Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-09
Noted English Author
Writes Interestingly of
Three Days Spent
at Front.
BY SIR A. CONAN DOYLE.

French Army In the Argonne.-There
Is a coupIet Of Stevenson's which
haunts me. There fell a war in
woody place-in a land beyond the sea"
have just come back from spending
three wonderful days in that woody
place. 1t lies with the open. bosky
country of Verlun on its immediate
right and the chalk downs of Cham
payne upon it's left. 1t is "A very undu-
| lating country of abrupt hills and dalcs.
1t is this popularity which has made
the war on this front different to any
other, more picturesque and more Sc
cret In front the fighting lines are
half in the clay soil. half behind fallen
trunks. Between the two the main
bulk OF the soldiers live like animals
of the woodlands. burrowing on the
hillsides and among the roots Of the
trees.
Al three different points | have Wis
tied the front in this broad region,
wandering from the lines of one army
corps TO that OF another. In all three
I found the same conditions. and in all
three l found also the same pleasing
fact which l had discovered at Sois-
sons. that the fire Of the French was
AT least Ave, and very often ten. shots
70 one OF the Germans. 1t used not to
he so. The Germans used to scrupu
lousy return shot for shot. But
whether they have moved their guns
to the neighboring Verdun. or whether.
as is more likely, all the munitions
are going there, II is certain that they
were Very outclassed upon the three
days of June which 1 aliude to. There
were siens that for some reason their
spirits were at low ebb. On the even
ing before our arrival the French had
7 r,ln al hair Nd b1
and. in honor OF the Russian victory.
had played the "Marseillaise" and the
Russian national hymn, winding up
with general shouting and objurgations
calculated to annoy. Failing TO stir UP
the Germans. they had ended by a sa-
lutte from hundred shotted guns.
After trailing their coats up and down
the line they had finally TO give up the
attempt to draw the enemy The
French officers assured me that the
prisoners and deserters made bitter
complaints OF their scale of rations.
And yet IL is hard to believe that the
/ fine efforts OF our enemy mt Nerdun
are the work OF half-starved or dis
p!rited men.
GENERAL MAN OF IRON
GnADED TO FIERCENEss
return 20 my personal impress
: Il was at Chalons that We left the
49,. ;la!n--a town which vas just
touched by the most forward ripple Of
the first great German food tide a
drive OF some twenty miles took us 10
81 Menehoud and another ten
brought us 10 the front in the sector
OF the divisional general a fine SOL
der this. and Heaven help Germany if
he and his division get within its bor
der, for he is. one can see at a
glance, a man OF iron who has been
goaded to tierceness by all that his be-
loved country has endured.
/ He is man Of middle size. swarthy,
hawklike. very abrupt in his move
ments. with TWO steel-gray eyes, which
are the most searching that mine have
ever met. His hospitality and courtesy
to US were beyond all bounds. but
there is another side to him. and il is
one which it is wiser not to provoke
In person he took us TO his lines. pass
ing through the usual shot-torn VIII
lagos behind them. Where the road
| dips down into the great forest there
( is one particular spot which is visible
to the German artillery observers The
general mentioned it at the time. but
his remark seemed to have no per-
sonal interest. We understood ii bet
| ter on our return in the evening.
| Now we found ourselves in the
depths of the woods, primeval woods
of oak and beech in the deep clay soil
that the great oak loves. There had
been rain and the forest paths were
ankle-deep in mire. Everywhere 70
right and left. soldiers faces. hard and
rough from n year of open air, gazed
up at us from their burrows in the
ground. Presently an alert. blue-clad
! figure stood in the path to greet us.
1t was the colonel of the sector
| He was ridiculously like Cyrano de
Bergerac as depicted by the late NJ
/ Coquelin, save that his nose was Of
moro moderate proportion. The ruddy
coloring, the bristling feline full fl edg ed
mustache. the solidity of pose, the
| backward tilt Of the head, the general
suggestion of the bantam cock. were
all there facing us as he stood anil
the leaves in the sunlight. Gauntlets
and long rapier-nothing else was
wanted. Something had amused Cy-
rano. His mustache Quivered with sup
pressed mrth. and his blue eyes were
demurely cleaning. Then the joke
came out. He had spotted n German
working party, his guns had ooncen-
trated on 1t. and afterwards he had
| joke. 1t may seem, But the French see
| this war from different angle to us
FINDS THAT DISCIPLINE :
is FAR FROM LACKING
| We passed in a little procession
among the French soldiers and viewed
their multifarious arrangements. For
them we were little break in a mo-
notonous life, and they formed up in
lines as we passed. My own British
uniform and the civilian dresses OF my
two companions interested them AS
the general passed these groups, who
formed themselves up in perhaps a
more familiar manner than would have
been usual I'm the British service, he
glanced kindly at them with those
singular eyes Of his. and once or twice
addressed them as Mes enfants" One
might conceive that all was 90 as you