Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-12
By PHILIP GIBBS
Continued from Page One

Continued from Page One
possibility was within their strength.
There were many who refused to be-
lieve they could break us and turned
deaf ears and cold hearts to the cam
paign of propaganda in which they
were doped by the military and polit-
ical leaders of Germany, intoxicated
themselves by the prospects of their
gamble for the highest stakes.
Had Overwhelming Numbers
wrote all that last February on
good evidence. which may have seemed
a little false when with their over
whelmirr numbers of ia divisions to
4s-the figures have been given
against the British front they actually
did break through our lines ana
threaten us with grave disaster.
Then for a time while that was hap
penirg. the German officers said to
their men: What did we tell YOU
and they had no answer because or
,uccess beyond their first belief. But
now, when all that has been washed
out when they are back again in the
old places after frightful losses and
when their strength has been so shat
tered they will never be strong like
that again-never again-they have
fallen from what optimism was theirs
to the depths of black forebodings.
Victory will never be theirs in the
field: they know that as certain fact'
They know it SO well that when IN
recent days we captured large mum
hers Of the Second Guard Division, of
which a remnant has just been with
drawn from the line, they desired cap
ture and had no more fighting spirit.
! Yet they used to be proud troops
those men of the Franz and Alexandra
and Augusta regiments. The Kaiser
had no prouder men in his army noi
anv more disciplined by training ane
,rodit;on Men of the Franz Regi
ment were brought in first and wer'
miserable, but later, when after ont
or two more days Of hard nghtins
nrisoners of the Alexandra ana Au
gusta regiments marched down II
droves through our lines, they wer
not only pleased at their capture pu
actually urged our men to go on al
lacking and take as many Germans
nossible, so that the war would en-
quickly. Each batch of prisoners wa
Ialt0ht Sll(
cess. as saw with my own eyes in on
part of the field.
Where was your proud Second Gel
man Guards? 1t had gone under pre-
, sure Of too great blow which ha
struck down all their faith and nope
. Queer Grim Things In Letters
So now queer, grim things are bein
said by the German soldiers anon
; themselves and written to each othe
in letters which somehow pass the
, field censors and fall into our hands
sinister things-and the truth
Z which had long been hidden frol
them. A noncommissioned officer
the 233d Reserve Infantry Regimen
= writing to a comrade in the Thi
t Reserve Infantry regiment Of the s;
Division as recently as August
says:
A "I also had to do retreat in Gallo
1 in 1916, and know well enough VIII
. it means, 1t is perfectly obvious tn
you had heavy. casualties, for on
h tirement OF that kind they cannot ia
$ to be heavy. ] am only interested
l. to whether we are going to hold o
much longer this winter.
TN my opinion the English W
n bring up such a crowd of America
I and other stuff next spring that '
e shall be unable to Withstand Z
!. tremendous pressure. Also our enemi
4 WIN have such a number Of aircra
- = --e shall not kns