Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-02-09
GERMANS WELL FED
Soldiers Live In Trenches in
Comparative Comfort.
Well Supplied win Food and Cloth.
ing and Are Smiling and Content.
ed-health Conditions Better
7 Than in Peace Times.

Headquarters Of a Certain German
Army in France.-A correspondent o.
the Associated Press. during a week
In the field of operations, has been the
guest Of General o Heeringen, for
merly war minister and now com
manding the Seventh army; General
von Zwehl, the capturer of Maubeuge,
and General Won Emmich, the con
queror of Liege and Namur.
Several hours were passed in the
trenches in a picturesque old town
where German rihemen and French
~legionnaires plan and play grim prac'
tical jokes of war upon each other
from positions a scant 200 yards apart
A race. of German troglodytes was
found in one place on this front. Men,
horses, supplies, hospitals and so forth
were housed in hillside caverns, for
merly stone quarries, which were ab'
solutely protected by a 50-foot stone
roof from even the most powerful
shell fire.
The Germans r evidently prepar,
ing for an extended occupation. The
French peasants, under the supervi.
sion and to a certain extent the mild
compulsion of the Germans, have
planted winter crops and are working
in the fields.
Important bridges destroyed during
the occupation operations are every
where being permanently rebuilt with
steel from Germany.
The roads are being maintained as
usual by French labor and in some
cases factories are being reopened.
A trip of inspection was made
through 4 labyrinth Of field fortifica.
tons and approaches along the Aisne,
at its nearest point to Paris, where
the lines are normally 200 or 300 yards
apart. r.. +
The soldiers even in the foremost
trenches were found living in com
parative comfort in their underground
shelters. They were well supplied
with blankets, food, water and cloth,
ing, and are in good spirits. despite
their long residence in the t92HSches.
Desultory infantry fire is always in
progress here and the rattle Of ma,
chine guns breaks out now and Their,
The artillery on both sides has throw,}
tons of iron daily, but there have beet
no great fights Of late in this sectioJ
Of the front.
OF all the impressions Of the tri.j
one Of the most striking is that left
by the countless stacks Of unthreshe
grain, stretching for miles in every dil
:ection throughout this granary q
aorthern France.
Over a hundred German threshins
machines of the largest size are work.
ing in the region occupied by the
army. ,
The army is not only living on thu
supplies of flour and meat derived
rom this section of the country, but
s actually sending wheat and flour
pack to Germany.
The German soldier at the front ID
milling and we'll fed. as he has one
more warm meal daily than in peace
ime. The lean greyhounds seen aftet
he dash on Paris are again rounding
nut into portly Germans.
No trip to the front would be com
'lete without a visit to the field hos
'ital. Health conditions are remark
IDLY good, the surgeons state; even
letter than in peace times.
There has been considerable ty-
'hoid, but this is now we'll in hand
wing to the vigorous use Of the anti
Uphold serum. n