The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-19

plauded each swift stroke, appeared the
 races of the song writer, the comedian, | the wounded man, and the commanding | officer. It was a real triumph, but the | surprises of the evening were not at an end McCutcheon had but just resumed ] his seat when the newly finished rear wall ! of the mess hall crashed into the room. | Where had been rocks and cement was a gaping void, and a view of garden white with snow.
 While we were rescuing the song writer l from the debris, McCutcheon regarded the fallen wall thoughtfuIly.
 "They feared" he said "I was going to decorate that wall also, and they sent Chocolat outside to push it in.'' FIVE-MILE WALK The next day we walked along the bank of the Vardar river to Gravec, about five miles north of Stroumnitza station. Five
 miles further was Demir Kapou, the Gate or Iron, and between these two towns is high and narrow pass famous for it's wild and magnificent beauty. Fifteen miles beyond that was Krivolak, the most advanced French position. On the hills above Gravec were many guns, but in the
 town itself only few infantrymen. It was town entirely of mud the houses, the roads and the people were covered with it. Gravec is proud only of it's church, on the walls of which in colors still rich are painted many devils with pitchforks driving the wicked ones into the flames.
 One of the poilus put his finger on the
 mass of wicked ones.
 Les Boches," he explained Whether the devils were the French or
 the English he did not say, possibly be-
 cause at the moment they were more driven against than driving. Major Merse, the commanding officer, fl6 1- t, 1rI1 r.ta
 in a house of stone and mud from which
 projected a wooden platform. When any
 one appeared upon it, he had the look of l being about to make a speech. The major asked us to take photographs of
 Gravec and send them to his wife. He wanted her to see in what sort of place he was condemned to exist during the winter. He did not wish her to think of him as sitting in front of a cafe on the
 sidewalk, and the snapshots would show her that Gravec has no cafes, no side
 walks and no streets But he was not condemned to spend the winter in Gravec.
 BULGARS CROWD DOWN
 Within the week great stores of ammu- milton and supplies began to pour into it from Krivolak and the Gate of Iron be- came the advanced position, and Gravec suddenly found herself of importance as the French base. It was a short lived fame. The Gate of Iron belied her an cient name, and with 100000 Bulgars crowding down upon him, General Sarrail wasted no lives, either French or Eng fish, but withdrew. He was outnumbered some way five to one. In any event, he was outnumbered, as inevitably as three of a kind beat two pair. A good poker, player does not waste chips banking two pair Neither should a good general, when his chips are human lives. As it was, in the retreat 700 French were killed or wounded and of the British, who were more directly in the path of the Bulgars one thousand.
 At Gevgeli the French delayed two days to allow the Servian troops to get away and then themselves withdrew There now no longer were any Servian soldiers in Servia, and the left flank of Sarrail was exposed. So, both armies fell back toward Salonilli on a line between kiln dir and Doiran railroad station, and all the places we visited week before were now occupied by the enemy. At Cravec a Bulgarian is pointing at the wicked ones who are being driven into the flames and saving 'The Allies," and at Strum nitza station in the mess hall Bulgar off cers are framing John McCutcheon s sketches.
 And here at Salonil1i from sunrise to sunset the English are disembarking re- inforcements and the French building barracks of stone and brick. It looks as though the retreating habit was broken.
 Copyright, 1916, by Richard Harding
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