The Dickson County herald. (Dickson, Tenn.) 1907-1979, 1916-11-10

arEarently snEne staae after that that
ths base IL the Beet wAf rxnanxeA ts
Scapa Flow. In the 0rknegx
The Mlssina Grand vtxasr.
Reccntty reparts frcHl allied soGrses
have asserted that Saki HAtgrA. the
Turkish sFaTa vixter. has been nllssiag
for more THIN q year. aaa THAI be Is
belle red to have been murdered at tho
iIlstigatioa III SOMEONE Ia the party ot
Envcr Rey. ThAs may. Of course be
merely ono az the picturesque no
nlsa,ses saeA as thaae which bad Tive
Gesnan crown prince q suicide tn'
sane or assasSAatesi doaea times In
the early days Of the war. Again,
there may BE- truth in Il. Tic In
trigues Of various parties In Canstan'
tinople have been etTectuaily covered
up in the last two years
The major military operations o. all
fronts have been detailed with cen-
siderable fullncss for the last year.
but early In the war the censorship
particularly thar III the British ana
French. was " strict THAI there wac
little chance 90 supplement the bare
narrative Of the progress Of events
with any descriptive stories Of the
things that were actually taking place
The French offensive In Alsaec-ior-
raine and the Ardennes in August.
1914. for instance. must have offered
a great amount Of picturesque matters
al. particularly In the districts where
the French forces were welcomed as
deiiycrers the vanguard OF revenge
for 1871, But the disasters 20 the al.
Hes at Samur Mons. and Chartered
and the resultant retreat 10 the Mariia
took up the public Interest TO such an
extent that even yet few persons cot
side Of French and German military
circles know much about the other
French oftensives Of the earlier weeks
Of the war excep, that there were hat
ties ranking with those Of 1870 that
have since become world famous. and
that the French were everywhere dry
en- back.
Germans Silent on Victories
All the warning nations, as a matter
OF policy, have said more than was
necessary about their defeats: bur the
Germans seem 10 be- tho only ones who
have suppressed information about
glorious victories. This Is particularly
true In the case Of Tannenberg. where
Hindeuhurg nnnihilated the frst Rus.
sian armies invading East Prussia. and
won his fame and popularity with
single victory, Tannenberg was enc
OF the few specimens Of the old.fash-
Toned battle--a conflict between two
armies. neither OF them part Of
long line. but maneuyering indcpend-
emily In the open field and finally CON-
Ing together for light to the decision
on ground unhampered by any hut tho
most temporary iEtrenchmepts---that
this war has seen and II was probably
the largest. Yet next 10 nothing II
known about the details OF Tanner.
berg. outside Of staff circles; the sto.
ries that hsve grown up In Germany
OF Russians driven by thousands into
swamps, where they drowned In mirc
and stagnant water. have been pro.
nounccd mythical In great degree by
no less an authority than iilndenhurg
himself. On the first anniversary OF
the battle, an American correspondent
wrote a A,00oword story of Il. hut
presumably on account Of the restric.
tons Of the censorship, he devoted all
his time to descriptions Of the ter.
rain. reflections on the historical coin
cidence Of n great German victory on
the ground where the Poles defeated
the Teutonic knights IN I4i0, and pro.
German rhapsodics on the turning
aside of the Slnv peril. Of the men
engaged and the men lost nt Tanner.
berg, OF the strategy and tactics Of
the encounter. OF how the battle was
actually lost and won, there was al.
most nothing.
TaDnenberg was a battle as extcn.
size as Sedan, and as decisive 80 far
as the effect on the particular cam
paign was concerned. And yet almost
all that is known ~ II. after two years.
Is that the army Of Samsonoff was an
initiated and that of RennenkBmpt
badly beaten; that the Germans took
prisoners In numbers unprecedented
up TO that time. although aimee they
have been far surpassed, and that by
some sort Of maneuvering Hindenburg
forced the Russians into position
where the swamps placed them nj
considerable disadvantage and con.
trihuted 10 the German victory.
pisappearance Of Won Rlnteisn.
Even this country has furnished its
share Of mysteries that will perhaps
never find solution. There was
Capt. Franz Won Al..e.-a, whom ru.
NOR has credited with royal blood. and
whose whereabouts have been one of
the vost vainly guessesl-at mysteries
ri the war. II will be recalled that
the captain fed from his residence. tho
New York Yacht club, his social
haunts, and his prominent friends In
Ne~ York, when passport frauds and
other deviltry In which he was the
prime factor were about to be exposed.