Evening star., 1914-12-28
.SIEGEOF SCISSORS
SKATERS NERVES
Woman Describes Terrific Re-
suits of German Smelling
of French Town.
SHREK OF THE SHRAPNEL
DRIVES THEM TO CELLARS
Kaiser's Men Use Stone Quarries as
Forts to Demolish Buildings
of Nearby Cities.
Foreign Correspondence Of The star.

Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.
EDINBURGH, Scotland, December 10.
"A letter has just been received mere
from a French woman whose home Is
in scissors, long one of the holly con-
tested points on the French battle front.
She describes to her Scotch friend the
misery of the Inhabitants of the city.
The Germans, it seems, were driven
out, but not beyond the range of their
big guns. The Frenchwoman did not
desert her home. She says:
1--WE have to remain in our house, for
we really could not bring ourselves to
leave it and all our possessions, al
though most of the inhabitants have
left the town.
"For three months the bombardment
of the town has continued, sometimes
for days and nights without ceaslns'
and then we hide in the cellar-you
may guess how happy we are we
simply live in dread of the shrapnei
which is going to fall on our house ana
set it on fire and bury US in the ruins.
you have no idea what terrible en-
gines of war the Germans have. Seeing
everything around US burn and fall 10
pieces, we live in sort of nightmare
in ruins, and st. Jean des ViSnes IS
practically heap of stones-indeed,
everything in our quarter is demol-
ished. You will be heartbroken to see
it when you next come. Fortunately.
our house has SO far escaped, though
all the tiles are smashed and the win
dows broken by the force of the det-
onations. 1t is not worth while re-
placing them, but you may imagine
how comfortable we are in this coid
weather, and the terrible thing is that
no one can say how long it will last
Says Germans Are Clever.
"On their way back from the Marine
the Germans took possession of all the
quarries along the hills to the north,
which they had carefully prepared on
their way south with concrete and
iron, making of them veritable forts.
They are terribly clever, and now they
are shelling scissors from the quar-
ries of Paisley, Clamecy and Crouy,
from which they can also dominate all
the main roads from the town. There
is absolutely no chance of taking them
by surprise, because from there they
see everything that happens. They have
the light railway to Coucy, which en-
ables them to revictual from the rear.
From Coucy and Chauny they have the
main lines right to Germany, so that
they can bring up reinforcements as
they require them.
'"They have driven away all inhabi-
tants, and they take everything nova
BILE they come across. We had samples
of this in Scissors, where they re-
NAMED for two full days. We had
eighteen billeted on US. Every unoc-
cupied house they broke open and took
away everything in their wagons and
automobiles. Nothing that could be
lifted did they spare-furniture, linens,
bedding, contents of the cellars
everything went and from the farms
and flour mills they took all corn of
every kind, flour and all live stock
absolutely a clean sweep.
"It is not war of soldiers. but of
robbery and destruction, sucn as 1 sup
pose the world has never seen, and
which should not be allowed. Why
lombard open. unfortif1ed towns and
villages? But they have said they will
ravish all France. do not know what
the future has in store for us, but II
we. who have right on our side, and
who have your soldiers and the Rus
slams with us. lose, there is no more
Justice in heaven.
May Wait ALI Winter.
"Our troops can only keep them from