The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-10-31

ming Of the war;" / suggested.
But Just look how long your war
lasted" the kaiser replied quickly.
'"This wal 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"
"And while England is slowly build
ing up her insignificant army" the
kaiser went on, "she Will see Americas
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 a and will look with
fear upon Americas growing poweri"
The French army, too, was generally
belittled. and the Russians were be-
lieved to be absolutely negligible. The
French army was so poorly equipped.
had TO go to the field In patent-leather
boots, and on the Russian front, only
the 1rst-line men had guns, the others
being armed with clubs!
Eventually, officers and soldiers re-
turning from the western front on fur
Tough or passing through the country
en- route from one front to the other
brought the report Of the defeat before
Paris. Soldiers who participated In
that disastrous retreat wrote from the
new trenches to their friends and rel
atives telling Of the terrible expert
ences they had undergone, when they
went for days with nothing to eat but
raw potatoes and turnips which they
picked from the fields.
When these reports finally spread
through Germany the people began to
realize that their generals In the west
were not meeting with the same success
that Won Hlndenburg had had In the
east and Won Hindenburg became the
idol OF the people Immediately, "a fact
that was very distasteful to the high
command.
The kaiser's dislike Of Won linden
burg was Of long standing. He had
neve. forgiven that general for the mis-
take he made during military maneuv-
ers In peace time when by a brilliant
stroke of strategy he had succeeded In
capturing the kalser's forces, including
the kaiser and his whole staff
/ have referred In a previous chapter
to the saiser's unbounded confidence
after the Italian collapse in 1917.
"Now, we've got the allies" he ex-
claimed, with ar air of concluslveness
which emphasized the optimism he
displayed.
After the capture of Roumania, he
exhibited a similar degree of exulta.
ton. He believed that In that achieve
ment he had successfully solved the
food problem-the one cloud which
constantly darkened the kaiser's hori-
sOn.
snow the allies will never succeed In
starving u.s." he said to me In my Of
nce shortly after the Roumanian drive.
with Roumania in our pockets and
Eervia already ours. their wonderful
agricultural possibilities will supply
our food needs and foil our enemieS
efforts to starve us. Indeed, they had
better look out for themselves. Don't
forget we have a monopoly on the
potash mines Of the world. Without
proper fertilization, American crops
will 90 on decreasing and decreasing
and they won't get any potash until we
get ready to let them have It"
The failure of the Zeppelins from q
military standpoint was undoubtedly a
great disappointment to the German
people at large, who had counted 50
much upon them to bring disaster to
England. but It cannot be said that the
kaiser shared their chagrin. On the
contrary, / have reason to believe that
he lever expected very much from that
arm of his military force except as 1t
might be useful to terrorize the civil
population.
A day or two after Zeppelin's death,
In 1917, a patient Of mine. a lady, hap
pened to remark that 1t was too had
that the count had not lived to see the
triumph Of his invention, and when I
saw the kaiser shortly afterwards I
repeated her remark to see what he
would say.
II am convinced that tho count lived
long enough to see all that the Yep
pelins were capable of accomplishing"
was his only comment. 1t recalled the
answer he had given me some years
before when both Zeppelins and air
planes were In their infancy and l had
asked him which held the greater
promise. 1--WE do not know. Time
alone will tell" was his reply.
The last time l conversed with the
kaiser was on November 20. 1917. Up
to that time We had sent over 10000
troops. according to the figures which
have since been revealed by Secretary
Baker. According to the kaiser's in
formation. however, we had only 3d.
600 men In France at that time and
he was Of the opinion that we would
never have many more.
america Is having q fine time try.
ing to raise an army" he declared
satirically. II hear that 1000 mutinied
the other day In New York, and re-
fused to get on . transport. and q
town In the Northwest composed prin-