The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 11, 1906, Page 21

k. { Pages 21 to 30 | -— . s { Pagésé f03 ‘ — e » GERMANY'S VAST ARMY PREPARED FOR WAR FIVE — o R GEN- S IEINZNER 2 Kic ATDES W06 o+ France Overshad-) ed by Mili- | tary System. High Efficiency of“ General Staff || P oW N~ FR ENERAL FRENCH ARTILLERY ETSCHIE an» embors o o TAPP ~ QUUARTERED o LEIFST FRENTH INFANTRY at Berlimn. + | cers the Kaiser's army cannot be ap- TG | proache is not the mete outcome & of circumstan but the result of a R g s im e process of careful natural selection, undisturbed by political change, that s gone on in obedience to a definite ever since the great Moltke its destinies next war,” said Moltke, one of directive—other ' armles may have equal numbers of forces—but none will have the perfection of the Germ general staff.” This is crucial point, the key to the whole situation, with respect to the rmy organization to-day. ave been written on German arm as a fighting unit, g with jts numbers, marching wer, mobilization, artillery, railways | - other departments, but little is r such | Known of the composition and training % et of its staff officers. temberg contingents of the German arm e Orders from the Emperor direct are con- of the best sell- | Yeved by the Prussian War Ministry -at e i e o | Berlin to the war ministers of the other | states, the Prussian ministry, by the respective h by C. War,” ant colomel 15 the | WAY. belng the most important and prac- ther side of the|tically the focus of the varlous centers ,n;;,g’uf French | ©f direction. The personnel of the gen- eral army officers at Berlin is made up | r iy serial running a Seriall oo men, and these are the pick of the illustrations ob- the army who displays exceptional tal- n o e e . it |ent, and it 1s this fact that has given to the mobility of the|the army that wonderful unity which is the marvel of Europe. As any American boy may some day be President, so any | German soldier may become the chief of the German army. In accordance with this tradition the new chief of the general staff, the present Count von Moltke, had to work his way up from a minor position; no favoritism belng shown him by his famous uncle. He began as sub-lieutenant, and, during 1 won, and it is now many could throw a ng force of three hundred thousand the French frontier in less than hours, while it would take days to effect a| of France Europe as a it is oughout ive organization, German army to obtain a post of some kind in the directing force. General staff officers must above all things be quick of conception, accurate in judgment down to the most minute detail, and must be capable of planning and executing all the great movements of troops and war material from place to place. The training of officers who have at- tained staff rank is most exacting. When men in the ranks display such marked ability that they seem suitable for staff positions, they are sent to various special technical” academles located In different parts of the country. Thus, there is a magnificent shooting school for infantry officers at Spandau; In Berlin, there is one of the finest fencing academies in the world; while at various points are numbers of schools and technical insti- tutes for everything, from field surgery to horseshoeing. the mil-| W the German empire, as such,| The famous Kriegs Akademie, or War wipe out has no ecific Mir f War, there are | College, has not its counterpart in the whelming disasters | 2 number of war ministers whose sta- | world. Here officers intended for the circles both tions are at Berlin, Munich, Dresden and | general ‘staff learn strategy and high lermany there is un-| Stuttgart, and who act respectively for |command. The Kriegs Akademie has to give a able | the Prussian, Bavarian, S8axon and Wurt- | been imitated by other natlons, but it stands to-day alone as the finest scien- tific military institute of its kind. Graduates with high honors at other War Colleges have failed again and again to pass the ordinary examina- tions of the Kriegs. The artillery officers in the German army are trained in several schools of gunnery, graded so as to take each man through a thorough course. They photographs, bear- brains of the whole army. are even taught pyrotechnics, and must ey In order to become head of the Prus- | know how to make up their own pow- case Germany | Sian central governing body, which means | der; and, if need be, cast their own war? There is | chief of the general staff, one thing and | guns. Officers go through the ammu- minds of European |only one s needed—merit. The position | nition factorles and artillery work- t story of 1670 |is open to all—attainable by any one In |shops, and besides being skilled me- chanics, have to pass a master’s exami- nation in higher mathematics and the study of projectiles. 