The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-18

1 his pocket from an English friend whici
 he could not quite make out. The sam'
 was written in queer tumble of Frencf l and English which the two of us piecet l out to his satisfaction.
 l I found this man the most interest I ing of all the soldiers I saw that day
 He to16 me that he was an Algerian of French parentage. He was q very handsome blond with steel-grey eyes land face bronzed by the sun. I asked
 him if he had lost many friends in the lfighting.
 Yes he said, there are only four 1 of Us who remain of our company. The l German mitrailleuses (quick flrers) are 1 terrible. They have killed a great many
 Of our men. Certainly we will win in the end, but it is costing us dearly
 Have you seen many English sol diers7" I asked him, for l had seen very few that dayA
 "Ihey are holding the line in front of this village now. I think they are the best soldiers of the lot, for they l have had more experience. They are l lifetime soldiers. while with us 1t IS a matter of only two or three years. l They fight with great calmness, but they have lost heavily in this cam | paign.''
 How about these Arabs?" "They are entirely too intrepid. They alv avs want to charge the trenches and nse the bayonet. Their officers can l not restrain them. The German nit raiileuses kill them like flies" How did the Germans ever get sc close to Paris as Neaux?" I asked knowing that a French soldier always has plausible explanation for every catastrophe.
 1 "Ahl that was General -" he said, giving the name of French com mander, who. if innocent. is certainly the most maligned man in France. "He sold out. But General Joffre attended to him. General Joffre said to him I 'Cochonl you have betrayed your coun- 1 try and he handed him a revolver" And he killed himself?"
 ''Yes. he killed himself"
 See Effects of Shells Shortly afterward I went into the house before which the sentry was standing. In the room at the left a number of soldiers were sleeping. not even having gone through the formal l ity of removing their boots and caps 1 On the right four or five men were | playing cards. One of the men in the hall took up me up to the second floor to snow the effect of shell which had struck the roof What remained was a mass of splintered furniture and crunpled masonry. There was a hole in the floor through which a good part of the debris had fallen into the room behind that in which the soldiers were playing cards "It isn't very gay here. was the comment my guide had to make on the wreckage.
 '1s this town fired on often?"I in- qured.
 No; not so very often for the Bosches are always bombarding Sois- sons, but occasionally they turn their guns over here.'
 Story of Eyewitness had by this time gotten rather used to the roar of the contending batteries. The strange part about it was that the intensity of their firing never varied. Some days after my expedition I hap peneJ to find an account in an Eng lish newspaper of the bombarding as witnessed from the other side of the battle line at the same time. I am ap- pending it here:
 With the Germans-Dutchman's &C., count of the battle round Soissops.
 Amsterdam, Tuesday.-Frans Van Erlevoordt (Carl Corvey), editor of 'Het Leven,' who on Saturday returned from the center of France. was present at the hattie near Soissons. A description of his travels has been published in the 'Algemeen Handelsblad'
 ''I had, he says. a special passport SLdfHpcu Dy Ine 1cTIndA autn9rlIteS saying, that l could travel through Germany and through Belgium and France as far as those latter countries were occupied by the Germans. M
 'The German artillery he'd orders to delay the marching up of the English till they were sufficiently weakened to allow the German infantry at Soissons a suc- cessful sortie. All infantry troops behind Soissons were marching round the town to join the infantry from Soissons in their attack on the front and flank of the com bined French and English troops.
 'The artillery duel witnessed this eve ming (Thursday, September ID has been fearful. The bombardment of Liege was nothing compared to this continual thun- dering of the guns. Twenty and more sent out their shrapnel at the same time