The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-09-25
|I|VID Description Of THE. Battlefield
IN THE WORLDS GREATEST WAR

u Os0 UUO
Invariably the longer knife bayonet
Of the British soldier prevailed, and
the enemy would be compelled 70 re-
treat In disorder. @
while the British were gaining a
series OF great successes, the French
were being defeated on our right.
They were unable to hold the Ger
mans and their rifle fire was almost
as bad 40 was that Of the Germans
and finally the British were ordered
to fall back in order that they might
not be enveloped by the Germans
and completely cut off. When the, or
ders came, the men were in almost
open rebellion. staIwart members Of
the Scotch and Irish regiments wept
At several points along the line, the
eritish actually jumped from their
trenches and charged the Germans
to emphasize the fact that the Brit
ish ought not to retreat. But finally
the officers went among the men and
explained to them il had been arr
rangsd before hand for the British to
fall back 90 that the Germans might
be iured into trap. This explanation
repeated hundreds Of times, finally
sufficed.
where the British have an ad-
vantage In their wonderful rifle fire,
something the Germans seem unable
to master, the German shell fire 10
tremendous. Il 10 hard TO describe.
There 10 = small hill with company
Of British soldiers entrsnched on Il.
A German aviator flies over their
heads. He signals the range. A num-
Der Of shells are dropped. They ex-
piode. The hill has disappeared and
In its place u great hole fiiied with
dead msn. Their trsnehss have been
their arayee. ..-s{ u. e-4s sss-- II
"ons notable thing abSIt this mod.
srn war 10 the large proportion Of
wounded over the dead. The modern
rifles are humane. have seen many
men, wounded In what have ordin-
ariiy been considered vital spots.
taken to hospitals and returned to
the firing line In week.
"After we had reached the line Of
the Marne we began to advance. And
we moved 20 fast the Germans were
unable TO cover their tracks. AZ a
result we were able TO get a line on
the terrible slaughter. The ground
was covered with dead, British,
French and Germans. There had not
been time to bury them. And In all
Of the houses that had escaped the
wreckine shell fire, we found hum
dreds Of wounded.
the stores Of German atroa,ties.
They took better care Of our wound
ed than they did Of their own. We
found British wounded on cots on
piles Of soft goods and their wounds
carefully bandaged and 6eaniy cared
for. Yet at the same places many
German wounded were forced to lie
on piles Of straw arranged for them
In the stables and out buildings. No
wounded were mutiIated, az has been
charged. The peasants admitted the
German commanders, while terribly
strict, were kindly. OF course, where
there was suspicion the peasants
were aiding the enemy, there was I'm
mediate execution without trial. But
you must remember this was war, not
peace, and many things must be ex-
pected In war.
"There has been much night fight
ing and strange az It may seem, the
aeroplanes have been Of almost 40
much. use At night as they have in the
day time. They are the eyes Of the
army. One night saw thirty-fve
aeroplanes In the air at the same
time. They carried eolored lights
and when they located masked bat.
terry they dropped the lights and our
guns had the range.
zone reason the Germans are ham,
pered at present 10 because they have
Their Zeppelin fleet is Intact. On the
march on Paris, which ended at the
Marne, the Germans were absolutely
able at all times to Keep track Of our
positions through their air men.
When one was killed there was al
ways another to take his place. But
they lost many Of their aeropIanes,
and are having trouble constructing
new ones.
without doubt. the aeropIane 10
the greatest single factor in this war.
general French, no matter how
hard he had to fight during the day,
always tried to spend little time In
A.. f>Id hoanj%al at niohf with the
wounded. He would stroll In, some
times accompanied by an aide. or an
orderly, but many times alone. He
would ask the wounded how they