Evening star., 1914-10-25

pointer made the slight correction nee
essary. the mortar again sent its Shell
purring through the air against the
village. which this time. it was learned.
broke into flames, and while the men
went back to their MONDAY rest the
lieutenant explained the fine points OF
his beloved guns. One man. as had been
seen. could manipulate the elevation
,, gear with one hand easily and quickly
ten of his horses could take the NOR
tar. weighing eight tons, anywhere; it
could f1re up to 500 shots per day. He
was proud of the skillfuf concealment
of his guns, which had been firing for
four days from the same position with
out being discovered. although French
aviators had located all the sister bat
teries, all of which had suffered loss
from shrapnel fire.
Graves With Rude Crosses.
Along the roadside through the Cote
Lorraine were here and there graves,
with rude crosses and peeled insorip-
tions. At the western edge OF the for
est the battle panorama of the Meuse
valley suddenly opened out, the hills
falling away again steeply to the level
valley bed. The towns below. st.
Mihiel and Bannoncour, seemed abso-
lutely deserted, not a person being
visible. even around the large barracks
in the latter town.
'" Hie the httie parry OF omcerS ana
spectators. including the correspondent.
We're watching the artillery duel on
the far horizon or endeavoripg to pick
out the infantry positions. a shrapnel
suddenly burst directly before; them,
high in the air. There. was a.Reneral
stir. the assumption being that the
French had taken the group on the
hillside for a battery staff picking out
positions for the guns, but as other
shots were fired it WAS. seen that the
shrnpnel were exploding regularly
above the barracks. a mile and half
away. the French evidently suspect
ing the presence of German troops
there.
Battery a Fair Target.
A ten mile ride southwark led to the
position of the Austrian twelve-inch
battery. The two guns this time were
planted by the side of the road,
screened only in front by; a. little wood,
but exposed to view from both sides.
the rear and above. For this greater
exposure the battery had paid corre-
spondingly. several Of its men having
be en- Killed or wounded by hostile fire.
Here, as in the German batteries. the
war work went on with a machinelike
regularity and absence of spectacular
features more characteristic of roll
ing mill than a battle factor. The men
at the guns went through their work
with the deftness and absence of con-
fusion of high-class mechanics The
heavy shells were rolled to the guns.
hoisted by chain winch to the breech
opening and discharged in uninterest-
ing succession, a short pause coming
after each shot until the telephone
report from the observation stand was
received.
The b tferv had been firing all day at
Fort Lionville. range 9.400 meters, and
the battery commander was then Ell
deavoring to put out of action the only
gun turret which still answered the fire.
The task OF finding this comparatively
minute target. forty or fifty feet in
diameter at a range of six miles. was
being followed with a minute accuracy
which promised eventual success.
The shells from these guns snarl of
on their course with a characteristic
minute long shrek. which seemed to
come from the shell itself screaming on
toward its destination. Watches were
pulled out to determine just how long
the flight could be heard, and the un-
initiated were preparing to hear the
sound of the explosion itself. The bat
terry chief explained, however, that this
snarl was due to the condition immedi-
ately around the muzzle of the gun. and
could not be heard from other points: He
invited close watch of the atmosphere
a hundred yards. before the gun at the