The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-28
WAR ECHOES

o'.ce feWer popular heroes than did various wars of the past, where the oombatants were a mere handful com pared with the enormous masses of men now fighting desperately along the borders of France
 In modern warfare the individual counts for nothing. The units are army corps, not men. With the personal ele. nient submerged in the masses of armed and marching or fighting soldiers little opl ortunity for personal glory remains. Sheridan's ride at Winchester would re- ceiye no notice in the dispatches if per- formed in Belgium or Alsace today. Leaders no longer fight at the head of their troops or rally them into action. They sit miles away at the end of telegraph wire. When victory is won the commander who directed the move : Inents of the victors is the only hero. But his troops have never seen him in action.
 The world likes 1t heroes warm and full of glory. What 1t craves are the Ser Gea nt Jaspers. the Marshal News, the Phil Sheridans of wars more or less theatrical moments. Denied the panoply
 
 that once made even death seem sweet, men no longer are inspired by the love 9f fighting. Every soldier in his serv- ice garments looks like every other soldier and the officer looks like his lacn. They are turned into laborers in Grab, not heroes in gold and feathers. War has become mere routine busi- ress where men work together to the lextent of forming one powerful ma chine to crush the enemy. Yesterdays i cable dispatch to the Daily News by | Richard Harding Davis describing the march of the German soldiers through l Beussels shows that the individual is 1 I" W small atom in a compact organ ism. There are no heroes The army marches to battle as Germany or France and wins or loses as a nation | Cleveland Plain Dealer: London and Paris, in official dispatches and in the bulletins of the war bureaus frankly announce the German successes all along the great line of battle. No att tempt is made to deny the fall of Ma inur, which is a-seyere and unexpected blow. Even the French retreat in south- ern Alsace, which must be hardest for the people of Paris to bear. is calmly announced from official sources. l It is sufficiently clear that the war news which the world is receiving in this authoritative manner Is an actual record of events. The censorship bars the sending of dispatches which might contain information of value to the enemy but when this danger Is re- h. oved, either by the success or by the failure of any movement, the govern ments and military authorities seem to believe that the public is justly en- | titled to information.
 That honesty is the best policy seems apparent. Lying announcements would in time react on their authors. The peo- pie of European capitals can scarcely be dealt with as Huerta dealt with the people of Mexico City.
 Stories of war from official or semi official sources which were at first generally doubted in the United States lhave already been verified. The reports of the heroic defense of Liege were mainly correct. Even the dispatchs from Nish, detailing great victories of the Servians over the Austrians, are being substantiated by later develop ments and by disinterested corresponds e.ts
 Semi official news of this kind, deal ing with the progress of the war, is to be distinguished from the rumors and wild tales which spring from no ascer- tainable source and carry no conviction. Such stories as that of the suicide of .oI NAt, ,foI he Herr Iiebknecht, the wounding of the German crown prince, the fighting of naval battles everywhere from the coast of New Hampshire to Tierra del Fuego, are anonymous canards which gain wide circulation and which arc therefore put on tine wires for what lthey are worth. There will be many such stories before the war is over. IThey are easily known, and in no way lessen the value of the news which teammates from authoritative sources. New York Staats-Zeitung: The heart oi France is chilled. the satisfaction of Eng land arrested. It is indeed terrihtl army which at one blow storms the i'm. pregnable Namur. routs the impetuous
 Joffre, and hurls back the stolld British lexpe0ltlOndry IOrces lHe GeTIdu OA1eH- sve has proved itself a thing of power
 I dreaded the day when that great assault
 was to be launched I feared that the
 murderous modern artillery would throw
 it back mass of broken, bleeding units
 But the great Prussian machine is stil
 intact.
 Even London and Paris admit the truth Small as the mead of glory which they
 admit has attached to the German arms , 1t is all sufficient for those who car read between the lines.
 It Is song ofs victory that fills ths hearts of German sympathizers all ovel the world today. A million men hurled against ring of steel million me- standing up against rain of shot ana
 shell-I can feel the thrill the tremendoui drama of the scene. I can almost under stand the lust of battle, the mad, i'm , petuous rush. and then-victory or de
 feat. How nearly akin are those kindred . emotions of triumph and disaster Tn, margin between them is often so slight depending on the smile of fortune or tn, ! uncertain turn of chance.