Evening journal., 1916-01-14
BY WILLIAM 6. SHEPHERD

United Press Stan Correspondent.
SALONIkA Dec. live smashed
up a wagonload of refugees as we
went along. 1t was one Of those pitt
ful carloads of household goods. with
an old woman and a baby sitting on
a pile and the younger and stronger
members of the family plOdding along
in the mud or alongside the two oxen.
AS we turned down the road the
perplexed peasants turned the oxen
and headed for a roadside ditch. The
unusual sight Of an automobile SEEM
ed to frenzy them. A woman and a
man struck the oxen with sticks. The
wheels went down with a crash and
everybody screamed. The old woman
held up the baby in her arms. The
body of the wagon settled down into
the ditch, on its side Gently the old
woman and the baby Slid off into the
mud. Beside the road was camp of
British engineers and we saw them
/ locking by scores from their tents to
the scene of the household wreck.
BY the time we had passed fifty or
more of these parties Of refugees we
/ knew that somewhere ahead the re-
treat was under way.
| AS we went along the mountain
roads in the French ambulance, we
/ knew how comfortable a wounded
man might be in such a car In addi-
| ton to the spring of the pneumatic
! tires. there were the springs Of the
car itself. The stretcher seats on
which we sat were hung by a third
/ series of springs from steel bars,
| which were suspended from the cell
ing Of the car by spiral springs. The
motion of the ambulance. except for
a slight swaying. was almost imper-
ceptible.
Just when we we're marvelling at
the comfort with which we were trav-
cling and comparing our situation with
that Of the sad life of the refugees.
there was a terrific explosion at the
roadside and the shrek of shell
A shell drills a tunnel through the
air and through this tunnel the echoes
of the whistling shell jar and clash
and mix in one long whine The shell
we heard was leaving us. Through
the ambulance window we saw first
a cloud of smoke and then the out
line of a huge gun which stood at
least eight feet above the ground on
giant wheels and had a mouth that
a man could have put his head into.
The great cannon stood within fifteen
feet of the road. but was so cleverly
sheltered and hidden by decorations
of holly that we had not seen it.
Let's get out and photograph it"
said one correspondent
Not here" said our lieutenant
guide. THE Bulgars are across the
valley and if we stop long enough
to give them our range they'll fire at
us sure"
The road was cut along the face OF
a hill. Below us was the valley Of
CostorinO and four miles, away. be-
} yond the valley, were other hills like
ours where the Bulgar artillery was
hidden.
Just a quarter Of mile further
and we reached the shelter of a turn
in the road. The huge Englih gun
behind us kept splitting out its roar
. ing challenges across the valley. BY
the watch il was possible to hear the
whine OF its shells for six seconds;
the whine always ended in deep, dull
roar where the shell had broken some
five or six miles away
When we tumbled out Of the ambul-
ance we saw a narrow ravine running
behind a hill There were tents and
dug-outs on its sides. This was a
secret ] couldn't have told two weeks
ago. But it doesn't matter now. The
Frenchmcn, with their steel blue
casuues, have all gone from the
ravine Hill SIC which sheltered
them. belongs TO the Bulgars now.
and the battle field Of the Valley OF
Costerino is quiet and peaceful again,
miles behind the Bulgarian battle line.
But now, IL was a battlefield. A
J cannon on the top of the hill rOared.
Another cannon further away rOared.
The British cannon behind US roared.
! They are all ally cannon. And then
came different sound Il was a shrek
that didn't grow less with the passage
Of seconds. but louder Look into the
sky above you: you can see nothing
2 you feel helpless: all around you the
air is filled with that growing whine ;
b it may end in burst near you; if
that's the case you won't hear the
burst, in all likelihood In common
parlance the light will go out and you
won't know what hit you. You have an
infinitely intense desire to hear the
E boom: you want TO have the thing
over with: as long as that whine is in
the sky over your head you may be
2 killed at any minute.
/ am not writing this in order ia
E boast that have been under shell fire
{, but in order to point out that being
. under shell fire is an alarming thinz
and that If the experience doesn't stir
D up a heavy thrill within you, then you
: must be a dumb animal that cannot
! understand the things that are goine
\ on around it, Some men say they like
!. this thrill; that the feeling is pleas.
y ant Others say they don't like it and
j / am among them. It's too much like
being in a terrific electrical storm
:, with harder lightning than human
= beings ever saw in the sky, any bolt'o
; which means death.
. But here the she'll is, in the SIX!
. above us.
There is a terrific roar On the hill
: side above us huge cloud, bigge
a than a six story building, Of mud
!, stones and earth arises. The shell
has burst. Let it be recorded tha
= Richard Harding Davis, John Nc