The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-05-08
MAURICE NOW
MOST TALKED Of
IAN IN BRITAIN
,STERE MILITARIST I'M
PUGNS VERACITY OF
LLOYD GEORGE.
TRAMPLES ON TRADITION
Surprise Is All the Greater Because
of the Famous Englishman's Sc
we're Demand Formality in the
Past - Somebody Must Lose.

London, May S.-The most talked
Of man in England today is General
Frederick b. Maurice, formerly chief
director of military operations at
the war office.
ii some volunteer general or
some soldier who had graduated
from politics or business into sol
diering had detied and trampled
upon all the laws and traditions OF
the British army and all armies, he
would not have excited such enor-
nous surprise as has General Mau-
rice in his famous letter impugning
the veracity of the ministry. Had
some less well trained officer writ
ten the letter it would have been
put down to lack OF tradition and
disregard OF the conventionalities by
a citizen soldier.
But General Maurice in his per-
sonality, mis- record and his career
has been the personiiication OF all
that is conventional, austere and
correct in the professional soldier
His weekly and recently his bi-week-
" conferences with American
newspaper correspondents have inn
pressed them with his wide knowl-
edge, passion for accuracy in de-
tail and his personal aloofness, as
though he were performing an act
that professionally he rather dis
liked and resented. Barring his uni
form he would readily pass for a
typical Prussian staff officer OF the
Moltkc school.
Reception to Correspondents.
His receptions to correspondents
have not been interviews, but lee
lures. The correspondents filed
into the sanctuary at the war office
at the appointed minute. Any man
who was late found the door barred
against him. Military usage de
manded promptness, and General
Maurice would not forgive or eX-
cuse lack of it.
A tall blond gentleman with a
fresh pink complexion and mon
ocle, surrounded by maps of all
sorts, contour maps, fiat maps, maps
of elevations-all marked with flags
and numbers, and with red, blue and
yellow pencil marks. faced the cor
respondents. General Maurice dealt
with all those maps as Paderewski
deals with the keys of piano. lie
knew every detail OF them.
Good afternoon. gentlemen" was
the greeting; never anything more.
Standing before the maps with a
professional manner and in Ian
guage so precise that his stenogra-
pher would not need to correct it,
the general stated the military sit
uation.
Foolish Questioners Crushed.
Having finished, the general
paused for questions. All answerable
questions were replied to promptly
and incisively. Foolish questions
occasionally were asked by anna
ten strategists. He crushed them
quickly or curtly. He did not parry
with them; he simply killed them
with the straight brutality much as
Speaker Tom Reed dealt 10 his crit
les in years gone by in Washington.
Good afternoon, gentlemen he
said, having finished; never any
thing more. The correspondents
left with more real knowledge in
their notebooks TO digest than they
were likely to get from days spent
in reading the matter written by
military experts for the newspapers.
General Maurice is rated as one
OF the most authoritative military
historians and critics who write in
the English language. He has made
a deep study of and has confessed
profound admiration for the STRAIT
egy and general military achieve
ments OF Lee. Grant. and other eel
ebrated generals in the American
Civil war.