Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1914-09-16
WHERE FIGHT RACED
Southern AlSace Is Battle Torn
and Devastated.
Correspondent Describes Disastrous
Effects of What Military Authori-
ties Call insignificant Encoun-
teri Between Guards


London.-The Standards CORE
spondent at Basel gives the following
description OF what he has observed
In southern Alsace. where the French
and Germans have been fighting Wig
orously:
Il have just returned from an in
spection OF the scene OF the recent
nghting between the French and Ger
man armies in the southern districts OF
Alsace. The dispatches from Paris and
Berlin all describe the engagements
that have taken place between the
French frontier and Muelhausen as in.
significant encounters between ad-
vance guards
If this be true in a military sense,
and the preliminaries OF war produce
the terrible results that | have Just
witnessed, then the disastrous effects
of the entire war itself will exceed
the possibilities of human compre-
hension.
Trip OF Five on BIcycles.
Il started out equipped with iden-
uncatiop papers as Swiss citizen and
was accompanied by four other Swiss.
all OF us mounted on bicycles. At the
onset OF our expedition the sight OF
the peasants, men and women, work
ing unconcernedly in the fields, gather.
Ing the harvest. struck me as unnat-
urally strange. The men were we'll
advanced in life, and everywhere we
saw women, from girls to aged and in
firm grandmothers, working side by
a pl
boys.
The first sign OF the war that
caught our attention was the demol-
ished home OF a Roman Catholic priest
in village near Ransbach.
This priest had lived there for
many years and was engaged in liter
airy pursuits and religious work. On
the outbreak OF the war the German
authorities jumped to the conclusion
that the old priest was a French Sc
cret agent and that he had been send
ing regularly to Belfort information
concerning the German military move
ments and the preparation for defend
ing Alsace against a French invasion.
They said he had often used carrier
pigeons as a means OF communication
in this work
Shot Down as a Spy.
The Alsatian residents declared
these accusations were unjust. but last
week the military party raided the
priests house, dragged him from his
study. stood him up against his own
garden wall, and shot him down sum
marily as traitor and spy.
Then the whole house was searched
from top TO bottom and numerous
books and papers removed from 1t,
whereupon the building was set afire
end destroyed with dynamite. The
priest himself was buried, comnless,
at the end OF his cherished little gar
Den plot, whore some OF his grievlng
psrishioners have since placed a
rough wooden cross 70 mark his
mound
"On our next stop, at little village.
we were told that 1t had been SUCCESS
iveiy occupied by the French and the
Germans and had been the scene OF
much stif infantry fighting Every
day in the broiling sun, We were told.
the opposing forces fought for ten
or twelve hours
Search for Dead In Corn.
"A little farther we came TO where
q number OF German soldiers we're
beating about the standing crops IN
fields on both sides OF the main road.
They we're searching for their dead
and wounded, and told US that a mum
Der Of their injured comrades had
crawled in among the high corn to
escape being trodden down by the
troops that we're marching along the
road and to gain some shelter from
the pitlless sun
"On the outskirts Of another large
village we we're shown garden
bounded by a thick hedge, behind
which a company Of French infantry
had taken a stand against the advanc-
ing German troops Among the
crushed and trodden flowers were stiu
lying many fragments Of French equip
meut, such "a two French soldiers
caps, stained with blood three torn
French tunics. likewise dyed red. The
walls OF a cottage bore the marks OF
rife bullets and it's roof had been
partly burned.
Signs Of Wars Effects.
Passing through other villages. re
saw on all sides terrible signs OF
the devastation Of war; houses burned
down. the uncut corn trodden down
and rendered useless. gardens tram.
pied under foot. anc everywhere dis
tFess
AT a small village. locally known