Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, October 14, 1918, Page 5

_.... THE CASPER DAILY TRIBUNE _ MONDAY, OCT. 14, 1918 i Written by Who Parti a Copyright by Delroit Free Press) ~ GHAPTER*) » ; I am a German soldier. Naturally at the time when the war started we did not know that there would be such a war esis being waged’ today. Daily we soldiers were told that * France and Russia wanted to attack | us and that the kaiser was doing ev- | erything possible for our protection, | Alroady on, July 20 we were armed to | the teeth and prepared to march away. | During these preparations, which | showed us. all that war had to come, | 18 men of my company deserted. i The government published, during | ~ this time, bulletins almost hourly to | prepare the people for the war, a | subterfuge that succeeded» perfectly. | Consequently two days before war was | declared, the people-were overwhelin- | ingly for war, but they were certain | that it was only to be between Ger- | many and France. | Of the intervention of BPoigium, Russia, England and ftaly; the coun- | try had as little thought as it did of | any participation of the United States. All thought only of the promenade to Paris, which, to the disappointment of the people, and also, surely to the disappointment ‘of the gutocracy, has been longer drawn out than had been wished for. A In these days of uncertainty the | soldiers, contrary to the cruel treat- ment which they had experienced be- fore, were treated liberally with great quantities of. supplies, delicacies and beer, so that most of the soldiers.were so drunk continuously that they were |\ unable to, realize the seriousness of the situation, And yet the majority of thh sol- diers could not be enthused over the war, They cheered and were enthu- slastic because they knew it was the orders. On July 31, 1914, one day be- fore the declaration of war, we left, after being brought to war. strength, for our garrison at Mainz-am-Rheine, Where the enemy toward which we were to point our bayonets was we had not the slightest idea.. All we did know was that we had to be trans- ported somewhere to protect the bor- der, % 3 There were stirring times as we started out, Tens of thousands of people threw flowers. at us and all wanted to shake hands, All—even soldiers—cried! Many embraced their wives ‘or young brides. The bands played farewell songs and people laughed and cried all at the same time. Strangers embraced and kissed | each other, “A veritable witch’s holi- ‘day” of emotion was loosened and en- gulfed the populace like a stort. No one, not-even the strongest, could re- sist its powers. Yet even this was surpassed by the leaye-taking at the } depot, where last farewells had to be sald. This scene will never leave me! How desperately many women clung to their men! Many had to be forcibly removed, + But this was at last done and then we were placed in “¢attle cars, Night | came and we had nb lights. The train | went slowly toward the Rhine. ., It | went smoothly enough. Our company, which had had days of great excite- ment, weltomed 4he rest that the Jour- hey afforded, Most of the soldiers slept with their knapsacks as pillows. Others Jooked dreamily into the fu- ture. Still others®secretly pulled pic- tures from their breastpockets and only a very few killed time ‘by discussion and comment on. their possible desti- nation, | “Where are we going?” Yes, | where? No one knew. Then after endless hours, the train*stopped. We » were in Duren. What were we there tor? We did not know. officers only shrugged their shoulders at our questions. After a brief pause we went ahead. On the evening of August Lawe reached 4 farmyard near Duren, Our company was billeted in a barn. No one knew what we had to do. Tgnorant of the purpose of our being sent so near the Belgian border we laid down on our beds of straw. Something had to happen soon to rescug us from this-un- | certainty. Bs S | How few suspected that would be | the last night for many of us on Ger- | ‘man ground. An‘alarm took us from our beds at 8 a..m. The company gathered and the captain demonstrat- ed the war situation, As to’ the direc- tion of-the march he himself was ig- | norant. Scarcely half an hour later 50 big | trucks drove up and stopped on the | road before our quarters. The driv- | ers also Were ignorant and waited for | orders’ Discussion of.our destination | Started afresh. The orderlies who had been keeping their ears open siid | we would enfer Belgium that day. | Others ‘contradicted them, no ‘one knew for certainty. | But the order to march did