The Alaska daily empire., 1918-02-22
WHO IS GENERAL vON MACKENsEN?

1 cort iseue Inf "Everv Week. received in Juneau there is most interesting ar'lcie wr,1e" ps reading of all, throwing it does new reatonsnl between the Kaiser and one of his generals foio" ing is the statement of the eminent writer:
 Who is von Mackensen? Whence comes this most brilliant of the German commanders? You may search hundred war books and get no answer o lo he has never been interviewed by forelgh cores pondent The whole of his life seems to be enVelopeu in mystery But there is one fact Which throws :" strong light upon his origin. It is thls
 From the day when Lieutenant Mackensen emerg ed, creditaby enough, from the franco-rrussah war to the hour of his crushing stroke at haiy he la been on curious of intimacy with the l1nperldl family. His standing has been more that or recos nized knsman than of court faVorte. orlslhals I5s von Mackensen was not intended for the army He served in the Franco Prussian War as volunteer and apparently planned to return to civil lie when 1na brief conflict was over But some one or SoHeenng ni interposed; and Mackensen's career was denntelE fixed in the army Later he became military tutor to the present Emperor
 Evidently the some one looking out for him judg ed rightly he had the making of great soldier for number of years, he was promoted to th' important position of Military Governor of honigs berg, the ancient capital of Prussia mere peIeh ( significant incident.
 At Konigsberg the Crown Prince was stationed cutting a pretty frivolous path Perhaps the honest burghers complained to Mackensen about it. Anyway he summoned the Crown Prince to headquarters, ano warned him that he would have to behave himself Il would have been better for the Grown Prince II ne had not decided try fall with Mackensen The next time loose he found himself confined IT a fortress on precisely the terms any ordin ary officer guilty of breach of discipline Of there rumpus about it. The Kaiser hustled down to Konigsberg to see what could be done He found Mackensen steel in his determination to make the Crown Prince full sentence. His orders would be carried there would be another of Konigsberg. The Kaiser gave ln anc the young bloods of the Deaths Head Hussars quite suddenly came to time
 Another dramatic episode gives point to the mys tery of Mackensen. When he was sent to the relief of Austria, he was received by galaxy of high Aus trian officers, princes, dukes, and what not After initial formalties the Austrian chief of stair present wi
 Whats this?" demanded Mackensen barely glanc ing at the papers.
 Your orders Excellency'
 From whom?"
 "The Emperor
 What Emperor"
 The Emperor of Austria"
 With contempuous gesture, Mackensen tossed the papers the floor.
 q receive orders,' he flashed upon the astonished assembly "ony from the Emperor of Germany l am here to command you to obey"
 What the Austrians must have thought of this ally, whose contemptuous arrogance smacked of the Kaiser himself may be left to the imagination.
 Who, then is this Mackensen, who dared to claT the Crown Prince in jail and keep him there against the appeal of the Emperor himself who treated the Austrian Emperor with naughty public dstan who heads of the German General Staff? Rumor supplies possible explanation. and this is how it filtered ou of Germany: Mackensen is said to be the son of 9 Scotchwoman of the name of Mackenzie, who ladyn waiting the court of Emperor William l. The other part of him is Hohenzollen of the highest the goes that his blood relationship to the Kaiser is close indeed.
 An examination of Mackensen's portrait would lend support to the rumor. Compare it with that of the Kaiser and there is resemblance though Mackensen's features infinitely stronger His i not typical stolid German face, like Hindenburg's nor has it the sentimental intellectual cast of Falk enhyn You associate him with huge lunches of beer and sausages than you with Wag music. Altertness keenness and swift decision touched with caution, written all over Macken sens features The Scotch have habit of preserving mental and physical vgor in firsrate trim until after three and ten years. If the of his part pin ha trnp oyn1ai tho fyifN of the man at seventytwo in smashing down the Italian Alps