The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-11-16
ASzAPPARATUS
USED QUITE OLD


Nprtor's narrative is the fact that gas
apparatus which was captured from
the Germans in the; battle OF Cham:
payne was dated as far back as 1908,
thus showing" he said, that seven
years ago the Germans had decided to
fight with gas" q
The, letter is dated at La Croix,
Champagne, II October IA, and Isl adj
dressed to Elliot Norton, his brother
in New York. He points out that It is
lust year since the corps came into
being and that it has grown until II
now includes some sixty motor am
balances to which the St. Johns. Am
bulance Corps and the. Red Cross So
cieties render any assistance that Il
requested. i I. 4 a ~,
Many Cases Cared For.
"The French authorities have en-
trusted us with heewhole ambulance
service of-stheA eleventh army CORPS .
says Mr.. Norton, and briefly reviewing
the years work 4 he adds that the
American corps has carried nearly
$4,000 cases, and that from the twenty
nth Of September to the ninth Of DC
tcber the American cars relieved the
sufferings of over 5000 Individuals.
Beginning his account of the battle
OF Champagne, he says;
.For some weeks before the battle
began we knew from all sorts of eyi-
dence that a big movement was on
foot. The movements Of troops by
night. and day, the great numbers Of
aeroplanes and captive balloons and
general rumor all pointed to this. II
was not, however. until We were sent
from the region Of Amiens to this dis
trict that we knew where, the attack
was to be made. Andsit was. not until
we had been some three weeks sta
toned within a few miles OF the line
here the we had any inkling as to
exactly when or at exactly what spots
the blow would be delivered.
When, however, we were sent for
ward, our base became the village of
la Croix. where two large hospitals
had been erected. Seven Of the am
balances were stationed here, two
others at Somme Tourbe, five at La
Sale and finally two groups were sent
to the woods, where we camped out in
tents and dugouts and carried the
wounded OF the twentySfirst and ;twen-
ty-second divisions from trenches Nos.
u and 5. which had been dug for the
purpose OF bringing them out of the
firing line. -
Country Carefully Prepared
The whole countryside had been
most carefully prepared, One, main
road had been cut from st. Jean over
the rolling chalk hills to the village OF
Herlus and. Mesnil. which were be-
tween the French batteries and the
front trenches. and from which. other
roads ran further north. Besides this
main road there were many tracks
and trails over the chalk desert and
these as the days passed became more
and more clearly marked But the in
slant the rain began to fall, which 1t
did the first day of the battle, and con-
tinued of and on for. many days, they
became SO near impossible as could
be. It was not only the enormous
amount Of trafiic which made driving
dimcult, but the slightest rain turns
this chalky soil. into a. mixture 40
slippery that car standing quiet on
the crown of the road would not In
frequently slide gently but surely into
the gutter, which was OF course, deem
in mud. Al night We had to drive
without lights, which increased our,
ifficultys Besides the making Of the
road mentioned, narrow gauge raiI-
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