East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-12-01
WITH THE AUSTRIANARMY
CONTINUED from page -


9:35 a. m.-The road dips into a
valley. on both sides stretch an i'm
mense camp Of tents and covered wa
gons. The smoke from thousands OF
fires hangs over It all. Mud, men,
flags. smoke, horses, wagons piles OF
bread. harness, rifles. form a weird
and indescribable picture that covers
hundreds Of acres in the valley. This
Is reserve camp.
9:45 a. m.-We make q trip on foot
through the camp.
Hello, there, you Amerlcan!" hear
a man calling from a covered "prairie
schooner" He shows me a letter he
has just written. It is addressed,
Helen o. Reese. 1900 Calvert street.
Baltimore"
Your wife?" / asked.
mo. but I wish she would be-" he
replied. He Is Lieutenant Carl Hoff-
man Of the eleventh army corps. He
is a big. handsome fellow, who has
lived in America. .
$3.50 a. ma spherical balloon. a
dlrigible balloon and two aeroplanes
are soaring or darting above the hills.
10 a. ma soldier is leaning
against a wall at the gateway Of a
convent. but the convent Is only a
heap OF broken brick and stone. The
Austrian soldiers have razed II be-
cause It obstructed the view from the
forts. The soldier has only the ruin
10 guard. and he evidently considers
his task a bore.
1920 a. m.-We cross a narrow
guage railroad track then over
ploughed fields. II Is an artillery
railroad. The cars are very small but
horses pull them more rapidly than
wagons. There is a string OF cars
across the horizon. They are feeding
the artillery in the hills two miles
away. with shrapnel shells.
The railroad to Sanck runs through
this farm and when we pass the de-
pot OF Herman Owick we see wounded
and sick men lying all about the plat
fors. They are waiting for trains
which will carry them back to the
base hospitals.
10:30 a. m.-The sound Of firing is
incessant and huge in volume. The
Austrian batteries fire one gun at a
time. The Russians are firing salyos.
zone, two. three. four. five. six"
go the Austrian howltzers.
"B-r-r-r-" go the Russian pieces
all firing at one time.
Before us are hills covered with
miles Of territory: from hilltop to
hilltop and from valley to valley the
battle is raging.
How can a man paint a battle
Ike this?" asks Adams. who has Just
a picture OF the emperor OF
Austria Hungary in seven sittings,
and who usually isn't stalled on i'm.
portant assignments.
1885 a. m.-Many wounded have
passed in wagons. "I'll never paint
war pictures again OF men going into
battle singing and waving their
swords" said Adams. "That man
with the green. twisted face on that
wagon. suffering from cholera, is a
more tremendous picture OF war than
all the exploding cannon can paint"
In the midst OF all the life and ac.
.ivity the man was dying before our
eyes. There was n" one TO care for
lim.
His wagon was held in the endless
stream and must continue.
10:45 a. m.-Three small deer ran
lcross the road ahead OF us. There
ire thousands of soldiers hereabouts.
Ill with rifles, and good meat is not
any too common. but the laws against
coaching are imbued in the peasantry
,f Europe, and these deer on the bat
lefield are probably the safest of all
living things. Battles have ragged on
his ground for weeks and thousands
" men and horses have been killed.
he hungry Russians have once held
his ground, but here are the three
'aby deer, safe and sound.
IL n. m.-We come to a wide. shall
ow creek. In tents on a hillock be-
ide the road is the corps commander
nd his staff. A net work of field
wires. the nerves of the ar
ny. stretch out from the hillock and
un off among the tree tops in the
istant hills.
Two small temporary bridges across
he stream. This is an infinitely busy
pot over these two bridges pass all
he men, food and ammunition that
eed the battle in the hills. This lit
Ie creek is the River OF Death for
thousands. A regiment of fresh SOL
iers, spick and span. is just marching
cross. At the same time. across the
ther bridge wounded and sick men
re being brought from the battle
Ield. The contrast defies descrip-
lon. Days ago in some city these
resh faced men marched through the
treets. singing in their war enthu-
lasm. Their journey to this bridge on
he edge of the battlefield has been
'ng and slow. But It's almost ended