Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-11-24
DEMOCRACY OF DEATH.
Common Danger Builds Bond Of Sym
pathy Between Officers and Men.

pathy Between Omcers ana men.
The German army Is very human
institution just now, says an Associ-
ated Press dispatch from Berlin. The
iron discipline of the barracks and the
caste spirit which divides the officer
| from the rank and file are not so much
in evidence.
In one Of the better restaurants of
Berlin sat two officers Of the line. The
worn look Of the field-gr uniform of
one showed that he had seen service.
That the other had been at the front
was made clear by bandage over his
head
| Following an animated recital the Of
| ficer in the worn uniform picked up a
bundle which had lain beside him on
the table and proceeded to unwrap six
mouthorgans.
| You see," he said to his convalescent
companion, life in the trenches and
| there will be much Of 1t. | fear-is
rather slow. There are several men in
my company who can play these
things and l am taking them back to
them A little music helps them pass
the time and keeps them in a good hu-
NOR"
Il gave my captain five boiled pota-
toes and half Of salt herring the 9TH
er day, and he told me he appreciated
it," said a private when asked to eX-
plain to what extent life in the bar
racks resembled life on the firing line.
To the remark that hunger comes to
all men regardless Of station in life, the
private commented:
That is so, Of course; but the off,
Ger did not have to thank me for it,
It would have served no purpose to ar
que this point with the man. so another
question was asked.
This is the time when everybody
must do his duty" replied the man,
and then added slowly and with en-
phasis, "and that duty right now seems
to be the same for all alike-every-
body within his place, Of course. The
officer Is as likely to be shot as we are.
and sometimes more so, and that, ! be-
lieve evens things up considerably"
"A sort Of democracy Of death" sug-
gested the interviewer.
But the word democracy" is in Ger
many principally associated with the
Social Democrats"-the German So
cialist party. For that reason the pri-
vate had nothing more to say.
1t is as difficult o interview a Ger
man private as 1t Is to get informa-
ton from one of the few officers who
inhabit the large rambling general staff
building across the Reichstag building.
It seems to be as much the duty Of the
soldier to be silent as to fight.
There is no doubt that the German
army in the field Is a more liberal in
stitution than the German army in the
barra cks One reads almost daily of
men carrying their officers to the dress
ing station behind the trench or firing
line, and Of officers who, after the
fighting is over, make frantic efforts to
succor their wounded men. Letters
which speak of officers dividing their
parcels from home with their men have
ceased to be a novelty.
On the whole it Is a rare thing for a
German private to get the Iron cross of
the second and first classes together.
So far there are three cases: 1nfan-
trist Maurer Silber Of Querfurth; Re-
serve Corporal Carl Frank, Of Sins
helm, and Infantrist Henry Mueller, OF
Geestemuende, the latter also earning
promotion to sergeant.
Mueller serves with a machine-gun
section. In a recent engagement the
crew Of the section was shot down,
Mueller alone escaping. Instead of
seeking cover, Mueller carried his
wounded corporal into safe place be-
hind the firing line, and then returned
to the machine gun. which he began
firing with such efficiency that within
few moments he had killed and wound
ed nearly all the men in two of the
enemys trenches.