El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-05-01

! us whiff Of the peculiar acid smell it
/ emits.
Back into the trench again and the
| lnterminable walk continues. through
the old German front from which the
enemy was thrown back by the French.
We look at the maze of barbed wire
ENGAGEMENTS and wonder how the at
tackers ever got through these with
German machine guns in armored tur-
hail
Men Are All Jolly.
The trenches further on are now Oc-
cupied by the English support troops,
living in deep dugOuts, some fully %
feet underground, ready TO swarm out
at a moments notice. All these trench
es are named, and signpOsts are every
where. One constantly wonders how it
is possible to bring supplies at night
through this maze Of narrow passage
where the mud in places is more than
ten inches deep. and threatens to pull
off your boots if you rest your weight
too long on one foot.
We find thu Tommies in the front
trenches, almost within hail Of the Ger
mans. the most cheerful of all There
is not one among them who does not
feel firmly convinced that they are
able to finish off the Germans as soon
as the signal is given to swarm out
Of the trenches
In the meantime they amuce them
selves as best they can while a few
men keep close lookout through the
periscopes and argus eyed snipers
stand ever ready to pick off any Ger
man daring enough to expose him
self.
English Fire the Most.
7 notice that the English guns fire
at least four shots TO every German
shot
on our way back we leave the com
munication trench and take a short
cut across the fields to the village of
VermelIes Dead tired we go plodding !
along. unmindful Of the Smelling. Our
packets are heavy with souvenirs
fuses and fragments Of shells which !
we have picked up-but there are !
many trenches to jump and one after !
the other We throw them away.
A horrible stencil fills the air and we |
are already reaching for our gas he'll !
NETS when our young lieutenant bursts /
out laughing and points TO a deceased |
horse short distance away
4 Dead German.
Near a small farm at the outskirts |
Of Nermelles, where the field is COW
cred with primroses and violets grow |
ing among scattered graves, we sud (
denly come upon what was once Ger I
man.
The ravens and crows have picked |
his bones clear and the skull, still COW
cred with the flat gray field cap, lies |
grinning at US. I pick up the skull. /
bit Of hair is still clinging to the /
side. A small jagged hole near the left !
temple shows that the man was in |
stantly killed by a shrapnel bullet or
a fragment Of a shell.
Somewhere in Germany a mother is !
perhaps still hoping against hope that .
her boy, reported missing many months /
ago. may not return to her alive.
Nermelles itself is a sight one never !
forgets. Never have 1 seen such a /
picture Of complete devastation. There !
is not a house which has not been hit |
by a least a dozen shells. There is /
not a single civilian left in the city.
Town and Church wrecked
Tt was in this village that the French !
fought the Germans in the hardest /
house-to- house fight in the war, finally /
only a few defenders being left in the
chateau. The French who held a house .
opposite. dug a mine underneath the
chateau and blew up the Germans. thus /
securing possession Of the entire viii
lage.
We enter the church, once an i'm
posing structure with beautiful stained |
glass window, Of whose walls a few
fragments are still standing. The !
floor is covered with broken stone
columns. stained glass splinters and
debris Of all kinds, and everywhere the /
marks Of shells are seen. But in a [
corner absolutely untouched by shell
or bullet hangs a beautiful crucifix and
a golden ray Of the setting sun falls
on the crown of thorns and the pale
face of the figure of the suffering
Saviour.
NOTE MIR. TOepfer's second article
will be published soon.