East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-09-10
BY WILLIAM PHILIP sIMMs.

ID w Lillian Z Et1ll4lI SlMMC.
/ Omitted Press staff Correspondent. J
! tCopyright 1915 by the United Press
copyrighted in Great Britain.)
WITH THE FRENCH ARMY All
/ THE FRONT Aug. 7.--(By Mail)-
France is putting her reliance in heI
| men, her entanglementS OF special
/ oarSed wire of American make and
in her series of marvellous trenches
Nc longer does she depend primarily
upon her forts.
No better proof OF this could be
furnished than the act today of Mill
tary Governor Courtanceau in show
ing me the secrets Of the organization
OF the defense of Verdun
The Germans have announced
that Nerdun is on the point of fall
ing, staff officer said. I'VE want
YOU to have a look for yourself. then
TO let YOU judge whether Verdun is
in danger or not"
So saying, we visited places and
saw things which no mere "civils'
had ever visited or been shown be-
fore. We went down winding stairs
down, down, down until was dizzy.
into the bowels of the earth under
the forts; we ventured into the
deepest of the dungeons where miles
and miles of corridors are filled with
miles of foodstuffs, ammunition and
the like in broad tall rows; we saw
the general staff at work in some of
these corridors now rigged up as Of
fices, we saw the whole plant and
lastly we We're admitted to the under
ground retreat of the general.
You may say" ne said that
we are prepared to defend this city
until the last round of ammunition
is gone and the last man dead"
The subterranean chambers of the
citadel of Verdun can accommodate
at least $4,000 people with the sup
plies necessary to their comparative
comfort In June the Germans she'll
ed Verdun with $50 milimeter long
range guns, 26 shells falling on the
town. Not much damage was done,
but profiting by the experience of
Dunkirk which was several times
bombarded from a position 20 miles
away, the authorities at once set
about making Verdun safe" This
was done by using the corridors and
chambers under the citadel as a place
10 lodge the troops of the garrison
and, If needs be, the civil population
a 9
date back for the most part about
80 years and are from 100 to 200
feet below the surface. They are
cut almost entirely in rock but have
false walls and ceilings of brick,
with space between the bricks and
rocks for ventilation, chimneys as
cending to the surface at intervals
creating a natural draft.
Subway voyagers in New York
find these underground passages de-
lightfully invigorating.
One finds innumerable beds or
hunks, in two tiers There is a hos
pital with a spotless operating room.
An independent waterworks system.
with two power stations, In case one
goes wrong. has capacity sufficient
for the needs of $4,000 people. There
is an immense store of grain in air
tight metal casks and a large grist-
mill to turn the grain into flour. A
bakery has sufficient ovens to fur
nish all soldiers and civils in the for
tress with bread Besides the grain
there is flour-much being from Am
erica-in the sealed metal boxes; also
canned meats in enormous quanti-
ties.
In the same manner there are
stores Of lard, canned milk and many
other necessities, none of these things
being drawn upon at present. They
will be used only in case Verdun is
invested.
Narrow gauge railways run through
the corridors TO haul food supplies
ammunition, ETC. Five electric-light
plants guarantee the place against
darkness and there are two more be-
ing built as an extra precaution.
Officers quarters have been pre-
pared in one of the subterranean
passages, these being simply small
rooms built Of thin boarding to pro-
vide a modieum of privacy. On the
door of one little room the upright
planks Of which are perhaps foot
higher than the others, are the
words.
- MILITARY GOVERNOR.
The Germans led by the crown
prince at the north. and the Bayari-
CC41fh appn-