Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-02-20
DIXkuDE IS DEAD m0Mb
MENT TO Fierce INVASI0NbY
GERMANS AND BRAVE DEFENCE

hail Of bullets that ii is sure death to
Try to cross them
Again we stopped before one OF
those confused heaps Of ruins. Here
were the headquarters OF the German
conlmandant. Forb!dding as the pile
locked from the outside It was COM
Portable enough inside It was some
rich mans house. about taree-four1hs
Of It's height left standing. and its
rooms on the ground Aoor being left
intact. Sand BAGS and earth had been
laid upon the debris covering the upper
floors. and this made the lower rooms
secure against exploding shells.
Candles and lamps shed mild and
peaceful light in the rouns.-a light
that set OF finely the century -old
spiendor Of the costly furniture that
had been brought in from other ruined
houses. There were inlaid Flemish
wardrobes In rococo style. used here to
support the ceiling; there were small
mahogany tables in Empire style, With
gilt ornaments in bronze. The coffee
percolator was humming. An ancient
clock chimed at The end Of every hour
the same choral Only Submit to the
VIII Of God But open the door and
let IN the gray daylight ana you hear
the enemy's rife bullets pattering
against the walls, incessant. ana yet
so vicious.
"A tunnel. partl: underground, and
partly broken through the wall. OF
rooms ana houses. leAds up to the ar
tiliery observation stand From here we
overlooked the battle-ground. The hos
tile trenches lie very close to each 9TH
er at one point not more than 80 yards
The River User, row carrying high wa
ter. constitutes the dividing line here
On the Other side we could gee the
French. mostly marines. moving about
in their trenches rather carelessly-
what they might well do, as We were
not answering their wild fusillade.
Il have now seen trenches all along
the western front, from the swiss
border to the North Sea: but 1 have
nowhere seen such trenches As these
along the User here. The bitches are
cut considerably below the water level
OF the river, and the result is that they
are cut, not into earth, but into fully
saturated mud. and water is all the
time collecting in them. Hence the oot.
toms are covered With brush, under
which brooklets can be heard babblins
yet without awakening any poetic SEN
timents in the midst of this perpetual
rife-fre. At intervals sinks are dug
in which the water collects, and men
are kept busy day and night dipping Il
out
Il went forward into our most ad-
vanced trenches. and what | learned
there is well worth telling. Men living
under conditions. the most -uncomfort-
able that can be imagined. yet laugh.
Ing over all the discornfoets Of the war.
and cher1shing only the one. Wish that
the inaction imposed upon them by
wise strategy may soon come to an end
and that they may be allowed to at
tack the enemy that has been lying be-
fore them for weeks. At the same time
French corpees are still tying unburied
before our positions. left there from the
repeated attacks that failed after
frightful losses for the enemy. Lifting
ones head cautiously for a moment
above the edge Of our trench, one sees
plies Of silent dead men with blackened
faces 1ytpg out there Ia bite French
ove.coats. N Is a horrible sight, but
owing to the tncessafit IRE Of the en-
envy it is impossible to give burial to
these bodies.
las I was returning from the.
trenches through q Queer. tunnel like
the bufrow Of a nioiey-passtns under
streets ana houses, through cellars,
rooms and kitchens, and once even
under a dripping sewe-the enemy
prepared for US a surprise that did not
come wholly. unexpected. He began to
lombard the rims. % Dixmude with
heatt artillery. The ffst shell struck
into d. heap 81 ruins quite near US ana
made a noise as II the world. was COM
fng to an end. Every man into tie
was commanded, and sew
eral officers pulled me along with them
into the subterranean dwelling of the
commandment for three hours we re-
manned there listening to the noise and
every moment that q shAfl.
would strike right over 0s.' Once the
very earth tremb1ed; the adjoining
house had been struck. caSia down
with crash above. our heads. Now
said the coninnapdapt' as another shell
strtfck:: .4Sok. at one fine AeAref TO Ils,
at another .fufthef away And through
it all the old Flemish clock xas chin
ing, out the hours with it's choral Of
to the. will-of God n-hisf. t