not come and in the’evening we went back to | our straw. © But the rest was” Short. At Xa, m. we were’ agili roused and honored by a speech from our captath, He said’we were at war | with Belgium, He told us to, show. ourselves brave, deserve the iron cross 4nd bring honor to Germuny, Tlien he | continued ; > “We only make war against the | armed force, Igian army, Life * Prussian Office cipated in the Ravage: ing and Pillaging of Belgium, - aati jcally. | ly ‘ everything which might strength- and property of Civilians are protected under international law. Yet you sol- adiers must not forget to keep your lives for the fatherland or sell them as if Iu Sm © Honored: by a Speech From Our Cap- tain. dearly as possible. Unnecessary shed- ding of blood we will prohibit to the civilian population, Yet I ask you to consider that too much consideration borders on cowardice and that will be | punished very severely.” After this speech of our captain we were loaded on our autos and at 4 a, m. crossed the border into Belgium, In order to make this a historical oc- casion we were ordered to give three cheers. On the speedy autos we reached eur goal at 10 a. m. It wasa ! ; beautiful little rural yillage, Inhabli- tants of the villages we had passed looked at us in astonishment, so that we all got the impression that these country people never knew why we came to Belgium. They were fright- ened out oftheir sleep and looked out at us from their windows. ‘ As we halted and left our autos, the farmers came out and offered us. cof- fee, bread, meat, etc. We were still without a field kitchen, so that we en- | joyed the’ enemy’s offerings more so since those of the better class of vil- lagers refused any pay. They told us’ the Belgian soldiers had departed to some unknown destination, After a short rest we mayched on. The autos returned, Hardly had we ‘marched an hour when we were over- taken by cavalry, dragoons and hus- Sars, who reported that.the Germans were marching all over the neighbor hood on all'roads, Right behind came the bicycle corps. | ‘This was comforting. We no longer | felt alone, isolated in a strange coun- | gy. Another bicycle. division over- | took us and passed on. Angry words were now uttered by members of our company. .The others could ride but we ha@to walk. What we had always taken for granted suddenly became great injustice, If it did no good our grumbling at least was a diversion from the weight of our packs. The heat was oppressive. The sweat came from all pores, “The new @nd stiff leather trappings rabbed us sore, especially upon our hips, It was a re- lief at 2.p. m. to halt at an abandoned | farm and rest on the grass. We might have lain down about ten min- utes when suddenly we heard firing. We jumped up like lightning and hur- ried to our guns. The firing which | was about three kilometers away grew more lively, At once we were on the march again. From the ‘expressions on the faces of the soldiers we could read the minds of. the men, Something took posses- sion of them which they had never ex- perience@ before, As for myself I became very restless. Fright and curi- 1 osity lashed ‘my brain. Hverything whirled around in my head and my heart was beating wildly. But I strove to conceal my fright from my ’com- rates. I am sure that I tried energeti- | I don't know ‘that I succeeded | better than my companions, Although I. knew we would be in the fight in an hour, I tried to per- } suade. myself that our interference would. not benecessary, I clung tight- en ‘this hope. © f The bicyeles lying in the road Indi- cated that the bicyele division was in the fight*at this point.” How strong the enemy was we'did not‘ Know as'we raced ‘toward the firing line, * Bvery- body crouched’ down as low as possi- ble whilé jumping “to ‘the’ right and léft. Before and’ beliind us the bullets were fiying continuously, yet we renched ‘the firing Ine without losses, We-were greeted! joyously by our hard- pressed comriides, ' The’ bieyele regi- ment had not suffered any losses ex~ cept for a few slightly wounded-men who Were still able ‘to take'part in'the Laatinheiilibabiintiinin abe Picton ett 2g hatred toward | fallen» upon them and driven” them q fromthelr homes by night. “| ° __ || #ud ‘under the fortifications, Head and! Residences, cellars, streets and side | peeps BEEBEEE i E pressed my face and hands‘ close to the ground. I wanted’ to clutch my gun ‘and shoot blindly; Presently ' I calmed down. 