soon as they were able. The correspondent of the United Press
 who was. present throughout the maneu-
 vers, contends that the men stood the hardshps imposed upon them with won derful fortitude, and without any show
 ty fnnt T. ,s.t
 some of them broke down and lay by the roadside, but these men comprised only
 a few hundred of the 120,000
 Of much more serious importance was
 the fault of the horses under undue ex- ertions. The cavalry became completely played out and the horses of the balloon detachment were so overworked That sometimes not even the severest whip ping sufficed to get them uphill. The weight of the gas reservoir also proved too great strain for the horses and
 these facts show the necessity for a radical reform of the military material. Another reform affecting the lances introduced throughout German cavalry of late years seemed imperatively neccs- Sary. The lances do good work for a single man sent out to scout in opening doors and windows, giving the natives of an unoccupied country wholesale | scare and a degree of respect for in- vadfng forces during a clearing up eXpe ultlOI Dut as SOOD dS the men WOrk III -sauadrons the lance becomes an ncum- hrance and even a source of danger to both men and horses.
 The United Press correspondent, after collating the views of military experts and comparing them with his own ex- periences during the maneuverS holds that the Uhlans may continue to use lances. hut the Hussars. dragons and cuirassierS must be relieved of this hin drance. The infantry tried their new bayonets. which are of a triangular shape, instead of being shaped like vat aghans, and it is conceded the latter style proves to be the most useful of l any. The new portable tents were a great success. The men like them, as they could be erected without the slightest trouble. There was a great deal of dis content, however, with the management of the commissarat Many of the men
 complained that they had nothing to
 eat for whole day except slice of
 bread.
 Officers and men alike were sometimes
 so fatigued that they preferred to go to
 sleep than to lay awake and await the
 arrival of food. The chief of commis-
 sary received decoration, after which
 he was highly elated, but the other ofli-
 cers of the commissariat were left to
 indulgence in volumes of bad Ian
 guage, provoked by the ciamors of hun
 gry men. The officers contend. however,
 that the men are themselves to blame
 for not getting more food than they did
 and ascribe all their privations in that
 respect to their perversity.
 The facilities afforded to the members
 of the press throughout the maneuvers,
 through Captain Dahms of the general
 staff bureau, were uneXccptlonable
 Every scrap of information asked for by
 the correspondents was given promptly and cheerfully and with pleasant words.
 No restrictions of any sort were imposed
 upon the representatives of the press.
 Colonel Won Lowenfeld or the general staff had the care of the attaches.
 Before the kaiser and Emperor Francis
 Joseph of Austria parted the new Aus trian cabinet was exhaustiVely discussed
 by them. The change in the ministry does not in the slightest concern the pres ent situation or affect the dreibund, but
 the fact that it practically submerges
 the Austro-German group has given tinge in Berlin especially to the eonserv- atives. Practically Count Badeni enters office without a programme. Austrian
 Poles with anti-democratic leanlngs, constitute a majority of the cabinet. so
 that there is not the slightest chance of a popular extension of the franchise, nor indeed of any liberal reforms. There is no reason, therefore. why the German conservatives should not welcome the Badeni ministry. and probably the Aus tro-German groups will soon decide to accept Badeni.
 The appointment oI DIT rTdnk Ia- seller as British ambassador to Germany Is taken as a forecast of Lord Salisbury's intention to enter into a closer friend ship wit hthe dreibund. The new am- bassador is widely known to have Ger man sympathies. He is a cousin of Lord Salisbury and through marriage is re- lated to the Duke of Devonshire. Berlin society is in expectation of witnessing a brilliant period of receptions under the auspices of the new ambassador, the gaiety of the British embassy having been rather dampened under Sir Edward Malets increasing disposition to cur tail the embassy's hospitalities.
 King Alexander of Servia has ap- preached the family of Grand Duke of Hesse on the subject of arranging for