The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-02-02

with the accuracy possible in dealing
with the fighting divisions. Ii IS known
that 7JO,WO boys reach the age OF
eighteen every year in Germany. ana
from prisoners captured and the hedl-
cal record, Of the French and BrtlSA
armies in dealing with similar mate
rial the number IF these boys who are
Incorporated in the enemy armies can
he calculated almost exactly. but Tie
question of the central reserve ana OF |
the number Of troops on garrison |
duties in Belgium, France. Poland !
Russia. Roumania and Serbia, Is more |
difficult.
1t is impossible to 80 into details
about the methods used i'll assessing
these figures. which obviously are
more involved. more t"rtuouS ana
more mysterious in the case Of troops
| in the interior Of Germany or Belgium
| or Poland than with divisions some
where near the firing line. The esl-
| mate Of General de LarroiX in ParlS'
based upon official data, is that on
June / there were, excluding the o.
! eos 600 men in the 81 existing Ger
man divisions. f.7300 600 other soldiers
on duty in the rpar. Most OF these
men are landWohr and lanHStuFh
froops REGARDED as utterly useless even
for the firing lire on the RUSSIAN front
They can never appear IN the first iliI''
no matter how desperate German?
straiglits for mcn may become, bu'
thav perform invaluable service III re-
leasing the whole tit manhood or the
country for The front.
75s,O00 in Reserve.
In addition to this force OF osu"t
and less fit men, the Germans nave
in reserve to fill up the gaps Ill thelr
fighting divisions some 10000 men.
OF these General de LacroiX estimates
that there are 100000 in depots at the
front, ready to be drafted az needed
into the divisions that are constantly
being withdrawn In battered condl-
tion from the active sectors. In depotS
in the interior are 355,0O more, while
10000 are training in Germany pul
not yet ready to fight
Besides these men. there remain 10
he considered the 10000 boys VINO
! reach the age of eighteen every year
Approximately 100000, or twO-thlrds
Of these lads are drafted into inc
army. The German class OF l9lS-o!
the 100000 soldiers who are nineteen
this year-haye already been put into
line and are counted in the general 10
tails of German soldiers given above
The class Of 1919, the boys now
u eighteen. will yield 100000 more
. troops, and only few of them nave
> vet been identified by the aimee
i armies. 1t is believed that most O
those lads will be made cannon fod
der before November. In calculation
Il regarding the German strength mex
{ winter and next year, they must all D.
included.
The strength Of the German arm!
then, IS today roughly this: there ar
u q COG COO combatants, with additiona
II reserves Of 10000 men plus re-en
j forcement Of between $4,000 and ooo
Z 600 bows Of eighteen all Of whom wi
~ he available by next winter. AND
~ addition to the fighting men there ar
'e about 1,739,OO0 older or unit men
H. duties in the rear who will never o
IL able TO face the guns. The fightln
men. including these boys not "
De ready, total almost exactly 5,Ooooo
ed not including the landwehr and lan'
ey sturm and other "etappen' or con
n munication troops who, to the numot
VI Of nearly two million, will never al
u! pear in the trenches.
ny Losses important Factor.
VI The third factor in an analysis
aI the strength of the German armies
an now reached. What are the Germa
losses?
pe' To accent the German official lis
ne for this part Of the calculation Will
he to err, If anything, on the side OF ca
Cd ton. There are military men In 10
don and Paris who believe that the
ats lists. allowing for unavoidable erro
100 and delays, are accurate. There
est others who are convinced that Tor "
er- wears the Germans have "dOctore
in the lists and deliberately minimiz
In their losses. After examining go
i"' deal or the evidence DIOuSiI AoA w"
'gl- by both sides, incline to the pen
one that the lists are accurate.
III The Germans have published III
ed. for the first 33 months of the war,
l'h proximately up to May 1, which VIII
Der totalled by allied statisticians have
the vcaed a total less of 4,336,76O m
OF these, 90S,439 were killed in
ton, G9,GSS died Of sickness, 3O3''
av- are prisoners or missing. In addlt
re- to these men admittedly out or
, of war. some $4,000 reported sever
In wounded" are supposed to be tota
for disabled for further service. Of
OF remainder about 1,S500OO repor
low wounded" and wounded remain
can with units" are classed by the al
fare as men who were able to go back
for fight.
that Net Wastage Estimated.
sion Accepting the German lists as
ents .curate, the net wastage during
size months Of war to May l. was about
< at 5O6, 76O men who will never fight ag
in This estimate is not based, in the
was ple fashion indicated above, upon
ause German reports of men as "seve
men, wounded" and wounded" but u
ont | 4o,, of ctatiCtjcS and Clll