'I suddenly became con- ‘Our'firing now)became more lively say duything to our comrades we had to shout so loudly:in their ears’that it hurt our throats, © © rf 4 ‘Under the efféect.of our fire the ene- my grew rei “the fire weakened and ‘his line waveréd. As only 500 meters separated us from’ them we could ‘observe exactly what happened there. We saw about half the'enemy Yetire in the following manner: Hvery other man quit the line, leaving his’ al- ternate in his place. Those remaining held on until the retiring party halted. ‘We’ used this ‘moment’ to’ infifct''the Most severé losses'on the retreating ‘enemy. “As far as we could’ scan the horizon to the’ right and left we saw the Germans advancing in several sec- tors. Also for our detachmients the order came to advance’ as the’ enemy, ‘The task of clinging to the heels of the retiring enemiy: so: tenaciously that no time: would be allowed to make fi Dew stand fell to us.’ We' followed the Belgians, ‘scarcely stopping’ ‘to breathe on the way, in order to’ pre- vent! their f themselves in a village situated just ahead) ‘We knew that a bloody house-to-house ‘fight lay before us, yet'the Belgians never at- tempted ‘to ‘establish themselves, but managed’ to escape: with astonishing cleverness. . ‘ Inthe meantime we received re-en- forcements. , Our’ company was now pretty well scrttered and fought with whatever unit was nearby. The body I joined had to remain‘in thé-village to search systematically’ for scattered soldiers.’ From this village° we saw that the Germans’ had gained‘ on all sides, ‘Field’ artilléry, ‘machine’ gun detachments’ and other equipment+ar- rived. and we ‘were! all astonished ‘at their coming'so quickly, * se But there was no time to be spent in‘ spetulation.. With’ fixed bayonets we ‘went from house to house, doot'to door; and while the results were négli- gible because we found no soldiers we did not ‘come out quite empty-handed. ‘We ‘made the inbabitants deliver all guns ‘and munitions ‘and so’ forth in their possession: ‘The mayor, accom- panying the soldlérs, “explained to every citizen that all found with arms after the search would be* punished ‘according to the rules of war and German rules: of war in Belgium meant execution.” ~ An hour might have passed when ‘we’ were again aroused by the sound of artillery and gunfire. A new battle had begun. Whether the artillery was busy on both sides could not be judged from our ‘village, ‘The bombardment Was tremendous. .Th¢e ground shook from the growling and moaning that rolled’ backward and forward, always seeming to become stronger. ~~ The ..ambulance” columns now brought in the first wounded. Cour- iers sped Dy us, War had set in in all its phases, Darkness came over us before we | had finished our house-to-house seareh. We dragged all the mattresses, straw sacks and feather beds that we could lay our hands on, to the community, school. and church to care for the wounded, They were made as com- fortable as possible. From other sur- | Founding villages now came the first fugitives. They may have been march- ing, for they looked tired and utterly exhausted, ~~~ > ‘Women, old men and children were huddled ‘together in one mass.. They had saved nothing except thelr bare lives, In’ baby buggies or on wheel- barrows ‘these ‘unfortunates carried whatever the rude’ force of war had left them, Jn contrast to the fugitives, whom we had met before, these were extremely jappearing to be in mortal terror oftheir ecemy. When- ever they looke@ ypon one of us Ger- man soldiers they cringed! tn. terror. How different these »were from the | inhabitants’ of. the village where we had first stopped, who had. met: us in. a. friendly, ‘even. polite-manner, We tried to learn.the cause of this fright and; discovered that the fugitives had witnessed in: their village bitter’ street fighting. | They had become acquainted with, war—had ‘seen their. houses burning, had seen their little property. | destroyed“ and could not” forget ‘the sight of their streets filled with corpses and wounded, was ‘ ‘It dawned upon us that not merely fear gave the8e people the appearance of: hunted ‘animals;) there »was' also invaders ‘who ‘had | ae ae eect -we-igartca ‘ana |' tried to reach our own regiment. The Belgians had concentrated: somewhere to the rear under cover of: darkness. We were quite near the neighborhood of the fortified city of Liege, Many settlements through which we passed stood in flames; the inhabitants driven out, passed us in droves,. Women, children and old gen were buffeted about and seemed to be everywhere in the way, Without aims or plans, with- out a place on which to lay their heads these poor people dragged themselves by. Again we reached a