Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-11-13
THE WEATHER
WEATHER FORECAST.

them He added that a brilliant vic
tory over the Germans would deter
mine the neutral nations 70 decide for
us and would force the enemy TO
delay his advance against the Russian
army in order 60 meet our attack"
OF the utmost significance are these
phrases from the body of the French
commanders order: The matter in
question for an attacking troops Is
not only to take the first line Of the
enemys trenches but to push forward
without rest day and night beyond
the second and third lines into the
free ground
These sentences are unequWocal.
They admit Of but one Interpretation
ana they leave the Anglo-Freneh
staffs no loop hole The French and
/ English expected to do wonders and
to that end they had made long and
iarduous preparation. And every state
ment they made relative to their an
iticipations is supported by early events
In the Anglo-French attempt. That
attempt was no feint II meant busi-
ness. Troops were long rested and
freshly equipped for it,
Frances Huge Preparations.
Weeks ago Miss Carolyn Wilson
sent YOU from Paris coplous details
which she had received from French
officers as to the vastness Of the prep
arations for the break k-through-de-
tails, by the way. which it is amazing
any French officer should have COM
municated to anybody For a month
preceding the 22nd OF September,
when the prodigious drumming fire
Of artillery began, the Germans them.
selves knew that a grand offensive
was in preparation, and that knowl-
edge carried with it the certainty that
great results were expected
1t is now the right Of the 18th of
/ OetOber-three weeks and day since
the drumming fire began From talks
with dazed and disappointed prison
ers from the extent Of the prepara-
I tions for the grand attack, from nu-
merous French and English orders
found on prisoners, and from the gem
/ eral feel" Of the situation which one
gets by personal observation, it is my
conviction that the English expected
to be in this princey city Of Lille two
weeks ago. They are not
But they are very near
| am living in the old Hotel de
! lEurope in Rue Bassee Ny room is
on what We would describe at home as
the third floor, and it overlooks side
street Every night | can hear the
thud of the English and German guns
60 the west Of the town. l can hear
/ them nova slow, regular pounding.
I But Lille occupied these many months
and bearing up well under the strain,
is neither apprehensiye ON the one
hand nor expectant on the other. 1t
has lived on hope deferred too long
| to be very eXpectant now, and in its
900 year history it has been through
SO much that war can make no new
trial of its fortitude nor alright its
mind with fresh terrors.
Truly Martial City.
Lille has felt all the pains and
borne all the sorrows. Before the
crusades she suffered Before Coum-
bus she had built and rebuilt after
sack and pillage Before We We're a
nation she had been besieged now by
( the Austrians now by the Spanish,
now by the French. She resisted Marl-
borough and she laughed in the face
/ of tho allies who came into France
! Go crush the revolution and even while
she laughed she ran with water pals
to quench tho fires started by rain
Of red hot balls that fell day and night
1t, 900 or so-and bombs filled with
oil Of turpenune which splashed up
in flames.
And today Lille listens to the can
non volleying on the edge of its west
ern environs and counts the anu-air-
craft guns in its public squares-and
goes on about its shopping and its
selling of pretty things marked "eX-
elusive design"
If the French and English enter
Lille, Lille will be happy. If the Ger
mans stay Lille will remain decor
ously pensive and go on with its shop
ping and selling
/ Meanwhile the important fact to
consider is that the sound of the guns
on the west if it does not steadily re-
cede certainly does not draw nearer
I and that the throngs OF German sol
diers strolling in the streets and sip
ping coffee in the cafes give no sign
of restlessness. To be sure, hundreds
Of them, heavily equipped, did leave
! q rfr !,
sumably for the region to the west,
| but hundreds more remained to wan
der in the brightly lighted squares
and peer in the fascinating windows.
Serenity in Berlin.
Here is another point.
/ When | left Berlin for the west
front the great offensive had reached
/ its height That was Monday Septem-
Der 25-the day on which men said,
4 the drumming fire Of artillery came
( to the ear not like the roll Of breakers
on a hard beach, but like the roar OF
I a volcano. Civilian Berlin was anN-
1 ious that day. But plainly the military
authorities were not anxious. For, as
\ here In Lille now the streets were
/ fun Of soldiers on furlough who We're
enjoying themselves by stroll in the
shopping streets and on the prone
made. Leipsigerstrasse. which an
swers 70 our state street, was crowded
with them.
/ think it is not an eXaggeration TO
say that in that hurryng, swrling
/ throng every fifth man you met was
a soldier From the war ministry
away westward to Potsdamer Platz
whence many car routes swing fanlike