South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-09-12

The prisoners are generally in a bad
/ way, being without food and water.
They say that their ammunition Is so
| scarce that their officers warned them
against firing wildly during the re
treat The order for the retiring Ger
man troops now is:
Make every shot tell"
Germans Position Reversed.
The position Of the Germans is Just
| the reverse Of what it was a week
| ago. Then the kaiser's IegiOns were
rolling southwark with the allies re-
| firing before the advance. 1t looked
as though Paris would be invested at
once or that the Germans would get
between the city and the allied army.
The end Of the present week finds
the magnificent German army falling
backward although it is making a
brilliant struggle against the enemy.
Lieut. Perraix, an officer Of a
french regiment which engaged the
Germans along the Marine valley, and
| who was brought into Paris wounded
declared that the Germans suffered
appalling losses from the French ar
tlllery while trying TO get across the
Marine
I'VE pushed them back to the river
but they could go no further because
all the bridges had been blown UP"
declared the officer. They had TO
stop until pontoon bridges could be
quilt. All this time, our artillery was
pouring terrible fire into the Ger
man ranks. As soon as they would
get bridge under way a battery
would concentrate its fire against the
structure and it would be destroyed.
Villages Shattered.
Scenes along the Marine at points
traversed by the German army at
test to the grimness and terror of
I war. Villages are shattered and
burned. L passed through Lagny and
1t was scene of desolation. Around
Crecy-En-Brie the fighting was very
severe and the British troops PLAYED
! the leading role in that vicinity.
When Field Marshal French sent
his English soldiers after the retiring
| Germans the purSuers were kept at
top speed. The Britishers showed
deep traces of exhaustion when they
reached Lagny. l saw soldiers throw
themselves into dust at the side of the
highway and sink at once into sleep.
The clatter Of artillery caissons and
| the rumble of cannon failed to arouse
! them.
1T was during the time of the pas
sage OF the German army near Lagny
that the British artillery did its best
work. The fields around that desc
In spite of the labors Of the peas
ants, who are burying the cOrpses so
that they can work their farm land.
No Time to Bury Dead.
me retiring Germans did not have
time to bury their dead. The bodies
Of men and the carcasses of horses
were left where they fell.
Il have been told by wounded Ger
mans that the men are getting dis
pirited. The deadly fire which they
must face, the long forced marches.
the scarcity of food and the continual
sight OF death has worn their nerves.
1t is a grewsome sight to see the
trenches filled with dead and funeral
pyres rising at night. but when an
army Is IN retreat constantly harassed
by the enemy, such sights strike
doubly deep.
THE fighting at Erreno was at
tended by a tragic instance A num-
Der of fish ponds surrounded by trees
lie about this place. The Germans.
not knowing Of the presence of this
water, fell back upon them and were
driven into the water. A Scotch
regiment was in pursuit AS the Ger
mans struggled through the water the
Scotch leaped in after them and the
fighting went on although the water
was three or four feet deep. Soon it
was crimson with blood and il was not
long until it was chOked with human
bodies"
Sees No AuStPians.
Corp. Levassier, another wounded
French officer, told me that he had
seen no evidence Of Austrians in the
German army.
"I have not yet met anyone who
saw Austrian reinfOrcements with the
Germans" said the officer. Corp.
Devassier was in action for four DAYS
along the hattie linz h. <a1T
with bullet through his shoulder.
THE allies are now in a mastery
position and should have no trouble
in rolling the German army back
across the border" said he.
The Germans are worn out and
even if they did make a stand and
fight out, an engagement 20 a def
tie conclusion, I don't believe they
could win"
Many Bloody Encounters.
Sanguinary incidents were plentiful
during the past week. Near Lagny
a detachment OF 80 Germans had sur
rendered and thrown down their rifles.
Just as they were being rounded up
the German line surged forward. The
captives, believing that they had an
opportunity TO escape, ran for their
rifles. A machine gun was turned
upon the group and ali fell.
The bridge at Lagny. a beautiful
piece or architecture, was blown up
by the British 10 halt the Germans.
The people Of the town have 20 use a
makeshift ferry.
At numerous points along the
Marine valley where there has been
fighting the confidence OF the people
is returning and many who had fed
are going back 10 their homes.
The Jaeger regiment OF the Prus-
sian guard. a crack corps Of nearly
5000 men. is reported TO have been
annihilated in the fighting on Wednes-
day The Prussian guard was pressed
into the head OF the lighting and they
the enemy.