Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-26

l.. / COntlnue0 from TdRcI
French forces on the Somme. AS a
spectacle for the observer it was the
by the allied forces since the COM
mencement of the great offensive
What either army was trying to do
and how they were doing it, the posi-
tions they held and sought. to con-
quer in the team play of the blue
French legions and the khaki-clad
brigades of Britain, were comprehen-
sible to the eye in the glorious aut-
umn sunlight for a sweep of ten miles.
The scene had the intoxication of
wars grandeur-if war can be said
to have 1t.
Tonight the British have taken half
of Morval. all of LesboeuX and have
advanced their line on front of 5000
yards for an average depth of 1000
yards; the French have stormed Ran
court and have pushed their line to
the outskirt of the little village of
Fregicourt, a mile east and a little
north of Combles. The German
stronghold of Combles is virtually iso-
lated.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press went forward yesterday over the
ridge in the Devils wood and Ginchy
region which the British have fought
for over two months to gain. He
walked for two miles through an area
which reverberated to the blasts of
the great guns, picking his way be-
tween the bursts of flame from the
crashing batteries and moving around
the rows of cannon as one who seeks
ford in stream. On the other side
of the ridge he saw guns where he
had never seen them before-on the
promised land of the lower levels
which the British had won by persis-
tent siege work. The guns were close
up to the British infantry who listened
to their thunderous chorus as they
prepared for the charge in to-day's
attack. 1.-THE usual artillery prepara-
tion," said an artillery officer.
Firing at Top Speed
In his return the correspondent de-
cided that he would not pass through
that wilderness of British guns of all
sizes and caliber while he had any
hearing left. Every one of them was
firing at top speed He chose GAL
lery which took him past many bat
teries which for two miles were pour
ing out their share of the raging tenn
pest of gunfire. From the ruins of
some old German trenches, whence
the battle panorama stretched before
him the correspondent had a near view
of the French gunners who were feed
ing shells into tho gun breeches as
grain is fed into a threshing machine
and with the mechanical precision of
automatons.
Shortly after noon was the time
chosen for .Ae infantry to rush for
ward under the cover of a final inten-
sive chorus of hell from the crtillery.
The ridges in front and on either hand
were 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 allied comman-
ders say, will fall like a ripe plum,
when the time comes. The hill lay
hazy above the green foliage of the
river valley in the midst of vast bursts
of black smoke from shells of enor-
nous caiber. Directly in front was
Combles, another town which has
come to mean much to the imagina-
ton of the public in England and
France who seem to regard its cap
ture as of vital significance. Com
bles differed from all the villages in
sight in that the walls of many of it's
buildings were still standing. 1t was
different too. in the fact that 1t formed
an oasis in the midst of the storm of
battle. 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 FarthAr narth