Evening star., 1916-10-04
HER OIC MISSOURI BOY WINS
THE FRENCH CROSS OF WAR
Other Americans Are Fighting in Great
Somme Battle in Frances Famous
Foreign Legion.

| tion Of tho wall remained standing at
Chilly. whore the Germans had massed
their strength under ground Entan.
| clement after ENHANCEMENT OF barbed
wire was out by the shells.
Then the French, who had assembled
in the most advanced dugouts dashed
| out The first wave reached and clear
ed the German front line, In which the
Germans had retaken places after the
artillery had ceased to hre and they
were able to emerge from their Dur
| rows. They were all killed or captured.
| The wave Of French then partly crept
ond German line, and the second wave
| of French troops advanced in support
to occupy the first German limo.
Germans Get Between IdneA
Meanwhile, from somewhere under.
ground. large body Of Germans came
| between with machine guns and
grenades The French hesitated an in
slant, but were not stayed. They
bayoneted some Of tho Germans. tho
| rest OF whom disappeared into a tun-
mel Calls to surrender availed MOTH
ing, and it was an impossible task to
follow. Then the French built a
sandbag redoubt around tho tunnel
The first French wave went on and
took the second and third German
lines within Chilly itself. There from
the other end, the tunnel began to dis
brought to an end by French detach-
ment
The French line. which had been ad-
vancing directly eastward. suddenly
found itself enfiladed. and executed .
brilliant pivot movement on the open
Rush followed rush, and it took
trenches to a depth Of a mile and a
half, whore the positions won were
consolidated. defying all attempts Of
the Germans to counter attack.
Germans IN an unknown number
were still in tho tunnel in the rear and
obsunately refused to surrender. For
eighteen hours they held out. until q
In to inform them that the French
would shell them out Thereupon, they
were sorted in groups until more than
400 men and ten officers were captured.
Railroad Track in Tunnel.
The Associated Press correspondent
today went through the tunnel, which is
nearly 1000 yards in length. with an
eighteen inch railroad track running
from beginning to end. Inside, at a
depth Of twelve yards. were sleeping
quarters. munition depots. an infirmary,
with the most modern surgical instru-
ments. fresh water wells tons Of equip
ment, electric lights and ventilation
pipes. The sides and roof were board
ed up and 1t was possible to walk near
ly upright. although at some places it
was necessary to crouch and many
parts were Inundated
The entrance of the tunnel was to-
ward Maucourt. the exit in the center
of Chilly. where was found the Ger
man commandments apartment Of sew
eral rooms with painted walls, solid
doors, chairs, tables. beds and q tele-
phone system. At depth Of forty feet
was an excavation sufficiently large to
hold a whole company of soldiers. with
hoists for machines.
|. This position now Ia in the hands of
the French and still subjected to an in
termittent bombardment from the Ger
man lines about mile away, and any
movement brings a salvo Of shells.
The correspondent, returning under
cover of night, passed through commu-
nication trench, which with constant.
turnings. was several thousand yards
long. Water to a depth of a foot COW
cred the bottom, which was Of clay,
making progress almost impossible.
Every foot Of the surrounding ground
overhead is torn with shells. whose
craters are sometimes ten feet deep.