Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1914-10-29
DIVA CALLED A SPY
Miss Jennie Dufau Tells Of Her
Thrilling Experience.
Was Placed Against Wall to Be Shot
After Living In Cellar During
Saulxures Battle.

New York.-On the steamship
Tomaso di Savoia there arrived Miss
Jennie Dufau, grand opera star, daugh-
ter Of Alfred Dufau, linen merchant
of Saulxures, Alsace, on the way to
Chicago after one of the most thrilling
experiences told by refugee from the
war zones.
Miss Dufau, who makes her home in
Chicago, described her experiences at
Saulxures, telling how she and her sis
ter and father were accused OF being
spies and how she went out on the
battlefield and gave succor to the
wounded in battle whose dead, she
had heard. numbered 100000.
August 6 the German artillery occu.
pied the heights on one side of the val
ley overlooking the town Miss Dufau
was visiting. August ~ the Germans
occupied the town itself.
At that time there were only two
French regiments near Saulxures-
the One Hundred and Ninth regiment
of foot and the Twelfth cavalry. The
French, however, opened fire on the
Germans, and Miss Dufau, with her ia
Their and sister, at once retreated to
the cellar in an effort to escape flying
shells.
THE French re-enforcements," she
said, were exceedingly slow in arriv-
ing, but they finally came and occupied
the heights on the French side OF the
valley Then began tremendous ar
tillery duel that lasted for days. All
this time we were living in the cellar,
where we were caring for ten wounded
French officers.
81 often went out over the battlefield
when the fire slackened and did what
I could for the wounded.
Il received many mementoes from
dying French soldiers and recorded
their dying words. | saw dead sol
diers holding crucifiXes In their hand
and even in their teeth-for some
them had an arm shot off and appar.
emily had drawn their cruciflxes from
their pockets, placed the crosses be-
tween their lips and then reverently
removed their caps.
I'VE improvised stretchers from
gunny sacks stretched between poles
and carried away as many of the
wounded as we could to shelter.
MY brothers. Paul and Daniel were
drafted into the German army, or
course they had sworn an oath not to
fire a shot at Frenchman and their
greatest hope was that they would be
captured and permitted to put on the
French uniform. You know the French
soldiers IN battle often say:
They are firing in the air, they
must be Alsatians.'
Between August IL and "a the artil-
lery duel ragged, and finally the oppos-
ing armies came to hand-to-hand
fight with the bayonet First 1t was
the Germans who occupied the town.
then the French. The Germans final
ly came to our house and accused my
sister my father and myself of being
spies because they found telephone
there The soldiers lined us up against
the wall to shoot US, but we fell on
our knees and begged them to spare
the life OF our father. They gave no
heed till German colonel came along
and after questioning US ordered that
we be set free.
Soon after this the Germans were
driven out, and then began a terrific
battle. in which 1t was said not less
than 100000 were killed The Ger
mans seemed to be advancing, and
after some trouble we managed to
procure an ox-cart and get to Switzer-
land
II never will forget the scenes Of
that battlefield, with its wounded and
dying under heaps Of soldiers already
dead"