The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1914-12-22
WAR AS A BUSINESS
Impressions of Visitor to German
Great Headquarters.
Campaign Conducted With the Eff.
cheney of Great American Cor.
poration-New Steel Hospital
Trains Perfectly Ap., o:ntod.

London.-A newspaper correspond
ent writing from Luxembourg says:
/ have just returned from the Ger
man great headquarters in France, the
visit terminating abruptly on the
fourth day, when one of the kaiser's
secret field police woke me up at sew.
en- o'clock in the morning and regret
fully said that his instructions were
to see that / did not oversleep' the
first train out. The return journey
along one of the German main lines of
communication - through Eastern
France, across a corner OF Belgium,
and through Luxembourg full of
interest, and confirmed the impression
gathered at the center of things, the
great headquarters, that this twentieth
century warfare is in the last analysis
a gigantic business proposition which
the board of directors (the great gen.
eral staff and the 36 department
heads are conducting with the eff
cheney of great American business
corporation.
The west-bound track is a ccntinu-
Gus procession of freight trains
fresh consignments OF raw material,
men and ammunition. being rushed to
the firing line to be ground out into
victories.
Our fast train stops at the mouth of
tunnel, then crawls ahead charity,
for the French, before retreating, dy-
namited the tunnel. One track has
been cleared, but the going is still
bad To keep it from being blocked
again by falling debris. the Germans
have dug clean through the top of the
into the tunnel. Looking up. you see
a pioneer company in once cream-col-
ored, now dirty-colored, fatigue uni
forms still digging away and terracing
the sides of the big hole to prevent
slides. Half an hour later We go slow
again in crossing new wooden bridge
over the Meuse-only one track as
yet 1t took the German pioneers
nearly a week to build the substitute
for the old steel railway bridge, dyna-
lie buckled up in the river
Further on a variety of interest is
furnished by a squad of French pris-
oners being marched along the road.
Then a spot of anthill-like activity
where German railway company is
at work building a new branch line,
hundreds of them having pickaXes and
making the dirt fly. 1t looks like
home-all except the inevitable Off
Ger distinguished by revolver and
fieldglass) shouting commands.
The intense activity of the Germans
in rebuilding the torn-up railroads and
pushing ahead new strategic lines is
one of the most interesting features of
a tour now in France. ] was told that
they had pushed the railroad work SO
far that they were able to ship men
and ammunition almost up to the for
titled trenches. The GermaniZation of
the railroads here has been completed
by the importation Of station superin-
tendents, station hands. trackwalkers,
ETC., from the Fatherland.
Now we creep past a long hospital
train, full this time, which has turned
out on a siding to give us the right of
way-perhaps thirty all-steel cars,
each fitted with two tiers of berths,
eight to a side, 16 to a car Every
berth is taken. One car is fitted up as
an operating room, but fortunately no
one is on the operating table as we
crawl past. Another car is the private
office of the surgeon in charge Of the
train. He is sitting at a big desk re-
ceiving reports from the orderlies.
During the day we pass six of these
splendidly-appointed new all-steel hos
pital trains, all full of wounded. Some
of them are able to sit up in their
hunks and take a mild interest in us.
Once, by queer coincidence, we ST.
multaneously pass the wounded going
one way and cheering fresh troops 60
ing the other.