The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1918-12-05

l happened to mention this fact to
the kaiser shortly afterwards and his
significant comment was:
six mOnthsI I should hope so. 1t
wouldn't take that lOng!''
The confident belief that when der
Tag''-''the day''-fnally arrived, Ger
many would crush her enemies and ac-
cOmplish her object within a few
months at the outside was held not
only by the kaiser but by the people
generally and their conduct when the
war broke out clearly disclosed it.
When Germany's man power was
modified. no one in Germany believed
it would be very long before they
would all be back and every effort was
made to make their few weeks of ac
tive service as little irksome as pos
sible. ''Liebesgaben," gifts of love,
consisting of clothing and food of
every description, were forwarded to
them by their relatives and friends in
the most lavish manner, although, of
course, at that time the German COM
missary was able to satisfy all the sol
diers' requirements.
One of my patients told me that she
had sent seventeen hundred pounds of
sausages to one regiment within a
week, and when asked her why she
had been so generous she replied that
her chauffeur was a member of the
regiment!
The extent to which the country's
resources were squandered in those
early months is evidenced by the fact
that the soldiers had such an excess
of iIl-ftting wooden wearing apparel
that they used many OF the knitted ar
ticles as earpieces and covers for their
horses. No one had the slightest idea
that the time might come when the
whole nation would be clothed in pa
perl
At this late day it can hardly be
necessary to establish how thoroughly
prepared the Germans were for the
war, but an incident which occurred in
the early days of the conflict may not
be out of place to show the self-satiS-
fed and confident attitude which all
the Germans assumed.
Two officers sitting at a table in an
out-of-doOr cafe shortly after the war
began overheard one of several ladies
those officers sitting there drinking.
Why are they not at the front fight
ing? C2e of the officers got up and,
approaching the ladies, said: "Our
work was completed months ago. We
worked from early morning till late at
night on plans which our armies are
now carrying out. It is our time to
rest"
The resistance that France would be
able to put up was always very lightly
estimated, and if the Intervention of
England was at all taken into cOnsid-
Grafton, the comparatively small army
she could place in the field was re-
garded as but drop in the bucket COM
pared with the well-trained German
horde that was ready to sweep across
the border. How could England's $4,000
men cope with Won Kluck's 100000 or
the hastily modified French armies re-
sist the thoroughly prepared, equipped
and well-disciplined German warriors?
It is really not to be wondered at
that the Germans firmly believed that
they would bring the allies to their
knees within a comparatively few
weeks and that the cOnquering Ger
man armies would celebrate Sedan
day, September 2, in Paris. What &C
tualIy happened is, of course, too well
known here to require recital, but
know that the Germans were kept in
absolute ignorance of the marvellous
resistance the allies were able to put
I'D in those critical days of August and
September, 1914, and to this day the
0f haUo not heard
of the battle of the Marine!
Just after the English passed their
conscription law I was called to see
the kaiser at the great army headquar-
tiers, which at that time were at Pless.
Although the war had then lasted two
| or three times as long as the Germans
had expected, the kaiser masked the
depression he must have felt by put
ting on a bold front.
How foolish for England to start
CONSUMPTION now" he declared. ''She
| thinks she can accomplish in a few
months what it has taken Germany a
hundred years to attain. Armies and
| officers cannot be developed over night.
We have never stopped preparing since
| the days of Frederick the Great!"
"Yes, your majesty, but the North
ern states in our Civil war put in con-
scription two years after the begin
ming of the war;" I suggested.
But just look how long your war
lasted" the kaiser replied quickly.
This war won't last that long. The
allies will feel what the power Of Ger
many is long before English cOnscrip-
| ton can avail them anything"
land while England is slowly build
| ing up her insignificant army the
kaiser went on, ''she will see America s
/ navy and merchant marine constantly
growing and the dollar replacing the
pound as the unit of the worlds
finance. No, Davis, England will soon
be sick of the war and will look with
fear upon Americas growing power y
The French army, too, was generally
belittled. and the Russians were be
Hieved to be absolutely negligible. The
French army was so poorly equipped
it was pointed out, that the officers
had to go to the field in patentleathel
boots. and on the Russian front, only
the first-line men had guns, the other:
: being armed with clubsi
| Ex-anf11oIlv officers and soldiers re