Las Vegas optic., 1914-11-20
LOSS IOF LIFE is
TERRIBLE in
! EUROPE
VETERANS SAY THE DEATHS IN
BATTLE BREAK ALL FOR
MER RECORDS

Paris, Nov, 2O.-The Aftenblatt Of
Stockholm publishes a letter from a
German officer to friend in Sweden
giving the following impressions Of an
engagement near Chalons. during the
battle Of the Marne.
In the neighborhood of Chalons |
took, part in the most terrible battle
that have ever seen; / was, however,
at Liege, at Namur and at Longwy--
Since it was impossible for our
artillery to silence the French batter
les, we deciced to charge, thinking the
French and English would fly before
the German bayonet; the experience
proved that our ideas on that subject
swere. entirely erroneous,
fsTwo of cur regiments were ordered
to take the allies position by storm.
The French, however, we're ready to re-
ceiye us and there ensued such but
cherry as never was seen in this or any
other war. Al detachment of French
concealed among lsthe trees threw
themselves on Nsro They were mostly
tureos and zouaves, strong devils
against whom tits impossible to fight.
A zouaye, with a gun, bayonet fixed is
the most internal thing that can be
described.
Savage cries OF pain and OF anger
resonndea fhrough the wood a. great
many men fell there and saturated
1.-THE ground with blood. Soon the
/ French artillery came into action and
its proiectiles completed the work of
the bayonet Our men beat retreat
at full speed across the wood now in
lflan6es. Those who had escaped the
bayonet fell under the rain of bullets
and lay burning in the thickets. Only
&c men Of my regiment returned. OF
the other only II came back, and Of
the II survivors, all we're more or less
grievously wounded.
q followed the campaign in Mar
& ehuria, but think in the course o.
the five first days Of the battle Of the
Marne more victims fell than were
counted in the battles Of Mukden an(
of Liao-Yang.9
Another evidence Of the murderou'
character Of the fighting in this battle
is furnished by a French soldiers let
I ter published. by the Depeche de Tou
louise. We have been fighting fol
three weeks to the east of Verdun II
the region Of the Tournon, Genicourt
and Saint Mediel forests" he wrote
1--WE advance, but very slowly because
the "boches" (Germans) are strongly
entrenched. For ten days we occupied
trenches only 400 yards from theirs
and they did III that was humanity
possible to break through. They
charged as many as ten times dag
and at night they tried to approach By
creeping along the ground. But al
their assaults were repelled with greai
slaughter; 5000 German bodies wert
left in front of our trenches.
After every repulse each Of ouI
Imep grabbed two Or thfes, mauserl
with ammunition from the bodies 0
the dead and stood theW alongside il
trenches, and whengthe enemy cams
back he was. rcceivei by fire from hi
own weapons 4
'oTo guard against qurprise at nigh
We took all the empty beef cans, tie
them to cord and piled them 50 tina
when the Germans came creeping te
ward our lines and the cord was touch
ed, they made enough noise to civ
the alarm. one night when the can
ratified, we replied with immedat
I volleys and there was no more distu
bance that night. In the morning W
counted flve hundred dead German
Z lying on the ground within a hundre
yards Of the trenches.