Short and
stockily built and looking every inch a fighter, he gives you the
impression of possessing tremendous, almost Rooseveltian vitality, with
a saving sense of humor. Von Emmich is the General with a winning smile.
He could have been a successful machine politician if he had emigrated
to America instead of remaining in Germany and becoming the most popular
General in the German Army, among the men, for he has the rare gift of
inspiring his followers with a sense of personal loyalty. His troops
idolize him. They break out into hearty hurrahs at the slightest
provocation when they see him. It is lese-majeste, but none the less
true, to say that they think as much of their General as of their
Kaiser. They tell you proudly that he rode at their head when the City
of Liege was taken by storm, and after seeing him you could never
picture von Emmich bringing up the rear in a motor car, after the manner
that more prudent Generals use. He has iron-gray hair and a bristly,
close-cropped mustache to match, and a very florid complexion, and looks
absolutely unlike the sleek individual whose photograph was published
with his obituary notice in the London press while the forts of Liege
were still "holding out" on paper.
Asked point blank, Gen. von Emmich stoutly and with great good humor
denied that he had ever committed suicide or even contemplated the step.
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