The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-17
WAR ECHOES

for a few days, consequently at least the same number of soldiers as there are in- diylduals in the household can obtain ] subsistence there for day two. This
 method is the one which distributes more
 uniformly, if not in the best way. the
 burden of the subsistence among all the
 inhabitants. and makes it possible to sub sist the greatest number of men in
 given section of country
 An exception should always be made in favor of the poorer classes. who at the
 best of times are barely able to provide
 for their own families.
 The following exceptions are usually
 made:
 First-Any householder who has enter
 tained wounded man in his house is exempted from the quartering of sol
 diers.' tArticle w., Geneva Convention of 1864, acceded to by United States, March 1, 1SS2.)
 | Second-Charitable institutions, hospi-
 tals, asylums for aged and infrm, re- hgious communities of women. unpro- teeted women, and educational institU- tions for girls should not have troops bileted upon them.
 The advantage of this system is that the men at the end of days march lind their meal ready cooked and prepared. The disadvantages are that it causes very great dispersion and separation of the different units. Tn addition, this method may lead to oppression on the part of the troops, if they are not treated as liber- ally as they consider they should be. The dispersion of the troops prevents the officers enforcing strict compliance with | orders and is subversive of discipline | A supply of uniform clothing must be provided from the home country, and a | sufficient reserve available at all times | to replace the losses which occur in active service In some of the foreign armies l the first reserve of clothing is composed | | of 10 per cent of trousers and shoes, per cent of caps, coats and overcoats These | percentages are calculated on the maxi mum war strength of the organization. {, In those armies every soldiers kit must | at all times contain an absolutely new 1 uniform; this uniform the man is re- quired to put on only when the order for
 mobilization is received. The troops,
 consequently, march into the field in new l tiOlliDS, WHICH arrangement very SI'dtiN
 reduces the demands upon the reserve
 during the campaign
 | A study of the orders given by Napo- l leon indicates the care he exercised to | have sufficient supply of shoes provided.
 On one occasion he wrote You know
 that shoes are always needed in war" | and at another time he said to Baron Lc- | jeune. shoes help on marches, and
 marches win battles" To Sir John Bur goyne's question, addressed to Wellng-
 ton, What was the first requirement. of
 soldier?' "A good pair of shoes, he
 replied. And the second requirement. | "A good pair of shoes for a change l And the third?' "A pair of shoes for re-
 pairs"
 are being brought forward now that the
 great European war has arrived, and 1t 1 is scarcely surprising that some are cor
 rect. The prediction of war has been for years the stock-in-trade of the famous
 European foreeasters The great Euro
 pean war in their outgivings compares
 with the Farmers Almanac and it's Jan
 uary announcement: About this time ex- l pect snow.'' 1 Paris has just recalled an especially in- | teresting prediction of 1901 by Portu- | guese, Dom Bosco, who declared that Germany would be dismembered in 1913 or I 1914. There is also prediction outstand-
 ing by an East Indian that the Kaiser | will lose his crown in November, 1914. All
 these pretty prophecies however, pale py | the side of that familiar mathematical
 prediction which has been going the | rounds for several years. According to
 this yarn, a gypsy woman told Emperor William I in 1S49 Che was then Prince 1 William of Prussia) that there was to be | German empire. over which he would
 rule. And when is this empire :o be | formed?" asked the prince The gypsy 1 took a scrap of paper and wrote on it
 the year 1Si9. Then she wrote the same | figures l, 8. and g, in a column under the
 9 and added them in. making a total oi
 1871. And how long am I to rule over i this empire?" asked Prince William. The gypsy repeated the operation, adding the | figures l, 8, and 1 to 1871 and getting
 1sSS And how long is this fine empire
 to last?' The woman finished her
 prophecy by adding 1, s, s and s to 1888. i setting 1913 as the end of the empire. The first two dates came true as it 1 happened. But 1913 arrived and passed with the German empire still doing very comfortably. So poofl went the great
 gypsy prophecy into thin air, having gained percentage of 666. That may be | very handsome record in the business | of prophecy, but it scarcely indicates .he 1 existence of an exact science.
 Washington Post: Military experts in l France and England are not making the | mistake of regarding the retirement of | the German forces at the Marne river us
 a decisive defeat There seems to be no
 doubt that the tables have been turned
 that the pursuers have now become the
 pursued, and that the German army has | been registered against an army that
 seemed invincible, but that the Germans 1 have been crushed is hardly to be be- lieved.
 Even the emotional Parisians temper | their enthusiasm with the admission that
 the German lines surely will be reformed | and another offensive campaign will be | undertaken. The present war will not be
 ended so easily. The English and French
 suffered severe reverses. but their deter
 imitation kept them to their task and | finally won the day. The fact that they