The Butler weekly times and the Bates County record. (Butler, Mo.) 1918-1950, 1919-02-27
MISSOURI AND KANSAS
TROOPS BEST
Gen. Traub Declares That Pershing's
Statement to That Effect Was
Borne Out by the Fight
ing of the Guardsmen.

| Washington, Feb. 23.-"Without
any disparagement of any other
troops, | consider these Missouri and
Kansas troops the bcst-looling lot of
I ifa4eett1 t vr got IN France.
These were the words of Gen
Pershing to Gen. Peter -Traub, in
turning over to him the command Of
the Thirty-fiftll Division. Gen.
Traub, who testified before the Sen
ate Military Affairs Committee to-
day, in answer to charges lodged by
Gov. Henry J. Allen of Kansas, re-
ported Pershing's statement.
Il found them so,' he commented.
Il never commanded finer lot of
men, Gen. Traub disposed of the
accusations OF Allen in short order,
denying most of Aliens statements.
and saying that conditions described
correctly by the governor could not
well be helped in time of war. The
senators shifted the discussion to
general military considerations.
They asked him for his views and
he summed them up thus: rifle
and bayonet. target practice and bay
onet practice. Gen. Pershng incul-
Gated that principle in his officers
and men and insisted upon it. And
it won the war"
Gen. Tranb paid tribute to the
foresight OF Cen Pershing, who. he
said, virtually won the war with his
lnsi>tencc that the war would finally
be won in the open. He told how
Pershing hammered home the point
that the American soldier, properly
trained, was the best open-ficld fight
er in the world. Constant training
with the rifle and bayonet in Traub's
opinion. in last analysis. won the
war. because. as he put it, the Ameri-
can use of rifle and bayonet. got the
German goat.
He declared he had seen Germans
get out OF their TRENCHES and pill
boxes and start toward new line,
walking in plain view of French and
British soldiers, who started after
them with grenades and bombs. in
all effort to get within throwing dis
lance. But the Germans soon found
that they could not follow that prac-
tice with the Americans. especially
il the Americans were within 1000
yards of them. because the Ameri-
cans Immediately began picking them
Off with rifles. the use of which APP
parently did not occur to the French
and British. The consequence was,
he concluded. that the Germans
threw up their hands and turned
around, facing the Americans in sur
render when they heard the rifle
fire. They surrendered even more
quickly, he said, when they saw the
americans coming with bayonets
Didn't the Germans have bayo-
rcts. too. sometimes," asked Senate or
of West Virginia.
He used it mostly for opening
cans. think" was Gen. Traub's re-
ply.
He then went on to tell of docu-
nent found on a captured German
officer few weeks after the Ameri-
cans went into the front-line trench4
IS. This document, ne said, was
written by an officer of the German
general staff and read as follows:~
IF all the American troops have
he same fighting qualities as those :
We have faced the German cause is
ost."
Gen. Traub went into detail on two
harges made by Gov. Allen. quoting
igures on horses and artillery. lie a
aid the Thirty-fifth had plenty OF I
rtillery, its supply including forty d
light 75s. twenty-four 155-millimeter +
uns and twelve French 7ss, in addi-
ion to a full complement of ma
hine guns and the usual support of /
rmy and corps artillery and the t
french mortar batteries. y
I'VE had not shortage OF artillery r
Or the Argonne fight" he conclud- t.
d. Never once was the Thirty. c
fifth out of range of its artillery" c
AS for horses, he said the division II
ad 67Io horses on September rs, be- b
ore the battle began. On October 6 7
1e division had 4Io2 animals, show O
lg loss of 1857. He declared this
as by no means an unusual loss, a
nd said the division did its work f
,st as if it had not lost the animals. f,
2 | \