The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1915-09-23
BY FREDERICK PALMER.

BY FREDERICK PALMER.
international News Service)
British Headquarters, France.-Tht
British have retaken the mine crater
at Hooge in one of the most pictur
esQue actions which has happened
along the British front for a Ions
time, without counting the novel way
In which bag of prisoners was made
Hooge is the name of what was once
village in region as fiat as bill
lard table. It is in the Ypres salient
As for the nature of life in the Ypres
salient there is the testimony of Ger
man prisoners who say that when a
man on their side is assigned to it
the saying is that he may consider
himself as good as lost.
It is generally agreed that more
blood has been spilled in the Ypres
salient than over any similar length
of line on the western front, with the
exception of Souchez, where the
French made their great attack in May
and June.
The blowing up OF mine under the
German trench some weeks ago made
Hooge about the hottest point in the
Ypres salient. It was one of the
largest mines the British had ever
exploded to begin with, and it made
a hole in the earth about 40 feet deep
and 70 feet across. The British charged
in and took possession of it.
Ip reply to the mine the Germans
brought up their flame ejector ap-
paratus, which they had tried on the
French before but now used on the
English for the first time Mean
while around the edge of the crater
the two sides were only five feet apart
at one place.
The crater was so big, and it had
so disfigured the landscape that it was
very difficult to consolidate the po-
sition" as the official bulletins say,
particularly when showers of bombs
from either side punished any enter
prise on the part of the other
On top of bombardment with ar
tillery Of all the neighboring part of
the British line where the trenches
were close together, the Germans sud
denly sprayed the British front with
fire over section where their in
fantry attacked. The British had to
give up their crater and Hooge, too,
and some 500 yards of trench When
they set out to recover it at first
they found the Germans had the line
bristling with machine guns, so they
got back one end of what they lost.
Reck Not the Cost.
The rule in the Ypres salient seems
to be never to lie down tamely under
any setback. Both sides fight to re-
cover loss, nc matter what the cost.
Sanguinary battles are waged for few
acres of ground.
All one day the British kept an al
most continuous roar of shells over
other parts of the salient. They made
the German trenches boil with dust
under clouds of shrapnel smoke The
German guns replied. They threw in
some more 17-inch shells into the
ruins of Ypres and into other points
which they had not considered worthy
OF 17-inch attention before.
The thunder Of this artillery duel
could be heard 80 and 40 miles to
the rear. 1t made a sound like the
FOIL OF drum with almost no inter-
vals between the Shots Nothing heav.
Ter had been heard since Souchez.
About two the next morning guns
which had been silent before came
into action. They all directed on the
German trenches at Hooge tons of
nigh explosive and storms of shrap-
mel. Then at Ais by all the watches
OF gunners and infantrymen, the guns
stopped.
me next minute British major ct
the head Of battalion line leaped
over the parapet AS he said he
found nobody home" The Germans
were In the dugouts according to the
custom on such occasions, taking shell.
ter from the tornado of shell fra
which makes even a lookout hard1v
possible. Turning the corner ne .
traverse the major fairly bumped into
German who apparently had come
out OF his dugout to see whether the
Smelling had stopped.
You're mine," said the major na,+.
ting his revolver muzzle to the Cor.
mans breast. He promnt1v an
s"ered that he was" as the major or.
pressed it.
Praise for the Artillery.
The happiness of the officers .na
men as they told the story of that
hight to the correspondent turned IN
gratitude to their artillery support
1T shows what artillery can do
SAID the colonel, "and what tho IN
1antry can do when the guns eiva
them that kind of aid. Their VOL
was perfectly straight on there IN
'front.' OF the mems noses with M sbo11.
bursting short and then they ali
stopped ike an orchestra at the end
OF piece. My only trouble with the
mon was to mold them back from the
front line. If there is anvtb;na 49,,
puts spirit into the men it is tb.3 tins
OF support. We got four GOOD
cn1ae guns, and / don't know non
many were destroyed.
Germany is one big battery sha
ooes II with artillery and macbino
'duns. Guns against her guns and NO
snail be all right. Yes, we mad f,ne
show "no
he Kept on speaking OF the pnn.
ana as ne did so, so did the other off.
GERS and men with the depth of fo.1-
ing expressive of realization that the.
guns meant life and death and snc.
cess and failure for them. sinpu1o,.