3 On joining the general staff German officers are assigned to the study of the army organization, topography and in- | timate conditions of all Buropean coun- tries; and besides this have to keep up thelr scientific studies. Each officer of the general staff must be a lingulst of the first order, capable of speaking English, French, Italian and other mod- ern tongues; and must be able not only i the last Franco-German war distin- |to speak these languages but to read el hanting foree ot | Fuished himself on the battlefleld, receiv- | them. without dificulty. ermany has, in fact, applied |ng the iron cross P g Bt WAR SOIENCE STUDIED. . e s e M ::eaz;:{:m (o‘the great Von Moltke. His | Besides the speclal corps of experi- army, and although since 1570 France has | OF FE e ton with his uncle enabled | mental gclentists there are several made wonderful progress in army or- | close comnector T TR e T the | corps of rallway experts. These men ganization, the French directing force | WO 10 0 % o0 oqtest military genfus | must be capable of undertaking every peither the mental training, the | B0 00 0ol ™ It is probably this very | department of railway work from lity, mor the scientific edveation | FRCT PR O equipped him for the | building locomotives to constructing thet belong to the German leadership. | MUMTCY SO0 ol £ a0 WELL TRAINED STAFF. Naturally, it. is the dream of every In the organization of its steff ofi- soldier and every petty officer in the roads. Thelr principal station in time of peace is near Berlin, where they op- erate a rallway thirty-three miles in IMMOLTITE— * ssvswevvy o “FeencH INFANTRY ATTackng | 3 & COUNT VO Ao CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE GERMAN REACHES THE BREAKING POINT. FE e e SR T extent. This road is run as far as Ju- terbog, and those who study its work- ing are composed of three regiments drafted from Prussia, Saxony, Wurttem- berg and Baden. In time of rapid movement of the army from place to place or at a mobilization this raflway force has proved wonderfully effecsive. Attached to every army corps i8-8 special sclentific department; but be- sides this there is a battalion at Pots~ dam whose whole work is given-up to experimentation and scientific research. This battalion tries beforehand every conceivable suggestion that would make for efficiency. All new weapons, Government prep- arations of explosives and every detail of army equipment are subjected to most rigorous tests. ' It was this corps that ascertained that the buttons on certain uniforms could be seen at long- er distances than those on others; and that provided covering for such buttons 50 as not to attract the enemy’s rifle fire. ‘This battalion has charge of telegraph- ic experiments and new devices in sig- naling. It was through this depart- ment that the German army was the first in Burope to adopt the magazine rifie. - In this battalion all the condi- tions of actual war are reproduced. Na- turally #ts maneuvers are kept secret from the outer world. This special scientific body is pecu- liar to the German army. Other Euro- pean armies have sclentific officers and schools; but there is no peculiar .body which submits all modern improve- ARMY, VERSION OF A BATTLE OF THE FUTURE TO BB FOUGHT WHEN THE TENSION Y; SOME OF HIS ASSISTANT! :L'WAN X3 A FRENCH PICTORIAL FRANCE AND GERMANY ments to actual tests such as would occur in war. SPEED OF MOBILIZATION. It was from this -body of military scientists that the suggestion came for the great “test rid for cavalry offi- cers which were carried out between Insterburg, near the Russian frontler, to Strassburg. This idea has also been adopted by France and other Huropean armies; but originated with Germany. Even the horses of the Germany Cav- alry Corps undergo special training un- der the most sclentific methods. =~ All horses are bought at the age of 8 years, and have to undergo & special “harden- ing” process, where their muscles are trained ‘down to the exact limit of ef- clency. They undergo one year's train- ing before they are placed in the cav- alry service; and they are not given thelr full actlvity until they are 6 years old. The German horse batteries are said to be the quickest and best train in Europe. The gunners follow their guns on horseback, and do not ride on the caissons, as ‘with most other armles. ‘This sajd to save a great deal of time, and to aid in the quick manipu- lation of the weapons. No army in Europe can mobilize more rapidly than that of Germany. As soon as the mobilization order—which must come from the BEmperor—Is issued, it is hed to the various army c thro 0 fect almost the instant it is —_— The time for complete mobiligation of the German army is sald to be two and a half days, while that of France is said to be five days—just double the time. In Germany all the summonses for the re- serves are already filled out and signed, and are kept constantly ready—only re- quiring to be stamped with a date, which, by speclal machinery, can be done in an hour or so. Bach person of the reserve is pledged to answer his summons as soon as it is 1ssued and to report to the com- mand assigned to him. Like the lifeboat drill on a big liner, each man In the German reserve knows Just where to go on recelving his sum- mons. And with the special railway fa- cilities always placed at the command of the German army, the whole force can be transported frcm place to place with the ‘utmost rapidity. The two