The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1914-12-27
Jolre Proud
OF Military
Medal, Too
Values the Little Silver Medal
as Much as the Common
French Soldier Does.

1 Correspondence of Associated Press1
PARIS, Dec. 26.-The satisfaction
with which General Joffre received
the military medal recently shows
that even he who might be regarded
as having exhausted all Of the Official
honors that could be conferred on him
when he received the grand cross of
the Legion Of Honor. values the little
!silver medal quite assmuch as the com
mon soldier.
To receive the. military medal 1t IS
necessary to have been cited in dis
patches, to have gone through four
campaigns, to have been wounded in
face Of the enemy or to have accom-
plisheds some signal act Of courage or
! devotion. or late years the decora-
ton OF the Legion of Honor has been
considered far more accessible. The
military medal is not exactly q sue
cessor Of the medal Of the veterans
Instituted In 1881, but its purpose Is
the same and the qualifications Of the
men upon whom 1t is conferred are in
part the same. 3
The Legion of Honor, as ,Bonaparte
conceived 1t and instituted 1T, was In
tended to recompense signal services
In both peace and war, and Napoleon
III thought there should be a decora-
ton for military services distinct
from an order like the Legion Of Hon
or, which was accessible to everyone.
Napoleon's Motive.
It's not everyone who wills that
shall wear this sign Of honor" Ma
poleon said when the Legion Of Hon
or was established and his first In
tention clearly was to make 1t an in
centtve to his men and officers: he
himself stated that the desire to OBJ
tain the cross grew SO rapidly that
1t became species of fury, beginning
with Austerlitz. For a long 1t was
only the theatrical profession that
was excluded from the Legion of Hon
or. Napoleon himself established a
precedent OF according the decoration
In recognition Of important industrial
and commercial achievements by dec
Grating q man who. had built up an
enormous industry in wallpaper.
You compete SO vigorously with the
English with your wallpaper" he
said, Il think you should be assimilat-
ed with the brave officers of my army.
;for In your way you are accomplish
ing the same thing as they"
Canrobert who commanded the 9Th.
army corps in 1870 is quoted saying
10 young rifeman that he decorated
with the military medal on the field
OF battle: Now then. he is equal
to me" With less stripes though"
replied the decorated man. Just then
both were upset by shock from the
explosion Of a shell. You see yery
we'll" said Canrobert when he had
gotten to his feet and shaken the
dust from him, that l was right In
saying that we were equals, for You
see that shell had the same effect up
on both Of us; give me your hand"
Recent Inscriptions.
Before the war Of 1870. So 600 SOL
diers had been decorated with the
military medal, while during that war
$1,000 new decorations were accord
ed. Before the opening of the pres
ent campaign there were about So
600 entitled to wear this decoration.
Among recent inscriptions for the
military medal in the Journal OficieI.
the following exceptional cases are re.
ported:
Conductor Desbrus of the Fifty
seventh artillery, received twenty
four wounds from fragments Of
shells and had the right arm broken.
during the battle of the Aisne. San
TENDER 81. Taken back to the base
Notwithstanding his protestations. he
said to the doctor who cared for him:
IT'S far better that It be me than the
captain who was hit by that shell. for
the captain is more useful to France
than l." Desbrus died from his
wounds after receiving the military
medal. =
Sergeant Cabour of the Fifth in
fantry, installed an observatory In n
tree and remained there three DAYS
without relief or provisions, under
violent infantry and artillery are.
continually giving the most useful In
formation on the enemy's movements
ana position Of the enemy's artillery
by telephone.
Lieutenant flag-bearer Carrere of
the One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth
infantry. was present the twenty-sec-
ond OF August at the moment when.
under terrible fire, several compa-
MES showed hesitation to advance.
But he deployed the flag Of the reei-
ment and the cry OF, ''To the flag! To
the fag!" succeeded in provoking a
general assault Of the entire line.
PRISONERS