Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-12-28
SIDELIGHTS
-ON---
European War

Berlin. - Correspondence of The
Asso> .ated Press. )-Evidence of the
req elton OF German officers and sol
d.ers fighting at the front against the
/ tendency to belittle the fighting quail
titles of the enemy continue to accum-
ulate
: Soldiers letters and returning sol
diers speak in terms of high appreci-
alton of the military prowess and sol
dierly qualities of their opponents and
among several hundred wounded with
whom the correspondent of the Asso-
ciated Press has talked in his visits
10 hospitals the last fortnight no one
VISA found who refused to credit the
enemy in general. Russian French and
Belgian and English with bravery and
military skill.
Distinctions are drawn, it is true,
the British being generally reckoned
as the toughest opponents on the west
front.
The Germans had a high opinion of
the fighting qualities of the French
soldiers before this war begun. The
fighting which occurred on the march
from the Belgian frontier to the Marine
and Paris tended to lessen their re-
spect for toughness of French moral
fibre, but the last two months have
changed that again and soldiers let
tiers reflect increased respect for them.
The recent fighting of the remnant of
the Belgian army in Flanders also has
greatly raised the German estimation
of the Belgian soldier, who, in the gen.
eral rmy opinion, had not greatly dis
=.
and Antwerp and the intervening field
engagements.
AS to the British, field post letters
continue to bear out the statement
from a German expert as to their ro>
bust fighting qualities. One of the
latest of these letters. printed in the
Cologne Gazette, contains the following
striking passage:
People at home appear TO have
wrong notions about the fighting quail
tiles of the enemy. The English are
the toughest and bravest foe we have
to meet. Every individual man keeps
on shooting cody so long as he is not
taken prisoner and these trained vet
Grams shoot we'll. When we storm a
position the French will run when we
close in with our shoots of 'huNah,'
but the English stick tenaciously TO
their entertainments to the last
Dancers Arneezeitung. the leading |
publication of Austria, pays a
high tribute to the Servian, Belgian |
and Russian troops. The Servians are |
called brave. but declaration is made /
that they are without food and ammu /
milton. Credit is given the Belgians !
for standing with England aud France /
when they must have realized that I
their cause was irredeemably lost"
The press is criticized for its attacks .
on the Russians. saying they are
brave and capable.
Nish. Servia.-CC Correspondence OF
The Associated Press. There is a
shortage of officers In the Servian
army. due not only TO the severe losses
sustained in the earlier battles of the
but also to the losses of the
-wo Balkan wars. The gaps have
proved source of considerable en-
to the army chiefs, and a
number of youthful cadets from the
military college have now been given
and sent to the front.
Another matter of serious concern
n army circles is the difficulty of car
ng properly for the wounded, who
ire being sent into the interior towns
5 rapidly as possible. Although there