Austria is fully developed. Galicia is to be the
battleground between the two countries. Russia will enter the province
without trouble, as there is nothing to hinder her. Then she will make
a dash to secure the important strategic railroad which runs parallel
with the Galician frontier, and seek to drive the Austrians over the
Carpathians.

"That Galicia will witness the first fighting is generally admitted, as
also that the possession of the strategic railroad, running as it does
just at the rear of the Austrian positions, would be the most vital
question. It may be interesting to say that military men of whatever
nationality look upon an early war as a certain thing. They are not
content to say they believe war is coming; they are absolutely positive
of it, and each little officer has his own personal way of conclusively
proving that this sort of peace cannot go on any longer.

"Meanwhile there are lots of straws floating about this week, which
indicate that international winds are still blowing toward war. From
Russian Poland there is reported an interruption in all kinds of
business, owing to the war scare. Manufacturers refuse to accept orders
from private persons, and financial institutions have still further
weakened business by reducing their credit to a minimum. A letter from
St. Petersburg tells of the tremendous enthusiasm of the troops at the
review by the Czar on last Saturday, of the wild cheering for his
imperial Majesty, of the loud and strident whistles audible above the
roar of the cannon with which the officers command their men, and of the
general blending of barbaric fierceness and courage with modern
discipline and fighting improvements.

"In Vienna the troops are hard at work practising with the Numannlicher
repeating rifle, with which all have been provided. The Sunday
observance act, usually rigorously enforced, has been suspended, that
the government orders for military supplies may be completed two weeks
earlier than contracted for.

"The business of the Hotchkiss gun-making concern is shown to have
increased one hundred per cent with the war scare, and the eagerness to
secure the stock, which now stands at thirty per cent premium, shows a
conviction among monied men. The capital has been subscribed fifteen
times over."

The persistent prediction of peace was speedily fulfilled. March 12 my
statement was sent to the press, and March 22 Bismarck said to Prince
Rudolph of Austria that