The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-28
The Globes Daily Short Story B

fank?" the major asked And then
came the final and most unanswerable Of
all the majors interrogatives: "How are
you going to whip man who doesn't
know when he is whipped"
All this is mere generalization; the ma
jOr had it in elaborate detail, together
with his conception of Won MOtk. 9
mathematical formula 1t never was very
clear to me, although it seemed quite
convincing, the way the major explained
it, at the time.
All that remained to complete the ma
JorS patriotic revenge was to write the
remarkable editorial and put it in print.
The major often planned to write iii.
but there would be a meeting Of the q
A. r., or meeting of the B. A R.. as
our humorous paragrapher put it. and
the work would be postponed. Besides,
! the major said he did not want to pub
lish 1t until the time seemed prOpitious-
until something happened to give It a
timeliness which would insure public III
terest in it.
The occasion presented itself before the
editorial was committed to paper A
cable dispatch announced the critical ill
ness of the great German field marshal,
and the telegraph editor fastened to noti-
fly the major even before the dispatch
was put in type The major SAIL ne would
write the editorial that night al his room
in the hotel, but on his way to his hos
telry 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 such state of physical
collapse that a. doctor was summoned
and pronounced his condition dangerous.
Won MOltke died, and to another MEM
Der of the Posts staff fell the task of
writing the editorial obituary, for the
Post was proud in the belief that it->WaS
an up-to-date newspaper, and it's editorI
ial comment kept pace with the current
news.
The Posts editorial or Won Moltke was
not the usual trite. ELUSIVE tribute the
daily paper pays to q great man when
he dies. The writer endeaVored to pro-
duce an article which, while not disput-
ing Won Moltkes title to fame would not
commit the paper to any definite opinion
concerning his military skill, and the ef-
fort was more successful than even the
enthusiastic Journalist anticipated There
were sentences which could be construed
as a mild appreciation of a commander
who had figured so conSpicuously in the
history of his country but there We're
others made wholly of inuendOes and in
situations 1T was apparent that the
mildest words Of praise had been written
reluctantly. and equally plain that only
respect due the dead prevented the writer
from exposing the dark and hidden Sc
crets Of the life departed. 1t was alto"
gether the most remarkable and cOnfus-
ing editorial that had ever appeared in
the Post and many readers wrote to the
editor asking him to explain 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
ing. He had been convalescing rapidly,
but Immediately after reading that re-
markable screed his condition was one
of choleric eXcitability. The sudden rise
of his temperature and the startling null
tiplication Of his pulse beats together
with the shocking character Of his re-
marks indicated the approach of delrium
The doctor was confirmed in this dag
nosis by the majors hallucination that he
saw an ass welding a goose quill and
pretending to be an editor.
T1rn months pJ9nGn1 hafOrn tbn ma
recovered and resumed his editorial work.
Aside from the effects Of his illness. his
appearance was that of q man stricken
and SubduGd by great sorrow He was
no more the CHEEKY major of Old but
went about his duties with a grave coun-
enance. He became exceedingly ret+cent
in conversation, and upon the subject of
the Won Moltke editorial he would Meth
er say anything nor listen to an eXplana-
ton.
dated the majors complete reformation
His pride in the Pests editorial page had
received an almost fatal shock, but grad
ually recovered as the columns Of the pa
per increased in interest and brilliancy
under the stimulus Of his clear brain and
sober hand.
He seemed to feel that the paper had
committed a crime and that he had been
particeps criminis Tt was several years:
before this burden was removed from his
conscience.
The occasion was the unwilling of a
statue of the great German field mar
shall. The majors editorial on that event
was one which he considered second only
to his masterpiece. '"rhe Great Com
mander's Only Surrender'-an obituary
on Gen Grant. The temptation was
strong upon him to carry out his long
cherished plan of making critical analy-
sis Of Won Moltke's military skill in order
to refute the German commanders eSti-
mate Of the American volunteer soldier
but the recollection OF that obituary edi-
torial caused him to abandon the idea,
and he wrote not in a spirit of resent
ment. but of reparation for an act Of
injustice which had long weighed upon
his sensitive soul
The majors editorial was reproduced
in the principal German daily papers OF
the United States whose editor pro-
nounced 1t the most just and eloquent
tribute that had been or ever would be
paid to the memory Of Count Won Moltlke.