The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1915-07-09
snch you see to YOUR front.


how much | knew about woodcraft.
Because of a life given over to a con-
siderable extent to natural history
pursuits which had carried me into
the wilderness on many occasions, l
said that l thought j knew a little
something of the forest and Of signs
and seasons Then the officer asked
NE to let him know if l discovered
anything that looked unusual as we
walked through the lights and shades
of the birch forest.
| put all my senses to work and
tried to detect some symptom that
everything was not just as it should
be in an ordinary wood. | sensed
nothing out of the ordinary, and was
just about to say SO when my knee
struck something hard and | looked
down. ! was staring straight into the
muzzle of q huge naval gun emplaced
at an angle Of about thirty degrees.
A Well-conceaied Gun.
This gun was in an underground
house" For a distance of at least
two feet back of the muzzle the gun
was shrouded with a green growth
which completely concealed it. The
house had a roof, but green things
were growing upon it and there was
absolutely nothing to tell that under
Tie cover was a Il pit. We entered
the house BY means of some concealed
steps and there we found a detach-
ment of men ready to make the gun
speak when a returning air scout
should give the gunners directions as
to just where to let a she'll drop.
1t was while | was in this gun pit
that rapid firing was heard at the ex-
IRENE edge Of the wood. The can
nonading was from a French battery
engaged in driving off a German aero
plane which unquestionably was seek
ing to locate this big gun which had
caused trouble in the German lines,
but whose position the enemy had
been unable exactly to determine.
The next day from a rock rising al
most sheer to a height Of nearly seven
hundred feet | looked through the
clear air toward Metz, the capital OF
German Lorraine, which with its cir
cling fortresses is the prize most GOV
eted by the French. The artillery of
the republic emplaced on a ridge to
the right and a little in advance OF
this position has succeeded in reach
ing with its shells one Of the most
formidable forts standing guard over
Metz. When the French break down.
if they can break down, the defenses
of Metz, an army will spring from the
ground and advance toward the Ger
man goal OF it's ambition. Metz, how
ever, while really only a few miles
away, is a long ways of, because be-
tween the outefmost French lines and
the city Of desire lies a German army,
and right here on this line within
the next few days or weeks, or per
haps even months, there is sure to
come fighting Of a quality SO fierce as
to put all other fighting along this
590-miie line into the class with things
anne
Views the Battlefield.
From where / stood there is a birds
eye view 81 a great battlefield. We
made al early start III order to be
able to climb this needle-like rock be
fore tire u was high, This hill is
called Mousson, and on It's crown
there Is a chapel built in the eleventh
century and which ancrds a fair and
commanding mark for the enemYs ar
tilleTy. The Germans for some fea-
son or other have left this pinnacle
alone for the main part. On occasions
they send shells oven it, and today
was one OF the occasions. A she'll
passed over my head while | was
climbing the rock. | heard its Whiz-
zing distinctly, ard instinctiyely /
croucheo, much TO the amusement Of
the French army officer who stood at
my side. The thing you hear he
said, never hits you. It's half a
mile past you before you hear the
sound"
In climbing the hill of Mousson
there are many places where one is
out from under cover. Walking up the
hill was difficult, but running was more
than difficult. and yet I had to run be-
N1IA \ oN1iNa Pcihlo. vi LII
hill we we're within range, not only of
shell fire but of small rifle fire, and
the journey up and down had its un-
pleasant moments.
When halfway down this Rock of
MOusson the cannonading grew louder.
The truth was that a new battery had
opened, n much nearer to us than
the guns which had been laundering
before. We looked down from the hill
side to the village Of Pont-a-Mousson
which lay nesting at our feet. Into
the village the shells We're pounding.
All that we could see was clouds of
dust and smoke mingled as we knew
with mortar, stone fragments, and
the ground powder of plaster.
Short rreathing Space.
We reached the foot of the hill, en-
tered a military automobile, and were
whirled into Pont-a-Mousson. The
cannonading had ceased and the vii
layers, men, women and children,
again going about the streets. No