Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-10-21
NO HUMAN Agency
EQUAL TO French
HIGH POWER GUNS
Battlefield of Champagne Tells
Bloody Story Of Terrific
Onslaught Which Re-
suited in Victory.
CANNON CUT RAIL LINES
Correspondent Visits Scene Of
Recent Advance and De-
scribes Significance Of
.Joffre's Success.
CANNON CUT RAIL LINES

SCIlUSS N1&ul1lCduCe O1
Joffre's Success.
Paris, Oct. 21.-.'We took everything.
70 the edge of tho horizon the first.
day." said an officer standing on the
first line French trench, whence a wave.
Of September 25 and dashed on from
one to five miles before the tidal rush,
Of soldiery stopped.
The correspondent in his first view
Of the field Of battle in the Champagne,
looked across rolling land whose thin
soil was studded with graves and
thickly sprlnkled with dwarf pines.
snow white system of chalk line re-
doubts. trenches, traverses. commu-
nication bitches and other defensive
constructions by which German mill.
tary science had in vain sought I'M
pregnability. The population was:
meager in this camp of Chalons. Only
the village Of Perthes. whose slight
cluster of houses have become typical,
ruins through shell fire, was in sight
from the spot.
Railway Now Useless.
Walking over the course Of the.
French advance. the correspondent,
witnessed the results of the most pow
erful defense against the powerful at.
tack Of the war. The famous hill, the,
butte of Tahure, for occupation OF
which clinched the French success, re-.
sembled small wooded hill in an east.
crn American state. Shells We're seen
bursting at Il distance over the rail-
road at Somme- BY Thus this impor-
tanti German transport line has been
cut or destroyed by French gun fire.
rendering the railroad useless.
The prodigious labor done by the
French before the attack liz indicated
by the transport road 10 niles long,
and winding communication ditch
six feet deep, six. feet broad and five.
mileK 1oygs which they had cut .thInlsgh+
p1lsslfss &aeS tUxl5tsrrnrysEOt SOFT stone
gt0scnabie them to move rapidly under
the cover Of their shell fire for the as
sault. Though this is three weeks and
more before the battle. the ground was
still strewn with German. shells and;
hand grenades that had not exploded,
ard French soldiers were yet gather
Ing and asserting piles Of German ac-i
cuEtremcnts.
Great Holes in Earth.
Here a:,d there. sometimes in a shell
hole. sometimes in dugout the Ger
man dead had been buried. At onei
place "a and at another 16 as cross,
over the common grave revealed. un-
Identified French dead had also been
laid to rest. Close to the cemeteries,
where were buried Germans who had
fallen during preceding battles are
newcr cemeteries for the French, the
graves in hoth being marked by wooden
trosses bearing the names Of tho fallen;
In cases where there had not yet been
time for the placing OF crosses. bottles
containing pieces of paper bearing the
aalns Of the fallen had been thrust
neck downward in the fresh earth Of
the graves. SO that the rains might not
render the writing undecipherable.
kcription: KILLED on the field OF hon
Dr."
Considering the ilnriensity of the
operation-at least 100000 men
were engaged On both sides along the
harrow front-it Sas amazing how ap-
Frech casualties. Officers who mad
participated in the charge said that
the German losses had been heavier
than the first official estimate and
must have reached 10000. Twenty
i've thousand German prisoners were
portion to the number of Germans
killed by the high explosive shells and
In hand to hand fighting in tho
trenches.
First Line AnnihiIatsd. :
The harbed wire front OF the first
fine trenches had been cut to bits and
It was impossible to live orsmake re-
distance during the preparatory hom-
bardment. Soldiers agreed that the
rushing Of the first line was a walk In,
there being neither rife nor machine
gun fire to- stop them SO excellent had
been the work OF the enormous concern
tration Of French artillery. Serious re-
sistence developed at the second line,
where the trenches for the entire Is
mile sector had not .ins all. places.
been smashed and were not always cut.
BY the state OF the ugly messes OF wire,
rusted from years rain. the corres-
pondent was able to tell where the
tide had advanced. halted and flowed
through the opening made before roll
Ing on. 4.
The labor that had been expended
IN constructing the German trenches
and Notifications was enormous. 1t
was az II hundreds Of thousands Of hui
man beavers had never ceased their
toll In preparing for their protection.
French officers said the Germans knew
that the attack was coming and thought
were overwhelmed by the number Of
the French guns and the masses Of
French troops.
The most formidable point seen was
the rsdoubt Trou Bricot, which had on
nll sides inftrailleuscs. labyrinth of
Aun6eOA iAhc CclldTS, Sduu Dag SdlIer-
les. which had been pounded into heaps
OF earth by the high explosives. French
infantry. on surrounding the position
Murveiled to find few men still alive.
What few were left. had had their
senses numbcd.
Can Take Anything. Ho Says.
II we can take that with our guns
said one soldier we ought to be able
to take anything the Germans can
build.
In the midst of what remaizs of this
result OF colossal labor and the use OF
probably 100000 sand bags was a
crater 100 feet deep and 200 feet across.
which the French had created by an
explosion after the guns had finished
their work anc Just before the infantry
charge. Many such mine craters were
seen.
Significant Of German strategy in
preparation to receive the attacks was
q long ditcn through the woods in
whici, the charging French soldiers ma
ditch branched into blind alleys. while
q concealed machine gun commanded