South Bend news-times., 1915-09-29
EARTH TREMBLED
AS Guns RGARED
BOmbardment is Described as
the Underground Growing
of Distant Volcano.

BERLIN (via London). Sept. %
The Cologne Gazette publishes the fol-
lowing account by the German author.
Dr. George Wegner, Of the terrific
bombardment which preceded the
French attack in Champagne:
German General Headquarters.
Western Front, Sept. "a. - II is
Friday morning. During the night
we have been hearing the sound OF
distant gun fire which In volume
and duration exceeded anything eX-
perienced since we have been here.
Yesterday evening already the bonn
bardment was exceptionally lively.
Then it died down towards midnight.
but about o'clock this morning it
started afresh with unprecedented
disturbance, typical Of a big scale
bombardment, with shot following shot
in an unbroken grOwl Of thunder like
the roll of drums.
One hOur-twO hours-fOur hours
still there was no end to il. There
was excitement in the town. The like
Of il had not been heard since the
days Of the first German advance pass
ed like a storm over this section.
Where is it? What does it mean?
The thunder Of distant guns can be
better heard upon the hills than in
the valley. so we went up to the top OF
the hill which rises outside TIE town.
Still Under Way.
! have just returned. 1t is now II
a. m. and the guns are still thunder
ing the extraordinary roll of a bonn
bardment in the ArgOnne, which was
the prelude TO French attack on the
Marie Terese field works. 1t has lasted
from to 11-three hours, and the
h~v
going or more than twice as long.
The whole atmosphere is in a state
of dull vibration. 1t seems as if one
perceived the sound not only with the
the ear, but as if one had the physical
sensation of being shaken by air
waves II is as if the sound came up
from unknown depths of the earth.
Indeed, more than anything. ii is like
the unCanny underground growing of
a distant volcano in eruption. shaking
the earth's crust for miles around and
making it tremble like a man in a fit
of ague.
1t is a most remarkable and exciting
sensation. All around as far as the
eye can reach the countryside is bath
ed in gracious peace, and through the
clear Sunlit air from beyond the sky
line the awe-inspiring sounds seem TO
come straight from the south or per-
maps southwest and therefore from
Champag e. The atmosphere is pc
culiarly sultry. An oppressively hot
south wind, a sort of sirOceo, unusual
I'm these parts, is blowing from that
quarter and it may be this wind which
carries the sound with unwonted
clearneSs.
In any case something tremendous
and awful is going on. What it is,
whether we, or the French. or both,
l cannot as yet tell but I think it is
likely to De the rolling of French guns,
probably between Rheims and the Ar
gonne. Nor was L altogether surprised
by it. On the contrary 1 had almost
with certainty expected it. 1t is an
open secret that we are reckoning
with the possibility of an attempt by
the enemy to start a new and great
offensive somewhere on the west front.
We are ready for it. The whole front
is In a state of electric tension. l am
not going too far len / say there is
hope, too, in the hearts of our troops,
who are eager for the fray. / cannot
state at which point our supreme
command primarily expects the at
tack-at several points, perhaps at
many points at once.
Ii may be towards noon. The voice
one who has heard it on the spot
knows how awful and terrible a thing,
even for the victor who holds the
ground at last, is the sound. as l heard
it today, like the rolling of drums