village, which to all appearances had been inhabited by. contented people. . Now indeed nothing but ruins could be seen. Wrecked houses and farms, dead sol- diers, German and Belgian, and among them mapy..civilians, who had been | shot by military order. } Toward midnight we reached thé German lines.» The’ Germans had , tried to take-a village which lay with- | in the fortified belt.of Liege and was defended tenaciously by the Belgians. Here all forces had to be used in or- ler to drive the enemy out, house by house and street by street. It was not very dark yet, so that we had to wit- ness with all of our senses the terrible fights which developed here, It was a | man-to-man fight. With the butts of our guns, knives, fists, teeth we went against the enemy. | One of my best friends fought with @ giant Belgian. The guns of both had fallen to the ground. They hammered one another with fists, I had just closed an account with a twenty-two- | year-old Belgian and was going to as- sist my friend because his antagonist ‘was of superior strength. My friend Succeetled suddenly in biting the Bel- glan on the chin so deeply that he tore a plece of flesh out with his teeth. The Belgian’s pain must’ have been terri- ble. He released my comrade and ran away with ‘an insane cry of pain, Everything developed by seconds. | The blood of the Belgian ran out of | my friend’s mouth; a terrible nausea /known to the world to have been com- |mitted in Belgium were only too true. Without first avenging the victims. and indescribable loathing seized him. The taste of warm human blood brought him almost to the verge of in- Sanity. In the course of this night battle I ¢amie in contact for the first tithe with the butt of a Belgian gun. During a*hand-to-hand fight with a Belgian, a second enemy soldier struck» me on the back of the head withthe butt of his gun so hard that | my helmet was forced down over my ears. The pain was fearful and I fainted. When I revived, I was lying in a | barn, with ‘my head bandaged, among ~ other wounded men. My wound was not severe, Tonly had a feeling as if my head was twice its normal size. The other ‘wounded soldiers and the atmbulante men said the Belgians had been forcéd back within the forts and that hard’ fighting was still in prog- ress. Wounded men were brought in con- tinuously and they told us that the Germans ‘had already stormed several forts and had taken a number of main and*auxiliary defenses, ‘but could not hold ‘them: because they had not been sufticlently supported by artillery. The defenses inside the forts and their gar- risons ‘were still intact. The situation was not-ripe for # storming attack, so the Germans had to retire with enor- mous losses. The reports we received were contradictory.” It was impossible to)get a clear picture. ‘In the mean- time the’ artillery bombardment had become ‘so° intense that it horrified , /without discrimination. .Systematical- walks “weré “heaped ‘with dead and wounded. The houses were in ruins— empty shells, in which hardly.anything remajned undamaged that was-of any real vdlue. Thousands became beg- gars in one terrible night..Women and children, soldiers and ¢itizens were ly- ing ‘where’ the pitiless shells and bul- lets had hurled. them from life. into death's dark, void, True impartiality reigned in thé killing. There was a Belgian woman lying next to a Belgian baby which she had borte from house to.street. Close by lay’a man of un- certain years before an empty house. Both his legs were burned to’ the knees, His. wife:Jay on his breast and sobbed 86 pitifally that her grief could not be endured.’ Most of the dead were entirely or partly burned. The cries 6f agony of ‘the animals fighting incineration were mixed with the groans dnd sobbing of the wounded. “But no one had time to bother with them. The French were making an- - other stand outside the city in an open field. As the enemy vacated the town the Germans made an error which cost them hundreds of ves. They-had oc- cupied the entire town so .quitkly that the German artillery which shelled a Part of the city did not ‘know of the change in the situation and threw shells Into the ranks of the infantry. Finally our soldiers were compelled to give up some of ‘their gains bf the (burlen. A general storming @ttack pressure of our own as well as the followed. Liege was in the hands of ,French fire, but regained this ground the Germans, who had paid, in dead afterwards. Strangely enough, the alone in this battle, 28,000 men. residence section previously mentioned | had not: suffered seriously. All the houses