The Washington herald., 1916-06-05

now occupied by the British will deny
that the Germans from the very start
of the war have regarded the line ex-
tending from Arras to the sea as a
barrier which once pierced would give
them access to the much-coveted
Channel ports.
THE fighting which has taken place
around Ypres and Arras has been as
desperate, though not as costly in life,
as anything which has taken place
around Verdun. but no progress has
been made. The Germans are credited
with massing just one-third of their
electives on the Western front
roughly estimated at 100000 men
more than one-third of their artillery.
Any delusion which may have been
entertained in Germany regarding the
miserable little English army has
long since disappeared, but it is only
right to say here that the German
staff, no matter what may have been
printed to the contrary. have always
held the English in highest esteem,
more particularly since Gen. French's
little handful of men kept two Ger
man army corps at bay on the retreat
from Mons"
"Crater system" in Vogue.
MI. DuileI says llat IN many places
trench warfare is yielding to the wdr-
fare of "crater systems" One side or
the other saps well into the no mans
land which divides the two armies. and
a mine is exploded. There is mining and
countermining going on all the time and
no work is more nerve trying, even to
seasoned troops.
As soon as a mine is exploded, the
front line men dash forward with their
to
the crater and establish themselves there
until one crater is linked Systematically
with another. Marvellous progress, Mr.
Bullen says, has been made in the
science of military mining.
The first mines exploded in the war
were by the French. in the bloody fight
ing around Vermelles," Bullen said.
They are now overgrown with grass
and when I saw them, not many days
ago, viOlets and bluebells and primroses
were peeping out from the sides and bot
toms. By rough measure the diameter
OF the two craters would be less than
twelve feet and the depth about two to
five. At the present time the big how
itzers used by the British can establish
a crater double the size OF those at Yer
melles both in circumference and depth.
And the mines are still more effective.
Such huge crater systems linked up by
trenches are often converted into the
most formidable of fortresses."
English Well Equipped.
In point of equipment. Mr. Bullen
claims the British army in France is not
alone the best in France but in the
world. All the front line troops now
wear the new steel casque very similar
to the French pattern. but with a plain
crown instead of fluted. and this device
it is declared, has decreased the number
OF head wounds by 50 per cent. The
Germans have copied the casque and
discarded their old style helmet, which
at the start of the war was still a bet
ter protection than the headgear of any
other army in the field.
The new gas helmets issued by the
J British, are considered a perfect pro-
lection against poison gas and a partial
safeguard against lachrymatory shells
I The spirits of the men on the Western
front, said BulIen, are cheerful. The
men are supremely confident that when
the time comes for an advance in force
over broad front-advances over a
narrow front, it appears, are not worth
while and only provide dangerous sal
ients-they will be equal to any task en-
trusted to them. On the contrary he de-
clares the desertons from the German
ranks and the letters found upon Ger
man prisoners prove that pessimism
dominates the German homeland For
three days before the Verdun attack.
the Germans held up delivery of all let
ters to the field force about to be en-
gaged> on the ground, because as the
prisoners state, the sad news of grow
ing want at home and famine prices
for many articles of daily necessity in
terfer seriously with the armys morale.
Mr.. Bullen said the regulations would
not permit OF publication of any detail
I n TNr1h hn@
English army in France can be roughly
estimated when 1t is reflected that the
| German strength on the English front Is
we'll over $50 0C0 men.
The reason the Germans attacked Yer
dun instead of concentrating upon one
more desperate effort to seize the Chan
mel ports was simply because they
| thought the French would be an easier
| nut" to crack
The intelligence department of the
British army is being splendidly served
by aviators, who have now established
their superiority over the Germans on
| the British front.
In every engagement I saw between
rival airmen the Germans were worsted ;"
says Bullen, "and at the time I left
France for England, it was known that
the Instructions to German aviators were
ktE55ayoid a fight, whereas the British in
strrctions were to seek a fight every
time. AS a result of the development Of
aviation the element of surprise which
the strategists of the old school con-
sidered of such Importance in warfare
has been practically eliminated. Both
sides now know nearly everything that
transpires daily in either army, even to
the movement of troop trains or the
change in position of any important regi-
mental unit"
Spirit of eopIe Good,
What about the spirit of the people
in England?" he was asked.
There has been nothing quite So fine Z"
replied Mr. Bullen with enthusiasm
since the days of Elizabeth and Mari
borough. The people possess themselves
IN patience whether in adversely or good
fortune; they are calmly confident that
they will win in the long run and have
now settled down to the task of mobliz-
ing all their available resources. Nobody
IN England ever talks of peace and the
q Ifartf Nf 49,