The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-09
DIRECTING A BATTLE.
The, Modern General Is 1b Miles Away

The, Modern General Is 15 Miles Away,
 Sitting Close to a Switchboard. Y h this Manehurian War we have seen battles with a fighting front ex- tending more than 40 miles. Using the terms fighting front in this con- nection, I do not mean that the op- posing armies were simultaneously, or even occasionally, engaged along every mile of this distance. As matter of fact, they came actually into collision only at certain points. But they were, nevertheless, in contact, tactically speaking. along the whole of either combatant must quickly result in di- rect collision with the enemy Even 90 years ago commander would have found 1t impossible to keep in tactical touch with an army so widely distrib- uted. The efficiency attained by mod ern field telegraph and telephone sys- tems offers the explanation. Formerly a commander took his position during the progress of a battle. if possible, on an eminence from which d comprehen- sive view of the field could be had. Frequently this position could be reached by hostile fire and 1t was never so far removed as to put the com n1ander out of direct contact with his troops. So stationed, surrounded by his staff, he would observe the progress of the battle, receiving from time to time reports from his subordinates, and directing them through his aides who carried the messages on horse back.
 To-day circumstances place a com mander completely out of sight of his army. He is usually located at least 10 or 15 miles from the firing line, and in many instances is even farther away. He sits in a room, whence ra- diate telephone and telegraph lines to the remotest portions of the field, plac- ing him in instantaneous commu- nication with his principal subordi- hates The famous painting of Napo- leon at Austerlitz represents. in the popular eye, a commanding general di- recting a great battle. But it belongs to the warfare of the past. The artist who aspires to depict the direction of a modern battle must show a man seated at a table on which is spread huge map dotted with little flags in dicating the location of the opposing forces, with an ordinary desk tele- phone at his elbow.
 Iii an adjoining room is a switch board, where sit alert operators ready to connect the commander with any of the field headquarters. From this room, also, comes the steady clicking of a score of telegraph instruments, busily receiving and sendong; messages. But for the military uniforms of the messengers and the going and coming of staff officers the man at the table might be 8 stock operator directing through his brokers, "a deal in steel or railroad securities. Even the stem ographer at his elbow is not lacking, but sits quietly taking messages un- der dictatior to be transmitted pres ently by telegraph. Other officers copy these messages and file them away, after putting them under a time recording stamp, to show the hour they were sent, so that afterward delinquencies may be located and re- responsibilities fixed Thus, apart from the excitement and horrors of the bat tlefeld, a general sits. at a. desk and calmly directs the battle. He hears that this attack has been repulsed that re-enforcements are needed here, that ammunition is running low there, that this division has been cut into pieces, that those troops have been two days without food, so on, along his 40 miles of front, and takes his measures ac- eordingly. -
 This picture is not faneiful. With due allowance for the fallibility of all human devices when subjected to the strain of abnormal conditions, it is substantially correct. Thomas F. Willard in Scribner's.
 A COSTLY HANDsHAKE. e
 "A handshake once cost New Mexi-
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