Semi-weekly herald., 1914-10-15
BATTLE OF
WIRbALLfN
DESCRIBED
tBy KARL H. Won wIEGAND.)

paHen, RUSSIAN Poland, Oct S.-(Vi.
the Hague and London. AT sun.
down tonight after four days of con
stant fighting, the German. army holds
It's strategic and strongly entrenchee
position east of Wirballen. As | write
this in the glare of screened auto
mobile headlight several hundred
yards back from the German t,enches
can catch the occasional high notes
c. soldier chorus. For four days
the singers have lain cramped in those
muddy bitches, unable to move OF
stretch except under cover of dark
ness. And still they sing. They be-
lieve they are on the eve of a great
victory.
l reached the battlefield of Wir-
balien shortly before daylight. arm
ed with paper issued by the gen.
eral staff, and accompanied by three
officers, assigned to "chaperon" me
and furnish technical information.
We had Travelled three days by auto
mobile and were within three miles
OF the right wing of the German DO
sition when our machine broke down
and we went ahead on foot.
Today l saw wave of Russian
flesh and blood dash against wall
of German steel. The wall stood.
The wave broke-was shattered and
hurled back. Rivulets of blood trick
led back slowly in its wake. Broken
bloody bodies, wreckage of the wave.
strewed the breakers. Tonight know
why correspondents are not wanted
on any of the battle lines. Descrip-
tions and details of the battles fought
in the year of our Lord 1914 don't
make nice reading.
We struck the firing line at point
near the extreme right of the Ger
man position shortly before daylight
and Sfasted with the officers COM
mandN4 field battery.
Before the first crimsoning of the
east every man was astir. Fresh
supplies of ammunition brvusit up
during the night were being slowed
away in the caissons and cases.
Empty shells were being thrown back
out of the way An artilleryman with
a shovel went about throwing loose
soil over dark, slippery spots about
one of the guns. saw shovels SINH
larly engaged several times during
the day. AS daylight came l saw
that the guns were on the reverse
side of hill, with their muzzles ap-
parently pointing directly up the as
cending slope.
While / was still marveling at the
number of details requiring attention
in this highly specialized business of
man-killing, was yanked out by my
reverie by weird, tooth-edging,
spine-chilling, whistling screech over
head. The fact that the shell was
from five hundred to thousand feet
over me, and probably another couple
of thousand feet beyond before by ear
registered its flight didn't prevent
my ducking my head and giving my
officer chaperons the chance to laugh
that had resolved not to give them.
A good many shells had passed over
my head before | could overcome an
almost irresistible desire to hug the
ground. For half an hour the Ger
man battery paid no attention to the
shells passing overhead and out of
range. Finally a soldier with tele-
phone installed on an empty ammuni-
ton box began talking and copying
notes which the commander of the
battery scanned hastily. A word OF
command and a lieutenant galloped
along the line giving varying ranges
to the different battery commanders
The crews leaped to their positions
and the battery went into action. The
firing continued for perhaps fifteen
minutes, when there was halt, more
tele ephoning, new set of ranges fol
some Of the guns, and resumption
OF firing.
The position of the heavy German
battery was we'll chosen. The mask
was ideal, and in the four days fight
ing the Russians had not succeeded
in locating its position. 1t was only
a chance shell or shrapnel that broke
within the danger zone. But aside
from watching the German guns il
action there was nothing to see a
this point-not even the objective o.
the fire; so with my officer escort
we moved up to the crest OF the hi!
following the line of the field tele
phone to the point from which hal
dozen officers were watching the eff
feet and directing the German fire
Now 10th the German and Russian
shells were screeching and screamin,
overhead In a most uncomfortable o
undangerous fashion.
In the morning sunlight from tn
summit to the hill, got my first viey
Of the fighting that will go down i