Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-13
Won HINDENBURG DEAD.
Continued from page I

seventy wears ago lie made his debut
as n soldier in 1866 and almost inn
mcdiatcly entered the war against Aus
trla.
lie commanded a company ut konig-
rratz. and nj the head Of forty men he
captured an Austrian battery He
emerged with bullet scar on his scalp
and the Order Of tic Red Eagle on his
breast
During the war Of 1870 he was n cap
tain and was gwen the iron cross FOR
bravery at sedan. tho medal being made
from captured French cannon. His early
exploits in the present war won another
iron cross This time II was made
from captured Russian cannon lie
fought IN the siege of Paris and the
stormine of Ic l}ourRct during the war
Of 1870
PROMOTION RAriD.
His promotion was rapid Two wears
after the tranCn-prlssian War he was
made a major I1y $500 he was dc
partmcnt chief In 1896 he WIS IN com
inand of the Fourth Army Corps. and
from 1904 "a 1911 he Was general in
the infantry In 1911 he was retired.
il was officially stated 1T the tllnc, be
cause II his advanced age
\t that tnc hr WAS N command Of
ono force At general mancuycrs. The
kaiscr was III charge Of another The
kaiser. al the head of large body "f
cavalry. made thrilling dash across
The plain afterwards he asked lIindcn
burg What he though, # II
1T was yer, pretty. your majesty,
he replied. hut Il tins had been real
war. We would have gone behind Won
and those who would not have been
slaughtered would have hccn driven into
the Baltic Sea. had they run that far
The kaiser is sad 10 hnve resented the
criticism Shortly after that von Linden
burg Was retired
from that tlmc to tho beginning # the
present war he was the butt and Joke ot
barracks and c;dcs
"nln MAN 81 THE JANIS
Almost 81 the boundary of Prussia and
Rus>la arc the Mazuran lakes fot
wears these lakes had been the subject
III military debates MANY cuntcndcd It
would hc impossible to defend them should
thc Ru>sors ever attempt - cross the
border llIndcnburg and others OF the
older generals maintained they were ct
the greatest Stratcglcai Importance as
they would prove ! barrier 10 the Rus
~tan~ Is an instructor in the military
academy he led forces 90 'hc lakes every
Ncar
Ilr ~aid thcv wern 81 moro mihfar,
value to Germany that 4 wall two hum
drcd lcct high 70 make sure tho 9th
Gers and the men were familiar with them
hc would lead them through the water
arj mar hes Tor days az q time. tyent-
uallv he came To bc known as the ''old
man of the lakes
IN the Two years preceding the war he
devoted mos, Of his time 10 working out
the problem Of defending the Mazurlan
Lakes Every time hc met the kaiser OF
| an, German general he would talk / kcs.
II WIS proposed oncc IN the Rclch> - TO
FIl up the lakes liindcnburg rushed TO
| Perrin on the first available tram With
a bundle Of maps he talked lakes To the
/ kaiser for an hour Then the kaiser
I.stoppcd him "r'or heaven : sake keep
your lakes, he said II promise you that
| they Will never bc filed IN.
WANTED TO FIGHT RUSSIANS.
When the war broke out he offered his
/ services, and requested hc be sent with the
| force operating against the Russians. Put
| the kaiser had what he regarded as his
! most competent generals there. Finally
| it was realized that Germany WAS III 4
| fair way OF being defeated in the east
! and two millions of Russians wOdld soon
! bc on their way 10 the western front.
/ The kaiser offered hIm complete com
! nland of the forces in East Prussia and
Won Hindcnburg accepted.
With his arrival the Russians began 10
| be rolled back When he took command
! the German army was drawn to the north
! Of the Mazurian Lakes region, facing the
forces Of General Renucnkamp He with
/ drew his forces before Rcnnenkamp and
| swung them around to the right and rear
/ Thousands ~ R,Sslapc r,prlShpH IN the
! Mazurlan Lakes as he said they would.
INVADED POLAND; DEFENDED PRUSSIA.
! Two tasks were assigned to him, the
defence of Fast Prussia and the invasion
| Of Russian Poland, with the capture of
! Warsaw rs chief objective. After having
| checked SRcnncnkamp, he began his inva-
| sion The Germans marched forward
| until they were within seven miles Of
| Warsaw There the real conflict was
/ wagcd For five days Hindenburg's men
| fought bravclv. Finally he was compelled
| to retreat For a time it was a rout,
which continued until the Germans were
| 125 miles from Warsaw That the kaiser
] felt that hc was not to blame was shown
/ By giving him the iron cross and creating
/ him q field marshal
| In November the second invasion Of
! Poland began This also proved failure,
| the drive stopping at LODI and Lowlcz,
| two towns Of value strategically for the
maintenance Of permanent positions in
| Poland. In May, 1915, the Germans began
| the third drive This time they were sue
cessful, Warsaw being taken and the Rus
| slams put to rout.
HIS GREATEST EXPLOIT
His greatest exploit was in repulsing the
| Russians in eastern Prussia, particularly
around the MazYrian Lakes section the
| Russians losing more than 100000 men
! killed, wounded, missing and prisoners.
He is the embodiment Of the German
military spirit In appearance he is a
| splendid type Of the grizzled warrior. He
| is Of heavy build, Of imposing physique,
and is remarkable active for a man Of
seventy He has received many degrees
| most Of them from the University of
Konigsburg One is a degree of divinity
| and the Others are degrees Of law, phil