Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-12
RETREAT OUT OF
cALICIA DEADLY
British Observer Describes Desperate
Plight of Russians In March From
the Carpathians.

Headquarters Of Russian Third
Army, June f2.-It is seldom that the
staff Of any army cares 10 allow q
newspaper correspondent to observe or
write OF its defeats and retreats: the
field censor'g motto is nothing passes
except good news.
The staff Of the Russian third army
has broken the precedent in allowing
the freedom Of its lines 10 the British
official press representative during the
whole of its heart-breaking retreat
from the Carpathian slopes. back
across Galicia and even across this
Russian frontier. The spondent's
first story. covering a long series Of
daily fights and daily Russian defeats
allowed by the inevitable retreats be
fore the Austro-GerTnans' concentrat-
ed artillery fire, is as follows:
The advance Of the Russians over
the Carpathians was sure 70 draw a
counter-stroke, and it came just where
many expected il. but with tremendous
force This was because 1t was not
so much the work Of the tired Aus
trians. but rather the biggest effort
that Germany has yet put up IN her
attempts to bolster her ally.
In a house standing high by a church
/ found the stan of the division. There
was hut on the top Of the hill: sitting
in front of it one could see for at
least ten miles in either direction
The Division was holding d front Of
eight miles across q low line Of wooded
heights, Of which the most marked
feature was a village with a little
church tower Against three Russian
regiments were nine, mostly German,
ami backed by the most formidable
artillery.
Beyond each of the TANKS Of the
| division one could see at intervals
n black clouds Of smoke; one thick
stream Of smoke that stretched into
the skies came from some distant pc
troleum works. The whole right wing
was being pounded with crash after
crash, sometimes four black columns
rising almost simultaneously at inter
walls along il: under each would break
out little angry teeth Of sparkling
flame: the only thing that seemed not
to be hit was the church tower which,
as each cloud died down, came out
simple again in the bright sunshine.
The left wing was in patches of smoke
that sometimes disappeared for time.
What was happening to the center
was not so clear; so after watching
for some hours the shells and shTap-
mel bursting along the line and on the
slope, we descended by some winding
gullies, drawing a shrapneI as we
passed over low shoulder. and soon
reached the STAFF OF the center regi-
ment
Under the nearer wall Of q hut little
groups were working at the telephones,
while a number of soldiers lay on logs
around, The colonel came forward
and took me into the open pointing at
the ridge some six hundred yards
away. All his left was at grips with
the enemy. and on his right his men
were fighting at the close range of
200 yards in the wood beyond the
crest
The telephone worked necessarily.
Each of the battalion commanders
reported in turn-oue that his machine
guns had been put out OF action, an
other that there was gap in his line,
third that he was holding good at full
strength. The colonel explained that
his last reserves were engaged. A
message came that his right flank was
open and was being turned. He seized
the telephone and called Two COM
panies forward at the double" report
ing his action directly to the staff of the
division.
There was a peculiar humauness