great governing principles in the German army are, first, the compul- sory bearing of arms by_every able-bod- ied citizen; and, secondly, education and orps ut the country and goes into ef- Tecelved. ability as & means toward an. a necessity for advancement. Even the princes of the royal house of Prussia must serve their time of military training, just the same as the son of the peasant. GREAT STRENGTH OF ARMY. Much has been made of military con- scription in German: and the awful hardships of serving. in one department or another. from the seventeenth to the forty-fifth year. As a matter of fact, conscription very lightly on the Ger- man people, army is, in fact, the | any and every body is drafted | case. MILLION SOLDIERS OF THE KAISER’S EMPIRE CAN BE PUT INTO THE FIELD IN VERY QUICK ‘TIMZE great education system of the empire. Ag early ag the age of ten children de- siring to enter the army In positions of honor on coming of age begin their studies at one or other of the various cadet schools scattered liberally through- out the country; and from these schools they enter the various spectal technical institutes for the training of soldiers, ac- cording to the branch of service they wish to devote their lives to. The army, if looked at correctly, is | the real life of the people: and, while a number of persons, whose love for the fatherland is not so intense as It might be, leave Germany each year and seek refuge in foreign lands the fact remains that the army is the ideal of the German who Is content to stay at home. This is amply demonstrated by the 50,000 men who have joined what is known as the Kriegervereine—or asso- clations of men who have been honor- ably discharged from the army, whe wish to keep up their military conne: tions, and help each other and the country in time of stress. These Krie- gervereine display the real attachment which the German populace entertain for their army Institutions. The strength of the German army s approximately 500,000 men; actually with the colors. As g matter of fact, however, with the calling of the Landwehr and Landsturn, not less than 4,500,000 highly trained and efficient soldiers can be sum- moned to the colors. The keeping up of army feeling and training by the Krieg- ervereine, even after men have passed out of the army, brings another 500,000— the total strength of the available force being, in a crisis, 5,000,000 trained fighters; though the exact army force is given at 502,506 men, not including the one-year volunteers. The general notion seems to be that into the service, but this is far from being the In order to get into the army, an unblemished private character is neces- sary. No criminals or low characters are allowed to enter the army, and the pro- fession of soldler is looked upon as & high' one. —— e Sausages for the Kaiser. BERLIN, Feb. 10.—There was last week at Potsdam a strange deputation, consisting of three master butcher: whose mission was to present the im- perial household, in accordamcé with the time honored custom, with a gift of sausages from the citizens of Halle. The toothsome present consisted of 110 specially. prepared sausages, welghing nearly a hundredweight. Two beauties, neatly packed, were reserved [or the Emperor Willlam himself. They are the smoked sort, of which his Majesty is very fond. The Empress prefers goose liver sausages, and was accord- fngly presented with two of them, neatly done up with red ribbon. The imperial children and of the Kaiser's family each, adorned with blue Princes and pink ribbons for the Prin- cesses. The Kaiser himself at lunch carved the sausages into slices, which were ‘then served to the guests. Omn the table there was a pyramid with salt with eggs stuck into it, and these were eaten with the sausages. There is no connection between these high-bred sausages and the common ones. —— Exiled Queen in Paris, PARIS, Feb. 10.—Among the mem- bers of the ruling families of the world, most of whom have known many sor- rows, there are few figures so pathetic as that of Ranavalo, the ex-Queen of Madagascar, who is now In Paris, and who since 1397 has been a Queen with- out a throng, living on the charity somewhat grudgingly vouchsafed her by the French Government. From the position of a ruler wielding sway over 3,000,000 people and territory measur- ing a quarter of a million square miles, she has sunk to the obscurity of anm exile in a foreign land, living always in debt and dependent entirely on the will of the Government which annexed her country and deposed her from her throne. Next to her native country she loves Paris, in spite of the fact that it is the capital of the country to which she owes all her troubles, and yet during'the eight years of her exile she has only been allowed to visit it three times. The first occasion was In 1901, the second two years later, and the third visit began tast week. ———————— Automobiling in Dewsert. PARIS, Feb. 10.—Mr. and Mrs. A. Sydney Carpenter of Philadelphta, and Edwin Johnson of New York. have arrived by automobile from Alglers, at the Royal Hotel, Biskra. They Iepert that the roads are good. O s other members received