The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-03-08

to the limbo that contains the bayo.
net-charEe story. / saw several hun.
dred Thousand German soldiers, many
Of them wounded. and thousands OF
Belgian French and English prisoners.
many of them also wounded: and be-
sides this talked to doctors who.
themselves had attended to thousands
Of wounded. I did not see q single
bayonet wound. and l did not hear OF
any men who had been wounded by
bayonets. While i was in England
early in the campaign. one soldier
was sent back from France with a
bayonet wound. but II came out that
he had been hurt accidently by fall
Ing on comrades .bayonet. Neither
did hear of any lance wounds. Aside
from the early days of the war. there
has been very little cavalry-chargin&.
! think. Most Of the wounded we saw
had been hit by shrapnel-"
III one side or the other ever gets
the jump--gets 1t decidedly and in
disputably." remarked Mr. Cobb, IT
believe you will SEQ that side let up
on the censorship Theyw iiiissue a
general invitation to the press to
come on over and watch us eat up this
fellow OF course. ] may be wrong.
but / shouldn't be surprised II this
happened. As for the censorship IT.
self, l am ready to concede the need
for rigid supervision OF the news
In these days OF rapid transmission Of
information. But can't see why the
combatants should be unwilling to al
low newspaper men at the front to
send back the descriptive stuff which
la what the public cares for most, at
ter all l believe that II more OF this
stuff could be written It would tend
to increase patriotism and recruiting.
ITS n hackneycd subject to be sure.
but I am glad to say that the war
correspondent as he has been known.
the professional war correspondent.
you understand. has been knocked out-
There Is a lot OF talk about the glorfes
that used to be his: how he consulted
with generals. and had his tent pitched
beside the field marshafs. and rode
the best horse in the army. and AL
ways knew what was going to hap
pen Personally think this u all
wrong He probably was allowed to
come along on sufferance. and Do
cause they had no wireless In those
days, and telegraph lines were scarce.
he had a great deal more liberty OF
action than he came to have later
on. But when all is said and done.
the so-called war correspondent hasn't
any place in the work. Covering
war In Just the same kind of work a.
covering a big fire or any disaster.
IL calls for reporting, and ability TO
do the things that reporting entails
asse m bling OF the concrete facts ana
the writing of them In lucid. terse Ian
gnage II were n newspaper pro-
prietor. and had to cover a war, I
should simply call up my best re-
of Rrasping the facts OF events ana
writing a bully story, and you come
porters and send them out. And they
a A. ark a -
ter than professional war correspon~
dents"
Saw No FOrty-Two Ccntlmetre Guns
did you see any OF the forty-two-
centimetre guns in action
NO We saw the twenty one-cen-
timetres on the Aisne and before Ant
werp. but we never saw the forty-two-
centimetres. We did hear a great deal
about the moral effect these big runs
had. though. Surgeons told ns they
had cases of men who were not hit.
but who suffered complete nervous
breakdown simply from the shock OF
the explosion Of the big shells It's
odd the effect that war has on nervous
temperaments. Alphonee Conrlander.
who was Paris Correspondent OF the
London Daily Express, went all 70
pieces and died from nervous break
down. brought on by tho streas ana
noFFuYN I'LL AIoaHQ
"Odc, wasn't TT And Couriandsr
had bee ncorrespondent in several
other wars. in which he had been &C.
tuaiiy under fire, 20 1t was not new
sensation to him. suppose It Vas
Just the appalling. awful biGne0 %
this greatest OF human tragedies IL
doesn't matter how much you enIk
about this war. or what phase yon
take up: In tho end you come around
to the straight point. the inconceiv-
able immenseness Of II. No man can
grasp Il all. No man can take In
completely the horrors. the splsndorA
the suffering and the glory OF u.
saw the German army that attached
the British, At Mons. marching through
Brussels, hundreds Of Thousands OF
men. hour after hour. day and nlght.
But I could not convey an adequate
impression OF that sight to you. -
Ia Impossible. ! have an impression
locked up inside mo. but shall never
be able to give II to others. Noocdy
could. 1t was like all the other events
In this war--beyond the power Of one
mans brain to comprehend"