THE GENTLE GERMAN'S METHODS OF WARFARE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11874, 28 January 1902, Page 6

THE GENTLE GERMAN'S METHODS OF WARFARE.

TO THE EDITOR. . Sir— 'attended the meeting Iho other night at the Council Chamber, and was ranch edified by the fervid patriotism of some of the members, who are quite determined to sacrifice the last drop of other people. Wood in upholding the cause of the British Empire, hut take very good care not to spi 1 a drop of their own. Ido not tinUk such meetings and such resolutions. will do much 31th Germans. I should have preferred to see the Channel Fleet sent to Hamburg or Kiel, with "orders to demand the hodfes of the editor, publisher, and artist of the paper that published the infamous libel against our Queen, in order that each mirfit receive four dozen with the cat-o -nine iXo!X tec tack. Th. Ocm«» ™.Id have understood such a measure as at. Will you alow me to relate - a couple of anecdotes showing tho methods practise! y the Germans during the war wi*h 1 ranc- . They were told mo. by a German surgeon who had served during the, whole of to camnainn in France. At one period of the campaign he was stationed at Fontainebleau, a town about 25 miles from able for its chateau, where sisrned his alxhcation. and for the forest, which is 63 square miles m extent. Across the forest, the German commander at Jjontainebleau, had to , send despatches daily, and ho found that the messengers were always shot at, and sometimes wounded or killed, by men lurking amongst the i trees by the roadside. So one night he detcrmmed to take decisive measures, and ordered the messenger to fide on slowly, starting about 10 p.m. Meanwhile he had two bodies of infontrv one on each side of the road advancing in skirmishing order among _ the trees. They caught thirteen Frenchmen with firearms. and they hung every one of them on a neighbouring tree. They fixed to each tree a notice in French, warning the people in the neighbourhood that tho ..todies; were to hang there for a fortnight, and if they were cut down the inhabitants of the neighbouring commune would bo fined ten thousand There was no more sniping of the mounted m Another S 'story. Tho general orders of the German army were that all men found l>> tho patrols with firearms in their possession, and not dressed in uniform, were to .to shot on iho spot... It'so happened that a patrol of the reserve cavalry, commanded by a lieutenant of the line, was sent out from Fontainebleau while my friend was stationed there. The sergeant of the patrol was father of the lieutenant commanding. Thoy found two m?n in the road carrying firearms; one had a rifle, the other a double-barreled sporting snui. The man with the rifle was shot on tho spot. The sergeant interceded with his son to spare the man with the sporting un, who. of course, protested that ho was merely going to shoot birds, and begged him to take' the prisoner to Fontainebleau, to be indeed by the commanding officer there. He "yielded to his father's entreaties, and my informant saw the patrol party arrive. It happened that a general parade of the troops was going on when the lieutenant rode in to make his report. A.l the reply he got was as follows: Turning to the adjutant, tho commanding officer said: Bead the general order about men found with . firearms " The adjutant read it., ' You know your duty, lieutenant. Take that man back to where you found him, and bo back 111 20 minutes."' They had to go off at a canter with the prisoner runnincr beside one of the horses. In 20 minutes the lieutenant reported that the man had been shot. I have several other anecdotes, of which I took notes at the time, but I cannot lay hands on them now. These two were so vividly impressed on my mind that I have never forgotten them, and have often related them. I do not in the least disapprove of what tho Germans did in France, speaking generally. Of course, the stealing of clocks and other articles of furniture was undignified, but not contrary to the laws of war, but it does seem rather odd to have the gentle German condemning our army for cruelty. As regards the resolution passed at the meeting, allow mo to protest against the praise bestowed on Mr. Chamberlain. __If there is one man on earth who, next to Mr. Gladstone, has been the greatest enemy of the British Empire, that man is the Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain. It is to him that we owe this miserable war, and its prolongation.-I am, etc., R. H. Bakewell. 160, Hobson-street, January 23, 1902.