Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1915-09-25
Frederick Palmer Describes One
of Most Picturesque Actions
on British Front.
BAG GERMANS IN NOVEL WAY
~hunders Of Artillery Duel Heard
Many Miles in Rear-5ritish Off
GERS Enthusiastic Over Work of
Big Guns-Fight Without
Thought of Cost.
BY FREDERICK PALMER.

British Headquarters, France.-The
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 long
time, without counting the novel way
I'm which bag OF prisoners was made.
HODGE is the name of what was once
. village in a region as fiat as a bill
lizard table. 1t 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.
1t 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 reat attack in May
and June.
The blowing up of mine under the
German trench some weeks ago made
HODGE about the hottest point in the
Ypres salient 1t 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 20 feet across. The British charged
In and took possession of it.
In reply to the mine the Germans
brought up their flame ejector APP
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 II had
so disfgured the landscape that it was
very difficult to consolidate the po-
sltlon' 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 a bombardment with ar
Eillery OF all the neighboring part Of
the British line where the trenches
we're close together. the Germans sud
denly sprayed the British front with
fire over a section where their in
fantry attacked The British had to
giye up their crater and Hooge, too,
aud some 500 yards Of trench When
they set out to recover 1t at first
they found the Germans had the line
tristling with machine guns, so they
got back one end OF what they lost.
Reek Not the Cost.
The rule in tho Ypres salient seems
10 be never to lie down tamely under
any setback. Both sides fight to re-
cover a loss, no matter what the cost.
Sanguinary battles are waged for few
ceres 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 hoil with dust
under clouds of shrapnel smoke. The
German guns replied They threw in
some more l7-iuch shells into the
ruins Of Ypres and into other points
which they had not considered worthy
OF l7inch attention before
The thunder of this artillery duel
could be heard 30 and 30 miles to
the rear. 1t made q sound like the
roll of a drum with almost no inter.
walls between the shots Nothing heav.
Ter had been heard since Souchez.
About two the next morning guns