The Prescott daily news., 1919-12-18
NEEDED A MASTER
German Official Helpless in the
 Absence of Orders.
Burgermeisteys Case Typical of the Lack of Initiative Resulting From the System of MIitarsm
 So Long In Vogue.

| The burgermeister of B. am Rhein was person who looked like white rat that had been thoroughly soaked and shaved. And he had the faculty, | which all Germans have, of congealing | his cords and muscles at a moments notice, and could assume the rigor of an epileptic in the presence of supe- | riors To watch him slide into your office, uncover his teeth espy you, and | suddenly straighten himself up in | obedience to an unspoken Achtung,
 was an impressive experience.
 The American generals aid, ap- | pointed to this particular suburb of | Coblenz, often wondered why the ar
 rest of every vital function should be
 considered polite. He distrusted that German salute. It was too much like | playing possum.
 When the burgermeister came into l the ortskommandantur, the aid told
 him that, in so far as he behaved him.
 self, he would have nothing to fear | from the American army and that in | so far as 1t didn't interfere with the
 satisfaction of American interests, he
 was to continue governing the town as | usual
 The burgermeister stiffened himself | and withdrew.
 The aid was pleased. His first off,
 cial act, he felt, had been kindly, yet
 firm. just but not harsh. If he had his
 way, B. would not suffer as north
 ern France had suffered. He was go-
 ing to show these boches that the
 Americans weren't there to terrorize,
 or to Americanize, but simply to oc-
 cupy territory according to the terms
 of the armistice.
 | But he could not see the scene in the
 burgermeister's office overhead-the
 holding of cheeks in hands, the strik-
 ing of chests, the weary and rapid breathing of bewilderment, the groans
 of despair. And the next morning,
 when he went to the ortskommandan- tur, he was met by request that he
 grant an audience to his German col
 league. It was 10 o'clock, the exact
 hour of yesterdays meeting. He granted the request, and in a
 moment the shaved rat slid in through | slit in the open door and ran his
 tongue over his pink lips. His little
 black eyes shone like shoe buttons.
 and he kept scratching the palms of
 his hands.
 He wanted to know if the Herr
 Oberleutnant had any orders for him. The Herr Oberleutnant wanted to l know why.
 "Ach!" cried the burgermeister, be | fore the Americans came we had a l government. Now we had none. How, | then, can run the town of B. as I used to run it? There is no one to tell I me what to do. If only the Herr Ober- leutnant would express his wishesr" The aid narrowed his eyes and | looked at him in disgust.
 "Have the streets cleaned" he said. l and turned to his work
 1 The face of the burgermeister was l radiant He had found boss. 1 In less than thirty minutes platoon of boches was assembled in the street before the ortskommandantur Every | other man carried a broom at right shoulder arms and the man at his side | a shovel The burgermeister stood on the steps of the building, with pencil l in one hand and a long list in the other and checked off their names. l Then, "Hup!" said the burgermeis- l ter.
 Out of the ranks jumped four men, saluted. and faced the platoon. "Hup!" said the first of the four and a little squad of broomers and l shovelers faced to the right and marched off briskly northward.
 "Hup!" said the second of the four; 1 and another little squad trotted of, to 1 the east.
 | "Hup!" said the third, and "Hup!" l said the fourth. and soon all points of | the compass had received their squads. 1 And the voice of the gefreite was heard in the land. Clouds of dust hung over B am Rhein, shovels
 changed on the cobblestones. brooms scraped the roadways The town was being cleaned.
 The burgermeister stepped into the burgermeisterei and jabbed his pencil l three times into his right ear. 5000"
 ne said with pride and satisfaction. And from that day on the aid gave | him orders punctually at 10 a. m.-- | George Boas in Atlantic Monthly.