Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-22
GERMANS THINK j. s.
FOR WAR, SCHUETTE SAYS
Correspondent. Back From Berlin,
Gives Press Club His View
of Conflict.
Declares 5000 Dead and 10000
Wounded a Day Is Average
Casualty List.

Press Club last night oswald F. Schu-
| cite of the Chicago Daily News. who
/, has been in the war zone for several
months, said that the impression in
Germany is that the United States
wants to fight This belief is fostered
| and infia med. he said. by the reproduce
ing in Germany some of the more rabid
editorials which appear in papers of
this country from time to time.
/ Mr.. Schuette said there is way
| to tell how long the war will last.
How it will result nobody knows.
know the Germans believe they cannot
lose. Ii would take millions of men to
Ike dent in their lines in northern
France. They have food supply there
to last until December. and they have
an abundance of faith in their own
training and ability.
German Hatred of ENGLAND Abating'
In answer to questions Mr.. Schuette
said that the German anger against
England had abated since the entry Of
Italy into the war, ALTHOUGH Germany
is restrained from attacking Italy be-
cause of e treaty between Italy and
one of the Balkan states, which stipu-
lates that if either country is attacked
by Germany the other will step in and
aid.
One of the most Interesting stories
of the evening was a Christmas Incl
dent about which Mr.. Schuette told.
Somewhere along the fighting lines-at
dawn Christmas morning. spade went
up from Il German trench. At first the
French were mystified at the strange
signal, but soon spade was displayed
by a Frenchman. No shots followed
and finally Il German took a chance
4 fayu apt,n n S
of the trench. Up came Frenchman.
Soon erstwhile fighters all along the
line stood upright and began to wish
one another a merry Christmas"
Finally men left the trenches and ran
toward each other. There was a great
determination which wound up in
foot ball game that afternoon. At
nightfall all hands returned to the
trenches, but there was no real fight
ing among these men again until the
Christmas holidays had passed
5000 Dead Day.
Every day of this war means 5000
men dead" Mr.. Schuette continued.
That is greater than the daily toll in
our battle of Gettysburg Every twen-
ty-four hours of this fight has a greater
death roll than did a day at Gettys-
burg. Not only that. but every twenty
four hours adds almost 10000 men to
the terrible lists of those who are
blinded or crippled for life. These are
figures to make you shudder with hor-
ror. even though you have never seen
man crumple up with a bullet in
his brain or a regiment of $500 men
march OUT into an attack and come
back with 800. Yet these are cold fig
ures that tell nothing of misery or
suffering or sorrow. They say nothing
of the desolation that marches in the
n
nothing of the fact that the year of
the war now ended has wiped out in
physical property value equivalent
to one-half of the wealth Of a nation
like France.
There is no glamour in this war.
Make no mistake about that. 1t has
no strain of grand opera in it. 1t is
no grand picture of beauty and color
and heroic deeds. In all my time at
the front / have not seen a single bat
tie flag Haunting it's colors to the sky
i have heard no blare of martial mu-
sic, not even drumbeat, and the sol-
tary bugle I heard out there against
the firing line carried new note. a
warning to dodge under cover because
hostile aeroplane had appeared above
the horizon.
1.-The only color in this new trench
mode of fighting is jet of crimson on a
mudspattered gray uniform to tell of
another life that has paid the supreme
price: the orange and gold of a burning
village against the midnight heavens,
the clouds of gray and black that tell
where a shell has torn a great cave in
the trenches.
War Duration Unknown.
How long will the war last?. How
will it end? Every fifteen minutes since
returned / have been asked that ques-
ton with varying degrees of hopefuness
that / would be able to reply decisively
and without stopping to think. Proba bly,
If one did not stop to think it would be
easier to answer decisively. For 1 have
asked those questions myself a couple
of thousand times and have received a
couple OF thousand answers. But 1 have
| found that the men who know the most
about the war will say the least about its
end There is always the frankest kind
| of an i don't know "
The war may end tomorroW-and it
| may last for years. Politically. 1t could
be ended by fall. From military stand
point there is no end in sight. Polit-
| ically, the diplomats of the world could
make a new map of Europe. but no one
| knows how long it would stand the
strain. Miitarily, the soldiers may carve
| out new frontiers for years-only to find
| them slipping into other lines when the
peace conferences begin
| Mr.. Schuette has been away from Ger
many only about two weeks. He leaves
| tonight for New York to sail on the Nieu
Amsterdam Saturday, en- route to Berlin.