The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-06-06
W|THFRENCHTROOPS OF GEN. MAUD'HUY
Correspondent Gives Vivid
 Story of Visit to Front
SKETCH OF GENERAL
Is One of Youngest and Most Bril- liant Officers In the French Army. Helped Win the Battle of
 the Marne
By GEORGE DuEREsNE

By GEORGE DUF'RESNE
 Paris. June 5.-(Special )-As my readers
 will perhaps remember. the French gen
 eral staff recently invited representatives
 of neutral newspapers to visit the French
 front and describe what they saw, fur
 thermore promising them that nothing
 they sent to their papers al homo would
 be censored if they would. give their word
 of honor not to mention military ove-
 ments or give the numbers of regiments
 they or indicate the strength of tha
 French reserves behind the first lines.
 This promise readily given, the core
 spondents were taken toward the front in
 luxurious automobiles and divi'ied into
 two separate parties. the journalists rep
 resenting America, Japan, Russia and
 England going south to General Castei-
 nau's army. while the rest. representing
 Holland Italy and Scandinavian coun-
 tries, north to General Maud huy's head
 quarters
 One of the latter has kindly all pWed me
 to make use of his impressions at this
 place simultaneously With their pubca-
 ton in Copenhagen paper.
 | T shall never forget our first meeting with General Maud huy's." he writes.
 His entry among us had been carefully
 stage managed In the town hail Of d | small town in northern France, the name of which l have promised not to mention,
 We were received by Colonel R early in the morning. He regretted that the | general in command was exceedingly ousy
 and therefore could give us on't few moments. Simultaneously he sent mes
 senger to inform the general of ouI af- , | rival
 , "Of General Maud huys we ali know
 that he is one of the youngest, mast Dril-
 liant and amiable officers in tEe '1 Inch army He belongs to an old Brittany | family of naval officers being She first e member to serve in the army He had a i very important share in the success or h the battle of the Marne and when later h the attacks of six newly arrived German s army corps north of General Castenau's s 4 position betweeni the Somme and the
 Oise, General Maud huys was given cnri- mand of this army. which adj,'ns the ', | British under Sir John French. r. Enter the General
 e While the colonel was busy explain ' ing to us the task of this army the door -e was suddenly thrown open and title, n energetic officer with dark eyes ani light n ming like movements suddenly stood | among us. It was the general He nur- /" redly greeted officers and correspond s ents, shaking hands with each of us IL g was thus we met General Maud-h iys, one Y of the busets men in France toiay, at [ o 0 clock in the morning.
 l. He is up before dawn every day and -e eats a hearty breakfast consisting o n soup, steak with fried eggs. bread. butter If and cheese In spite of his splendid ap fe petite and iron constitution. which makes <. 1t possible for him to work IS hours " every day, General Maud 'huy's look le anything but robust. He has the Ions is narrow head of the people of Brittany T lis cheeks are pale and rather thin. hi: 1T expression full of life. but rather nervous D His eyes, however are so strongly virile I. so full of will power and energy, that the II whole soul of the man appears concen
 trated in them
 r "g bid you a cordial welcome, gen f tlemen! the general said. We shall show a you everything, for We have nothin. g to conceal. All I ask you is to be carefu d of yourselves and if you do not care t. Q be so for your own sake when you ge d into the trenches, then please be so fol d the sake of the men, for need them all q l hope you will have nothing to fear. but y yarn you when you get to Arras this aft r. ernoon not to gather in groups in from Q of the depot, for this place can be plainly e seen and shelled from the German posi- le tions."
 ls From headquarters we drove to th' d forest of Bouvigny so often mentioned 1T I the communiques, which Is situated neal ,e the main road between Methune and Ar 70 ras. From the heights here you had l. splendid view of the battlefields. In clea' IS weather you may see Lille, and you sus III pect the location of Ypres and all thu 90 famous old Flemish industrial towns now III in German possession. It is the immens, Y battlefield the center of which is Lens + and which stretches from LaBasse {, m Arras Not far from us We see the col -e umn erected in memory of the victory O ye Condo on August 19 16iS. For centure 1i battles have been fought on this pateal on which has been drenched with human -s blood
 m Though the firing line was quite clos ot and we looked for miles across the fer nv tile plain furrowed with trenches every u thing seemed quite peaceful Blue smok O. was curling skyward, from q group o a. small cottages. and the silence was broll ng en only by the booming of heavy guns rv which was reported 10O times by the ech od until 1t sounded like distant thunder. a. You quickly learn to distinguish th of French guns especially the sharp an r.- high tone of the famous 75's, from tn I deep growing of the German guns Tn
 shots are fired regularly as If tiirvd ty
 watch.
 Fire Directed From Balloon
 Above our heads hung two captive bal
 looms like an enormous pair os yelio, cn sausages. Underneath each was s,na 1d basket. In one sat a French and in th d. other a German officer of artillery. Thei m task Is to locate the enemys heavy gun
 and notify the batteries whose firing the ct direct by telephone Through your iel IS. glass you could plainly see the teephon ue wire leading to the ground
 ce Here we heard the rattling of the mi
 trailleuses the first time. It soucded lik
 hail on a tin roof, but occasionally theI = was a pause, when telegraph opera
 tor sometimes stops working his key.
 "Listen." said the officer whc accom- - panied us. 'now they are telegraph.ng h' And he explained how well place lg mitraileuse may communicate with th ed heavy guns by a certain code ot sornG ar and indicate how the guns should b
 aimed.
 VI "A few days previous he had a,arc th ds machine guns of the Germans si,,naiiin ed and immediately afterward two shells eA III poded near his battery
 os ''The third shot" he said to his r.cr
 must be meant for us." He ordered tn Il" batteries moved POO metres ahead and a re afternoon the Germans bombarded the dc ca serted position with admirable precision q From the Bois de Bouvigny. wher at shells continually falling and explod or ing among the trees. comes strange pro so cession. They look like shapelss gianti r. The lower part of their bodies are waiIlin h. Jumps of clay, the legs to the hips resenl Id ble fence posts, pulled out of sticky muf y; But above this you see the upper haT 0 >.. human being that appears to have son I- 4.~~tt tt.,- <~k &-