The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-01-02

fixity of purpose have been backed up
by courage so sublime that all the world
has begun to applaud, to acknowledge
that he is that rare creature, the right
man in the right place. and TO ask ques-
lions about him Who is he? What is
his record? How will Russia reward
him?
Germans Are Proud.
In Germany-partfcularly in Saxony-
they are answering the first of these
questions in characteristic fashion.
From Kaiser Wilhelm down to the
meanest private IN the ranks the Ger
man army is toasting Stoessel as u
con1patriot, a brother in arms, native
son of the soil, and as an exemplar of
Germany military science
For the best fighter IL the Cars
army is not Russian at all, but a
| natural subject OF the German En-
peror, and formerly an officer in his
a-rnv
Born in Magdeburg. Saxony. about the
middle of the last century. Carl Stoessel
| is under sixty, OF medium height, robust.
square Jawed with gray-blue eyes that
| are hintly and apparently without SYM
pathy. He served the Emperor of Ger
many as an officer in the engineer
| corps. but obtained his discharge early
in the seventies and went TO St. Peters
burg.
At st. Petersburg.
| There ne joined the engineer corps of
the Russian army, and rose rapidly,
winning many orders of merit, the most
prominent being the Cross of St George,
with which he was decorated for per
sonal bravery during the march of the
allied armies on Pekin at the time of
the Boxer uprising a few years ago.
| His most important post prior TO being
| assigned TO Port Arthur was as COM
mapder of the Third Siberian Rifles.
| He is a bluff. blustery man and a rigid
| disciplinarian. His ideal of a soldier is
the --OId Dessauer'' of the Great Fred
! erick's time, but it is temperamentally
impossible for him to live up to his ideal
The Great Frederck's iron man was d
gruff but taciturn soldier. who believed
in obeying instructions down to The last
letter, and whose courage was proved
many times in the first of the Silesian
wars
Stoessel Talker.
Except in taciturity General Stoessel
nearly approaches his ideal He is free
of speech. peppery and perfervid, and
has a liking for oratorial effect which
leads him to be ford in utterance anC
has tendency at times TO make hin
appear a bra ggart-Wnen he Is most II
earnest, as In the case of his proclaIna
ton of February D.
AS an Instance Of his method Of en-
forcing discipline 1t is related that sOol
after taking command at Port Arthu
and while the present war cloud wa!
gathering he found number of hi
| officers carousing in a cafe. He prompt
~ called a guard Of soldiers, place.
the officers under arrest. closed tn
. cafe. and conhscated its liquors Afte
] 4 caring he sent the officers to tn
military prison for three weeks.
General Stoessel is married. and HI
wife is Russian. 1t was reported that h
. had sent her to Chefoo on a torped
: boat before the sortie of the Russian
feet. but that has since been denied
and it Is supposed that she has electe
to remain in Port Arthur and shar
the generals fate.
He inspires his men by example an
: exposes himself fearlessly, which is per
haps a fault in generalship where s
> much depends upon one mana faul
that may be forced upon the commando
by Che circumstances of the case an
, an urgent need for inspiriting example
And the answer to the question of hO'
Russia viii reward him? His rewar
win be marble and bronze, a niche in In
, Russian Pantheon. and enduring fame