The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-16
THE MAJOR AND
 VON MOITKE!
Ry RICHARD LINTHIcUM.

BY RICHARD LINTHICUM .a 1902, by Daily Story Pub Co st x ssS N idsrness. or the -nobs" under Ies ct Gettysburg and Cold Harbor. tht Franco-Prussian war would nave mac conviction that Won Moitke would no, have been great in an emergency. He regarded the German heid marshal as ? military mathematician. who was aois ,s that he produced on paper because the relative fighting qualities of the two ar uaies were exactly known, and TOT ene further reason that the troops were ma, neuvered according to set rules. and couil always be relied upon to do precisely q certain thing under any given condi- ton. Therefore. he said, 1t only pecaHs necessary to know the topograpny oi the battle ground, and the number ana character of the troops in each army 10 calculate with exactness the result or battle between them. On the other hand. the Major pr oposcu to show that the Northern and Soutnern n "mobs" while obeying generally the rules of warfare, were composed Of men pos sessing distinctive and indiviouaI quaIi. tiles, who in every crisis prougnt thSir individual intelligence to bear upon the situation, and thus, quite as often as not: produced results wholly the reverse or all military mathematical calculation. He had collected nnmssSSss Ss .ccarSinS iaSrs to S
 
 should have been badly defeated. it had risen suparior to all the formula of the strategist and had snatched a substan- tial victary from matnemaucahy oe- monstrable defeat
 He was also prepared to prove that a Won Moltke was not able to cope with a Grant under conditions anything like equal . whose bugles are blowing a charge when according to the rules they should De sounding a retreat? How can you out, %an1euhrs be in front of A you' Sakes yoS on the fla -kr' the Major asked. And then came the final and most unanswerable Of all the Majors interrogatives: Hoy are know when he is whipped@
 All this is mere standardization; the Major had it in elaborate detail, togeth. CT with his conception of Won Moltke very ciear to me. although 1t seemed quite convincing. the way the Major ex- plained it. at the time.
 All that remained to complete the Ma remarkable editorial and put it in print.
 The Major often planned to write II, but there would be a meeting or the c, A. R., or meeting of the E. A. h;' and the work would bs postponed. Be sides, the Major said ne did not want to publish 1t until the time seemed pro. pitious-unt!f something happeaed to give it timeliness which would insure
 The occasion presented itself before the editorial was committed 10 paper. A cable dispatch ann2uneed the critical iii- and the telegraph editor hastened to mo- tify the Major even before the dispatch was put in type. The Major said he would write the editorial that night at t.G a.- al hFVt nn to his hostelry he fell in with man who had served in his regiment. and he did not reach his destination until the night of the third day. He was in sucn was summoned and pronounced hts con- dttion dangerous
 Von Moltke died, and to another mem. ber of The Posts staff fell the task ot writing the editorial obituary: I A Tor Tas an up-to-date newspaper. and its edito' rial comment kept pace with the cur rent news.
 not the usual trite. effusive tribute the daily paper pays to great man when he dies. The writer endeavored to pro- duce an article which, while not disput. ns na von o tse pspes ss to to anS dents opinion concerning his military skill. and tte effort was more successful than even the enthusiastic journalist anticipated. There were sentences which ou Souid De commander who had figured so conspicu. ously in inc history of his country, but there were others made wholly of 4nuen- tFat the miidest words of praise had been written reluctantly. and equally plain that only respect due the dead pre- vented the writer from exposing the dark It W was altogether the most remarkable and confusing editerial that had ever ap- peared in The Post, and many readers wrote to the editor asking him to ev- plain the obscure and covert sentences. But as the writer was. not sure of their meaning he never attempted to make an explanation.
 its effect upon the Major was alarm but immediately aft.. reading that re- rrarkable sereed his condition was one of choleric excitability. The sudden rise of his temperature and the startling null with the shocking character of his re marks indicated the approach or deli ri I'm. The doctor was confirmed in this diagnosis by the Majors hailucinatiOn that he saw an ass welding a,. goose
 Two months elapsed before the Major recovered and resumed his editorial work. Aside from the effects of his ill., ness. his appearance was that O, om man He was no more the cheery Major ot old. but went about his duties with a grave countepance. He became exceedingly re- ticent in conveI sation. and upon the sub ject of the Won Moltke editorial he would neither say anything nor listen to an ex- pIanation.
 From the day of his return to duty, dated the Majors complete reformati ton. His pride in The Posts editorial page had received an almost fatal shock. but gradually recovered as the columns of the paper increased in interest and bril- liancy under the stimulus of his clear brain and sober hand.
 He seemed to feel that the paper had committed crime and that he had been particeps-erim minis. It was several years before this burden was removed from his conscience.
 The oct asion was the unveiling of a statue of the great German field mar. shai The Majors editorial on that event was one which he considered sec ond only to his masterpiece. "The Great Commanders Only Surrender-a ob. tuary on General Grant. The temp tation was strong upon him to carry out his ons cherished plan o,,ra Sf mssing ,,, tarv skill in order to refute the German commanders estimate of the American volunteer soldier. but the recollection of that obituary editorial caused him to abandon the idea. and he wrote not in a spirit of resentment but of reparation which had long weighed upon his sensi- tive soul
 The Majors editorial was reproduced in the principal German daily paper ot nounced 1t the most just and eloquent tribute that had been or ever would he paid to the memory of Count Won Moltke