flew the Red Cross and were ss used as temporary. hospitals, I went to Aix-la-Chappelle to a hes- | Here it was reported that Belgians pital: I met many more wounded men ™utilated German: soldiers. Whether who had fought in Belgium. all were this were true, or only a rumor, similar of the opinion that the Belgian dead 0 others being constantly started by numbered as mnny Civilians as'sol- German soldiers, I cannot say, but I diers. Even If the Gertnan soldiers do know that on August 24, after the who fought in Belgium'do not admit French had retired, it was made Tech Asien Played the Searchlight on Them. CHAPTER If. |the cruelties committed against the known through an army order teat Belgians, it cannot be denied that at German soldiers had been murdered east 80 per cent of the’ ecruelties there, ant-}hat the German army could not leaye the scene of these outrages A young soldier who lay next to me It was ordered by the commander lin the hospital told me that his com- «of the army to level the remainder of pany, during a street’ fight in Liege, the city and to show no mercy. As we ‘was given orders ‘to kill everybody took a short rest frem our pursuit of the enemy and looked backward clouds ly, one house after another was set on Of smoke to the eastward showed that fire. The inhabifants either fell in the the order. had been executed. A re- flames or became the victims in the Maining battery of artillery had re- streets to the gun barrels‘of' the Ger- duced the city to ashes. man kultur-bearers. ‘The French had made a stand out- At the time I doubted the words of side the city und resisted to the ut- my neighbor, even though I had seen most, but they were cutmumbered. It |what German warfare meant, ‘After was simply impossible to resist the ‘a few days I was released from the pressure of the German war machine. ‘hospital and again restored to my de- When the German-columns, with fixed ‘tachment. Partly by auto, partly by bayonets, attacked to the accompani- ‘foot, I reached ‘my detachment by ten ment of their ~ blood-curdling yells \o’clock in the evening. Our transport which, like their steel, penetrated to moved this time over ‘Trier to Luxem- the bone, they resembled in-every re burg, ‘The little grand duchy of Lux- spect’American Indians going into ac- ‘emburg was overrun entirely by Ger- tion, flinging themselves. with blood- man soldiers. The Germans who had curdling yells upon their enemies. made their homes in ‘Luxemburg had After a three-hour fight many Freneh- everything taken away from them, es- wen gave themselves up as prisoners. peclally:the farmers, all food, without With: uplifted hands they soyght thought of payment, so that in Luxem- mercy. burg at thia time there was a shortage ‘At’ last, on the night of August 23 ef food. The people here as well as and 24, the enemy’s ranks were thrown in Belgium were very friendly, yet they into ‘confusiow and they retired slowly. harbored a! terrible bitterness against I was in the first detachment which the German: government, which had pursued them. To the right and, left loosed its troops like a band of rebbers of the road, in the field and ditches, and murderers over their peaceful’ were dead and wounded. country. * The«red ‘pantaloons of the French Belgtum: and Luxemburg, the two showed brightly on the ground. The first unhappy victims of the damnable _ field gray of the Germians could hardly German ‘politics and its drunkenness be discerned. ‘with power! The distance between us and the re- Cursed and Gnashed Their Teet,} ; ceed With my Comrades When @ h part wf my company threw themse itke men possessed onto the well. guards were completely overcome | greedy as animals, all the men dr They quenched their thirst, but | one became “ill. The priest, as learned later, was_ punished becz | the officers said, the water in e | village had been poisoned, andj | were told that only by a happy ch: | had the lives of our soldiers |) spared. The God of the Germans’ | kept true guard, it appeared, but God of the Belgians was not ther protect his. In most of the places we passec were warned not to use the wi This, of course, had the effect of + ing the soldiers hate the pcople £ whom they could expect only deat? this way the vicious Instincts of men were ‘aroused. y The water, of course, was now! |i poisoned. ‘These Mes were ~tolc || arouse hatred of the Belgiuns an}, our soldiers. i In the evening, at dusk, we reac} a village east of the Bertrix. - T) i we found poisoned ‘water also. In|; middle of the village we halted af could see through a front window house before which I stood. Ina erable home of a laborer we sa;}) woman, She clung to her childre |! if afraid they would be torn awayf her, Suddenly a stone as large ?