The daily Alaskan., 1913-03-10
WINTER AND WAR
Bitter Cold as a Factor In the
 Campaigns In Europe.
ARMIES WRECKED BY FROST.

ln Most ot the sfeat SohuietA TUT
 Century Past Icy Weather Has Play
 ed a Prominent Part--Napolson's
 Disastrous Invasion of Russia.
 War is bsd enough under the best of climatic conditions, but when war and bitterly cold and icy weather mix the suffering is woefully intensified. And yet there has hardly ever been a Euro pean war on a big scale in which Gen eral Jack Frost has not taken Land.
 Go back a century. Eighteen hun. dred and twelve was the year when Napoleon made up his mind to invade Russia. Before starting be was care ful to Inquire of the experts at what date winter usually set in in southern Russia. They told him the middle or December.
 It was on June 24 that he Invaded Russia with GOOOO1 men, and he reach ed Moscow on Sept l4. That night hre broke out, and within five days the city was burned to the ground. Even then he remained until Oct IS before commencing his retreat
 In the last week of October began the worst frost which Europe had known for three generations. The Thames fruze from its source 10 the sea. The Seine the Rhine, the Dan ube, were all lcebOund. On the Adri- atic, off Venice, was seen the amazing sight of ioatlng Ice foes. The Darda- nelles and nearby waters were frozen. Jack Frust's fey finger lay heavy even upon North Africa. Drift fee appear ed in the Nile, and there were snow. storms in TripoH and Morocco.
 As for Napoleons huge army, it was almost wiped out Four hundred thou- sand men perished. They frOze to death in battalious as they bivouack' ed. and when at last on Dec. 6, Ma poleon reached German soil, out of his whole vast host but l30.OOO men were left alive.
 During the winter of is534 the Turks were battling for dear life along the Danube against hordes of Rus slans. In the following September B.. 900 British troops, a similar number of French d 5000 Turks were land ed in the CT nea.
 Again came a terrible winter, and from the west of Ireland right across Into Asia frost fell heavy on land and sea. In London it froze for six weeks without a break From Jan. IA to Feb. 24 the thermometer was below freezing every night In the Crimea the cold was fearful. and the English army, dis gracefully catered for, suffered hOrri- bly,. Tn all the British forces lost 20- O56 men, and of these only l2 per cent fell In battle. The rest were destroyed by cold and disease, aggravated by Q rotten cOmmisSariat,
 In 1870 came the biggest war of the latter half of the nineteenth century, the titanic conflict between France and Germany By Oct % there were SJO,- 900 German troops in France, Paris was besleged. and there began the four months investment, with furious fight. Ing on both sides
 Again Jack Frost came to the aid of the Germans. A long spell of intense cold made life almost impossible for the half starved French. while the Germans, who bad the whole country to draw on, besides their own excellent commlssariat, suffered very little. By January the city was in such a terrible condition that lt surrendered
 The date of the last great war before that of 1912 in which Turkey was en- gagged was 1877. The Turks were at- tackled by an enormously superior force of Russians, with the czar himself ln command. Osman Pasha, with 10000 men. hurried Inland to Pleyna, a vii lage which stood upon a hill, and thero hastily entranched himself. The Rus, sians had 100000 men, but Osman and his dauntless band defeated them in four successive battles
 In November winter set in three weeks earlier than usual The Turks had no winter clothing and little to eat but malze porridge and horsenesh. They suffered fearfully. At last, on Dee. 9, they determined to break out There were only SO.OOO left, but their rush was so tremendous that they car, ried three lines of Russian trenches be- fore they were surrounded and forced by enormously superior numbers to surrender unconditonally.--DOndon An gygprS