The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1917-12-04
Nerve Centefs Of British and Ca
madam Armies Peaceful
Even IN Battle.
IS LIKE BUSINESS HOUSE
Function Calmly and Efficiently With.
out Turmoil or slightest Disorder
Young star officers Com
plain Because They Must
stay Out OF The shesx.

4 e. @l
| London During the past thres
| years Of warfare there have been daily
!, communications emanating from G
mysterious place called general head:
quarters, whose location or surround.
ings have never been mentioned, In
| fact are not known to the average sol
| der fighting In France, writes Hal
| 0'Flaherty in the New York Sun.
| To the citizen unacquainted with the
affairs of giant armies the mention Of
the term general headquarters brings
up picture Of building in the heart
of the great army activities, with mud
splattered couriers dashing up on horse
or cycle and with sentries pacing to
and fro armed to the teeth, while wor.
ried generals sit about great tables
within tracing upon their maps the
| various positions in the front line.
The fact of the matter is that Brit
ish general headquarters is perhaps
| the most peaceful and orderly place
that one could imagine. The roads APP
! preaching the main buildings are not
lined with troops and paraphernalia of
war, nor is there any of the much
talked-of dramatics of fighting.
Guards Are Unarmed.
It is q business house, conducted on
the most advanced systems of eficien-
cy. The traffic coming up to the heart
| Of the gigantic chain of fighting unite
| is regulated by military policemen who
know their business and keep motors
and pedestrians going in the right di-
rection.
The soldiers on duty in front of the
building visited by the correspondent
were unarmed and directed the arriv-
ing officers In a manner as courteous
as that displayed by the commission
aire at the war Office in London. With.
in there was nothing to indicate the
presence of the greatest army chief
i tains. The furnishings were modest,
almost homely, and the atmosphere Of
| the whole place was that Of a peaceful
and wen conducted business establish
ment.
To secure an interview with one Of
the men who conduct the affairs of the
British armies was simplicity itself. A
telephone call sufficed to tell him of
our coming and we were ushered into
his Office Immediately upon our arrival.
An officer of the United States army,
known as 'liaison officer" had quar-
tiers nearby. He has been working as
hard as any man of affairs at home
could work and his surroundings
showed he wasn't In the habit Of en-
tertaining visitors.
stake that rocking chair over In the
corner" he said as we entered, and one
of the party went over as directed and
sat on the wooden box that had held
| his typewriter. A wooden table, two
chairs and rack for books made up
the furnishings of his Office.
On his table was stack Of CORE
spondence foot high, which If 1t could
be read by the German high command
| would probably give them heart fall
ure. There was something significant
in that stack of letters. It was prob
ably the first nucleus of a correspond
ence between the directing officials Of
| the American army and the British
upon whom they are depending for ad.
vice and information. Some day that
little pile will have grown into an en-
tire library ofSdocuments that will fill
long ranks of filing cases. 1t Is pio-
neer correspondence under the new
order Of things between Britain and
the United States.
The following afternoon brought us
by lucky chance to Canadian head
quarters, where we had the privilege
Of spending several hours with other
men who are conducting operations.
It was more than lucky chance that
brought us to Canadian headquarters
almost at the same hour that the Ger
mans began an attack-it was an act
of providence.
Lighted by Lamps and Candies.
It can be set down here without
further parley that two newspaper
men were never treated more royalty
than we were by these men who at
| the moment we entered their quarters
were directing barrage against a
strong German attack.
In the midst of tea the door opened
| and for few minutes we were under
/ the impression that every general on
the western front had been deluged in
to our presence. 1t was party of
officers who had dropped in for tea
and chat with the army command
ers. Instead they had rather anus
ing talk with two American CORE.
spondents, who were found interest
ing because they had been With the
American army on the Mexican border
/ and in France and had some idea Of
what the United States troops could
| do. Their intense interest in prepare
tons of the United States for war was
manifested in every question, and their
friendliness toward everything Ameri-
can was more than evident.
4 In two minutes the formality of In
PRODUCTION was over with and for fully