The Cordova daily times., 1916-07-15
ST 0RY OF THE FIGHTING AT
 VERDUM

HEADQUARTERS, FIFTH ARMY CORPS, AT THE FRONT, France July, 2.-(Correspondence of the As sociated Press) - General Hellouin commander of the Fifth Army Corps lying on the left flank of the army before verdun, led the way to high elevation which commanded a sweeI of the vast war panorama - the Ger man trenches plainly visible only sia hundred yards away; to the right the historic town of Varenne, torn to pieces and the famous house fin which Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette sought refuge from the Terror. q mass of ruins; further on another town wiped off the map so that not even the ruins appeared above the level sand; and through the vista oI trees, the outlying defenses of old Yer dun Avacourt, Harcourt, Mort Homme, Chattancourt - midway he tween verdun and the point where the party stood. outlined dimly through the mist and curtain of smoke.
 A terrific bombardment was in pro gress, and the crash of shells and the whiz of bullets echoed all along the front, and on to the Verdun hills where the battle was at Its height Ddt for this terrific din, thete was no sign of movement or activity, no hurrying troops, no clash of battle lines only a vast battlefield of green hills and devastated towns with now and then a puff of smoke from some hidden battery and the everlasting din of giant weapons rack. ing the ears.
 The commanding general turned to M. Painieve. a member of the Brand ministry. and to the Associated Press representative, who was privileged to accompany this notable party.
 Come up here" said the general, and get a good survey of the scene. " And climbing to this point of vantage, the party looked out on one point af- ter another designated by General Hel' louin as those on which the ravages of war had fallen heaviest.
 See that sandy hili," said the gen eral, pointing to a barren crest Of vel, low sand Who would ever think that was the site of good sized town only short time ago? It had solid stone houses, and stone church with double towers of stone, and seven hun dred people living a peaceful and prosperous village life. And look at it-not thing remains. not even the ruins. No, 1t is plotted out of exis- tence First the houses and church were bombarded into ruins; then the ruins were bombarded into bits, and then the bits were bombarded into dust, until-weil, look at it, as flat as the desert of Sahara, and not a mound to indicate that hundreds of people lived there only recently"
 The start to the trenches had been made at daylight. The route lay through a number of small villages, one of them torn to pieces by bom- bardment, with only jagged stone walls and chimneys standing gauntly along the road. Long lines of trucks looking like prairie sehooners" were stretched for miles along the route, and thousands of horses and mules and carts were parked at close inter vals, all taking some part in this huge task of keeping up the steady supply of food, equipment and ammunition for several million men.
 The Argonne forest was entered about g o'clock, with General Heliouin leading the way, with M. 'Painleve. Here and there great trees had been splintered by shell fire. and one giant had been cut as with knife twenty feet from the base, the top branches shooting down and sticking upright in the earth like new tree. Spring flowers were thick among the moss and ferns, and the birds kept up a constant twitter amid the rumble ci artillery fire and the crack, crack of the seventy-fives. But gradually the singing of the birds ceased as the ex' posed front was approached. Here the foliage disappeared from the trees, which were scared and burned as though a forest fire had just swept by. Telegraph wires were strung through the trees. linking all parts of the front and rear with headquar ters. F'7
 Entering the forward trenches. Gen