=Pathfinders.=--In reply to the question, “Who are the twelve greatest Americans of German descent?” the following were named by a small committee who conferred upon the matter:
Franz Daniel Pastorius, founder of Germantown and author of the first protest against slavery on American soil.
Conrad Weiser, “the first who combined the activity of a pioneer with the outlook of a statesman.”--Benson J. Lossing.
Governor Jacob Leisler, acting governor of New York, the first martyr to the cause of American independence.
Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, founder of the Lutheran Church in America and father of General Muhlenberg and of the first Speaker of the House of Representatives.
John Peter Zenger, founder of the freedom of the press in America.
David Rittenhouse, America’s first great scientist.
General Frederick von Steuben, the drillmaster of the American Revolutionary army, who received the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
John Jacob Astor, the pioneer and pathfinder in American industrial enterprise.
Carl Schurz, Union general, diplomat, United States Senator and Cabinet officer; founder of the Civil Service.
Francis Lieber, politician, encyclopedist, college professor, who first codified the laws of war for the United States government.
Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the typesetting machine.
Charles P. Steinmetz, one of the world’s greatest electricians.
=Poison Gas.=--That the Germans were not the first to use poison gas in warfare, that the practice originated with the English, and that the French used gases in the world war before the Germans, was well known to thousands in a position to inform others, but no denial of this falsehood has ever been made. The first recorded use of poison gas in modern times was in connection with the bombardment of Colenso by the English during the Boer War. The fact is testified to by General von der Golz in a book describing the English military operations against the Boers, which he witnessed as German military attache, and is verified in a number of accounts of the war against the South African republics. The guns used against Colenso to discharge the gas and kill the defenders by asphyxiation were brought from the British dreadnought, “Terrible.” It was a typical English invention. At first there was no thought of using gas in land warfare. It was designed to be discharged by a shell which should penetrate the armor-plate of an enemy vessel. A poisoned gas-shell exploding inside of another vessel was expected to kill everybody under deck. When it was found impossible to effect the surrender of Colenso, the guns were used there for the first time in field operations, as stated. These facts are further corroborated by Mr. George A. Schreiner, Associated Press correspondent during the recent war, author of “The Iron Ration,” and a participant in the defense of Colenso, who to this day is feeling the effect of the gas.