The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-04-14
.OBED|EN1 SOLDIERS,
An Illustration Of Military Disci-
pIine In Germany.
A JOKE TRKccN IN EARNEST.

pune IN Germany.
A JOKE TAKEN IN EARNEST.
The Story an EnsIishman Tells of an
Amusing Incident In Which He Par
ticipated During Visit to the Bat
tIefeId Of Worth.
The docility and blind obedience Of
the German soldier hay" -, been an
object Of comment. % Germans
themselves recognize T.. :'ometimes
goes so far as to be abs;;..I. An Eng
lishman, writing in the London Times,
describes an amusing incident which
occurred after he had spent day
ramping about the battlefield Of
Worth. He was dressed, it should be
noted, in regular civiliaG clothes and
carried an umbrella:
Emerging from wood. came upon
plot Of grass where about dozen
German soldiers were resting. The
spirit moved me 10 sep and speak
to these men-empkas:: .!c my mean
ing by signs when my S>ant German
vocabulary failed me.
asked. care you Prussians?' The
indignant answer. in chorus. was: "No!
SaXonSr'
"Oh," said /, wishing to conciliate,
'I am Anglo-Saxon."
Much to my astonishment, one Of
them got up and shook me warmly by
the hand. Pointing to my dusty boots
and flannel shirt, unbuttoned at the
neck. then, in vile German, explained
to my friends Of FIVE minutes standing
that I had made the grand tour Of the
battlefield on foot and had been walk
ing since 9 o'clock in the morning, it
then being 3 in the afternoon
Quite casually I remarked that al
though mot military, but naval Of
fcer," the study Of battlefelds inter
ested me.
At the mention Of the word officer
all the men sat up, buttoned their tu-
MICS and buckled on their swords or
bayonets-I forget which.
care you going to Niederbronn" was
my next question.
Yes" they replied; eve are going to
walk to Niederbronn and there take
the train to Bitsch."
What evil genius prompted me to
make the next remark cannot tell,
but although uttered in joke its con-
sequences were perfectly astounding.
81, too, am going to Niederbronn.
You are my regiment I am your colo
nelv'
Up they sprang to their feet, fell IN
two deep and kept quite silent as if On
parade. Fright turn!' and off we
. marched, carrying my umbrella as If
| it were a sword.
Breasting a grassy slope, we marched
up to the top at swinging pace. still
observing perfect silence and In step
A short distance off was solitary sol
der Of th same regiment lying at
full length on a bench near the ~.
trance to wood-tunic unbuttoneu,
sword unbuckled. and so forth.
On catching sight Of the approaching
SQUAD up he jumped, buttoned his
tunic, buckled on his weapon, stood
rigidly at attention and when the reg,
tment" came by tailed on" as If 1t
was the most natural thing Ia the
world to do.
| Please note that not a word PASSED
between the main body and tie re,
enforcement. On entering the wood
the leading file began to sing n1arch'
ing song, the others joining in Chorus
By this time we were nearing Nieder
bronn and passed man and bis W1re
who were evidently much asto1lsheo
to see a disciplined body Of meI
marching in strict military fashion un
der the command Of foreigner '.rmeo
with an umbrella-not even silE one
A disconcerting thought arose
"What will happen if we chance Gcross
a German officer, ard how, III my
broken German, can ever hope 10 ex
plain this extraordinary assumption Of
command Of the forces Of the kaiser?
So without q moments further delay
i I said to the men, "I must go to my
hotel. which IS over there" and bade
them goodby.
| These docile and amiable Saxons
I with one accord. taking time by thu
leading file, saluted, and I, having re
turned their salute, got out Of sight as
rapidly as possible. On peeping rounc
the corner Of a house there was my
| late regimen still marching VIII
the regularity CT clockwork.