Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-17
Terrible BID Cur DueIs
in West Described by
Eyewitness to Battle

BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE, October Is, via London. Oc-
tober 16.-Along the HuIiuch- Haisnes
line. where the fighting has been al
most continuous since the taking of
Loos, a correspondent had an unprece-
dented view Of the British attack which
took the Hohenzollern redoubt.
From a vantage point in the nat
country was witnessed a stupendous
panorama of artillery preparation and
glimpses of infantry rushing through
| that an effort to count the number of
audible shots per minute from the Brit
ish guns failed. In front, to the right
and left, and far in the rear guns
flashed and scattered shells over the
landscape. A seconds lull in the) fir
ing by the batteries in the immediate
neighborhood was filed by those far
| ther away.
Concentration Restricted.
The lines of f-both the British and Ger
man trenches were discernible in long
clouds Of smoke and dust from the
bursting shells. That of the German
artillery seemed smaller in volume. No
shells were seen bursting In Loos it.
self. which appeared peaceful now back
of the British positions. For this tre-
MSuQOuS concentration was fcSIflCLe0
to narrow theater. against the
frontal positions of the opposing side.
Rolling clouds of gas rose up from
the British trenches like steam from
| the locomotive, as 1t was released from
the apparatus in the trenches. The
gas was distinguishable from the ex-
plosion of every variety of shells. The
reddish black British lyddite and the
| coal black German nine-inch explosives
shot up through the lighter smoke in
t0 fgvo
with dust from the trenches, while the
| explosion of a mine made a vast, mush- :
oom-shaped column. Smoke bombs
used as q. screen. added to the effect
shrapnel, shot low to destroy the barb
ed wire, and high to search the trenches
All Kinds Of Shells.
| Large caliber shrapnel bursting IL
the air made big. vaporous puffs. ant
high explosives bursting in the al,
caused big black puffs. There alst
were asphyxiating gas shells, sigma
shells to assist the gunners and shell.
which dropped streaming points o1
Ere like those from q skyrocket. The
sun. shining through the clouds. above
and below. made a mass of changing
colors that was an eye-tiring spec.
tacle. Now toward Hulluch 1t was pink
and toward -Bassee darl
| green, while toward tho Hohenzollerr
redoubt and Foss Eight the German para.
pet became visible for an instant. only
| to be hidden again.
Avenues Of trees along the roads
some Of them cut down by shellnre
stood stripped. like telephone poles, o.
their limbs and foliage. and there were
to be seen the jagged ruins of villages
spectral in the variegated mist Of de.
| Qt
| ugly roar. which submerged the SOUND
Of the machine guns and rifles frins
during the half hour from to 1880 be.
fore the British infantry spranS from
Meanwhile in tho rear the miners o,
this mining country proceeded with
their work. farmers were plowing
women going and coming in the vii.
der support straining their eyes towart
tho battlefield or playing foot ball
Z ready to md cover in the dugouts OF
cellars instantly should their neigh
borhood be shelled.
| Telling Progress Of Attacks.
The only way the progress of the at
tack could be told to an observer look
ling over the whole battlefield. was b.
the lifting walls OF fire Of the British
guns from tho front to the reserv.
|German trenches, while the Germani
moved theirs back, presumably to pun
ish the British reserves coming to sup
port their advance.
A fash Of flame and 1t was seen tina
lFoss Eight was on hre. An officer OF
horseback in the midst Of shells wal
seen for an instant and was gone. Sol
oilers were seen springing over para
lpet. presumably running forward will
bombs. and were lost in the mantle O.
smoke, which gave only few glimpsei
of the presence OF human beings in tn,
iu6egpo,