Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-12-30
Timely and Curious Facts
About the. War
INITIATIVE IN THE GERMAN MILL
%TARY MACHINE,

Tha German soldier has sometimes
been charged in the newspapers with
a lack Of initiative. So general is
this idea that a reviewer Of General
Bernhardi's book on Cavalry recently
expressed surprise that this German
writer throughput insisted on the de-
velopment of initiative. The poin,
is taken up in a discussion in the En-
c~yclopaedia Britannica, Of the German
training of officers. Contrasting ii
with the British methods, the Britain.
MICA says: &Iu5 ,ls .E. -
,"The Germans attend more closely
to detail-being even miscroscopical
and it has been said that a little
grit in the German military machine
would, cause a cessation of its work.
ing. Unfortunately for this argument
the German army has not yet given
any signs fof cessation Of! work, so few
deviations from the smooth working
of the military machine being permit.
Ted that the introduction OF. grit into
this air-tight casing is practically i'm.
possible. At the same time, the Ger
man officer is trained; to have initia.
tive and to use that initiative, but he
is expected to- be discreet in the use
of it and consequently undue insis'
tehce on literal obedience to i~nstrtc.
ttions Gas distinct from formal or
dsrs), and undue r%eticence on the
part Of senior, especially staff, Off.
GERS Is held. to- be dangerous, in that
the regimental officer, if Ignorant OF
the military situation, may, by acts
of initiative out of harmony with the
general plan, seriously prejudice the
issue. The Germans attach special
Importance to instruction in the tao.
.tical handling of artillery"
ARRAS.
Arras, a city of northern France
which has seen a good deal Of fight.
ing in the European war, is The CHIEF
town of the department of Pas-de.
Calais, % miles northeast of Amiens
Oh the Northern railway between that
city and Lille, with some 21,OOO inhab.
itants. "Arras is situated in a fertile
plain" says: the Encyclopaedia Britain.
MICA, ION the right and southern bank
of the Scarpe, at, its junction with the
,Crinchon, which skirts the town on
the south and east.
ZOE the Notifications erected by
.Vauban in the 18th century, only a
gateway and the partially dismantled
citadel, nicknamed la Belle Inutile,
are left. The most interesting quar-.
ter lies in the east of the town, where
the lofty houses which border the
spacious squares known as the Grande
and the Petite Place are in the rlem-
lish style They are built with their
upper storeys, projecting over the
;footWaW and supported on columns SO
as 10, form arcades;; beneath these
are deep cellars extending under the
squares themselves. The celebrated
hotel de- Vile Of the 10Th century
overlooks the Petite Place; Its ibelfry;
which contains a fine peal Of bells,
rises to a height of 240 feet. The
decoration Is in the richest Gothic
style, and is especially admirable in
the case Of the windows, or the nu.
imerous ecclesiastical buildings the
cathedral, a Church of. the 18th cen
fury possessing some good pi~cturess:is
the most important. 1t occupies the
site. of the church Of the abbey Of st.
/, aast, the buildings of which adjoin
it and contain the Bishops palace, the
ecclesiastical seminary, a museum Of
antiquities, paintings and, sculptures,
and a rich library"
The. town became famous in, the
18th century for its tapestrie1kso that
."cloth OF Arras" became the common