The Washington herald., 1918-07-21
Interesting News and Sdeghts Of the Stage and the Cine

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pecialiy the soldiers OF our allies.
are never weary Of telling Ameri-
cans how much they appreciates our
self-sacrifice in giving over. Tor the
time, our plan Of Homogeneous
American army acting under ~
own command. a4t
: Meanwhile German propaganda
is trying to convince the world that
this brigading system is a source
OF weakness. not strength. Ameri<
can troops. the. German experts
decIares are being thrown into the
front here and there, intermixed
win British and French. as they
arrive, to MI the gaps left by the
$4,000 prisoners the enemy claims
since March II aud the large num-
bers Of killed and wounded. Hence.
the Teuton declares our army
never viii exist ID o military sense.
and never can influence the course
OF the war.
American officers with whom have
discussed. the results OF the brieadins
system. mo- less than British and
French authorities, are convinced that
the present method Is not only the
best way to tide over the crisis Of
1eIs. but will resuit In the appearance
OF a great aIl-American force n che
war zone more quickly than the
original plan of taking over . small
percentage OF sector and widening 10
as more troops. come across.
II has always been understood hat
az American units became trained
fightins men they would. as cifcun-
stances permitted. bs withdrawn from
allied divisions and formed into
American divisions under Pershins
and his generals. Whether that can
be done during the present campaign
Is not proper subject for discussion: |:
but IL will be. done. sooner or later.
And the regiments and brigades Of
Americans now fighting in the ranks
Of the allies know that the moment
when they viii form part of an Amer
lean army fighting In the field "
brought nearer. not postponed, BY
their present union with the allied
forces.
Brigadfng System Vital
Much depends, for the success of
the brigading system. on how the
American officers get on with their
French and British supefiors. A great
deal has been written about the good
relations between the doughboy, the
Tommy and the Poilu. This Is hap
PLY true, and is most important. But
the doughboy fights under. his own
officers and does not come into per-
sonal contact, after he passes the
earlier training stages, with allied
troops while he Is on duty. excepting
in the confusion and intermingling Of
battle. The officer above the rank
OF major must work with the French
and British chiefs. and n he does
not hit Il on with them the whole
scheme of cooperation falls to the
ground.
He does hit 1t of with them. Work
ing here and In France for more than
three years I have come to know
many officers of our allies wen enough
TO penetrate the reserve British and
Frenchmen habituaIly preserve when
talking to foreigners. Some Of them
whom I have seen recently belong
TO staffs which have the delicate task
Of managing American troops brigad-
ed with others. They are all beam
ing with joy over the competence, the
WliHlEuCsS W tutO u bbdHBO 6y5-
tenn. the eagerness TO learn and lack
of presumption Of the American ON
GERS under their command.
They feel, as q general Of division
put II, that at Is ike q TRANSMISSION
Of blood from q healthy patient into
the veins Of q man who has been
bled almost white. The Americans
have brought US freshness and vigor.
and I have met with no instances
of those difficulties that We come to
expect as natural when men OF differ
ent races try to work together In
war .-r as
How important really Is the aid
that the United States can give the
allies in the field? This question. IN
many forms. crops up continually.
People sometimes say: ut is all very
well to talk of a million soldiers, OF
even two. But our statesmen tell rs
that Germany has nine million men
in the field now. and that we ana
our colonies have raised over eight.
How, then, can the Americans be an
important factor, at least for some
years.
Soldiers do not say these things.
They know better. 1t Is, difficult TO
write in the press as the soldiers talk
about numbers without falling foul
Of the censor, and this causes con-
fusion in the civilian mind.
Divisions the Unit.
Soldiers do not talk in terms Of
millions Of men. They speak of d.
visions. They say that the Germans,
who had during the Somme battles
1877 division on the West front, have
gradually increased that figure, since
the collapse OF Russia. to 206 d.
visions. and that this represents al
most the limit, since there are only
some thirty-seven divisions left In all
the wastes Of the Eastern war zone.