STRATEGY 



5585 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON 



THE CLOCK 



by a globe which shows the phases of the moon. 

 Every noon twelve apostles come forth and 

 pass in procession before a figure of Christ, 

 which tops the 

 clock, while a 

 cock crows at 

 stated intervals. 

 About this time 

 each day a crowd 

 is always seen 

 near the cathe- 

 dral, for the peo- 

 ple never tire of 

 listening to the 

 crowing cock or 

 of watching the 

 procession of the 

 apostles. The 

 mechanism of this 

 clock was con- 

 structed in 1839- 

 1842; the device 

 replaced another 

 equally famous 

 clock made in 

 the sixteenth cen- 

 tury. There was 

 still another and earlier clock, which was set up 

 in 1352. R.D.M. 



STRATEGY, strat' e ji, the art or science of 

 so leading an army that it may go into battle 

 under the most favorable conditions. The word 

 is derived from the Greek strategos, meaning 

 literally, the art of the leader or general. 

 Strategy may be exercised in defensive or of- 

 fensive operations, but strategy, if defensive, 

 can only avoid defeat, while offensive actions, 

 although open to defeat, have victory as a 

 definite possibility and incentive. Strategy can 

 perhaps be somewhat simply defined as the 

 art of properly employing an army as a whole; 

 while tactics is the science that directs the 

 movements of the subdivisions of the army. 



Time is of the utmost importance in modern 

 warfare, and the nation that has most care- 

 fully prepared for war beforehand will have 

 achieved practical strategic results by being 

 able to strike the first blow, the moral effect 

 of which is always great. The first blow hav- 

 ing been delivered, it is perhaps invariably a 

 mistake to alter a previously-arranged plan of 

 campaign until such alteration is literally com- 

 pelled by the action of the enemy. The homely 

 saying, "It's ill to change horses while crossing 

 a stream," aptly illustrates the undesirability 

 of alteration of plans. 

 350 



In modern warfare in which each belliger- 

 ent will try decisively to beat the opponent 

 as quickly as possible, strategy will be most 

 strongly exerted towards achieving a combina- 

 tion which will enable an overwhelming blow 

 to be struck at the enemy's strongest point. 

 One of the axioms of strategy is that an army 

 can never be too strong to deliver a decisive 

 blow, while it may readily find itself too weak 

 to do so. Positions referred to as of strategic 

 value possess that value to the holder only in 

 that by holding them he is enabled to do or 

 prevent the enemy from doing what he may 

 seek to do. The seizing of important points and 

 recognition of their full value, Xitilizing every 

 possible advantage to the utmost, and taking 

 from the enemy such advantages are the chief 

 points of strategy. See TACTICS. F. ST.A. 



Consult Altham's The Principles of War; 

 Aston's Sea, Land and Air Strategy. 



STRAT 'FORD, a city in Ontario, the county 

 town of Perth County. It lies on the Avon 

 River, and is a divisional point on the Grand 

 Trunk Railway, which maintains repair shops 

 there. By rail Stratford is eighty-eight miles 

 west of Toronto and eighty-one miles east of 

 Sarnia. Shoes, woolens and chemicals are made 

 here. The city has the county buildings, a col- 

 legiate institute and a provincial normal school. 

 Population in 1911, 12,946; in 1916, estimated, 

 15,000. 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON, a town in England 

 visited by tourists from all over the world. As 

 the birthplace of England's greatest poet 

 William Shakespeare Stratford commands an 

 interest out of all proportion to its size and 

 'importance. It is situated in the lovely valley 

 of the River Avon, eight miles southwest of 

 Warwick. The greater portion of the town lies 

 on the west bank of the river, and the place 

 is typically English, with pleasant streets, shade 

 trees and old-fashioned houses. 



The house in which the poet was born (see 

 illustration in the article SHAKESPEARE) is pre- 

 served as a memorial and is open to visitors. 

 Another interesting spot is the chancel of Holy 

 Trinity Church, containing the graves of Shake- 

 speare and his wife, Anne Hathaway. On the 

 slab above the poet's grave the pilgrim may 

 still read the curious rhymed epitaph begin- 

 ning- 

 Good frend, for Jesus sake forbeare 

 To digg the dust encloased heare. 



A drawing of this epitaph is shown in the ar- 

 ticle SHAKESPEARE. The Shakespeare Memo- 

 rial, built on the river bank above the church, 



