Evening star., 1916-10-01
q, tie Associated Press.

VEhDUNp fITdnCc, ocptciuoci Ao'
While tho shelling of Verdun has done
. tremendous amount Of damage, yet
6ere is ono remarkable incident in
1khich a German bombshe1 has actually
Derformed q very useful piece OF mill
tary engineering.
:. Gen. Dubois, IN command of the otta-
del, pointed out to the Associated Press
ttis curious freak wrought by q Ger
man shell.
Il calculate" said the general "that
that one shell has done for me the hard
work of fifty men working steadily for
eight days"
The net result of the shells work was
10 tear a hole through the rear fortf-
dcations, and thus opening the way Tor
a. tunnel which was much needed. Be
sides that, the same shell knocked down
two large trees at the end of the tun-
Hel, which fell across the river In such
q way that they formed the foundation
of q bridge.
and the wreckage had been inspected
Gen Dubois concluded that the path OF
the shell would be turned to useful &C
count. The Jagged hole through = the ne
and cemented, and now IT. represents
the appearance of rather .good-look1ng
archVay The trees, lying across the
river. were properly GHCuOEeu dt cltAcA
end, and q solid upper structure with
Ornamental side ratings was con
structed. Then a narrow-gauge rail-
way was run from the citadel through
this shell hole, and over this bridge
lying on the blown-up trees. so that
direct railway connection was estab-
iished between the citadel and the rear
This railway performs very useIui
service, and the whole th1ng Is tne
0utgrowth of the big German Shell
which fell just back of the citadel.
= Signs Of Hasty Flight.
:: Going along the streets of Verdun,
one sees at every hand signs of the
terror which spread over the poor vii
layers when the bombardment drove
Them away The Rue St. Pierre and
the Rue Belle Verge showed long lines
Of small shops and middle-class houses
which had been so hastily deserted that
many of the belongings had been left
behind A barber shop had been left
with lot of the perfumery bottles still
standing in front Of the empty chairs.
A carpenter shop showed the usual lit
Ter OF shavings and long benches, as
though the men had just gone off work.
Mattresses and pieces of blanket were
lying around in a house which had its
front torn out by a shell, and nearby
were pals, tubs and a demolished baby
tArriage. An upper story, where shell
had torn off the front, showed an art
ist's atelier, with an easel standing
against the wall and the place daubed
with paint. Hardly a house or shop
vas without some such evidence OF the
domestic tragedy that had been caused
ga rather well known series of paintings
Of the dancing girls, which have hung
fbr a long time in the military club at
Uerdun, has escaped the ravages Of the
bombardment, although everything along
ode these paintings is mass Of ruins.
The club has had one OF its wings torn
on by shell and the entire interior Is
"a a state of ruin. Most of the rooms
ere filed with wreckage, but the dancing
girls continue to look down on all this
Debris, and there is hardly mark on
apy one of the pictures. They show the
Characteristic dances of the various ma
tons One of them shows a Spanish
dancer with castaHets in hand doing
epmaseta. another shows Russian peas
Snt dancer; another French ballet dane
e, and another lascivious Egyptian
dancer. The pictures are seven or eight
feet square, in heavy mahogany frames,
which have also escaped the ravages of
the bombardment.
i Story of Captured Cannon.
.,EAt the entrance to the citadel Of YER
dun there are two ld-fashioned cannons
$aptured by the French in one Of the
sfruggles of former days. One of the
ssan officers accompanying the Associat-
ID Press on the rounds of the city. point
- ~ out these cannon and said:
.1'Those remind me of two curious can
hons shown me at the United States
Military Academy at West Point, when I
vas making official visit there. The
cannon bore marks showing they had
been cast in France, but as France and
the United States had never had war
]. was curious to know how they had
9AvSSo rnfr, nff ftn1 -nfr f~%A
II seems that when France was at war
With Spain, the cannon were taken by
the Spaniards. Then, when Mexico was
under the Spanish influence, Spain turn
ed over these French cannon TO Mexico.
Then, when the United States had a
war with Mexico, your American army
Gaptured the French cannon. So they
have made the rounds of four govern
pqents and are now in the hands of the
United States"
,EThis officer was one of the Franco
American exchange lecturers some years
ago, and delivered conferences at Yale
and Harvard. and in Boston, New York,
Chicago and many other cities out to the
Pacific coast.
Defenses Little Damaged.
From a military standpoint, verdun
ser than was expected. While the poor
AAitdoitdlitS Aidsc 6uilSIcQ BTcdty Sn6
loss of homes and belongings, yet the
military people point out that everything
contributing to the military defense of
the town is about as good as ever. The
citadel in the center of the town, where
the last stand was to be made, is un-
touched except for shell holes in the
heavy masonry walls These are big
enough 10 smash an ordinary dwelling to
pieces, but on these massive walls, TWEEN
II feet thick, they are only pinpricks
which can be repaired
Tie bridges, also. have all escaped
damage. and bridges from the. military
standLo Loint are very important for the
ready transfer OF troops, supplies and
refugees from one side of the Mouse to
the other. The main bridge, linking
tne principal business street, is flank
ed along the rive. by stores and houses
torn 60 pieces by shells and tumbling
into the river. But the bridge itself
does not show scratch And so 1t is
with all the other bridges.
1t is the same with the routes" as
the military men call them-a general
term covering highways leading into
the town. railway ternliaals tunnels
etc. In the town itself and the nearb
suburbs these routes" are as good as
ever though further back in the part
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