New Britain herald., 1915-12-20
would leave little but fractured mas


 millrace of turbulent mud. Though
 the Sava pulled hard against the
 treacherous current, she needed eighteen minutes to get into quieter water. turn brought the ship
 within sight of Orsowa and Ada Kale,
 the latter, up to 1913, the last out 1 post of Turkey in Europe Fearing 1 that Serbia might annex the island, 1 the Austro- Hungarian government 1 took possession nominally, though l leaving to the Turkish population
 every right and prerogative it had ever l enjoyed, including the privilege of carrying on smuggling in tobacco with whomsoever it pleased.
 At Orsowa some of the Central Pow CT troops crossed the river. The town itself showed signs of the recent 1 and former artillery fire of the Serbs from the opposite bank How the Austrians and Germans succeeded in
 scaling' the cliff-like elevations on the Serbian shore is hard to understand. Dislodging an enemy entrenched on top of the Hudson palisades looks less difficult. But many a man tumbled and more were drowned before they set foot on Serbian soil Neverthe- less the attack was successfully car- ried through and will probably remain
 on the monuments of the great war.
 On Historic Ground. Orsowa lies on historic ground.
 Here the Iron Gates end and the Ka-
 gan pass begins. The river squeezes
 itself through a narrow defile of the
 kazan mountains-a geological fault apparently: Through the gorge the
 Romans had to build road that
 would connect the Pannonian colon-
 ies. Trajan's tablet, still legible. celebrates this ancient piece of mill- tary engineering. Close to the wa ter's edge a gallery was cut in the lime rock and where the masses of stone could not be conquered in this
 way a trestle, supported on beams, was constructed The manner in which the structure was made possi
 ble is interesting for the reason that it has been revived by American en- gineers who built a railroad through the Andes Square holes of a depth of about four feet were cut into the face of the cliff. Into these stout beams were placed and on these strong wooden floor was laid.
 No attempts to cross the Danube were made by the Austrians and the Germans in the Kazan pass but east of it, at the head of Moldava island, and opposite the Serbian town of Du- brovica, the main descent occurred l The exact scene Is marked by a pom toon bridge, which must be looked upon as a marvel of enterprise. The bridge is about 1900 yards long and rests upon about thirty large barges. 1 It was built by Austro- Hungarian pio- | neers while under fire, and is asserted | to have no equal in the history of | military engineering. Field Marshal 1 von Mackensen, when he inspected the l stretch of river which his troops 1 would have to cross at this point, is said to have shaken his head. The he made was simply:
 Well, the river looks different than t does on the map.' |
 No Mean Undertaking.
 The crossing of the Danube at this point was no mean undertaking, ac- cording to those who witnessed the affair. The first troops went over the barges, in the face of 8 terrific infantry, artillery and machine-gun fire. Many 8 man went down and several boats sank but the first who landed rushed the Serbian infantry positions with hand grenades, display Ing defiance of death that thrilled to the core those privileged to view the operation from comparative safe ty, as did a German pioneer officer who told the story. The various or rivalled with one another In the dash, men were seen to fall but rather than remain use- less, they crawled after their com rades on all fours. The resistance of the Serbs, though desperate, was soon broken, and here, as further up- stream, the Central Powers troops ob- tained a firm footing which later de- veloped into a crashing advance south ward into the valley of the Morava and the heart of Serbia.
 At Semendria a crossing had been effected in much the same way. But in that town, which the correspond ent visited, the terrible work of mod ern heavy artillery played a greater part. The Serbs seems to have had the plan of holding the old citadel. The Germans brought up few 42- centimeter pieces. A single shot made a section of the fortress un- tenable. It hit the base of tower, sending fragments of masonry broad cast, and drove every Serb into an other part of the position. Today the tower leans at a dangerous angie l Another "42" shell hit parapet wall, tearing a large breach in it. The yard of the citadel is a series of era ters. deep and large enough to hide in them.
 On the whole waterfront of Sem endria not a single building was left intact. Under the shock of the heavy shells houses crumbled like egg shells.
 Rush Serbian Positions.
 With the citadel disposed of, the German and Austrian troops rushed he Serbian positions west of the own. The hills, on which the Serbs were to make their last stand, were 1