New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-14
German Courtesy Gr0ws,
War Correspondent Finds
General Welcomes Him Guest and Proves an Ideal
Host, with Much Common oense and
Teutonc Capacity for Details.
~ JAMES o'DoNNELL BENNETT.

, 70 his room. Always he Is so neat that
YOU would think it must hurt him:
Nv place is opposite his, so | have
had opportunity TO study him well for
tho best part OF week He sits solid
in his chair. picture OF utter com
posure. letting the conversation come
10 him. or rather be brought TO him,
for when people speak TO him they
lean forward and bow a good deal; -,
He wears the iron cross OF both
classes. one on tho middle OF the breast
and one over the heart. AT night, as
sort Of special touch, he wears a high-
necked waistcoat OF pure white chamols
and a white stock. The cross OF the
Red Eagle rests on the chamois and
the effect ia admirable.
should say he is about fifty, years
old The title by which one addresses
him is Herr General" He would be
"Excellenz" save for the fact that the
$4,000 men whom he commands, though
thew number a corps. have not yet been
technically organized as corps
Shows Excessive Politeness.
He is. am sure, the politest man !
have ever met in any country, and that
phase Of his character interests me IN
tensely because though his politeness
is always working it never is oppres-
sve. He is not one OF those fiddle-dee-
dee. dancing master gentlemen
Somehow he makes these makeshift
dinners princely, makes you feel that
they arc something memorable. An OIL
fcer who occasionally sits next TO me
caught me narrowly observing the gem
eral one night. 49,
"The general interests you? said he.
"He does" I answered. II like the
way he sees and hears everything with
out seeming to-"
"You have hit upon his quality" said
the officer. II don't know that he is
man Of genius, but he has vast com
mon sense
"Perhaps that is equivalent to gen
ius," | yenturcd.
perhaps" said the officer. Amy
day may tell now"
in any event. they have placed Suren
al one Of the key places on the Russian
frontier. No mediocrity gets such a
post.
The composure OF the man is monu-
mental. All the life and responsive
ness Of him are focused in his eyes,
When he listens he listens with abso-
lute concentration. When there is
nothing to which he wishes to listen
he seems miles away.
And vet while he appears so obliv-
ious he sees everything who lacks
bread. whose glass is empty, who pre-
fers beer 10 wine, whether a guests
napkin is fresh, whether a newcomer
seems better to enjoy cigarettes than
cigars. You would say that he has
ewes in the back Of his head, for moth
ing. absolutely nothing, escapes him.
A Representative German General
II seems to me wonderful that a man
who has the destiny OF $4,000 men and
the safeguarding of miles of conquered
territory on his mind can so look to de-
tails. But an officer tells me that 1t IS
precisely that faculty which makes
Suren a representative German general.
He is an ideal host in that he sees 70
all wants, but makes no fuss about 1t.
A word or a nod of the head to an
ordonnanZ, and the thing is done.
One evening amid the din of CONVEX
sation and dishes there was a knock at
the door ten feet away from the general.
None Of those sitting nearer the door
heard il. But | saw the general sum
mon a waiter with a nod, and when the
man bent over his shoulder he whls-
pered, "Some one knocked"
He is very pCnctilious about the
service.
Last evening he resented 1t when,
owing TO the shortage of dishes and
the arrival CT two or three unexpected
guests, his meat was served TO him on
the came plate from which he had
eaten bit of preserved fish. lie
uttered a mild protest, and another
plate vas brought.