The Washington times., 1914-09-14
BATTLEFIELD SHOWS
EXTENT OF VICTORY
Germans Abandon Wounded,
While Roads Are Uttered
With War Munitions.
Continued from First Page)

| tCOnunueO from First Page.D
The cavalry. infantry. artillery. and
| supply trains work cooIly, in close for
nation, without a hitch or trace of
| excitement. The traditional, excitable
| Latin temperament was nowhere in
| evidence, so far as / could see. The
| officers were coolly fraternizing with
their men. overseeing their food and
| keeping their ammunition replenished.
| This was in marked contrast with the
| brutal methods of the German officers.
| which have been reported from all
parts of the firing line.
Supply System Wonderful,
The French commissary is simply
wonderful. 1t is maintained very close
to the lighting line. Not a single mo-
ment is lost in moving food supplies
and ammunition, as needed. The driv
ers of supply trains smoked their cigar
cites, read newspapers and sang while
awaiting orders to move forward to
the front.
The French at scissors had gallantly
sacrificed the comforts and the bene-
fits of the Red Cross organization in or
der to avoid encumbering the field oper-
ations with ambulances and nurses.
They were kept far in the rear and the
wounded were taken back in such We
hicles as could be pressed into service.
The Germans all along the line of battle
have abandoned their wounded to the
merries of the French.
The French doctors who arrived at
the front from Paris expressed the
utmost surprise that there were no
across the battle field. or with melo-
dramatic orderlies, rushing here and
there from all points Of the compass.
Instead, everything was moved with
clockwork regularity. the field telegraph
and telephone system keeping the COM
msnding officer at all times in touch
with every section of the field. The
proverbially stolid British officers are
being outdone in GOODNESS by the French
commanders. whose confidence IN tn,
offensive possibilities OF the trencn
army is superb.
Defeat Not Hopeless.
Nv talks with the officers of tn.
French and British forces convinces
me that the Germans have sustained
crushing reverse. but that they are still
far from having been completely de-
feated. Regardless of the large num-
Der of prisoners and the enormous
into French and British hands. the Ger
mans are retiring in comparatively good
order. Their lines generally remain un-
broken. Their defeat. of course, VIII
neCessitate a reorganization OF the en-
tire German army. and many OF the Of
ficers with whom ! talked expressed the
belief that this will take place behlnd
the German frontier.
The German forces were obviously ex-
by their forced marches, which. |
;,, tl,a oxytr a G N
offensive movement. left the Germans so
exhausted that they had nothing in re-
serve when the allies assumed the Of !
fensive along the lines of battle pre-.
yiously selected by General Joffre and
Sir John French. The German army of |
defense is infinitely inferior 10 the Ger |
man army Of offense. Every officer with |
HON | talked agreed to this, and this |
fact is very likely to have most i'm
portant result on the ultimate outcome |
of the war. !
At Soisson's, after the Germans
a abandoned their position. I counted AS |
used shells about a disabled German |
gun. This shows the rapidity of the
German fire.
Road Uttered With Arms.
Between Meau and scissors I passed |
nine deserted burned motor trucks and |
their trailers loaded with ammunition
that had been exploded and abandoned. |
The roads were also Uttered with Ger |
man small arms and impedimenta |
which showed how precipitate had been |
the German retreat.
West of Chateau Thierry | saw many |
Paris motor buses. with farm wagons
attached as trallers, crossing tne ileld
up the French and German
dead. Peasants have been pressed into
service and are reverently burying the |
dead in long trenches Soldiers detailed |
for that purpose collect the metal iden- |
tification tags and their valuables. |
which will be returned to their friends |
in happier days to come.
The officers are buried in separate |
trenches. and all are marked with |
crosses. The stencil of the purifying |
corpses can be detected miles away |
from the battlefields.
OFFICERS and surgeons who have in |
spected the bodies OF the slain are sur |
prised to find that more than half have
been killed by artillery fire. indicating |
that the field guns have far outsIr!Dped |
the rifles as man-killers in this war. |
AS a matter of exact fact. the German |
rifle fire has been very poor The Ger
mans make no pretense of lifting their |
rifles TO their shoulders in the general |
battles but fire at will from under their |
arms and waste many OF Their bullets. |
They also fire so low that the majority !
of the French and British wounded are |
injured below the Alps.
The result of the battle of the Marine |
has erased from French memories the |
nightmare of 1870. Officers declare that
/, is now proved that the defeats or |
that campaign were due to the numeri-
cal superiority OF the Germans. and that |
Frances fighting spirit is still supreme.
Copyright 1914. by the United Press