The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-01
WHEN PRUSS|AN
 FOUGHT AUSTRIAN

Monday next will be the semi-cen- tenary of the battle of Sadowa or Kon- iggratz, in which Prussia gained by force of arms that supremacy in the affairs of central Europe which she has ever since yielded. On that bloody battlefield the inevitable conflict be- tween the Hohenzollerns and the Haps- burgs was: fought to conclusion, and when the Austrians fled before the Prussian hosts the house of Hapsburg, long dominant in Germany was re- duced to the position of playing second fiddle, while the Hohenzollern mon arch became the war lord of central Europe.
 Considering what might have been, there is sufficient basis for belief that the present war would have been averted if the contest at Sadowa had resulted in the defeat of the Prussians instead of the Austrians. A whole field of profitless conjecture is opened up by such an 'if," but it is not worth while. That old lady was philoso- pher who replied to all surmises of what might have been by the terse and final statement, "Tiz as tiz and taint no tizzer.''
 King William, Count Bismarck, and the Crown Prince were all present at Sadowa. They had decided to risk the future of the House of Hohenzollern on a single throw of the dice of fate. Victory meant-what it has meant the supremacy of the Hohenzollerns and. of Prussia in central Europe. De- feat meant that Prussia would again become comparatively unimportant state ,curbed and controlled by her neighbors instead of controlling them. All the Prussian plans and prepara- tions were made in the belief that the battle would prove to be the Waterloo for one side or the other.
 Marshal Benedek, the Austrian com mander, had pleaded in vain to Fran cis Joseph to yield to Prussia's de- mands and gain the best terms possible before great battle was fought. Young Francis Joseph turned deaf ear to such counsel. He ordered Benedek to choose the best position possible and face the enemy.
 It was in natural amphitheatre of forest-clad hills in front of Konig- gratz, with the Elbe in the rear, that the Austrian army awaited the clash. The Prussian attack began at 7:30 on the morning of July third at Sadowa, but it was not until 10 o'clock that the general engagement commenced. The Austrians engaged numbered about 220, 900 and the Prussians about 240,- 900, the latter also having the advan- tage in artillery.
 For hours of awful carnage the Aus trians held their own with unf1inching courage, and the result appeared un- certain. King William, Count von Moltke, Prince Frederick Charles and Generals Van Roon and Hitler direct ed the Prussian attack, while Bis marck overlooked the conflict from afar, confident that the battle meant the success of his ambitious projects for Prussian aggrandizement.
 The army of the Crown Prince was delayed by rains and muddy roads, but shortly after noon it appeared on the Austrian right. This great reinforce ment of the Prussian forces took the Austrians by surprise, since the ap- proach of the Crown Princes hordes had been yelled by friendly fog. Sur prise soon gave way to fear and con- sternation and the right wing of Bene- dek's army was soon turned. Soon aIterWdrQ the Austrian leIt gave way under the hammering of Bittenfeld, and the center, left without support, quickly broke and fled in wild confu- sion. When Chlum, which had been taken and lost by the Prussians seven times, was captured the, eighth time, the fate of the day was finally decided. In one enormous, shattered mass of fear-stricken humanity, the soldiers of Benedek, the pride of Francis Joseph, broke and fled for the river, pursued by the Prussian cavalry. The dying sun of that momentous third of July half century ago revealed a battle ground covered with corpses and in full possession of the victory-f1ushe Prussians, while in the distance the demoralized Austrians ffet for their lives, casting aside their guns and knapsacks in their haste to reach a place of safety.
 Bohemia has been the scene of many battles, but none more conclusive than that of Sadowa. The victory marked the beginning of the rise of the new German empire, with the Hohenzol- lerns wearing the imperial purple, and with the once lordly Hapsburgs re- duced to puppet kings whose destinies are guided from Berlin.
 UUHV