New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-10
Tribune Correspondent Visits Battle of the
Aisne in Search Of Thrills, but
Finds Mud Instead
BECOME CAVE JEWELLERS
soend Time in Card Playing and Smoking Cigars
While Campaign Is Conducted Entirely
by Telephone.

Il ge'u c,~rcs Uoudcut has lust taken
4 Iros.S -.rt I'm the battle OF the
H 8. ',r5 E, able 20 give an oyeWit-
As.' .ceourt ~ The longest battle IN
Ai;ioI', motor over miles Of mud TIN a
Il ~ s+ors vou and Intmates tnat
'aN .-sNr terminates at that point
.o. ..,, climb up su improvised starr
80 loss brings YOU 20 comfort
0,e ,..,'o -.rev-lrcd cabin on the side
i3,Lnbin whore YOU find an old. grll-
n .oIo~p sitting In an Armenian
lty s.-o r.rrr covered novel ON the
~. Ics.tc hmm is telephone lnstru-
N. vbich keeps him lu touch WIN
- ONE o. his trenches. a mule or
e suav DO IS Your first lntroduc-
80 +Le newest wrinkle Of modern
-.,ssrc Sighting by telephone
. ~ Kindly colonel shows YOU around
Il ,ls,rly but comfortably furnished
II ~ cabin and produces his most m
80 .a.vavfr for YOUR Inspection
h FTr'.sb rife which he had found
.te nearby battlefield some weeks
i - lie points out small circular
n ....br,e-t on the gun, which he says
T,r cripriuc Off the noses OF bullets
- converting them into dum-dums.
... -. his pocket he produces an al
,rsS dum-dum bullet.
The Ubiquitous Dum-Dum.
~. foyrd dead English soldier
r,r there. be explained, still gluten
~ this rifle with one hand Do me
.,ier cartridge the. point OF Whicn
ass still inserted IN the little CIRCULAR
,rschment on the gun. lie had oeen
,Ued in che very act Of snlpplnG OF
ne nose Of the bullet
Tle Tribune correspondent asked
here the battle was, and the old
.,iorel. with his Young adlutant. led
-, nav. half an hours walk through
md over an old battlefield, a souvenir
-~,tsr's paradise for future American
o9rists They were mostly English
,si,s AZ turn Of the road YOU ran
II 70 concealed battery Of heavy
.-oulssb guns three OF those ad-
4 rir,ble field kitchens on wheels tnat
II I,ys probab'y won more victories tor
- Germans than the 42-centimetre
! yrypp guns. They were shooting a
4 ,s,8v stream Of hot soup and coffee
/ 10 Inc advanced German trenches.
II Tbs correspondent was invited TO
i .-tsr the mouth of the main trench
/ .fst sebouched from the highway and
\ ~Ei,b was said TO be a safer way OF
getting 80 the front. sure enough an
4 s,,ssionsl reyscr of red mud ahead
/ slowed where French shells were drop
4 -rr. Your correspondent almost lost
II =, nerve e+ the mouth Of the trench,
Il IN careful sounding with a cane
toved that the mud ranged from two
sis inches dccp.
ANY reader of The New York Tribune
In get the thrill of battle right at
me bv going 10 some enterprislnC
.sgrbap community where the village
fiers are spending the taxpayers
,.ney in building an elaborate trunk
tger and walking through the lahy-
nth Of trenches until he gets tired.
Nothing But Mud.
Occasionally YOU climbed a few steps
II q, into the side Of the ditch and
H psed your head C.ngerly out OF the
trench 90 convince yourself that YOU
vae really am iutegrs part Of the bat
BE Of the Aisuc. Sure enough, the
isne was there all right, but where
vas the "roar of battle? The Tribune
correspondent walked through mud for
NO hours trying TO locate the roar OF
/ tsite, but without success. The bat
lie Of the Aisnc sounded like safe
Hd sane Fourth Of July at home.
IN two hours ! heard one German
iaell 20 wnistlinC overhead toward the
II french lines The French were even
more spend'hrft of ammunition. and
i red of a big gun once every htteen
Inutes or the average. At rather
olger intervals the French turned
bose q machine gun, apparently Just
o LEI the Germans know that they had
,re, while an occas. Onal rife shot was
$50 heard
In search Of the "thrill Of battle"
Vgr correspondent pushed on through
he mud Of the firing line and saw
several German soldiers. Most OF them
we're smoking cigars More soldiers
we're found .u snug little caves dug
10 the sides OF the trenches and with
which the premises were literally
ioheycombed. Here were many OF the
soniorts Of home, including lamps,
IhSrs tables. straw mattresses ana
cher furnishings. Some Of the SOL
asis were playing pinOchle, others
writing letters home. others cleaning
,heiI guns or doing much needed mend
ng' and one was being shaved.
" the enemy, nothing al all was
seen. They TOO. had presumably be
cone cave jewellers and were leading
ne simple life, like their German
.nends. There seemed 20 be no hard
ceiling between the rival battle lines,
p fact, ! found evidence that there
4 seIe certain gontlemCn's agreements
.elSeen the French and German trench.
Aen 70 cover various contingencies, ana
yen a system Of signalling safety
.i' appeared TO be the motto OF the
"noatants on both sides
War a Safe Sport.
aere were well appointed frst-ald-
"'aelnJured places. but no one TO pat
,''te them. A young surgeon looked
T 4 ne had just hung out his single
'e was waiting for his first patient.
fghlmg or the Aisne appears 20 be
pa Of the safest sports in the world,
ia nothing would surprise a man more
-sl 70 be accidentally killed. ] snail
inclined in future 20 believe French
-amuniQues and German official bull
ms when they report that nothing
sNy interest happened on the front
Trance to-day"
took second shot ~ the battle OF
hsne, with better luck than the
IVY Tine. thanks 10 the courteous
1hanolng general Of the tn Army,
~ mad one Of his staff officers tele-
-Vhe Up and down the line IN advance
lnd out where there was the most
.hg The answer came that there
certain liyeliness' around X,
as there was no telling how long IL
&c keep alive the motor cars were
,-.nso 70 the limit 10 get there before
issbsided.
nc German trenches here drive for
afly half mile into the French
!. ike a wedge. the apex being a
sss ruins If village. German
sssfs took hin and village by storm,
- ne French have been shooting II
from three sides ever since in a
operate effort 10 Gust them, which