Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-10-14
WRECKAGE.S7REWN BA7TLEF|HLDS
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INS~NS S-S ~ASAS~
ly on the table. 5t'
When1the meal was over the propri-
etor called us to witness what had
happened to the far wing Of the ho-
tel. 1t was demolished. 5H
ALERT" had Just been sounded and
the soldiers were running through the
Streets We al out in time to sec q
building fall half block away, com.
pletely filling the street by which We
entered the town an hour earlier.
In a few minutes we heard the sharp
crackle Of infantry about half a mile
away and had a sudden desire toHget
away before the automobile retreat
was cut of. Just then we heard the
sound of an aero engine overhead. It
was flying so low that through q
glass we could easily see the whir~
ring propeller. IA $~5 AZ
Germans Fire at Aviator.
The machine was mounted with q.
rapid-fre gun, which was trying to 10.
cate the German gunners, who Inn
mediately abandoned the destruction
OF the town in an attempt to bring it
down. /. "
For ten minutes we saw shells
bursting all about it. At times it was
lost in smoke, but when the smoke
cleared away there was the mono
plane still blazing away, always
mounting to q higher level and finally
E disappearing toward the French
lines. E3a
There was another lull in the IAN
nonade and we were permitted to:
pass down the street near a river.
where, BY peering around q building
we could seeSwhere the German bat
teries were 7secreted in the hills: We
weretwarned not to get into the street
which led to the bridge, as the Ger
mans raked that street with their
fire II a person appeared. We then:
took advantage OF q lull in the fir
ing and departed to the south al! 70.
miles an hour, to beat the shells II
any were aimed u way as We.
crossed the rise in the hill.
Shells Strike 100 Years Apart. !.
We passed the night at a village
where considerable execution had
been done by German shells. We saw
one curious effect of them. In .
historic building e the city hall
there was a she'll Embedded In the
wall with a plate fixed beneath it
showing 1t struck there in the year
1914. Just next to it was an unex-5
ploded shell Of 100 years after stick
ing in the wall.
I'd We again struck out toward the
battle line, but when we were with
in sound Of the firing the authorities
: decided we had seen enough of war
and detained rs for two days as
guests OF a regimental staff, which
was quartered in a courtyard. There
we were privileged to see how the
French soldiers lived and became such
hardened fighters as they were Prov
ing themselves to be. We ate with
them and slept with them in The straw
until orders came to send us to Paris.
AS we were leaving our coward the
authorities grabbed another group of
correspondents, four in number, head
eddy Richard Harding Davis. They
::sw ere ordered Itoss accompanysu US TO
Paris instead of passing several days
in the straw sampling bareback and
army fare. III
s Tells Of Horrors Of War.
London.-The Standard correspond
ent, F.. st. Beaman,. writing from q
town in France, says:
''The fearful horrors Of war: can
never be grasped by seeing the care
fully tended wounded who come back
to England and hearing their tales.
however gruesome, while there is
scarcely a day in any Of the French
towns. near the armies that does not
bring with 1t some live terror from
the front. One example Will suffice
to point out this truth. Four days
ago the hospital corps and volun-
teers were notified that q convoy was
expected. Towards midnight 1t ar
rived, bringing French and German
wounded. The latter were abandoned
by the Germans in Senlis when they
retreated after setting fire to the
town. . II, %
1--WE had had many trains OF wound
ed before, and all necessary arrange
ments were made as usual, but when
this convoy arrived even the most
hardened had to summon all fortitude
to the task Of emptying the carriages.
When a man had a broken leg or
arm. or a bullet through his lungs the
skilled ambulance staff soon had him
comfortably backed, but here were
human vestiges SO mangled that It
was difficult to find a place to touch
Ah-~ ~,it10yyk roryoin0 e onYoo ma and
means. An insufferable 7charnal house
stencil pervades the whole night air.
Laid Out Four Days.
Most Of the wounded had lain for
four days and nights where they had
fallen before being picked up, and
had not yet had their wounds exam
ined, much less dressed. Under the
burning sun and myriad of flies and
under later rains they had been left
to suffer the torture Of pain, hunger
and thirst until it was q marvel they
still breathed. r
"The state Of their wounds cannot
be guessed and does not bear descrip-
ton. 1t was three o'clock In the
morning before they could be dis
posed Of in hospitals. Even "a
hours later all had had first dressing.
The Germans were far the worst cases,
for the French fire seemed to have
been much more destructive, and
when it does not kill outright ravages
horribly. After four days many died.
and we had to shift them again, such
Of them as could be moved"
HFf-f. t-- &C. a" 81
for the rest. Those Who were there
say that not a single German escaped.