The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1916-09-27

cided he would not pass through that
wilderness of British guns of all sizes
and caliber while he had any hearing
left. Everyone of them was firing at
top speed. He chose a gallery which
took him many miles past those pour
ing out into the raging tempest of
gunfre. From the ruins of Somme
old German trenches, whence the bat
tie panorama stretched before him the
correspondent had near view Of the
French gunners who were feeding
shells into the gunbreeches as grain
is fed into the threshing machines,
and with the mechanical precision of
automatons.
Shortly after noon was the time
chosen for the infantry to rush for
ward under cover of final intensive
chorus of hell from the artillery. The
ridges IN front and on either hand
were fecked With racing sparks of
flame. Within an hour at least fifty
thousand shells must have been fired
within sight of the correspondent.
Far to the south was Mont ST.
Quentin, two miles from Peronne and
commanding that town, which the al
lied commanders say will fall like
ripe plum when the time comes. The
hill lay hazy above the green foliage
OF the river valley in the midst of
&c of
shells of enormous caliber. Directly
in front was Combles, another town
which has come to mean much to the
imagination of the public in England
and France who seem to regard its
capture of vital significance. Com
bles differed from all the villages in
sight in that the walls of many of its
buildings were still standing. 1t was
different, too, in the fact that it form
ed an oasis in the storm of the bat
tie. Neither artillery nor infantry
paid any attention to it. The gauge
of battle was the high ground around
it the possession of which means the
command of the town. South of it lies
| Ginchy and other points.
For time the infantry surged for
ward to the attack. Then the tre-
mendous fire of the German guns
swelled to its utmost volume until
the whole field was lost in vast clouds
of smoke. The attacking infantry van
ished in that grim pail while high
overhead scores of sausage balloons
and hundreds of aeroplanes, their
wings cleaning like silver in the
brilliant sunlight, strove vainly to see
what was passing beneath them.
Then, across the dead fields arose a
signal from Morval which told that
the British infantry had reached an
other goal and that another village
was taken. A man at telephone in
a nearby signal station called out the
capture of the different strong points
with the enthusiasm of one who scores
hotly contested game.
Presently the British wounded be-
gan to straggle back and their bear
ing as they moved along beside their
prisoners, was another criterion by
which the correspondent knew how
the day had gone without making in
/ quiries of the staff. The German ma
chine guns had stopped them for a
while at some POINTS but generally re-
ports told of every position being
taken on the minute set in the pro-
gram. The British wounded said that
of course they got there as they were
used to getting there. Their great
qualification was that it was 'becom-
ing an even fight since the Germans
had no more prepared lines, but both
armies were fighting in the open. Ac-
cording to these men the Germans nc
longer have trenches except those
: which are dug under fire.