The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-01-20

they learned they had been taken
in" by a single corps. I also learned
that he and his corps had arrived in
time to stop the first English corps
which had crossed the Aisne and was
marching on K.
Gen. Won Zwehi praised the Eng
lish troops against whom he had sue
cessfully fought, and who are now in
the north, saying: 1.-THE English SOL
dier Is a splendid fighter. especially
on the defensive" Asked if the re-
mark of one Of his staff that "the
English can't attack" was fact, Won
Zwehl said: II cac only speak as far
as my own experience goes, and that
is that the English never were able
to carry through o bayonet charge
with success against my troops. They
came on bravely enough, but when
our troops would open fire on them at
so yards and follow it up with a
counter attack, the English would in
variably go over into the defensive,
at which they are at their best. They
are particularly experienced in bush
warfare and display the utmost skill
in making the most Of every bit of
cover"
The commanding general confirm
ed the following grewsome story
which one Of his staff officers had told
me:
"The English apparently do not
bother to bury their dead but let
them lie. We are still burying Eng
lish who fell on September IA and
later. We found and buried two only
yesterday. That the abandonment of
their dead is deliberate is indicated
by the fact that we have found the
bodies OF dead English soldiers in
corners and hooks of the approaches
to the English trenches where the
wounded had evidently crawled to
die, and where their comrades must
constantly have passed them and seen
them"
More generals were met during a
visit to the "office building" of the
Great General Staff in the Great
Headquarters. Here, too, was al
lowed to examine the historic room
where around large mahogony table
the chiefs of the staff hold their daily
conferences, at which the kaiser him
self is often present. A huge map OF
France and a slice of Belgium cover
ed the table and hung down to the
floor on either side. I noted with in
terest that It was French General
Staff map. On one wall hung an
other map showing the exact location
Of all the armies in the west.
In the unavoidable absence OF the
combination chief Of staff and war
minister Won Falkenhayn, the new
Quartermaster General Won Wild did
the honors In the long Louis XIV.
Room where the Great General Staff
eats together-an interesting sight,
for it represents the roundup OF the
brains OF the German army. Gen. Won
Wild, until his promotion, command
ed q division against the English at
Ypres and spoke in generous terms
Of his opponents.
"The English are excellent fight
ers," he said. II have walked Over
many Of the battlefelds in the north
l-grewsome sights, beyond words to
describe. From what I saw, am
convinced that the English losses
have been much heavier than ours"
Gen. Won Wild said that a puzzling
and unexplainable feature Of these
battlefelds was that so many Of the
dead were found lying on their backs
with rigid arms stretched straight up
toward heaven-a ghastly spectacle.
Here, too, was German general
who knew more about the American
army than most Americans, the Bava-
rian general, Zoellner, the great gen.
eral STATS specialist on Americana,
and it was interesting to note that, in
spite Of it's own pressing problems,
the general staff is still taking keen
interest in those Of America and de-
irving valuable lessons.
81 have been particularly interest
ed in the Mexican troubles" Gen.
Zoellner said ''To- my mind, the
lesson for America is the need Of a
larger standing army. was particu-
larly impressed by the speed Of your
mobilization and your dispatch in
landing your expeditionary force at
Vera Cruz. I was also especially in
terested in your splendid Texas cav
airy division. We have nothing like
it In the German army, because such
body Of men could not be develop
ed In a closely settled country. You
may not know that only short time
before being sent to Mexico the Texas
cavalry had received brand-new drill
and exercise instructions, but in spite
Of this they acquitted themselves
splendidly, showing the remarkable
adaptability OF your soldiers.
"In sending your coast artillery as
infantry regiments to Mexico you an
ticipated US In rather similar use
Of our marine divisions on the coast.
The most valuable lesson we have
learned from you IS typhus vaccina-
ton. This we owe to the American
army. I believe 1t goes back to the
fact that your Gen. Wood was medi-
cal man before becoming chief Of
staff"
Gen. Ziellner intimated that the
while German army either had been
or wes being vacc;nated against ty-
phoid on the American plan. And
LLSlS lS dloO d f0ly auOi lSe1A Ae@'o
about our volunteer automobile corps
their dash and speed they have
learned from you Americans, he con-
cluded.
My previously formed suspicion
that the Germans were making war
on the American plan, managing their
armies like so many subsidiary COM
panies Of big trust, was fully con-
firmed by my second visit to the Of
fee Of the great general staff. In
stead Of a picturesque bunch OF gen
erals spending anxious days and
sleepless nights over their maps with
faithful attendants trying to coax
them to leave off dispatch writing
long enough to eat a sandwich, I
found q live lot OF army officials,
keeping regular Office hours and TAX
ing ample time out for meals. The
stan was quartered ina handsome old
municipal building; the ground floor,
devoted to living purposes, quite like
an exclusive club; the business Of
fees upstairs.
HaD voD uoonicch took mo a1Oft