Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-02-09
.D|XMUDE MET
UNHAPPY FATE
R M WAR coRREsPoN.
DENT TELLS OF SCENE OF
HORROR AND DESTRUC.
TON THERE. ''>'..
fighting Was VERY SEVERE
Unable to Locate Streets Because
q of Ruins That Cover
... Entire City.
Was very SEVERE

;tu --
Berlin, Feb. S.-William Scheuer.
mann, one, of the best known of The
German war correspondents, has re-
Gently visited Dixmude, which has be-
coma famous through the heavy fight
ing around it in October and Novem-
Der, resulting finally in it's capture
by the Germans. He writes as fol-
lows:
..t..r Under Sharp Fire.
The enemy greets and every
movement along the road to Dixmude
with a prodigious rapid fire. For more
than a mile this road runs parallel
to the French trenches, 400 yards dis
tant. In order to present as unfavor-
at5le targets as possible We broke up
our party INTO a long cham, with in
tcrva!s Of some 20 PAGES tbetwean
each two men,. Often, too, when the
rapid fire greW@t0o hot we had to go
forward by jumping from one tree &c
the next, although these we're no;
large and had been mostly snot off 1y
the artillery. ,Ahey afforded ~littla
see if his rear a was still unfurt.
Gus branches streWn in the road were
a grlat hindrance to our progress.
Each of lis looked back frequently to
see if his rea man was still un!ert.
Thus we approached Dixmude, till W.
finally gathered in a bunch for a mo-
ment mar the ruined railway station;
for here was the most dangerous
point in our journey. The cross
ing is peculiarly exposed to the
ErcnNcil fire.. At their Entertainments
the French have set mp a lumber or
rifles exactly tried out and aimed for
this bit of ground, and they fire these
Whenever any living thing shows it,
self here.
Everyone of IS saw 20 it that he
got over this unca1ny bit of grouno
as fast as possible. One after the
other, We skipped across the embank-
ment like squirrels, more bent upon
making good speed than by cutting a
digniiied figure. We got across safe
ly and soon had the protection of the
ruined walls of the houses.
Mass of Ruins.
"D..xmude presents a picture of de,
structiOn such as / had not regarded
possible, Notwithstanding all that ]
have seer in this war.
No house here has escaped.
and many Quarters Of the town are
heaps of ruins in which it is no longer
possible to distinguish where the
streets had been. The large market
square is strewn with shells. and il
order to reach the point where the
beautiful town nall and the parish
church of st. Nicholas used to stand,
one mas to"pick ones way among dep
holes gouged into the pavement by
the heavy shells. The church is still.
to be recognized from an arch in the
wall and a. piece Of the iapse. Blu.
inside the debris lies as high as a
mans head. 'l r.,
Are Rotting Away.
."Dixmude is dead, the grave OF an
old culture more touching than any
city of the antique world unearth1u
after thousands of years; for here
one sees everywhere, mementoes OF
mn still living whose household goo:'
are scattered In the streets, and
whose most precious belongings, half.
charred, are rOtting away in the III
Il got some idea of the loss from
an examination Of the archives, which
| discovered half buried among the
ruins of the town hall. Manuscripts
on fine old handmade paper anG
parchment reaching far back into the
Middle Ages lay there, singed, tor
and thrown topsy-turvy by exploding
shells, being ruined .l5y the rain.
There was correspondence from the
beginning Of the fifteenth century,
carried on in German between a mer-
chant in Calais and the CITY gover1-
iment Of Dixmudo. There lay the
minutes and other documents Of the
city government from the time when
the Hanseatic League was in the high
tide Of prosperity. financial accounts
reaching back into the fourteenth cen
tury, manuscripts of humanistic learn
ing, scientific treasures OF an import
ant and Fascinating character. But
gladly as one would have lost ones
self with these discoveries, this was
maaifestly not tho moment to become
absorbed in them; for the enemy's
fire was directed without interruption
at the market square and the former
town hall, and at any moment these
lettering walls might fall.
Dangerous to Cross.
"No human being was at first to
be e in the ruined streets, and yet
there a much life in the city-but
underground. Hundreds of eyes ware
watching us while we were wandering
about. At times a sentinel would
emerge suddenly from a tumble OF
tinrbers and stones to warn us hot to
cross certain streets, for there are
stretches Of ground in this desolated
town that are swept by tina enemy's
rifles so necessarily and with such a
hail of bullets t;lat it Is sure death
to try to cross them.
Again we topped before n o
these confused heaps OF ruins. Here
were the head quarters of the German
commandalt. Forbidding as the pile
looked from the outside, it was com
Portable enough inside. 1t was some
rich mans house. about three-fourths
of it's height left standing, and its
rooms on the ground floor intact.
Sand bags and earth had been lalf'
upon the debris covering the upper
floors, and this made the lower rooms
secure against exploding shells. Can
dies and lamps shed u mild and
peaceful light in the rooms-a light
that set off fleIy the century-olc
3 4I.. ,,.t1y furniture fh0t