New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-15

ncrous. Now il was a scattered pile of
vellowing ruins from the Middle Ages
The house with roof. the only mouse
not struck By the shells, was the only
one that preserved its gray-white tone;
The streets were strewn with blocks OF
Stone. The rooftrees lay in the cellars.
Half fallen walls were a constant men
ace. Windows lacked their WOODEN
frames and doorways their doors Inc
hell tower of the church sprawled across
the street and the bell poised danger
ously in a great hole in the roof
Shells Spare Crucifx.
We entered the church cautiously II
was a relic Of five hundred years ago
A she'll had come through he ROOF OH
the right directly opposite the oIu0. I'm.
All around the crucihX the wal W.
nittcd with marks of shrapnel' DuI tne
crucifix was spared. and the choir' wiz
its carved rail and Its carved Vehe
that had descended from the day '"e
obmrch ,vas built. was also spared.
Retween the church and the hrst row
~ bouses was the small cemetery OF the
yiIiare The church had protected ~ on
ono side and the village on the other'
Tho church was shattered by the sheIiS
and the row of houses had not wall
remaining that stood eight teet nigh'
but the cemetery was untouched ana the
wreaths Of the days of peace sun hunB
on the crosses of the graves.
An old man came out OF cellar ana
snoko 10 us. He was the mayor OF
Rembercourt and its sole remaining m
. habitant. He pointed TO the hllls south
| of tho town and showed US where inc
, onnosin, armies had lain. Not french
| soldier had been in the town, he SAID
INT the Germans haS shelled 1t for four
DAYS. The French had been southwest
and the Germans southeast. II was the
fortbest south the Crown Prince had
come. The French had stopped MIN
tbere and after four days had driven
| him hack TO where he now Is, IN the
Argonne and north and east OF Nerduh.
"Onlv month before" the old man
said sadly, 1--WE had completed our
church and had mounted on the tower
! the clock we had saved for years 10
! buy" ~ xood
where the bell tower lay. nave
never been able to find 1t slnce' ne
( said. - n
/ and went northward again toward YER
| dun. A few miles further on we saw
some trenches in field and stopped
B briefly to examine them. lhey were
! onparentlv shelters for the infantry
! sunports 10 artillery in a hasty retreat
and while we were picking up some
Gins of unused German cartridges we
heard there for the first time the boom
of the big guns. They were hrlhg ~
the Argonne, our guides told us, ana
oftor that we never lost the sound OF
tho ARTILLERY until five days later we
reached Barbecue again on our way
back 10 Paris. =.
Still few miles and we came to
Reauzce. The church there had been
the principal target OF the herman
gunners. It's tower miraculously stood
but we climbed into the church over
I what had been one OF the slde walls
and picked our way among the rool
heams A she'll had struck the main
altar while the benches for the wor-
SINNERS were crushed beneath he fal,
len pillars. But the rooftree stiiI
balanced overhead and from II hung th'
main candelabrum and swung IKE
pendulum IN the gentle breeze. On a
piece Of wall opposite Us was paint
inc Of the Feast OF the Passover. anc
two candles burned before side altai
that had been nicked by shrapnel.
An old woman came out OF iittie
door and spoke 10 US as we went bscf
10 the automobiles. She told US tha'
he had come back month before from
Bar-le-Duc. Good drinking water wa
hard 10 get. she said, and they had no
over much 20 eat.
The house next door was wreck.
looked at her house and saw that TN
top had been shot away.
"Why did you come back" askeC
her.
cit is my home" she said.
Only a few miles more and we turned
once more into the main road 10 Yer
dun. The sound Of the guns was grow
ing constantly louder. We saw cap
tive balloon guarding the Verdun sec
tor. Two specks among the clouds wer
aeroplanes. We passed a transport col
umn and then a troop Of cavalry wit
their shining helmets dimmed By KHAKI
covers. We rolled up TO the gates
Verdun and waited for a regiment JUS
out of the trenches to pass. We wer
;. at the front