The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-10

"A genius-what the war lacks is . genius!"
 These words escaped the lips of the distracted German general, Falken- hayn, in the course of a conference at great headquarters.
 Dhen they were repeated to Hin denburg, that grim warrior pronounc- ed the name of Luderdorff.
 It was little known name then. All Germany rings with it now.
 Ludendorff is first quartermaster- general today. rank so new that there is nothing to define his precise place in the military hierarchy.
 Had Hindenburg not been forced upon the Kaiser by events. we should never have heard of Ludendorff, for he has come out of the void, the un- known, to snatch that victory for which Germany is now feeling about blindly.
 So runs the tale in the London papers, as narrated by Current Opin- ion.
 A coolness never ruffled, a cour- tesy as unfailing as it is becoming, reticent, discreet, yet "a man of the world" He has been associated with Hindenburg from the first, although
 
 ture altogether.
 Hindenburg is gruff, quarrelsome, intolerant of all opinions but his own. Ludendorff is suave, deferential, a good listener, albeit obstinate.
 Hindenburg will resent a sugges- tion, yet adopt it if it be good. Lu- dendorff will show an intelligent cu- riosity, manifest affability, seem con- vinced, but cling to his own ideas. The pair are opposites in tempera- ment.
 Not so long ago, Ludendorff shared the obscurity as well as the disgrace of his chief. For example. when the great war broke forth. as the Gaulois tells us, visitor to the Cafe des I1lleuis at Hanover might see soli- ,tary old man there in a corner; pour ing over the newspapers. bulbous of nose. bleary of eye, dry in aspect, dis agreeable in manner. That was Hin denburg.
 Tn due time we'll dressed, dis tinguished looking military man drop- < ped in and sat down at the table over which the solitary veteran reigned. The newcomer was Ludendorff.
 Both Cursed General Staff
 The two played cards or chess, pausing between games to curse the infatuation of the general staff at Berlin with strategical combinations. < Before they parted the older man slapped the younger on the back, cry- ing: "Ludendorff, you are a genius!" Nobody else, it seems, suspected it until developments disil1usioned the mind of Emperor William.
 The next episode takes us from Hanover to Potsdam. The crown prince is disclosed by the Figaro in fit of fury. He is usually a genial. smiling crown, prince. good-humored, blithe; but on this occasion his blood boiled. Hindenburg was to be put over him. This his highness would not endure, nor. to be fair, to fhim, did anyone in the general staff withhold sympathy.
 Hindenburg is notoriously irritable, short-tempered, tactless, hard to get along with. a soldier who; does not hesitate to find the Kaiser's own tac- tics incompetent. The Emperor man, aged to soothe his son with the name Of Ludendorff. It was this Luden- dorf who secured the call of Hin ern at Hanover. William IT.. laughed .Al tAAS 6068CStAOAA All eAO 0S6AAiAAAA6. Ludendorff "1The Reber'
 The military experts of French dail- ies are busfly. discussing the idea for which Ludendorff stands He is the rebel of the general staff, the heretic is excommunicated. He loathes deci- sions which are the result of con- ference among experts.
 Germany went into the war upon tho von Moltke theory. A resultant of a number of opinions took the place of the will of chief
 In the words of the distinguished Colonel Vachee: The orders are in- deed given in the name of a leader who assumes responsibility for them; but the soldiers know that he is not their author and that he has adopt ed without enthusiasm a collective cre- ation." This is the won Moltke theory of the art of war which, according to Ludendorff. has brought upon Cert