The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-26
SPECTATORS At VERDUN
RACE IN RAIN OF SHELLS
French Guns Find Range of Party of War Correspon'
dents, Who Have Narrow Escapes From Death
on Germans Front Lines. .

were ~emphatically Endorsed by the Ar
genuine correspondent. lie knew a. we'll
as the Germans with US that such rapid
correction Of fire meant the utmost peril.
They have got the range !" he screamed.
and ran. We followed.
As l plunged over the uneven dirt floor
or the battery / could see the wet faces,
bare heads and wide, wild eyes OF the
c%annoneers and somehow I never before
felt so near TO men In my life. One
thinks fast under such conditions, and I
remember that the thought ran through
my mind. II wonder IL it's with these
good fellows that I am going 10 finish
life"' and I may add without any sentt-
mentalizing hat there was a kind of
comfort In the thought. 70 the German
soldier Is a good fellow. n In the
course OF a year and a half I have come
to feel a deep affection for him.
Meanwhile the fourth shell was on It's
way to us. While It Was coming the
under officer who was directing the fire
screamed "Salve!" and all the guns
spoke together. Tn roar OF hat volley
did not make my heart turn over as It
has done in times past. because this
time iny mind was SO intent upon the
approaching French shell that all other
sounds seemed unimportant.
As I ran I passed a bombproof and I
remember wondering whether the wisest
thing to do would be to plunge into Il.
That thought was brushed away by
another No: perhaps this lombard
ment will last for hours. and II II does
the b%ombproof will be beaten to pieces"
SO I kept on running.
We had reached. I sse:!d say. the
NTH =" Or the battery. or perhaps the
last one. when the fourth French shell
struck IL. II. like the one before. had
fallen behind the third gun. but instead
of nifty yards behind It. only fifteen.
This ! was told later by colleagues who
were behind me.
I did not wait TO verify anything. I
was Logging it to the glad free landscape
stretching so swcctly beyond the low
Iarapets OF the battery. just as the
fourth French shell struck ! stepped on
something soft that nearly tripped me-
I looked down. II was Brown OF the
New York Times.
"A splinter has struck him and thrown
him down. | thought. and I clutciied at
his arm. But he was not wounded. Ex-
pectiug splinters he had thrown himself
on the ground in the hope OF escaping
item. | can'see his face as I plunged
over him. II was not white and there
was no fear in the eyes. Rather an ex-
preston Of comNete amazement. You
might say il was wonder. combined with
hopel.ssnese or helplessness. lie pulled
himself TO his feet again and together
We ran or.
The fourth shell had fallen between the
under officer and his gun and he was
l,gging II down the slope. His. men were
h~uddled under their guns. This also I
WAS told by those who were behind me.
: After the German "salvb' and the fourth
French shell there was a silenc" on both
sides and We all tool advantage Of that
lull to make time.
1t seemed essential that We should. for
our way-our only way-lay through a
lane of German shells which were piled
to IA height Of perhaps four feet on each
side Of the highway for "A distance Of "A
city block. n the ambitious French
should pop a shell INTO the mass OF am
munition II would be the end for W.. and
no good throwing ourselves on the
ground to escape splinters Hut the
French evidently were taking breath
after the German ''salve' and we got
safely down the highway into the vii
lage of L.
Reaching that point. which was safe
enough TO seem like heaven. everybody
grinned and laughed rather foolishly and
exchanged Impressions I'm rather high
keyed voices. The coolest man in the
party Was Prince Of $ a simple. dif-
iideut. silent old man. who IL In the au-
tomobile corps and who on this occasion
scratched his beard In a reflective way
and said. We'll. that was interesting 20
Impressions Analysed.
Later, everybody. feeling bound to fol.
who had set down his Impressions of the
cannon fever" when he was under fire
at Nalmy. only a few miles from where
we are-everybody. ] say. fel, bound 70
make an analysis OF his Impressions.
The first fact that bore on me when I
felt ! was safe was that ] was no,
trembling. This surprised me for |
knew that never in my life had | been
more frightened. And when I tried "a
figure out why I was not trembling Il
came to me that there il one sensation
which smothers and keeps down even
the sensation OF fear when one IL under
battery fire and that Is the sensation OF
utter confusion or complete helplessness
Even To run seems useless and We,
there is IN agonized yearning for space
and II serves all the purposes Of fear ir
that it sets the legs going, Perhaps II II
fear and yet ] cannot remember tina ir
our flight anybody loaned or cried o,
swore or gave any OF the other custo.
mary signs of fear. 7 think the though
that kept us all up was that probabl,
We could not escape but that possibl,
we might. In other words. We eXpecte,
, the worst hut subconsciously counted OF
i, a little luck
one uf the sub-threads Of emotio,
r which tangled my faculties as We nev
out of the battery and which ! can Olsen
: tanglc now was a wild hope that II IN,
French shell did strike in my path |
would do its work instantly and no
y leave me lying there for hours. manglc,
. and bleeding. At Przemysl I had see,
horses that had been torn but not kille,
by shell fire. and ! did not want any o
that.
= As | look back on the experience o