Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 291, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1913 — FIND ARMY REFUGE [ARTICLE]

FIND ARMY REFUGE

Picturesque French Foreign Le-gion-Stories Regarding it Men Sbek It for Oblivion—-Some Sought Have Been Found, but Others Have Succeeded in Concealing Their ‘ Identity. Paris. —The French foreign legion is the moßt picturesque military organization in the world. It is the refuge of men" gone wrong through impulse or misfortune who wish to bury themselves in oblivion while fighting to regain an honorable place in the world of life and activity. Of the foreign legion a thousand romantic tales are told. In answer to German critics, General Bruneau, who commanded tbe second regiment of the organization, has recently related some of his experiences and unveiled certain of its mysteries. The rank and file of the corps* he says, is composed of princes, dukes, marqueses, counts and viscounts, generals and officers of all grades, all arms, of the armies of all countries, priests, financiers, diplomats, lawyers and professional functionaries of all sorts; honest adventurers who simply want to “see the world;” the neurasthenic, the disheartened, the unemployed; those who, having lost everything but honor, or having lost honor itself, would make a new start.-, All this diverse human metal, thrown into the melting pot together, is eventhally molded into that brave, stoic, loyal,’devoted, patient and tenacious prototype of the man of arms, the legionary. The most remarkable story of all connected with the lsgion is that of a soldier of the second class —another Muller —who died in the hospital at Garryvilla, Rumor has it that he was a bona fide Hohenzollern, a cousin of the kaiser himself. Efforts to trace bis career or to identify him definitely have so far failed, though the episode is so fully authenticated as to leave little doubt that a scapegrace member of the imperial family of Germany did take refuge under its mysterious banner. Only a few months ago France had the laugh on her neighbor over the case of one “Tunze, No. 13,617,” a recruit of the legion at Saida, whose real name turned out to be Troemel, the missing mayor of the Usedom, in Pomerania. In the regiment at Saida. Troemel met Sergeant von Salomon, who was formerly in his regiment in the German army. “In those days,” says Troemel, “he saluted me; now I salute him.” Some years ago General Bruneau had occasion to visit the tent of General Detrie, then in chief command of the legion. It waß during the grand maneuvers of the French army. “As I approached the tent,” writes the general, I was struck with the noble appearance of the sentry on guard

and the superb manner in which he rendered me his salute. At the conclusion of my visit, as I was about to take my departure, the general said to me, sotto voce: ‘You see that sentry? He is Mgr, X—, bishop of Barinthia, the handsomest man and the best soldier in the legion!’ ( "I glanced the bishop over, in passing, with an intense curiosity. He had doubtless overheard the general’s remark, for he suddenly turned pale, and his pallor was accentuated by the contrast of a beard as black as Jet, though with a few threads of silver in it, that fell in silken waves. down to the Tonkin medal on the breast of bis capote. The splendid eyes looked straight ahead —toward the distant mountains, where the sun was sinking in a sea of gold—but I had the impression that their gaze rested upon something far more distant, and that the light which illuminated his face was not the reflected radiance of the setting sun, but came from candles burning before the imaged Christ amid the somber glories of a church altar.” After the prelate, the millionaire. One day General Bruneau received a registered letter, postmarked Vienna and signed by the representative of a well known Austrian detective agency, to the following effect: M “Monsieur le General: Will you

kindly inform me if a young man of Austro-Hungarian nationality, supposed to have enlisted in the i Foreign Legion under the name of Justus Perth, is now at Saida? I have already inquired, in vain, of the Firsl regiment. You will understand the interest we have in finding him when I inform you, confidentially, that in consequence of unforeseen happenings, he has become, without his knowledge or expectations, sole heir to a fortune of 12,000,000 crowns. Inclosed is a photograph, taken when he was a student at the University of Prague. jThe photograph showed a stocky youth of perhaps twenty or twentytwo years of age, and whose somewhat beefyrface was fringed with precocious whiskers. He wore eyeglasses, which made it difficult to judge of the form and shade of his eyes. General Bruneau’s first step was to have his secretary adjutant search the enlistment rolls for the name of Justus Perth. No such name appeared. Then he had all the Austrians of the detachment line up and scanned their faces /in the hope of identifying the. original of the photograph. Only two, both of whom were recent arrivals, showed possible traits of resemblance, and these in a very imperfect degree.