The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-25

million miles away.
 Beyond Gorge, however, ;he road lead ing southwest through Chambley St. | Benoit Vigneuilles to St. Mihef was
 crowded with long columns of ammuni- ton wagons and automobile trucks. l Strikingly good marching discipline was l observed, part of the road being always left Tree for the passage of staff automo- piles or marching troops. Life seemed most comfortable for tha drivers and escorts as the army in advance had been long enough in position and its railroad l base was so near that supplying it in volved none of the sleepless nights and days and almost superhuman exertons
 falling to the lot of the train In the flying
 march of the German armies towards Paris.
 A few miles beyond Gorge the French l frontier was passed and from this point on the countryside with its deserted I farms. rotting shocks of wheat and un- cut fields of grain, trampled. down by infantry and scared with trenches ex-
 cavations for batteries and pits caused by | exploding shells showed wars devastating
 heel prints
 General Comfortable
 1 Main army headquarters, the residence
 and working quarters of a commanding 1 general whose name may not be men | toned were in Chateau Chambley, fine 1 French country house. Here the com l, ,mandins general made war as comfortable as in his own home Telegraph wires
 led to it from various directions. dozen l automobiles and motorcycles were at 1 hand and grooms were leading about the ] chargers of the general and his staff At l St. Benoit, five miles farther on, sub l ordinate headquarters was encountered. again in chateau. The continental sol dier leaves tents to the American army
 and quarters himself whenever possible comfortably in houses, wasting no energy in transporting and setting Up tented cities for officers and soldiers.
 | No matter how fast or how far Ger man army moves a completely equipped | telegraph office is ready for the army | commander five minutes after headquar- 1 ters have been established
 At St. Benoit atparty of some 300 French prisoners were encountered
 They were all fine young fellows. In striking contrast to the elderly re- servist type which predominates in the German prison camps. They were evi-
 dently elite troops of the line and
 were treated almost with deference by
 their guards. They were the survivors of the garrison of the Roman camp 1 fort who had put up such a desp.r- ate and spirited defense as to win the whole hearted admiration and respect 1 of German officers and men. Their armore turrets and cemented basIions constructed after the best rules of fertilization of a few years ago. and been battered about their ears In an unexpectedly short time by German and l Austrian siege artillery. Their guns | had been silenced and trenches were pushed up to within five yards of their works before they retreated to the easements Here they maintained a stout resistance and refused every summons to surrender Hand grenades were brought up, bound to backing of boards and exploded against the openings into the easements, filling | these with showers of steel. splnters. Pioneers. creeping up to the dead ansle
 of the easements where the defenders
 fire could not reach them. directed smoke tubes and stink pots against
 arertures into the citadel, filling the rooms with suffocating smoke and gases.
 Have you had enough?" they were asked after the first smoke treat'nent
 No. was the defiant answer.
 Recognize Bravery
 The treatment was repeated sec
 ond snd then third time. the response to tho demand for surrender growing weaker until finally the defenders no longer could raise their rifles and the | fort was taken. When the survivors
 were able to march out they found | their late opponents presenting arms l DG1CrC them III feCOSHlllOll Ol lucii RHl- lanr stand. They were granted the most
 honorable terms of surrender. their of ficers were allowed to retain their swords and on their march toward m
 honorable captivity they everywhere were greeted with expressions Of re- spcct and admiration.
 1 Experienced German officers rank the field kitchens with the sturdy legs | of the infantry, the German heavy artillery and the aviation corps as four of the most important factors in the showing made by the German armies. Beyond St. Benot and Cote Lorraine a l range of wooded hills running north and south along the east bank of the Mouse | rises in steeply terraced slopes several 1 hundred feet from the frontier plain in- 1 terposing a natural rampant between Ger many and the French lines of fortresses ! beyond the Mouse. The French had | fortified these slopes with successive rows of trenches, permitting line above line of infantry to fire against an advancing enemy. For days a desperate struggle 1 was waged for the possession of the heights, which were imperative for the German campaign against the line of fortresses.
 their losses in any particular action, but it was admitted and evident that 1t had cost high price to storm those slopes. vigneuilles, a village at the foot of the hillside, shot into ruins by artillery and with every standing bit of house wall scared with buffet marks from the hand to hand conflicts that had swayed to and fro in it's streets, was typical of all the little stone built towns serving as out posts to this natural fortress which had been the scene of embittered attacks and counter attacks before the German troops could fight their way up the hilsides.
 Combat Still Raging The combat is still raging on this day from north and south against the seg- ment of this range captured by the Ger mans The French, massing their troops by forest paths from verdun and Foul, throw them against the Germans in des- perate endeavors to break the lines which protect the sites for the German siege artillery.
 The correspondent inspected at close range the 16-inch guns, the "growiers" of Lfege. Namur and other fortresses. which krupp uncovered as the surprise of this war. They could be heard even from Metz, speaking at five-minute intervals. battery of them, dug into the ground 10 that only the gun muxsles protruded above the pits, was observed in action.
 The heavy German battery lay snugly hidden in wood on the rolling heights of Cote Lorraine Better off thar, the French, whose aviators had for four days repeatedly scrutinized every acre of land in the vicinity looking for these guns, we had fairly accurate directions how to find the battery. but even then 1t required some search and doubling back and forth before languid can nonier. lounging by the roadside, pointed with thumb over shoulder toward the hidden guns.