New-York tribune., 1915-09-08
,c,,,,,o,a.,o, I'm. Associated Pr,.l


British Headquarters in France Aug.
22-The British have retaken the mine
crater at Hooge in one OF the most
picturesque actions seen along the
British front for q long time Hooge
was once village in region as nat
as a billiard table. II is in the Ypres
salient. where it is generally agreed
more blood has been spilled than over
any similar length Of line on the west
ern front, with the exception OF
Souchez, where the French made their
first attack in May and June.
The blowing up Of mine under the
German trench recently made Hooge
about the hottest place in the Ypres
salient. 1t was one of the largest
mines tn. British have exploded, and
il made a hole in the earth about forty
feot deep and seventy feet across. The
British charged and took possession Of
the position.
In reply to the mine the Germans
brought up their fame ejector appar-
atus, which they had tried on the
French before, but now used on the
British for the first time. Around the
edge Of the mine crater the English
men and the Germans were, at one
place, only five feet apart. The crater
was so big and IL had so disrgured the
landscape that it was difficult to con
solidste" the position, as the ofhclai
bulletins say particularly when showers
of bombs from either side punished
any enterprise on the part of the other.
On top of bombardment of all the
neighboring part Of the British line
where the trenches were further apart,
and of bombardment with mortars and
bombs where they were close together,
the Germans suddenly sprayed the
British front with fire over section
where their infantry attacked. The
British had to give up their crater and
Hooge and some FIVE hundred yards OF
trenches. When they set out to re-
cover the lost ground they found the
Germans bad the line bristling with
machine guns, SO they regained only
one end Of what they had lost.
Sanguinary Battle for Ground.
The rule in the Ypres salient seems
TO be never to lie down tamely after
any setback. Both sides fight to re-
cover a loss no matter what the cost.
Sanguinary battles are waged for few
acres Of ground. All one day the
British kept an almost 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 some more II
inch shells into the ruins Of Ypres
and into other points which they had
not considered worthy of l7-inch shells
before. The thunder Of this artillery
duel could be heard thirty to forty
miles to the rear. 1t made sound like
the roll Of a drum with almost no in
terval between the shots. Nothing
heavier had been heard since Souchez.
About o'clock the next morning
guns which had been silent before
came into action. They were all dl-
rected on the German trenches at
Hooge. sending tons of high explosives
and storms Of shrapnel. Then at AID
the guns stopped. The next minute
British major at the head OF bat
TALON line leaped over the parapet.
As he said, he found nobody at home"
The Germans were in their dugouts,
according to the custom on such occa-
sions, taking shelter from the tornado
of shell fire which makes even a look
out hardly possible. Turning the cor
ner of a traverse, the major fairly
bumped into a German who had come
out Of his dugout to see why the shell
ing had stopped.
aYou're minel" said the major, put
ting his revolver muzzle to the Ger
mans breast "He promptly agreed
that he was" as the major ex-
pressed it.
The happiness Of the officers and
mer as they told the story of that