Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-10

Desperate Fight in Wood.
Until they reached the edge OF the
wood the losses of the attackers were
slight. German artillery was in action.
but had little effect. In the wood
desperate fight took place. An officer
of light infantry said:
II had never seen my men 90 at the
enemy with sUch fury They cleared
my section of the wood in less than an
hour.
AT one point on the opposite edge OF
the wood a German machine gun was
posted in q ditch. protected by breast
works of felled trees. 1t poured
deadly fire into US. y sergeant aliu
twenty men volunteered to drive out
the enemy.
advancing by leaps and bounds.
from tree to tree, they got in among
the Germans with bayonets They took
the gun and turned II about. staring
raking fire on the Germans. TINS did
not last long, for they soon damned the
gun in their enthusiasm.
French Take Wood.
BY early afternoon virtually the
whole wood was In the hands of the
French The Germans. however, pre-
pared another onslaught. While re-
serves were being gathered behind hill
No. 2S5 artillery fire was concentrated
on the reverse slopes of Goose Hill to
prevent the bringing up or french
supports. The flooded Mouse at this
point comes within a few yards of the
railroad embankment on the slope OF
the hill. Hundreds of shells fell in the
river, sending up columns OF mud and
water The German attack began at
dusk The fighting lasted intermittent
ly all night and most of Thursday. The
Germans steadily lost ground until at
nightfall of yesterday they retained
bare footing in the wood
Fighting at Bethincourt.
Meanwhile lively fighting was in prog
ress at Bethincourt. Along that part OF
the line the Germans advanced from
Cuisv to FORCES with the object Of cap
turing Bethincourt village and taking the
French positions Oh Dead Man hill in the
rear. They failed to debouch, however,
French guns sweeping the slopes every
time they attempted to dash forward.
The hottest fighting OF yesterday how
ever was around EauX, northeast of YER
dun. Still intent on getting Douaumon,
plateau the German commander hurled
troops against the village of Naux i'll the
hope that they would carry il by storm
and establish themselves in La Caillette
wood on the reverse side of the plateau
Brigade after brigade dashed against
the French front along the mile be
tween the villages Of Vaux and Douau-
mont on one occasion ten companies
reached the village Of Vaux. and i'm
mediateIy barricaded themselves in
wrecked houses. but a French counter
attack soon drove them out after a
fierce hand to hand struggle among the
ruins.
Try to Storm Trenches.
Toward The end Of the day the Ger
mans attempted to storm the French
trenches at The bottom Of the slopes
leading up to the fort of Eaux. blu,
when nightfall came there set in a
heavy snowstorm which hampered fur
Their operations.
These attacks on the right bank OF
the river were carried out with eff
fectiye estimated at several army
corps. Time after time German troops
were annihilated by the French ar
tillery, but they were replaced i'm
mediately by fresh regiments.
French Communication.
The text of the announcement give
out today by the French war offit c
reads:
I'm the Argonne district our artillery