New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-20
FOLLOWS GERMANS
In GREAT RETREAT.
French Officer Describes
Scenes Along Line OF
Fierce Fight.
SOLDIERS IN RUSH
SALUTE THEIR DEAD
Thirty Are Buried in Cottage
Garden, with the Flowers
Replaced Above Them.

Replaced RDONc iHSh'
Paris. Oct. THE following letter
has been received here from french
officer who fought in the battle OF the
Marine. It gives vivid picture OF inc
beautiful champagne country as the
Germans left il.
In the early morning, says tho letter.
we entered the region which has SUI
fered so much through war ana the
German invasion. In the twilight the
road suddenly takes new aspect; the
train slows down. All along the en-
bankments yellow papers which had
wrapped cartridges are strewn, deep
holes appear bordered with freshly
turned up earth, shells have fallen here
and left their scar. The trampiea
fields are Uttered with straw taken
from the pulled down haystacks. Inc
blackened walls OF burnt farmhouses
and villages stand mournfully silent,
desolate witnesses of destruction. Deaa
horses and sheep lie along the road
Their CLASSY eyes follow us question:
ingly. How could they understand the
meaning of it all when man talls 70
grasp 1t?
From now on we are in the region OF
Somesous and Vitry-le-Francols, where
dav after day the battle has been
fercely raging. The solitude and ST.
lence are impressive. Our eyes are ar
rested by little flag waving in the air
in the middle of a field quite close to
the ground. II adorns the first grave
French soldiers are there who died Tor
the country for us all. We salute 1t.
Our hearts are filled with emotion, re-
spect and gratitude.
Buried in Flower Garden.
Where a station was standing two
weeks ago the train stops near heap OF
ruins. The fight was intense here. Long
limbs have been torn from the trees
by the shells. Everything in sight IS
broken. The trampled ground shows
here and there large darker spots.
These mark the large anonymous
trenches in which the Germans are
buried The graves OF our dead are all
indicated by a flag, a little cross or
few flowers, deposited there by the
pious hands Of comrades.
In a little garden a wooden cross
bears the names of thirty soldiers re-
posing there. The flowers have been
planted back in their place and bloom
contentedly. They have not the sad
look of cemetery flowers, but seem
rather to tell US there is no sadness,
only glory, in death when it is the
price of liberty and the preservation
of ones country and Of civilization.
Indeed, we needed this message to
react against the sadness crawling over
US, the anguish at sight Of the i'm
mense suffering wrought by the wick
edness and ambition Of men. Yes, they
died to take back our own soil, invaded
and defled by the enemy Of our race.
The thought gives new meaning TO
the dreadful vision.
Goat the Sole Inhabitant.
Our train is switched on to the right
track by soldier of the military en-
cheering corps, this admirable body,
who in such short time re-establish
communications, rebuild bridges and
repair telegraph wires so that we can
advance with security on the very steps
Of the enemy's armies.
On a side track stand the frames of
a car burnt by the retreating enemy.
Further on the road is blocked by the
guns and wagons they abandoned when
their retreat became fight. A few
small houses of the gatekeepers are
still standing, and the gatekeepers
are there with their children and their
flowers.
Near little village almost entirely
destroyed by guntire, we free lonely
goat forgotten in her stable. She was
the sole inhabitant, except tame rab-
bit sitting gTavely in the garden.
We have already met a few peasants
coming back "home," sad little cara
vans settling down to camp by the
crumblng walls. More graves! But
how large are those of the Germans
beside those of the French; here our
terrible "seventy-fye" has been at
work.
Red Trousers Bring Joy.
We arrive at Chalons-sur-M arne.
The town had been occupied few days
by the Germans. II has suffered from
pillage and bombardment, but its mon