New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-17

official reports: we gained height
near this-yillage- yesterday
I'VE gained yesterday IN the Argonne.
The veil lifts now and then to snow
the brgsdes at WORK We know that
by such deeds rs this was the summit
Of Hartmannsweierkopf taken org
ally; and probably by just such deed
was it retaken the other day. The
French have distributed Leeions Of
Honor by the yard. and military medals
by the bushel. They cannot begin 20
reward deeds Of individual yalor. eacn
Of which Nigh, have been honored or
famous IN old wars
Britain has virtually known peace
in oil this generation. The South Afri-
can war called out. 10 all. about q
quarter Of n million men. Bur the real
sighting was done mainly by the pro-
fessional army. which IS a class =
little spar, from the currents Of Brit
ish national life !, affected the fibre
Of the people but little. ! take Il that
war. in order TO "regenerate' q people,
10 harden" them. TO create the manly
virtues" must affect the whole people,
or a majority Of them. II they are
not actually lighting, they must hno"
the reduction Of standards of living
or want or crief or fear % the i'm
yader nobly resisted BY such stand
ards. Britain has known no war since
she finished with Napoleon.
Old Records Dimmed.
And vet nearly every Brlton on hat
Flemish line deserves Al least men
tion in dispatches" + we 80 by the
standard, OF old WARS. The Charge oi
the Six Hundred, the stand OF the
Guards at Waterloo they are dimmcd
BY the deeds Of the British ~ carly
stages OF this war. The hOnors of war
go now only TO men who have done
Supefhuman things. or 10 men whose
bravery has had exceptional results
a. when Lieutenant Dinner, wounded,
kept 20 his machine gun and saved
brigade. And the old professional
army has no monopoly or such deeds.
The nays! brigade went into Antwerp
IN late September unseasoncd men.
Most Of them had. up TO August. sat
AT city desks They held against. all
the improved and cruel devices Of mod
crn warfare and against overwhelming
odds until their superors ordered the
hopeless position abandoned. In the
FIRST battle Of Ypres the units were
filed out by men recruited IN August.
Few Of them had ever faced bullets
until the day they went TO the Inc
10 face a million bullets. Not man
81 t5em "funked" or ran; il they had
behaved as raw troops are supposed 10
behave the British might now be pre-
parinC TO resist invasion. In August
they were all men OF peace, with three
generations of peace behind them. In
October they saved England by such "a
trial as British yalor never knew De-
fore
We may dismiss the Germans. Since
1870 thcv nave known less of war than
any other OF the Continental nations.
But they have kept ever in mind the
thought Of war, have cultivated the re-
ligion Of valor. have encouraged the
little children to play war games IN me
streets. This state OF mind makes 'hem
quite exceptional 10 all rules; they VIII
not DO for an eXemplar TO prove ,he
case But. OF course, they have been a.
brave as the rest if anything, braver.
The German IL cruel in war. Try as
one NAV TO make allowances and 20
dismiss imperfect and preJudlced judG-
ment. he is forced to that CONCLUSION.
But he is also wonderfully valiant.
Where has history parallel for those
repeated massed charges. four. SIX ana
eight ranks deep, wherein the hrst rams
was sent up 10 die 20 the last man A,
the first battle OF Ypres the Pruss'an
Guard came on in such iormaton' u
was piled up eight ranks deep IN inc
forest: but il did not run. ITO brltisn
tell me ;hat the first rank men came on
with their left elbows over their eyes.
They knew they were dead men; and,
knowing il. they fell back on that 'n-
stinct By which a man guards HIS lace.
But they came on, nevertheless. Win
out slackening their pace; and they al
died.
Raw Troops" Like Veterans.
Finally, there are the Canadians.
Since the affair which the United
States calls the War OF ISL Canada
has known 10 war. save minor engage
ments with red Indians and the war
against nature. The rest has been
peace and nation building and pros
I peritv. Now. the Canadian contingent
was scarcely upon the line before they
| behaved heroically at Hill so. \ fort
night later. and while they still ranked
/ ms "raw troops" the fortunes OF war
/ brought them a supreme test OF valor.
The poisonous cloud Of noxious gas had
driven back the French to their lett.
/ Their line was dangling in the air"
/ They were bombsrded in front. they
were enflated. they were bombard-d
from the rear. they were shrouded in
poison fumes. They held on. they even
advanced: they did the impossible by
rescuing their guns. And they stuck
until ordered back 20 join up the new
/ line.
With them. as with tho Others, no
/ He. decorations can posslbly re-