The Washington times., 1914-12-04
Men Stricken With Asiatic
Cholera Lie on Straw in Sun
shine While Priest Goes
Among Them Administering
Absolution.
Bv WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD.

PRZEMYSL. Austria, Oct. 2e.-(By
Mall to New York Passed by Censor.)-
Napoleon never fought like the Aus
TRANS and Russians are fighting on this
huge battle line. He didn't have the
telephone, and of guns that would
carry six miles he knew nothing. But
for 200 miles to the left or VS. this after
noon and for 200 miles to the right. this
came sort of battle is going on.
Here and there, along the front today,
the Russian infantry and the Austrian
Infantry will come into clashes as one
or the other tries to reach battery OF
the enemy that seems to have been
weakened, and then you'll have the sort
of battle that Napoleon knew about and
fought-only "battlet' in this TWEEN
tleth century.
There Is a man sitting 150 miles away
behind us who knows every moment
CT the time just what is going on along
the whole vast line, just as the bat
terry commandant with whom we were
talking here knows all that Is going on
at the edge of his six-gun fan. AS
look at our own battery here and think
Of how little these know Of what they
, are doing, my mind goes back to a
week ago when l sat In the office of
this man who knows everything, Count
Won Hoetzendorf, and, as / talked with
him. tried to put myself In his place
and failed. Out here on the firing line
l can understand more fully than
could when i talked with him what ire
Llendous duties rest on his shoulders,
ana behind Won Hoetzendorf is the
Archduke Frederick. who says, do
| this" or do that" Hundreds of thou
sands OF men are obeying orders at this
moment just as these men at the bat
| terry are. not knowing results. but
| blindly confident in their faith in the
archduke commander and Won Hoetzen-
dorf.
Getting Range By Phone.
Ills p. m--But to get back to ouI
shooting. The man in the hole begins
to talk through the telephone again.
He yells out new numbers. Somewhere
hidden out there among the hills several
miles away, is an Austrian officer who
can see where the first shell struck
Evidently the range was not what he
wanted and he is phoning from his
| hiding place new range and direction
| Gun No. 2 is shifted and retilted. With
| in minute its shell goes along It's
| shrleking way. We wait for more phone
| orders. They come Immediately. The
| range was perfect Somewhere those
| shells are doing deadly work There
must be more OF them. With a giant
burning of explosions. shrieks and
swishes six shells go on their ways
And then the next order tells US to turr
the guns in quite another direction and
elevation. There is evidently other
| work to be done in other places among
| the hills but we don't know what il Ia
| All these men do is Toad. shoot &" Toad
| shoot" listen to the shrieking shells and
| wonder what has happened.
| lbs %. m.-On the other side Of the
road. half a mile away. is a second
battery. We go over there. On the
way we find two boys digging a hole
in the field.
There are two men dead in that
house OF cholera" they say. and this
\ is their grave" They have a woodeT
cross. made roughly OF two sticks or
the ground beside the hole. These two
| boys seem centuries old; they do moi
| smile or even appear interested as
photograph them. as boys might have
| done.
2:O5 p. m.-The second battery is work
| ing like the first. They are the same
size Howitzers. Early this morning, be
fore daylight, a Russian shrapne