The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-04-26
Long Line Of Trenches Bent by
General French When the Town
Of Neuve ChapelIe Was
Captured
RAINBOW SHINES
ON BLACK CLOUD
Natures Smile Reflects Revived
Hopes Of the Fighters Town
Desolated by Shells from
600 Guns
BY WILLIAM c. SHEPHERD.

Sf WILLIAM c. SHEPHERD.
United States Staff CORRESPONDENT
copyright, 1915. by the United Press I,
copyrighted in Great Brittany
With the British Army, Northern
france, April 16.-(By mail to New
York)-Neuve ChappelIe is the new
bead that Gen. French has lust thread.
ed on the 400 mile string Of trenches
which Madame Europe wears upon her
breast.
Just as the great transcontinentaf
railroads of the United States pass i'm
pressively through small towns. so the
great transcontinental trenches have
nad their route bent by the great En-.
glish general to take in the town of
Neuye Chapelle. | find the residents
OF the city extremely proud of the dis
tinction This is probably because
they personally helped Gen. French in
MS task Of trench bending. There
are no French people remaining here.
IN fact there are no houses remain.
ing.
rms showery afternoon a rainbow
Is SHINING on huge black cloud over
Neuye Chapelle and the French mae.
azine artists who are in this city OF
tourists to England's nearest posses.
sion are making every artistic effort
to draw it into their pictures.
People will think we're taking Il If
we mention the rainbow" says one
artist.
But it's there" says another fa-
nous artist. I'm going to put it in.
The rainbow was there in truth. bend.
ing over the little crushed French
town, with no one to see it, but the
English soldiers who peeped out Of
their trenches at it and the tourist.
Shell Spoils Picture.
All the artists but one are putting
in the rainbow. The one is Matania
OF Italy and London. A she'll broke
within fifteen feet of him this after.
noon, splashed mud on the picture in
which he intended the rainbow to an.
pear and spoiled it. So now he is
drawing picture of bursting shell
with a correspondent and artists run
ing away from the huge spouting lily
of mud.
A visit to Neuve Chapelle is bound
to be full of incidents of the sort that
attracted Matania's attention.
Like Crushed Egg Shell.
Neuve Chapelle is as thoroughly de-
stroyed as a crushed egg shefl. It's
only streets are trenches; its only
houses are dugouts; death fills the
space above the trench line; shells
criss-cross the sky above it and burst
in the ruins. There's nothing more
that a shell can do to Neuve Chapele
except to stir up the debris. The
shells have ransacked the cemetery,
blown open the graves; scattered bits
OF coffins and fragments of bones over
the cemetery lawns and then churned
the lawns into mass of mud, bones.
coffin bits and fragments of grave
stones. Then. as if nothing would sat-
isfy their fury, they have thrown this
mixture into the air and scattered it
all over the neighboring portion Of the
town. Neuve Chapelle has disappear
ed, but its name goes down into his
tory as the town which was shelled
by six hundred cannon; as the town
which was fought for, between the
English and the Germans, at cost Of
100 lives for every ruined house in its
streets.
Point Priced by British.
The English prize Neuve Chapelle
because It is token Of Gen. French's
proof that the German. in trench,
can be routed in an attack. The bat.
tie OF Neuve Chapelle marked the
first attack, on line Of any great
extent. against entrenched German
forces. II is proof that has put fire
into the fighting OF both the English
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