Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-01-01
DAY AT GENERAL HEAD.
QUARTERS. GERMAN ARMY

I Get the cellar cleaned again and then
We'll station a guard there"
The incident was settled. But the
! major had more trouble. He did not
have men enough to gather the grapes
and what men he had were none too
proficient -
Very we'll! We can fix that. Ask
Berlin to send you a hundred or so of
landsturn men from some town in the
Palatinate or along the Rhine. They
| would enjoy the trip
The major said he would do that and
left fully satisfied.
The campaign in Serbia has been
disagreeable enough to have soured
the disposition of anybody. Rains
have fallen constantly, and men figure
no longer on the absence Of mud, but
on how little there is. Everybody re-
ioices when the mud is only ankle
deep, and roads are called bad only
when the slush runs into the top-boots
from above.
Conversation at table in the mess
started and ended with mud. A train
| officer knew his business in coping
with the thick, adhesive Serbian
"gumbo" to the last detail. Somebody
wanted to know Of him why oxen were
better than horses as draught animals
on muddy roads. The questioned was
guard cavalry officer and inwardly
resented the slightning tone with which
the train" spoke Of horses.
Simple" explained the train officer.
Due to the construction of the hoofs
Of both animals. When the horse steps
into stiff mud. it's hoof remains as big
when it is pulled out, as it was when
set down. The mud. meanwhile. has
closed over the hoof, and every time
the animals must exert a pull of about
five kilograms 90 lbs) to get it's foot
out. With the OK it Is different, be-
cause the hoof. being cloven, opens on
the downward motion and closes on the
upward motion. 1t is smaller when
pulled out than it was when set down.
In addition the weight Of the body is
better distributed in the OK"
The officer had never before moved
anything by means Of oxen. But few
days contact with the animal had made
him theoretically and practically an
expert in the handling Of "ox" trains.
Away from their duties the German
officers proved most agreeable COM
panions men who could land and accept
a Joke Even the older men took an
almost boyish interest in the witty and
animated conversation of their youth
full messmate. Everybody seemed
glad to be under roof and have
meal before him and glass of Munich
beer and cigar in prospect.
| They were not tired of the war, it
seemed The job in hand would be
| thoroughly done, they said. The opin-
ion of the neutral public and press did
not bother them anymore, since. as
they felt Germany and her allies could
not do anything to please the neutrals
I'VE depended upon ourselves" said
| a colonel And while We value the
opinion of strangers, have valued them
| too much in Germany in recent years.
wa have come to o.the point where We
don't care, because caring on our part
has not helped us any. If the world
chooses to believe we are barbarlans
then the world must and no doubt WILL
please itself. But say that it cannot
influence our actions or the outcome Of
the war when people call us bad
names. We have our faults. no doubt
enough of them. in fact but we also
have our good qualities and the right
to defend ourselves by all the means
admissible in modern warfare"
AS the colonel spoke. the hum of
conversation ceased. Heads along the
table nodded silent approval.
"The opinion Of prejudiced neutrals
be damned" said young lieutenant,
who thus recorded what may be looked
upon as the extreme view held in the
German army on this subject.