Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-02-09

had been brought in from other ruin.
ed houses. There were inlaid Elem.
ish wardrobes i'm rocco style, use
here to support the ceiling; there
were small mahogany tables in En-
'pira style, with gilt ornaments in
bronze. The coffee percolator was
humming. An ancient clock chimed
at the end Of every hour the same
choral: Only Submit to the Will G.
God But open the door and let l..
the gray daylight and you hear the
.enemy's rifle bullets %pattering against
the walls, incessant, and yet SO Vi
cious.
In the Trenches.
"A tunnel, partly underground, and
partly broken through the walls CT
rooms and houses, leads UP to the al
tillery observation stand. From hare
we overlooked the battle-ground. The
hostile trenches lie very close to eac:,
other, at one point not more than IL
yards. The river User, o carrying
high water, constitutes thu dividing
line here. On the other side we coui>:
sea the French, mostly marines (mov-
ing about in tn cir trenches, rather
carelessly-what they might we'll do,
as we were not answering their wild
fusilade.
81 have now seen trenches all alons
the western front( from the Swiss
border to the North Sea; but have
nowhere seer such trenches as these
along the User here. The bitches are
cut considerably below the water lev
ell OF the river, and the result is tina:
they are constantly filled with water.
They are not, dug into earth, but into
fully saturated mud, and water is all
the time collecting in them. Hence
the bottoms are covered with brush,
undcr which brooklets can he heard
'babbling, yet without awakening any
poetic sentiments in the midst Of this
perpetual rifie-tire. At intervals sinks
are dug in which the water collects,
and mel are kept busy day and night
dipping it out.
Il went forward into u most ad-
vanced trenches, and what | learned
there is we'll worth telling. Men liv-
ing under conditions, the most uncom-
Portable that can he imagined. ye;
laughing over all the discomforts OF
the war, and cherishing only the one
wish that thu inaction imposed upol!
them by a wise strategy may soon
come to an end and that they may he
allowed to attack the enemy that has
been lying before them for weeks. AT
the same time French corpses are
still lying un"buried before OUT posi-
tons, left there from the repeated a.
lacks that failed after %frightful losses
for the enemy. Lifting ones head
cautiously for a moment above the
edge of our. trench, one sees piles o!
silent dead men with blackered faces
lying out there in blue French over
coats. 1t is a horrible sight, but ow
ing to the incassant fire Of the enemy
it is impossible to give burial to these
bodies.
Heavy Bombardment.
"As was returning from the
trenches through a queer tunnel like
the burrow of a mole-pa2sing under
streets and houses, through cellars
rooms and kitchens, and once ever
under a dripping sewer-the en:m;
prepared for us a surprise that. dit
not come wholly unexpected. HA be
gan to lombard the ruins Of DiMnud'
with heavy artillery. The first shell
struck into a heap CT ruins quite ma
is and made a noise as if the worl'
was coming to an end. Every mai
into the roomloprofs,' was commanded
and several officers pulled me alonI
with them into the su~bterranea1
dwelling of the commandment. Foi
three hours we remained thore, lis
tening to the noise and expecting ev
cry moment that a shell would strike
right over us. Once the very eartf
tremibled; the adjoining house hat
Yeen struck, CANA down with a crasf
above our heads. Now said tht
commandant as another shell struck:
Now at one time nearer to us, al
another further away. And through
it all the old Flemish clock was chilli
ing out the hours with its chora
| CT submission to the will of God 0!
high.
"Since prudence if the better par
Of valor and it was uncertain how
long the bombardment would con
tinue, we finally lei. Dixmude in tht
midst of it. TO the left and to the
right shells. We're drorying and walls
were falling with a crash