El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-01-02
VERlIN IS THE
MYSTERY CITY
Of GREAT WAR
Commander of the Garrison
Plans to Keep Enemy
a Safe Distance
CITY HAS MOAT AND
OLD TIME BRIDGE

H. war and its heart has been YER |
dun. This fortress city has never !
been actually besieged. The general in
command. whose name am not at lib !
erty to give, told me he was resolved ]
to observe the truth embodied in the |
old military maxim "A city besieged |
is a city captured" To accomplish |
this he has kept the heavy German !
guns as far out of the range of the F.,
forts as he could, and has extended !
by earthworks and entertainments the
actual fortified zone at this point on
the Mouse.
Keeps Enemy At n Distance.
The general does not intend, If tenac-
| ity and hard work count for anything
| in war, that verdun ever shall be be-
! sieged in the strict sense of the word
| Siege operations are, tits true, in prog
| ress already, but the nearest point
to Verdun occupied by the Germans,
Jumelles d'Ornes, twin wooded heights
/ to the north east of the fortress, is
about s miles away.
Has Mont and Drawbridges.
Verdun, is a walled battlemented city
with moat draw bridges, and pOrtcu-
| luS. protected DN all outer lll6 u 4oA 80
| which were modern a few months ago
| Now every height and every valley IN
] the country for 20 miles around mas
| been so labOred at that there are
| fields plowed by trenches and hill
| sides so closely dotted with short poles
| supporting barbed wire that they re
| call the vineyards of Champagne when
the vines have been cut in the autumn
In the valleys through which We
passed on our way to vantage point
in the Mouse heights from which 10
survey an artillery duel in progress we
| gained more clearly than IN the plains
! of Flanders some idea Of the way IN
/ which war is a test of national eff
cheney. and of the completeness with
which an army is self-cOntained. Regl-
ments were at work making new roads
( and re-making old where they were
| worn by the constant stream of food
and ammunition conveys. Of artillery
] on the march, Of rushing motor-cars'
and of ponderously-mO heavy guns.
| White ribbon-like roads were speck-
! led with slOwly-movinE dots OF motor
/ conveys, of the ever gay-hearted
/ French artillery man going or return
ing from his position from the battery
/ emplacements, constructed with mar
| velOus skill by French engineers IN the
exposed hillside around Verdun.
Many Artillery Garden Cities.
/ BY giving free rein to the initiative
land constructive abilities Of the private
| in the French artillery, the whole OF
{ this seton OF the front Is uUlAGA HAAAL
charming artillery garden cities,
made by the men themselves without
/ anv supervision from their OFFICERS. a
| huge scoop is taken out Of the wooded
sandy hillside and the village nestles
| right into the heart of the hill. Above
it is a fir-crowned crest over which
the guns fire at point "46" on "
hill some miles away. Below II
/, stretches a valley flaked with the blue
smoke of the soldier wOOdmens tlreS.
/ over the distant range OF hills floats
= a captive balloon. Here and tnere
, there is a CLINT Of sun upon the wings
of a speeding aeroplane.
The battery itself contributes nothing
to the general view Its four guns,
= each in its little stall of turf are
r l. covered with branches of spruce. The
3 I cottages of the men are built OF straw
70 or covered with the branches or trees
{ / and are lost in the general country
: side When we approached the vii
! lage" the men tumbled out of the
2 / porches and lined up for inspection by
. the general They seemed at the first
> glance to be the only sign of war IN
! ~ Wide view of Battlefield.
Climbing higher up the hillside we
had a wider view of the battlefield OF
the Meuse. From the point upQ1
! which we were standing, facing north
east, a ragged white line in the plain
marked the German trenches. BEHIND
it across the wood Of MOntgaucon, SCI
n like a piece of jade in the silver OF IN
, Vulnerable lakes and streams, rose tn(
/ pointed spire of MOntgaucOn, its out
j line blurred by a cloud of smoke hang
d ing over the village. The sound o.
s guns firing upon MOntgaucon wa
S muffled by the cushion of the interven
= ing hill and forest.
Airplane Signals; Guns Roar.
0 Suddenly with a soaring roar owe
o the woods in the foreground four shells
-'l from the battery near which we stool
n sped out towards the hidden Germans
e It all seemed very aimless until Gen
Y eral S. pointing overhead, eX
"a planned this SUDDEN activity. An aero
y plane working with this battery ha
# transmitted by wireless the result o
/ its reconnaissance.
Little specks of light such a
: splinter the darkness of the night Of
$ an overhead electric tramway Shove
l. bright even against the daylight SIX
= as battery after battery came into &C
h ton. All seemed as if anxious to jOi
in the conveEsatiOn-bass, alto an
st tenor, made their voices heard an
l. down in the plain along the tree-line
l. road the men in the trenches stoppe
r ! their game of dOminOes and prepare
10 to add an asthmatic soprano
re | musketry to the general chorus.
l. Day and night this apparently aim
f less artillery duel fills the hills wit
the sound of the banging Of big gong
- / Day and night French cavalry patrC
the two neutral zones, the no man
4 4 land left between ELdiQ ana I1dulttou
u between Hermeville and Warcq, watch
ing for any sign of advance by I'll
enemy through these two inviting col
ridors, stumbling every now and agai
upon German patrol engaged upo
the same mission, and adding the
IS weekly quota to the list Of killed an
wounded.
Give Vcrdun Room.
It is the men in the trenches wi
ne are giving Verdun her elbow room
10 is the artillery which renders the
MS existence possible. Every now ar
M again under the cover of the "75's' me
e will advance few hundred yards tul
ne the Germans out Of their trenches,
an dig themselves into new trenches nea
en- err the enemy. To the east the TRENCH
VS. have been pushed so far up tOwar
/ the railway from Metz to Etain TIL
ne its use by the enemy is impractical
e, It is under rifle fire and the German
~ have been obliged to build a line fro
ne ! Spoincourt to ensure the safe passal
r. of their supplies and communications.
MT Down in the plain the trenches a
only separated by 20 or 80 yards, al
all the old experience of the Crime;
on war is being turned to account i'm tn
W siege warfare. Solid masonry bloc
on houses strengthen the enemys trench
at many points.