} fist was thrown throifgh, the win|| fnto the room and @ little girt A wounded on the right hand. 1 In this village we were billeted barn. .With some comrades, I wer | the village to buy food. We obta| ham, bread and wine at a fai } but the people refused any payn/ because they considered us gu | They only asked that we should j hurt them. We paid them neve} less for everything, In German ma There, as’ everywhere else we w/ we found the population in me |} terror of us: The people trenv | whenever a German soldier ent j SS ee even the German soldiers. The heavi- nat’ the Luxemburg citizens detest- est artillery was“brought into action. eq Germany .an incident showed. me against the steel:‘and’ concrete’ de- which happened in the village of: Mar- fenses, No soldier so far knew anything of the existence of the 42centimeter mor- tars, Long after Liege was in Ger man hands these soldiers could) not! understand héw' it -was''possible that the defenses, which consisted of dou- ble six-meter walls of: steel and con- crete, were reduced after only a few hours’ bombardment. E myself could not take part in these operations, ‘being \wounded, but my comrades told me later how the cap- ture of the several forts came about. Artillery of all ‘caliber was trained on the forts, but it was the 21-centimeter treating French became greater. ur soldiers became happler over the out- come of the battle and seemed to for- moth. We were in a friendly conver- get their past hardships. ‘The corpses sation with a Luxemburg farmer. officers approached and Jistened. officer, a captain, asked the Luxem- burger, “What war, and of the quickness of Germany? Two which filled the roads and ditches were One forgotten amid the jokes and songs on every side. The men were already you think of the accustomed to the horrors of ‘war to such an extent that’ they unconcerned- There’ is only one» Germany, isn’t jy walked over the corpses, not even there?” “Yes,” replied the farmer. the Lord.” For those four words the farmer was atrested at/once and transported to Germany -as a court prisoner, I could never learn what became of him. The same evening we were trans- constdering {t necessury to make a “Thank light detour. At noon we nalted and were served with dinner from the field kitchens. We were surely hungry. enough and our canned soup was eaten with the utmost relish. Many soldiers set their dishes on the* bodies of dead horses self-supporting, but is making @ ¢/! Spencer, their home. To Be Continued) MAKES. MEY UT 19 GENTS A PL LONDON, Oct. 14.—The nati!|} restaurant here, which was estak |} ed to expose the profiteers, is not! PL, ~wofit, according to Alderman C its dirdetor. . Caterers harged that the enterprise was {/| mortars and the 42s which performed ported in automobiles and on the eye the real work. Ming of August 20, 1914, we reached From a ‘distance the 42-centimeter our detachment, which» was» about: 35 Projectiles were heard toatrive, tothe miles from the Belgian city of Neuve accompaniment ofa fearful hissipg Chateau, The regiment to which I be- that: sounded lke a long drawn-out longed did-not take part in any opera- sereeth which) filled the whole at- tlons after. the fall ef Liege, but was mosphere. Wherever it fell, every- ‘transported to this part. of Belgium. thing was destroyed) within a radius Now J learn for the first time how lying about and ate as gayly as if they were. at’home at their own tables. The few human corpses near our camp fafled to disturb ws, Only water wes | lacking, and after the dinner our thirst | beeame very’ acute; even torturous. } ‘We soon marched on, undér a burn- | ing mid-d-~ sun, the dust of the high- | way lying thick on our uniforms and | > supply good food at reason vrices only. because it had. gow) ment aid. . After deducting rent, manager | “harges and all other expenges, restaurant has been clearing aj $350 a week, or 7% per cent a | on its capital. i Meals sold for 13 cents yield a vrofit of about % cents. Comm} of ‘several hundred metérs. The'air heavy was the loss in my company in skin. Now, no more cheerfitlness WAS | ing on this the Manchester Gua pressure which the bursting of the pro- Jectile produced ‘was so terrible that it made breathing difficult for those of us who were holding the advanced po- sitions. - ‘To make this witches’ holiday com- plete, ‘the Zeppelins-appeared during jthe Bight to participate in the work of| It was about ten o'clock