The Washington herald., 1918-07-28
Newsie Notes.
Gen. Foch and the English.

NeWSle Notes.
Gen. Foch and the English.
sIn daily life Gen. Foch is . man
Of few words. Cold. calm and self
he is conspicuous for just
the qualities which the English most
prize" says Capt. Recouly in his
book General Joffre and His Bat
Ties" published by the Scribners-
Add TO these his close knowledge
of the English army. along with
his keen sense of the national tenn
perament and character and we
shall easily comprehend the influ-
ence he exerts over every English
man who comes in contact with
him. To this influence is due in
a large measure the perfect un-
and cohesion which has
existed between the two armys from
the beginning. 1t was indeed far
from being the simplest of tasks TO
insure this cohesion. Great delicacy
and tact were obviously called for.
Gen. Foch. by the force of character
" AtSSS macs
in him achieved il without the
is one of the best first hand ac-
counts of the great generalissimo
yet published.
A diplomatic dispatch received In
Washington the other day, stated
that German Democrats in Switzer-
land were elated over the escape from
Berlin and German vengeance of
Prof. G. F. Nicolai in an airplane
which took him to Copenhagen The
German authorities believe or wish
to be believed that the escape was
the work of the entente and was made
possible through the connivance OF
a French engineer who is said to have
been found working under a false
name in a machine factory at Danzig.
Professor Nicolafs great book. The
Biology of War" will shortly be pub
lished in translation by The Century
Co.
The author Of Injurious Insects and
Useful Birds" forthcoming issue in
the Lippincott Farm Manual Series,
is known as Bug washburn. to dis
tinguish him from Milk Washburn,
who is the author Of Productive
Dairying." another Farm Manual The
for the new manual are
fine. Prof. F. L. Wash
burn is an enthusiast in this field and
his work is sure to become standard.
He is professor Of entomology at the
University OF Minnesota.
r
effect of the shellfire is often most
BIZARRE" says Maj. Eric Fisher Wood,
In THE Notebook of an Intelligence
Officer.' I'm each shell-swept bat
tered village one sees new manifes-
tations Of its vagaries. and its omis-
sions Of destruction are often more
curious than its commissions. For
instance, one sees church which
has been knocked fat, hardly one
stone remaining upon another, while
at the same time the altar which 1t
has sheltered stands unscathed above
the surrounding debris; or one
a shell which bursts close to
a group OF soldiers, who escape un-
scathed while several others standing
at a distance are all killed. I re-
Gently saw a howitzer projectile which
burst beside a caisson to which we're
harnessed three teams of horses and
without wounding man or beast. II
cut through all the traces, so that
three separate pairs of horses pranced
about the road uninjured. In some
cases every house in town is destroy
ed save one, which stands absolutely
untouched amid the surrounding
ruins"
Harper and Brothers, through
Charles T. Lark. have instituted suit
against the publisher of a novel en-
titled Jap Herron," purporting TO
have been dictated over the Ouija
hoard by the spirit of the late Mark
Twain. The papers on file also
name, as one Of the defendants, a
Mrs. Hutchins, Of st. Louis, whom
the preface to the book represents
to have been in charge Of the Oulja
board which is alleged to have SPELL
ed out the complete novel SO pub
lished.
When asked about the matter. Mr..
Lark stated that a number OF new
and novel points were raised by the
husation so instituted. although the
principles which control the situa-
ton are well established.
There have been a number of nj.
legged spirit communications for pub
iication purposes from Mark Twain
within the past year, and the time
has arrived when Harper and Broth
ers had to take steps to prevent any
further trespassing along this line.
The novel so published was further
camouhaged by a drawing portray.
ing the well-known feature OF Marx
Twain. and obviously neither the
clemens estate nor Harper and
Srothers can permit any unauthorized
use OF the name and picture of Amer
ica's best-known and best-loyed lit
erary genius. whose literary reputa-l
ton lis also entitled to the same pro-
tecuon as any other form of prop
erty."
We think the result of this litiga-
tion VIII be such as to serve notice
on all students Of the occult. who
nave a literary trend Of mind, that
they viii have to select some life
preserver other than Mark Twain"
for the purpose of floating or attempt
ing 10 hoat their productions. The
novel itself, thus published as having
been dictated by Mark Twain from
the spirit world and sent to the earth
with his compliments as claimed in
the preface thereto, concerns the ca
reer of a lad In the Middle West.
Those who know Mark Twain's writ
ings best have pronounced It to be
mediocre and wholly foreign to his
style OF thought or expression as set