Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1917 — SMOKED HIS CIGAR BY PROXY [ARTICLE]

SMOKED HIS CIGAR BY PROXY

Bismarck Gave Cherished “Weed” tb Wounded Soldier and Enjoyed Watching Man's Contentment With all his brusqueness and even, at times, brutality, Bismarck, says Frederick Marvin, had much of the “live-and-let-live” philosophy, and it ; humanized him so that men loved him and Willingly followed after hint. The ' story of the last cigar at Koeniggratz illustrates what has been said, says the Yorkshire (Eng.) Post. “The value of a good cigar,” said Bismarck, as he proceeded to light an excellent Havana, “is best understood when it is the last you possess and there is no chance of getting another. At Koeniggratz I had only one cigar left in my pocket, which I carefully guarded during the whole of the battle, as a miser does his treasure. I did not feel justified in using it. “I painted in glowing colors in my mind the happy hour when I should enjoy it after the victory. But I miscalculated my chances. And what was the cause of my miscalculations? A poor dragoon. He lay helpless, with both arms crushed, asking for something to refresh him. I felt In my pockets and found only gold, and that would be of no use to him. But stay, I had still my treasured cigar! I lighted this for him and placed it between his teeth. You should have seen the poor fellow’s grateful smile! I never enjoyed a cigar so much as that one which I did not smoke.”