South Bend news-times., 1915-01-09
Army Bulletin Pays High Trib-
ute to Bravery of Troops
Who Endure Terrible Hard
ships Without Complaint.
GERMANS STRENGTHEN
LINES ALONG COAST
Airmen in West Flanders Show
Greatest Activity Since Bat
tie Began and Many Towns
Are BOmbarded From Sky.

PARIS. Jan. 9.-High tribute to the
valor Of the French soldiers who are
enduring the most terrible hardShipS
without complaint, is paid i'm the
Army Bulletin. the official organ of
the French army. At one point in
West Flanders, it is said a detach-
ment of French infantrymen charged
across an inundated tract OF low
ground, wading through water To the
necks. Heavy rains all the way from
the Belgian border TO the Aisne have
converted many of the French
trenches to ditcheS Of mud in which
the soldiers are compelled TO lie with
only a bit OF straw or a few branches
of trees 10 protect them from the
m1ck. The Germans have Jared bet
ter their trenches being on higher
ground. A regiment Of French terri
torials which is fighting in the Nosges.
reached the scene of the fighting with
their shoes worn from their feet and
when they trod the snOw-covered
slopes OF the mountains their bare
feet left blood trails
News from the north of scissors,
where the French captured two lines
of trenches. shows a continuation of
hard fighting on that part of the bat
tie line lying nearest TO Paris SOis-
sons is about 40 miles from Paris. or
the same distance from the French
capital as Lassigny.
In Upper Alsace the French are
strongly fortifying Burnhaupt-ls-
Haut. the town only eight miles from
Muelhausen which Gen. PaU's Een
occupied on Thursday.
strengthen FOrtifiCatiOns.
The Germans continue to strength
en- their fOrtihcations along the Bel
giau coast and in West Flanders. The
German airmen in that region are
showing more activity than at any
time since the present engagement
opened and many French towns have
been bOmbarded IT is the evident in
tention of the German aviators to try
to hamper the French and British
lines of communications.
The British troops lying opposite
tho Germans on the Armentieres-
Lille-La Basse line have been
strengthened with some new high
power artillery and a big gun duel is
again In progress there. Lille has
been under heavy gun-fire for three
months and the city is half in ruins
from shells and cOnflagratiOns. OF the
normal population of p 200 not more
than 100000 remain. The Germans
have tried TO turn the city into an
impregna.ble fortress, and have erect
ed strong works on every side OF it.
Advices from st. Omer, 10 which
number of the residents of Lille have
fed, give some of the details of the
devastation prevailing there.
The Hotel De LEurope. the Grand
hotel and the Hotel De Lyon, which
were usually filled with foreign tour
lists in times of peace, have been trans
formed into military hospitals for the
German wounded. All of them bear
the marks OF shells.
Windows Smashed BY shells.
The German general at Lille has
taken up his headquarters in the pre-
lecture, a fine old building facing the
Palais de Beaux Arts.
Most Of the fine windows of colored
glass in the English church. q Gothic
building in the Rue Vatican have
been smashed by shell fire The in
terror of the church is Uttered with
pallets Of straw for the troops
The church of st. Maurice, a Gothic
structure, and one of the few ancient
edifices in Lille that survived the
wars Of the middle ages lived TO the
2Oth century 20 suffer from artillery
fire. The Germans began To use il as
r hospital but when a number of
soldiers were killed by debris caused
by shells the injured were removed
and the place is used intermittently as
q. barracks
Another ancient landmark which
has suffered is the Porle de Paris
(part OF the old fortticatiOns built in
16S2). In latter years it was used as
n triumphal arch 70 commemorate
the union OF French Flanders with
F'ranCe.
Factories Are Burned.
Many OF thread factories and the
OIL chemical sugar and cotton cloth
manufactures have been burned or
wrecked by prOjectleS. The Germans
established a service Of their own in
the pOstOfiice and telegraph Office in
the Place de Ia Republique.
An interesting incident that oc-
~ asF u - u Il
During the early days OF German oc-
cupatiOn someone despoiled with mud
and filth the bronze statue OF Ma
poleon one night The German COM
mander had the statue cleaned and
placed a sentry in the court of the
bourse (where il is lOcated). To watch
the monument and prevent its subse-
quent violation.
The Hotel de Vile. a fine structure
or the renaissance type. fronting the
Rues des MannelierS in Grand Place.
had been scorched by Ere but not
badly damaged A number OF Ger
man officers took mp their he2dquart-
ers in the building
Monument T. Wrecked.
such good fortune. however. did
not result I'm the case OF the mOnu-
ment in Grand Place erected 10 COM
memorate the defense OF the town
against the Austrians In 1892. 10 was
wrecked.
Guards have been placed over the
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