The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-20

concerning it have been printed In lead ing papers in this country. Although the facts brought out in the book were subjected to the seVerest scrutiny, they could not be gainsaid; yet the unfortu- nate lieutenant who wrote it had to go to prison all the same. But the book will do a vast amount of good and anne liorate the treatment of the German sOldiery by their superior officers. Lieutenant Bilse wrote under the pen. name of Fritz von der Kyburg. He was found out, court-martialed. dismissed from the service and sentenced to six months imprisonment. During his trial he stated that since entering the ser vice he had lost all his illusions con corning the character and duties of an officers calling" He declared that the social and regimental tone of the from tier garrison towns was extremely low, and that the repeated instances of lax discipline. favoritism and loose living which he had observed had provoked him to write his book.
 lieutenant Bilse's story is made up of incidents and events in garrison life, held together by mere tissue of run llAi6 udlIdllNC- -NO part u lnC NdoC made out against the state of the Ger man army by the lieutenant was dis posed of during the examination of Bilse. The Reichstag debated the book at several sessions, and the Kaiser, forced to take notice of the scandal, is- sued a secret decree to the army corps commanders calling for stricter disci- pline and keener vigilance. The book, of course, is prescribed in Germany.
 The New York Evening Sun says of the book in an extended review: ''The i lieutenant described with simple direct less the military persons and the wives of the military persons of the garrison to which he was attached. The way the story caught on in the Fatherland prob ably surprised the author as much as anybody. Edition after edition came out The authorship was traced There was court-martial, for, accord | ing to the military code, no soldier may print anything without the specific per- mission of his superiors. The whole novel was read to the court. Bilse was sentenced to Imprisonment and dis missed from the service. But the mat ter did not end there. The whole ques- tion came up in the Reichstag, where it furnished text for several angry de- bates The emperor had to take notice. He was forced to express an opinion on 1.-the conditions set forth in the story. Every officer in that particular garrison was moved to some other scene of use fitness.
 l The absence of literary skill in the novel of Bilse has been commented on in Germany. We fail to see it. The very directness of the narrative sug- gests the art which conceals art. There are bits which might be taken from the pages of Tolstoy. Take, for example, l this episode, which speaks for itself and gives some notion of the whole book. The scene is laid in the quarters of the spendthrift Lieutenant Borgert, a typi- cal army brute. The italics are ours:
 "solaced by the hope that after all some mild hand would open and drop l into his lap small mountain of gold. 1 he fell asleep; the book slipped from his hands, and the lamp on the night table went out after midnight, since Borgert l had forgotten to blow it out. He slept restlessly, and bad dreams pursued him. His load of dept developed into a night mare that was pressing on his chest and threatening to crush out his life. When he awoke in the morning it was past ten. Borgert began to rage. 1 Almost half the day was gone now, and yet he had meant to do so much. Had this ass of servant again forgotten to wake him? With that his head ached, and he felt nervous and out of sorts. Throwing his dressing gown loosely about him, he went into his servants room and found Rose laboriously pen- I ming letter. When his master entered the poor fellow shot out of the seat and stood bolt upright.
 Why didn't you wake me, you beast?' he thundered at him.
 "'I wakened the Herr First Lieuten- ant at seven o'clock, but the Herr First
 Lieutenant wanted to continue sleeping and said need not come back any more to annoy him.
 That's lie, you swine; I will teach you to do as you are told And he seized leather belt lying on the fell lows bed, and with it struck Rose vio- 1lently, then, kicking him and letting the belt play around his face and neck un- til broad, livid marks began to show.
 Rose preserved his military attitude, and stood his, punishment without in I the least resisting. But that was fur ther cause of anger to Borgert, and the latter dropped the belt, and with his I fist struck the man several hard blows in the chest. Then he took the mans letter. half finished as it was, crumpled lit up in his hand, and threw it into the coal-scuttle.
 Step up stairs lively and tell Herr
 First Lieutenant Leimann that I want to speak to him. Tell him if possible to step in here for half an hour before he goes to town
 At your orders, Herr First Lieu tenant. ;"
 Imagine the effect that book like
 this, written from the inside, had on the mothers and sisters of the men subject
 ed to the black-guardly officers like Borgert. Then you can understand why the novel became so popular. But cruelty only forms one count Of the in- dictment Looseness in money matters,
 immortality, incompetence, are other charges which are pressed home re-
 morselessly.'
 The book has very interesting pre- face by it's translator, Wolf von Schier-
 brand.
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