New-York tribune., 1914-09-25
Passes Save McCutcheon
ct al, but Get Them No
transportation.
FOLLOW GERMAN
TROOPS ON FOOT
Kaiser's Soldiers, They lind,
Keep Pushing On--Thcir
Mobility Surprising.
BY JOHN T. MCuTCHEON.

Copyright 1914 by !. T. McCutcheon.l
AiX-la-Chapelle, Sept. 0. The little
village of Fayt Lc Senate was jammed
with the baggage train Of the German
army when we left il on the after
noon of August a. Somewhere ahead
n great battle was raging At regular
intervals came the deep sounds Of
heavy firing.
I How far in advance it was we could
not determine, for the Germans were
/ said TO be steadily driving the Allies
back and the line Of battle was moving
| onward. We hoped by hard walking
/ to reach point later in the day where
we might see some of the fighting.
Two hours before we had entered the
town, dusty, tired band of six Ameri-
can newspaper men, o. foot, for no
vehicles were obtainablc. We had been
escorted by soldiers to an officer, who
was 10 decide whether we should be ar
! rested, sent back or allowed to proceed
with the army.
J He had honored our passes, issued
/ by General Won Jarotsky in Brussels,
| and We had obtained permission to go
| ahead. Also he and his officers had
/ c-tcrtained US at luncheon, and some
Of them had suggested route which
I void lead US to certain fighting.
Our spirits were high. From sus-
; poets we had become guests in less
/ than an hour. As the great column
. began to move, our friends, the Off
/ ccrs, waved to US from their horses,
| sang out "Auf wedersehen," and one
of them even suggested that perhaps
we might get lift in Jne of the motor
cars.
Blundered Into the Army.
Things were certainly rosy. We
were with the German army, probably
the only correspondents, and when we
tried to find a reason for our good luck
we had to ascrbe it to the fact that
we had bundered into it. Our passes,
apparently designed for use in Bru5-
sells, were potent here and the officers
in authority had approved them.
Like many occasions during the
cventful days that have so recently
passed, our spirits we're soon to be
dampcnCd.
A soldier in an army touring car
lightly loaded, asked some Of US 20
ride. Cobb and Dosch eagerly Sprang
upon the running boards and SEW ahead
Of them an afternoon Of pleasant cam
paigning.
Z Suddenly there was shout from an
under officer in the car following. He
was shouting angrily. His medium Of
speech was German, which neither
Cobb nor Dosch understood. When
they looked back they saw the officer,
his face cril on with fury, leap out
Of the car and rush forward.
, Cobb tried to explain that he had
! been asked to ride. but the eXplans-
! tion, which, Of course, was not under
stood, served only to infuriate the Of
Gccr still further. He drew his re-
volver and rushed forward.
Cobb and Dosch hastily stepped off
the car. I'm an effort to preserve his
dignity and make his retreat as or
derby as possible. Cobb began an ad-
dress Of explanation to the under Off
Ger. BY this time the latter had ad-
, vanced in wild rush to a point where
. his battery was almost in Cobb's ribs,
and the explanatory address was affect
ing him very much as a rcd rag affects
a bull.
Interpreter Badly Needed.
"Thcy were invited to ride on the
car" some one shouted in order to
stay an impending atrOcity.
Tell it to him in German vel led
Cobb. "Hc can't understand English"
The under officer, the angriest look-
ing man have ever seen. was Quaking
with passion.
/ "Es ist verboten." he screamed,
meaning the right Of any unauthorized
person to get i'm military car There
/ being no answer to this, he slowly and
E reluctantly returned TO his car.
A heavy cloud cuvelOped our party.
The elatiOn VIC had felt when officers
/ gaylv hailed Us few minutes before
had disappeared before the overwhelm.
ing fact that members of our party
| had been subjected to the humiliation
! Of being chased by a soldier with a
/ drawn revolver. It was some time be-
! fore our spirits rose again.
All afternoon We marched along on
! foot. Two of the party, unused to
walking, were suffering from blstered
/ feet.
The train was long and clouds of
dust marked its progress through the
country roads. Big automobiles, loaded
,.'.r ,ificcrs, whirled past the train Of
,r,,E- and wagons with shrill screams
ID. the siren horns: troops Of lancers.
mounted on splendid horses, guarded
the front and rear, and scores of bicycle
Guards patrolled the sides of the ad-
vancing river OF vehicles.
Our massage forward seemed secure.
Rv nightfall, VIC might expect TO be up
with the advance. Hopes were high
and mounting higher when something
/ happened.
Ordered to Turn Bacl
We were turning down the road into
Bascoup when an officer in an automo-
biTo hailed us and asked who and what
, we were. .,
we arc American newspaper men, =
We answered.
81 am sorry" he responded, politely.
( "but YOU cannot go any further. You
must go back
1--WE have passes" We assured him,
and began to draw out our passes from
General Won JarOtsky.
ut is impossible for you to continue.
We do not allow any newspaper men
with the army. You must so back I'M
mediately."
There seemed to be no hope for Us.
His words carried conviction. They
were final. But, without hope of sue
cess. We extended our passes.
The officer looked at them, whistlcd
low and gave q gesture Of despair.
Every WE'LL he said, you may con-
tinuc.'
Our spirits arose like rockets. We
felt that those passes from Jarotsky
would take US anywhere. There was
music in our hearts as We turned the
next corner, where, to our amazement,
we saw an automobile surrounded by
armed men. In the automobile were
/ C. the French corresp spondent of an
American newspaper; his companion,
a Belgian photographer from Brus-
sells, and n negro chauffeur.
They had driven out from Brussels
and had been arrested. Also, we knew