in the eve- ;Gestruction. The soldiers suddenly ning when we received orders to ad- jheerd above their heads the whirling vance. We were all ready to proceed of propellers and the noise of the mo- when another order came for us to re- |tora, . The Zeppelins came. nearer. main at our bivouac overnight. Dur- ‘They were hot discovered by the ene- ing the night we heard thundering of my until they: were elose to the forts, cannon which became more violent. j Which immediately ‘played all the ‘The battle of Neuve Chateau, which ‘{wearchlights at their disposal on them, 584 continued from August 22 to Au- hunting the firmament for the flying $uSst 24, 1914, had begun. foe. Lhe whitling! of the propellers At four o'clock on the morning of of the alrships stopped suddenly. In- August 22 we resumed our march. At jstead; high-tm the sir a brilliant light Neuve Chateau the French army had | appeared, the searchlight of the Zep- encountered the Fourth German ariby. Pelin, which, for-a moment: illuminat- First there was, as always, minor out- ed the entire landscape. post and patrol fighting. By ‘and by dead and wounded, This night we slept in an open field. At five o'clock the next morning we marched again until four o’clock ‘in the afternoon, when we were given a rest. few moments later powerful detona- and as. we took our part in ‘the battle tions revealed the fact that the Zep- on the evening of August 22, the fight Pelin had thrown off “ballast.” That had developed into one of the most went on'a long while. Explosion fol- sanguinary of the world war. \ lowed. explosion. These were followed When we arrived the French occu- ‘by-clouds of fire. In the air, exploding pléd almost three-quarters of the, town. shrapnel: which the Belgian artifiery The artillery had set the -malu part of fired at the airships conld be observed. Neuve Chateau -on fire and only, the |The whirling of.the propellers started beautiful residence section in the west- up again, directly above our heads. It ern part ofrthe city escaped at that became quieter and quieter, until the’ time. All night long the hobse-to- Powerful ships of the air disappeared house fighting continued, but when ot from our vicinity. noon of August 23 the city was in Ger “"Thus'the' forts were leveled. Thou- man hands the enormdus cost to the sands ‘of Belgiaws lny behind the walls Germans could finally be determined. the rege fighting. We lost 187'meén te | ‘Suddenly all became dark again. A larger masses of troops partitipated, | evident anywhere. Our thirst became more uubearible and we grew weaker from minute to minute, Many In our | ranks fell; unable to go further. Noth- | ing remained for our commander ex- | | cept to’ halt, as he did not wish to ex- | | haust us all. As a result of this halt we were left considerably in the rear | and lost our place among those pursu- | ing the French. About four o'clock we finally saw before us’a village. In the’certain ex- | Pectation of getting water there we | quickened our pace. Fugitives and | empty munition columns passed us. Among there Was a farm wagon | upon which were several civilian pris- » oners, apparently franc-tireurs. A | | Catholic priest: was among them. Hf, | like the others, had his hands tied be- | questions as to. what he had done, we | | were told that ‘he had incited the | | farmers’ to*polson the’ water tn the | | Soon we reached the village and atthe | first well at which we might have satis- k | fled our thirst ‘we found ‘a sentinel | warning that the water was poisoned. ‘Disappointed and terribly embit- tered, the soldiera cursed and guashed next well, but everywhere sentinels } forbade our taking refreshment. I Th an ‘open ‘space ta the center of } | } | } } hind him With a rope, To our eurtous | village, posted. He drove ts away with a ' their teeth. ‘They hurried on to the the villago was a big well from which } there came water clear as crystal that emptied into a big trough. Five sol- | diers ‘stood guard here to see that no } one drank, I was just about to pro- } observ: “It is thus beyond quey | that, even at war prices, excel! food in sufficient quantities car |} old at pri within the react | everyone, with a sound profit i over,” i The British Food Controller th | encouraged in his policy of ope, | ~stional restaurants in other citid } 4 1 | ae | “OME HUNTING 1 THE BIG GAME |) COUNTRY in your car, We will furnish you f camp outfit. : Saddle and pack horses. equipped at $1.50>per day + horse. Guides $6.00 per d t ' Write or Phone after 6 P.! GRANBY & NICOL GUIDES AND OUTFITTERS Dubois, Wyo. t } + { ' ON MER