El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-19
BAYONETS TAKE
PLACE Of GUNS
IN MOUNTAINS
Steel Clashes With Steel in
Desperate Battles in
the Vosges.
CANNON USELESS
TO BOTH SIDES

T ONDON, Eng, Feb. 19.-H Warner
Allen. who is official representa-
tive for all the British newspa-
pers with the French armies, sends
today the following description Of the
desperate struggle going forward night
and day in the Vosges mountains:
/. In the mountains of the Vosges men
still fight today in the open. with the
cold steel, as they fought in the days
before machines Of scientific destruc-
tiOn drove them underground. The
Nosges are the country of the bayonet
and the machine gun. Among their
PERCEPTIONS pine-clad hills the OBJ
stacles set by nature in the way of the
invader from the east are proof against
the puny artillery Of science. 4 Il
inch shell makes no more impression
on a mountain than a raindrop on
paving stone: and under cover of the
forests and the rocks whole armies can
lie hidden in perfect security from the
enemy's guns.
THE aviator's eve cannot pierce the
dense canopy of ever green foliage, and
the guns as a rule, can only fire at
random, blindly wasting their shells
among the trees and bOulders. The
rifle has its part to play in the fight
ing. but il is handicapped by the album
dance Of cover. and 4 is with the bayo-
rests. It is only in the valley that the
guns are dangerous. For half mile
our road lay exposed to the view and
shells Of the Germans. just thousand
yards away and the cars worked up to
fun speed TO get past the danger zone
as quickly as possible
Reinforce Natures Defence.
Sometimes one may catch a glimpse
of a pale blue uniform, but an instant
later it has faded away into the all
.Nr.ew
seems as lonely and as peaceful as If
there were no war. Yet If one looks
more closely, one sees that human in
genuity has been hard at work doing
its utmost to reinforce the obstacles
that nature has set against the Ger
man. sBlOckhouses built of stout pine
trunks, with deep loophOlesy are dot
ted all about the woods.
Something's great boulder has been
pressed into service. and, topped with
breastwork Of tree trunks, it makes
an almost impregnable shelter. These
rustic trenches and shelters are as
much a part of the forest as a wood
mans hut and the poilus who built
them have adorned their work with
soft beds of bright green moss. The
main defence is the barbed wire which
is twined in an inextricable network
round tree trunks fallen branches and
wooden stakes. 1t runs along the hill
slopes. and down into the ravines, ex-
tending in ali directions its impossible
barrier.
on the other side Of the barbed wire
it is debatable ground. The French
sentries lie hidden In shallow holes
with their rifles at tlieir shoulders,
listening intently for a stir or rustic
that might betray the approach Of q
German patrol Sometimes patrol
knock up against patrol in the debat-
able ground, and then there IS speedy
work with the bayOnet
Are TerritOrialS Over 40.
1.-THE Frenchmen engaged in this par
ticular section are not, as might be eN-
pected. young men, 10 Whom noun
taineering and war in the nils might
be an agreeable sport. They are Ter
ritorials. men over 40, and for the most
part fathers Of a family. The major
who conducted us over his domain
which. as he rightly said, was to be
measured rather by height and depth
than by length and breadth-was
man of 20, and in civilian life a law
yer. Yet he climbed to the breakneck
paths, never pausing for breath, with
an ease that many men half his age
might have envied.
ssThese territorial troops have been
particularly quick in discovering how
TO make themselves as secure and as
comfortable as possible on the mountain
side
..They have built their major resi-
dence and provided it with a work Of
art i'm the shape Of a barbed- wire
chandelier, which is not merely iHge-
NOUS. but actually beautiful. There
are architects builders artists, cabinet
makers among them, and each of them
has contributed his share Of special
knowledge to the general result. Their
great triumph is the Turkish baths.
complete with dome and crescent above
the roof where every man can wash
himself to his hearts content.