Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1914-09-10

FRENCH REsERvIsT SAYING GooDBY.
British soldiers were extraordinary be
ings.
"They went into battle smoking their
pipes" he said.
! The GOODNESS and nerve Of the British
soldier on the firing line are the subject
of cable message to the Central News
OF London:
1.-THE British troops went to their po-
sitions silently but happily. There was
no singing because it was forbidden,
but as the men deployed to the trench
es there were sallies of humor In the
dialects of the various English. Irish
and Scotch counties. The cockney was
there with quips about Uncle Bill
and every Irishman who went into the
firing line wished he had money to buy
little Irish horse so that he might
take a slap at the uhlans.'
'As for the cavalry, the officers de-
clare, their charges against the Ger
mans were superb. They charged as
berserks might have done. They gave
the uhlans the surprise Of their lives"
Heroes of Gumbinnen.
The St Petersburg Novoe Vremya
publishes an account Of what it terms
the memorable charge of the Russian
horse guards at Gumbinnen in the re-
cent fighting, in which the Russians
were victorious. 1t says:
1.-The Germans held a position in a
en- oil I'll. Al.
pouring a murderous fire on the Rus
sian troops. Cavalry was ordered to
silence the guns The first squadron
rode straight at the battery, which, fir
ing point blank, moved down the Rus
sian ranks, frightfully annihilating the
squadron. The second squadron fol-
lowed fast and would have shared
the same fate except that at the crit
zeal moment a third squadron rushed
on to the enemy from the flank, sa-
bered the gunners and routed the
whole German force"
Carnage at Altkirch.
A private, Jean Martin. invaded
home, tells lie Matin how the French
took Altkirch. in Lower Alsace. He
says:
after whole days of maneuvering
we came near Altkirch. commanded by
a ridge of the Vosges. We advanced
our regiment, being in the center, and
our artillery was blazing away.
when we reached the top we saw
at our feet n slope covered with cult
waited fields. At the foot of the decliv-
ity were station and town. What a
descent that was in skirmishing order
among the potatoes and beetsl What
music accompanied us! Bullets whis-
ting from all sides! Grand Dieuxl
What whistling that wasl
1--WE continued to advance under a
hail Of bullets. Then charge sounded.
The whole brigade dashed forward
with bayonets fixed. The enemy aban-
doned their positions and retired. That
evening we slept at Altkirch, my com
pany being in the cemetery"
Dramatic Farewells.
Something of the pity of wars part
ings of families was brought home to |
New York with the sailing of the
French Line steamship France for
Havre with 200 French and Swiss re-
servists and handful Of French army |
officers on their way to the front from |
South America. The pier echoed with |
the Wild abandon Of Latin enthusiasm |
and grief. Women chung to the necks |
of husbands and brothers leaving for
the homeland to fight against the Ger.
mans. Children stood clinging at their
knees. staring dazedly about, while IN.
Their and mother alternately caught
them up, pressing them to their
breasts. Elsewhere young men. unmar.
ried. with silk French, Belgian and
Swiss flags, rushed about the pier.
cheering for the allied armies.
Near the gangway handsome young |,
French reserve officer was supporting
his wife In his'arms-
II don't ask you to stay" she cried
In English. "but-oh. oh. Jean, come
back 10 mef'
He kissed her with set face, saying
nothing, and when the insistent bugles !
summoned all passengers ashore he re-