Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-02-21
STORY TOLD Of
HEAVY FIGHTING
AROUND D|XMUDE
German War Correspondent
Visits War-tor City and
Gives Vivid Description of
What Happened.

"ft"inf Iafnous through the heay,
lighting around II in October and No.
yember resulting finally in Its cap.
,ure BY the Germans. He writes az
follows.
The enemy greets any and every
movement along the road ~ Dixmude
with q Dfodigious rapid fire. For more
man a mile this road runs parallel
70 the Wrench trenches. 400 yards
distant. In ordes 10 present as unfa-
Yorable targets as possible. we broke
M our party into long chain, with
intervals Of some twenty PAGES be-
tween each two men. often too. when
the rapid fire grew too hot we had
10 90 forward By jumping from one
Tree 20 the next, although these were
not large and had been mostly shot
on by the artillery They afforded lit
Tie protection. and, besides. the M.
meFous branches strewn in The road
We're great hindrance TO our prog
ress. Each ~ us looked back fire.
quently 10 see II his rear man was
still unhuft Thus we approached
Dixmude. till We finally gathered in
II bunch for a moment near the ruin.
ed RAILWAY station; for here was the
most dangerous point In our Journey.
The crossing " peculiarly exposed 10
the French fire. A. their intrench-
nienis the French have set up num-
Der Of rifles exactly tried out and
aimed AZ this bit Of ground. and they
hre these whenever any living thing
shows itself here.
Hurry Over Ground.
Everyone Of ms saw 10 II that he !
got over this uncanny bit Of ground
az fast rs possible one after the 4
other, we skipped across the en- 4
bankment like squirrels, more bent
upon making good speed than cut
ting q dignified figure. We got across /
safely and soon had the protection Of
The ruined walls Of the houses.
'Dlxmude presents picture Of de-
struction such as / had not regarded
possible, notwithstanding ali that / /
have seen In this war. No house here
has escaped, and many quarters Of
the town are heaps of ruins in which
il " no longer possible 20 distinguish
where the streets have been. The
large market square is strewn with
shells, and in order TO reach the
point whore the beautiful town hall
and the parish church 81 St Nicholas
used to stand, one has 10 pick ones
way among deep holes gouged into
the pavement 10y the heavy shells
The church is still to he recognized
from an arch In the wall and piece
u the apse but inside the debris lies
rs high as a mans head.
"Dixmude Is dead. the grave Of an
I'D culture more touching than any
aity Of the antique world unearthed
after thousands Of years; for here
me sees everywhere mcmentoes OF
men still living. whose household
FOODS are scattered in the streets and T,
chose most precious belongings, half .
'harred, are rotting away in the rain.
Loss Il Terrible.
II got some idea Of the loss from |
IN examination Of the archives which
discovered half buried among the
'uins OF the town hall. Manuscripts
m fine old handma paper and
parchment reaching far back into the
middle aces lay there, slnged, torn
nd thrown topsy-turvy by exploding
hells, being ruined by the rain. !
here was correspondence from the /
BEGINNING of the fifteenth century. s
arried on IN German. between
nerchant in calais and the city gov J
rnment OF Dixmude. There lay the J
minutes and other documents of the !
ity government from the time when :
he IIanseatic league was in the !
Ilgh-tlde Of prosperity, financial ac- q
cunts reaching back into the four
zenith century, manuscripts OF hn, {
naniaic learning, scientific treasures
4 an important and fascinating
haracter Bat gladly as one would
ave lost ones self with these dis >
overies, this was manifestly not the
moment To become absorbed In them;
or the enomy's fire was directed
,ithOut interruption al the market
quare and the former town hall,
nd at any moment these lettering
'alls might fall.
mo human being was at first to
u seen In the ruined streets. And Yet
here was much life in the city
ut underground Hundreds of eyes
'fft MMAtHiUk wv MtAAt w N'A'
about At times a sentinel
you'd emerge quickly from tumble
( tmbers and stones to warn us not
% cross certain streets for there are II
tretches OF ground In this desolated
own that are swept by the enemys
files so'incessantIy and with such a
all of bullets that II is sure death to
~ to cross them.
Runs Are Spread.
again we stopped before one of icl
hose confused heaps of ruins, Here a
,ere the headquarters OF the German D.
Forbidding as the pile
,oked from the outside. it was COM = !.
ortahle enongh inside, II was some a,
ich mans house. about tnree-fourtns n
I it's height left standing, and its lF
ooms on the ground floor heing left "
intact. Sand bags and earth had been lfo
iia under the debris covering the ~
PIPER floors, and this made the lower
oums secure against exploding q.
hells. Candies and lamps shed a mild =,
nd peaceful light in the rooms--a ~
ght TINT set Off finely the century
IA splendor OF the costly furniture Isl
hat had been brought In from other re
uined houses. There were inlaid Idi
'lemish wardrobes in rocco style. 20
sed here to support the ceiling; ~
here were small mahogany tables in In,
mpira style. with silt ornaments IN n
rome. The eoffee percohtor was IN
umming An ancient clock chimed II
{ the end of every hour the same W
horai: only submit to the will OF