The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-09-21

For Nine Days Have Camped IN
Water.
ARE MAKING HISTORY FAST
Worlds Greatest Artillery Ens
gagement in Progress.
Experience of Russo..Japanese
War Valuable 1T Aisne.

Paris. Sept. 21.-There is little change
In the situation in tho great battle Of
the Aisne. according to the latest offi-
cial announcements. The extreme left
Of the allied forces continue to bear the
brunt Of the fighting and ono time SAT-
urday or Sunday. the official reports do
not bring out the time clearly. the Ger
mans, in a furious counter attack.
gained some ground which, however.
was speedily regained.
Elsewhere along the big battle front
the successes Of one side have
been counterbalanced by forward
movements of the other, but military
experts here claim the allies have bet
tered their position SO far as 1t Affects
the continuation OF the struggle since
they have reached and entrenched
themselves on high ground.
The best opinion here, however, in
clines to the beli~f that the frontal at
tacks of forces, bot apparently Of
equal strength. will continue for some
time yet without result unless some
thing unforeseen happens.
The havoc wrought in the famous ca
thedral of Rheims by the German guns
as told in official and other dispatches
from the front, is the subject Of bitter
comment here. 1t is said the French
government will lodge a protest with
all the powers regardin- the lombard
ment of the cathedral. which unofficial
dispatches say was sheltering several
hundred German wounded and flying .
Red Cross nag. ss.
| Copies of letters said to have been
found on German prisoners continue to
be made public. One. credited to q
IBrunswick noncommisS1oned officer
reads;
"Ouf life is not a gay one. For nine
days we have camped in water and we
| are living on beets and sugar. Bread 10
a luxury. The tension is frightful and
our losses are enormous. There is not
a single officer left in my company,
| which has been reduced from $50 to go
men,
Other letters Of a similar tenor are
given out and wonder is expressed at
how men living on raw vegetables have
still the courage to fight with such des-
ation especially under the most try
ing weather conditions.
Reviewed From London.
| London, Sept. 21.-One of the f1erc-
est battles of all times, which has been
raging across northern France for q
week past with first a slight advan-
tage on one side and then on the
other, remains undecided.
The great armies which have been
fighting for a month with few, If any,
fntermissions, have dug themselves
into entertainments on rivers and
| mountain ranges on a front reaching
from the Oise to the Meuse and thence
southeastward along the Franco-Ger-
man frontier.
An Artillery Battle.
| Artillery duek such as never have
been seen before are benig carried ON
with the hope of compelling the evac-
uation of the strongly held positions
with occasional successes to the op-
posing sides. while the infantry in the
| face of calling fire, have charged
! right up to the guns only to make
| their opponents give way slightly to
| be repulsed with great losses
The fighting has been fiercest on the
allies left, which lies on the right bank
OF the Disc river in the vicinity of
! Rheims, the famous cathedral of
| which has been set afire by German
shells. and between that town and the
Argonne ridge it has been give and
| take all the time.
The French official report however.
again claims slight progress on the
French left and that the allies have
again repulsed strong frontal attacka