The Detroit times., 1916-05-29
sy HERBERT COREY.


1--we must hurry" said the
Iral ofiicer who accompanied US.
o'clock the guns begin"
. squashed hreathlessly through
and muddy woods. on paths that
nd painstakingly behind hillocks
dumps OF bushes. Sometimes
open glade presented itself.
"a we turned In our tracks and
umnavigated the opening. The
b has been carefully chosen.
king In the Forest OF the Ar
ne closely resembles navigation.
goes by compass and the stars
hxed points on the horizon.
lerfoot the forest Is loose and
bpy. The soupy mud spurted
Ter our boots.
10 minutes the civilian mem
OF the expedition were com
ely lost. Sometimes we walked
dly across wide spaces. Then
descend into trenches. One road
encountered was labeled quite
%. The next road-an equally
ie. equally wet road. running In
same apparent direction--was
Germans were able to see
OF use. BY some legerdemain
etches of II. The Smelling OF
zee stretches impaired it's eff
ncy. We painted loudly behind
, officers. The Russian cores
adent took of his cap and per
qred shamelessly. His head Is
'ge and very bald
k'Down here" said the general Of
Per.
Fifty years old. this general Off.
h, and as lively as boy More
ely than most boys. His eyes
one and he crinkled his face in
y most friendly way when he
|hghed. which was often. His cap
trched jauntily on one side OF his
I'D and he switched at weeds with
D cane. A tremendous walker.
BE general officer. He would pause
; tell us story and We would
EAnkfully stop and listen to il.
|aen he would be of at full speed.
b splashed after him, our feet
kpping on things that turned in
70 mud.
what he called "down here" was
|e line OF communication trenches.
hey were very narrow and al times
rry deep. Sometimes they bur
swed through the shoulder OF a
III and sometimes II was 90 feet
sunlight and sometimes we
'ooped as we walked, lest the alert
'erman see our caps above the bat
ements. All the trenches were
,uddy. When We met soldiers com
|g out we passed them by half
%rn motion. We climbed mp a
|imy cleft In the hill by putting
ar hands on either side. That
limb would have bothered a goat,
was so steep and slippery.
War From a Box Seat.
"Here In the balcony" said the
eneral officer. "The box seat. You
hall see the fight from here"
We had been invited 20 watch the
rench shell the German trenches.
ve do not know that the Smelling
as arranged for our especial bene-
I. We preferred not to ask. All
o knew was that the Smelling would
egin at 4 o'clock, and that IL we
ere In our seats we would see II.
he balcony" to which the general
nicer referred was an artillery OBJ
srvation post. We raised cur
lin OF sacking and stepped into a
ell cut In the side OF the hill. A
arrow slit ran across II, and there
"a Q rough bench and a place on
hich To rest our elbows. The cur
hin behind us was pinned tight
hut. IL II had been raised some
erman watcher might have seen
he light shine through the cell
'om the trench behind. Then
The trenches in one angle or
'hich we sat ran along the face OF
shallow hill. Across the valley
as another hill. identical In slope.
9th slopes were bare and brown,
18th blackened patches here and
here. Once they had been well
coded, but the shells had cut down
he trees. For the most part they
ersisted only as shredded and shat.
cred trunks.
No whole tree remained on either
lope. Across the valley was n
cap OF broken stone In which n
Tas quite impossible to recognize
hat had been a pretty village be-
)re the Germans came. Under
cut.banks" in the bottom Of the
alley men walked. wearing blue
,lforms. They were French sol
srs. Sometimes they came TO
en- places. where the slope OF the
vi was not broken by any Unequal.
Il. Across these places they ran.
Ne Germans fired at them, down
g hill.
f'How far are the German trench
"a" we asked.
perhaps 1000 yards" vas the
ply.
They were 80 near that the bi-
oculars were not needed. We sat
mere. ut our ease in the dark cell