Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-02-10
WIRE FENCE IS
ONLY MARKER Of
SWISS FRONTIER
Barrier on Boundary of Men,
trail Country No More
Formidable Than Seen at
Many English Estates,

NAssociAted Press CorrespOndence.)
Headquarters, French Armies on
West Front. Jan. tS.-( British Off
cial Witness What win the
adventurous person who attempts to
walk along the French front trenches
find when he reaches the Swiss from
tier. the extreme point of the French
right wing?
He will find a barbwiro fence no
more formidable than those which
enclose many English meadows. At
ter the vast and complicated fields
of barbwire which protect the
trenches, this fence seems absurdly
inadequate and artificial 10 be the
counterpart of the North sea which
terminates the lines at the extreme
other end.
There are IA few pieces of red ana
white canvas tied to the wire to show
that at this point the neutral terri
tory Of switzerland begins, and
single Swiss sentry stands with bay0.
net fixed behind a movable barrier
earnshed with barbwire that is set
across the country road The placid
Warlike scene seems an impossbly
tame conclusion for 500 miles of
complicated earthworks and fortifi-
cations.
one drives to the swiss frontier
through the 'Trousee de Belfort." the
broad gap between the Nosges and
the Swiss Jura, which offers so in
viting passage into France to the
invader from the east one passes
it. fun speed along roads protected
from German eyes by tail screens of
brushWocd The roads are winding
and the Germans have many look
out posts. consequently the screens
are sometimes ON the left, sometimes
on the right, and sometimes on both
sides, and one begins to feel that the
Germans are everywhere
BY a sentry box there stands
man whom the French call "the man
Of the extreme right" the sentry who
guards the furthest point of the
French right wing. He is a douanier,
a customs house officer. So long as
he stands there ON duty with fixed
bayonet he is in perfect safety but as
soon as he is relieved and goes away |
to rest in the neighboring village he |
enters the danger zone and may at !
any time get into the neighborhood /
of a German shell.
The trenches are hidden away in a |
wood 500 yards away, and one might |
think that the place was quite with |
cut defense but nothing has been |
left t. chance, and the French are |
ready for any eventuality. The Swiss |
sentry samtes politely as the travel |
er approaches the boundary, and a
Swiss sergeant comes out from the |
neighboring guard house to examine |
the papers.
After little conversation across I
the fence that divides switzerland I
from France, the sergeant proceeds |
to the Formally which he calls /
opening the frontier Half the /
barrier across the road is moved |
aside and replaced by a large wood
IN table From the French side |
here appear a number of peasant |
women with large baskets; their pa
Ders are examined by the imam of
he extreme right" and they are al
owed to pass up to the counter. Then
buying and selling begins across the
frontier counter. The swiss govern
nent allows the peasants in the
French frontier villages TO buy pro-
visions and the like from the Swiss
who bring their wares
o the frontier, provided that certain
articles do not go out of the country.