The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1915-01-09
Dangers Of Withdrawing Fatigue'd
Forces From the German Trenches

| bi>i'biAN' Jan. o--N correspondence
or The Associated Pressl-Dangers
attending the act OF Withdrawing ia
tigued forces from the German
trenches and relieving them with
fresh troops Is dramatically discus
sed by correspondent of the Berlin
er Tagebiatt, who prefaced the story
with experiences OF himself and COL
leagues in getting into and out. OF the
firing line.
We could only reach the village
Ecssen,' he writes. Here we had
TO leave the automobile in the mud be-
hind church whose walls showed the
marks OF desperate struggle Every
where on the ground. bandagesfi arms
and parts OF misunderstanding
covevcred with yellow mud. Beside
the church were fresh graves.
From Eessen to DIxmude the road
'or three kilometers runs parallel tn
the French trenches. Every auto and
! ,very wagon seen on the road Is TAX
| IN under fire from the trenches which
are only about 400 yards away
$50 we left the automobile in cov-
ar and continued our Journey on foot,
Keeping about 60 feet apart in order
to be as inconspicuous to the enemy
rs possible. But they had already
seen us. A rolling fusilade began to
sweep the road We jumped from
tree to tree, and made part of the
distance by running in stopped posi-
iien behind a hedge. .l,n..> s..t-
Tho smudswas several feet deep in
places, and our way lay past trsnch-
IS and deed horses. Many of the ami
raais were.chestnnts. deepiyiimbedded ed
In the mud, and their wide-open eyes
stared into the leaden sky IN most I'M
canny,fashton. ,ai,t. - .:j,.J-s't 10. -.
"of a sudden the. man ahead ofme
shouted and jumped behind the wall
of,iat teuhdingHthat' had been laid low.
He believed he had been hit, but as
luck would have II the bullet just miss
| cd him and had buried itself with a
thud In nearby tree.
His. experience induced us to pro-
gress little more rapidly and with
greater caution-from cover to cover.
| After q while we came to an cx-
posed railroad crossing some 900 feet
from the trenches Of the enemy. First
one man bolted across the open
place. then the other. until we were
all over. The bullets from the French
1 'ASfPSu o'SAy Oho W lObc uO tltle.
But now we had the prot !ction of
the railroad embankmentJ and availins
ourselves of this we soon reached the
ruinR of Dixmude. Several streets
and especially the market place lie
iwithin the fire sonc of the 'enemy:1ri
+ ;Hin this eunoanIiy town dkpeIls otina
| speakables fear. Dixmudeo has been shot
pup as no. tbthefi ipTa &c I'm the iieatre OF
| ff,a .sypll
+ the mud ifStse1effif feet deer, land there
appears TO beip NOT sihSle house
ftilTikssss sa6ti bSefs Ait by a SHELL. But
j of lthiEiI am Iipt cure. pbdgirg .fr,uni
tanc street cdrneri to .anptherilto avoid
4 1 he 9bullets (which seam, to have a sort
1 ofsfouptain head at the .ends bst1each
4 street. You ahaYe mo- time to : make
nnanxs oryeelqxe, xe,aehsaryationY.. AT any
rate. the ruins from little. 4 hills, 8 one
niss difficulty :settsEsgi Jg5.g.- :ii,i1, it, al
I l2fWe finally Gamer toilthe. market
nlaea; which 10 constantly, swept b, ;,ss7 z.
hail OF bullets. I'm, rush we gain the
| shelter OF the walls of the city hall
on the other side. To one side Of this
are the ruins Of st. Nicholas. recog-
nizable as q church today only by two
walls and pillar which rear into the
sky like naked giants.
"The town Is empty and deserted.
But you become aware OF q noiseless,
nncanEy sort of life in the houses. It
comes from the cellars where our SOL
diers are in quarters.
we finally met tho commandant ,of
the place. He had been decorated
with the iron cross, fret class, and
showed that he Was glad to see new
4 faces in this place of desolation.
Isa 'As he explained the situation to us,
Ebnllets hit the walls to thel;left and
,rigkt ofl:uss j. We. counted t45 4 In one
minute on the wall OF tbuildiSg ,ciGs.e
by Zealously, by. day and dSnlght, this
lt.waste OF amuunition goes on. ss}a 4
|SsThe only living creatures osIr men
found In Dixmude were a ,dog and
4 4 three cate Tbres tifiiesss-ssour times
lDixmude has bee;a the center OF "a bat
tle. GBut nowtthe large heap ,of. ruins
Is In our possession. and, with 1T we
4 have gaineda p1int directly on the
i Ysek which passes. close to the
last houses OF the town on the weet.
But we intended to get intp the
/ Jtrenches-thU firing line.
The road to this lay through q
frcnct approach -whoseS wild and
4 sssoody history Ia not likely to find an
equal even in this war. Oh we go
through shell-wrecked houses. sun-
Inels. cellars, stables. upstairs through
rows OF rooms. then down again
across q narrow street exposed to che
fire OF the enemy; through houses anf
rooms ara across gErds, ana tinalls
Into q long subserranean passage from
twhoae ceiling the water ran IN
lstrcams. 81