The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-09-20
IN THE fATHERLAND
INTERESTING BITS OF NEWS
FROM THE GREAT GERMAN
EMPIRE.
WHATS DOING IN OLD HOME
summary OF the Most Important Hap
penings in the Land of the Kaiser
timely Items for the German
Readers.

penings in the Land of the Kaiser
Timely Items for the German
| Readers.
! The appointment of Field Marshal
Won Hindenburg as chief of the Ger
| man general staff was received rs q
| welcome surprise. The measure, it ia
| understood. had long been under dis
| cusSiOn as an OBVIOUS procedure but
| few outside the inner official circles
| looked for a change now. Roumania's
| declaration of war undoubtedly was a
| decisive factor. Her action in any case
| would have entailed Encouragement
| Of the eastern commands, as n greater
| extension of the southern sector now
| intrusted to Archduke Charles Francis
makes continuance Of the arrangement,
| put into effect a month ago impracti-
| cable. Rumors are current that Gen
| erai Won Falkenhayn is destined for Il
high administrative position and that
changes of great political significance
are impending. Won Hindenburg Is u
man who has been inaccessible to po-
litical factions or intriguers. and it Is
regarded as certain that he and the i'm
perial chancellor can work in harmony
each IN his respective sphere. In a mil
itary sense he possesses the necessary
prestige to conduct operations under
the kaiser with full authority. The d.
vided sphere of action between general
headquarters and Won Hindenburg's
semi-independent command on the
eastern front furnished another reason
for the present complete unitication in
the Supreme command which Is of I'M
portance particularly when determin-
ing the disposition of reserves and the
employment of greater masses Of
troops. AS the kaiser has stated, Ii
Is still too early for a correct apprecia-
ton of General Won Falkenhayn's serv-
ices. and it is impossible for an out
side observer to say in all cases For
what great determinations he has been
responsible. But credit for building up
the iron wall of the German defenses
In the West, the Serbian campaign and
the Verdun onslaught is generally as
signed to him, and it was Won Falken-
hayns voice which decided the kaiser
Won Hoetzendorf's plan for a breach Of
the Russian center at Tarnow and Cor
lice, which started the great Galician
campaign.
A brief account of the voyage of the
German steamship Marie, which
reached the Dutch harbor of Batavia
M.r off
fleets instead of taking refuge in an
African river, as then reported shows
that the vessel successfully ran the
blockade in the North sea and at the
mouth of the sud- river and delivered
her cargo, which, German officials say,
enabled them to continue their resist
ance against the invading allies. Ger
man naval officers say the vessel de-
serves to rank with the commerce raid
ers Emden and Moewe. Three times
she broke blOckades, and on the last
occasion was forced to run in dark
ness within 80 yards of Il British gun
boat patrolling the River sud- Dur
ing several days bombardment by
cruisers and gunbOats, when 1,130
shells were fired, the Marie was hit
100 times. Nevertheless, she was able
to reach a neutral port
The principal Improvement In the
larger Zeppelins, in addition to their
greater carrying capacity, is their in
creased proof against anti-aircraft
she'll fire, according to naval officer
who commanded a superZeppelin In
a recent attack on points in England.
The officer said that measures taken
by the British to protect themselves
have improved recently under a more
effective use of searchlights The off
Ger admitted that at the great eleva-
tions at which Zeppelins fly accurate
aim is difficult, but said experience
WIS showing that bombs generally
reached their mark. OF the possibil-
ity Of a super-ZeppeIin crossing to the
United States, the officer said such
feat was entirely feasible when at
mospheric conditions were not wholly
unfavorabe
Officers and sailors Of the Russian
navy, prisoners in Germany" says the
overseas News agency, have been
brought into reprisal camp because
for more than q year German naval of
hcerS and sailors in Siberia have been
treated as common criminals. The
russians vii! be treated exactly as are
the German prisoners in Russia until
Russia decides 10 treat the Germans
as sailors who did their duty for their
country. The Russian actions are said
to have been caused by the friendly
advice of England which declared that
the Germans were not regular sailors,
but pirates"
The FOssische Zeitung denies story
from French sources, which appeared
In the middle of July, that Major Dut-
ton, an American, was fined in Brus-
sells for insulting a German officer. The
yossische Zeitung says that there Is
no such American in Belgium. On July
ID it was stated that Major Dutton,
retired officer OF the United States
marine corps, who was attached to
the commission, had been fined after
bis automobile had frightened q Ger
man officers horse. According to O.