The Seward gateway., 1915-10-01
UNDERGROUND CITY
 BUILT BY FRANCE, Fortress of Verdun, Besieged by Crown Prince Has FOrmid-
 able Defenses.
By WILLIAM SIMMS


 With the French Army at the Front, Sept. 10.: (By maiD-France is putting her reliance in her men, her entanglements of special barbed wire of American make and in her series of marvellous trenches. No longer does she depend primarily upon her forts.
 No better proof of this could be furnished than the act today of Mili- tary Governor Courtanceau in show ing me the secrets of the organization of the defenses of Verdun.
 "The Germans have announced that Verdun is on the point of falling" a staff officer said. "We want you to havc a look for yourself, then to let you judge whether Verdun is in dang CT or not"
 So saying, We visited places and saw things which no mere "civils" had ever visited or been shown before. We went down winding stairs, down, down, down until was dizzy, into the bowls 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 food stuffs, ammunition and the like in broad, tall rows; we saw the general staff at work in some of these corri- dors now rigged up as offices; we saw the whole plant and lastly we were admitted to the underground retreat of the General.
 "You may say" he said, "that we are expected 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 accomodate at least 5O,OOO people with the supplies necessary to their comparative com fort. Tn June the Germans shelled Verdun with 38O milimeter long range guns, 26 shells falling on the town. Not much damage was done, but profting 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 to lodge the troops of the garrison and. if needs be the civil population as well. These underground spaces date back for the most part about 30 years and are from 100 to 200 feet below the surface. They are cut al- most entirely in rock but have false walls and ceilings of brick, with space between the bricks and rock for ventilation, chimneys ascending to the surface at intervals creating a natur- al draft.
 Subway voyagers in New York would find these underground pas sages delightfully."- invigorating.
 One finds innumerable beds or hunks, in two tiers. There is hospi- tai with a spotless operating room. An independent waterworks system, with two power stations Gin case one goes wrong,) has a capacity sufficient for the needs of 5O,OOO people. There is an immense store of grain in air tight metal casks and large grist- mill to turn the grain into flour. A bakery has sufficient ovens to furnish all soldiers and civils in the fortress with breat. Besides the grain there is flour-much being from America in the sealed metal boxes; also canned meats in enormous quantities.
 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 in- vested.
 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 being built as an extra pre- caution.
 Officers quarters have been prepar- ed in one of the subterranean pas