The citizen., 1914-11-06

slopes with successive rows Of
trenches, permitting line above line OF
infantry to fire against an advancing
enemy. For days desperate struggle
was waged for the possession of the
heights, which was imperative for the
German campaign against the line OF
fortresses.
The correspondent had no opportun-
ty to inspect at close range the 161s
inch guns, the GROWERS" OF Liege, Ma
mur, and other fortresses, which
Krupp and the German army uncoy-
cred as the surprise of this war.
Sees Battery in Action.
Their smaller sisters were less COY.
A dismounted battery of the inter
mediate caliber, details of which are
not for publication, was encountered
by the roadside awaiting repairs to the
heavy traction engine in whose train
it travels in sections along the coun-
try roads, while the German S1s-inch
(21 centimeter) and the Austrian L..
inch t3O.5 centimeter) batteries were
seen in action.
The heavy German battery lay snug
ly hid in wood on the rolling heights
of the Cote Lorraine. Better off than
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 it required some search and
doubling back and forth before Ian
guild cannoneer, lounging by the road
side, pointed with thumb over shoul,
der toward the hidden guns.
These and the artillerymen were esr
joing their midday rest, pause which,
sets in every day with the regularity
of the luncheon hour in factory The
guns. two in this particular position.
stood beneath screen OF thickly
branching trees. the muzzles pointing
toward round openings in this leafy
roof
Fires Two Exhibition Skots.
1t was the noon pause, but the lieu
tenant in charge of the guns, anxious
to show them of to advantage, volun-
teered to telephone the battery com
mander, in his observation post four
miles nearer the enemy, for permis-
sion to fire a shot or two against a
village in which French troops were
gathering for the attack. This bat
terry just had finished with Les Pa
roches, French barrier fort across
the Meuse, and was not deYoting its
attention to such minor tasks.
Soon the orderly reported that the
battery commander authorized two
shots against the village in question.
At command the gun crew sprang to
their posts about the mortar. which
was already adjusted for its target, a
little less than six miles away, the gun
muzzle pointing skyward at an angle
of about sixty degrees. AS the gun
was fired the projectile could be seen
and followed in its course for several
hundred feet.
Before the report died away the
crew were busy as bees about the gun.
One man with the hand elevating gear
rapidly cranked the barrels down to
level, position ready for loading. A
second threw open the breech and ex-
tracted the brass cartridge case, care
fully wiping it out before depositing
it among the empties; four more
seized the heavy shell and lifted it to
cradle opposite the breech. a seventh
rammed it home: number eight gin
gerly inserted the brass cartridge, half
filled with a vaselinelike explosive.
the breech was closed, and the gun
pointer rapidly cranked the gun again
into position. In less than thirty sec.
onds the men sprang back from the
gun, again loaded and aimed.
Second Shot Fires Village.
a short wait and the observer from
his post near the village ordered next
shot, 90 meters nearer" The gun point.
er made the slight correction neces-
sary, the mortar again sent its shell
purring through the air against the
village. which this time, it was learned,
broke into flames, and while the men
went back to their MONDAY rest the
lieutenant explained the fine points
OF his beloved guns.
One man, as has been seen, could
manipulate the elevation gear with
one hand easily and quickly; ten OF
his horses could take the mortar.
weighing eight tons, anywhere; il
could fire up to 500 shots per day. He
was proud of the skillful concealment
Of his guns. which had been firing for
four days from the same position with
out being discovered; although French
aviators had located all the sister bat
teries, all of which had suffered loss
from shrapnel fire.
Along the roadside through the Cote
Lorraine were here and there graves
with rude crosses and penciled in
scriptions. At the western edge of the
forest the battle panorama of the
Meuse valley suddenly opened out, the