New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-07

could no longer fight this fire, restrain it,
conquer it; he could only go out under
the bursting shells and strive to minimize
by some fraction the destruction; but it
was only childs play, this work of his
which had been a mans business. And
there was no mistaking the fact that this
world was now too much for him. He was
brave man; they told me Of things he
had done; but his little cosmos had gone
TO chaos utterly. i.
Where the Crown Prince Did Not Come.
We entered our cars again and went
to another quarter of the city. Every
where were ashes and ruin, but everywhere
the sense Of a destruction that was pro-
pressive. not complete: It still marched. 1t
was as Arras had been, they told me, be-
fore the last wall had tumbled and the
Artois capital had become nothing but
memory. We climbed the slope toward the
cathedral and stopped in little square
still unscathed, the Place d'Armes, the
most historic acre of the town. After 4
moment realized what my friends were
telling me. 1t was in this square that the
Crown Prince was to receive the sur
render Of the town. Along the road we
had climbed he was to lead his victorious
army through the town and out the Porte
do France beyond In this square the
Kaiser was to stand and review the armys
TO greet his victorious son. The scene as
II had been arranged was almost rehearsed
for you in the gestures of the French Of
ficers.
"But William has not come" they said,
"and he will not come now" This last was
not spoken as a boast, but as faith, a
conviction.
Still climbing we came to the cathedral. 1t
is seated on the very top pinnacle OF the
rock of Verdun, suggesting the French
cities of Provence. It's two towers, severe
and lacking ornamentation, are the land
marks of the countryside for miles around.
When I came back to America | read the
story of an American correspondent
whom the Germans had brought down
from Berlin to see the destruction Of Yer
dun. They had brought i'm to the edge of
the hills and then thrown some incendiary
shells into the town, the very shells that
killed the men whose bodies / had seen.
The black smoke and flames rushed up
around these towers and then the Ger
mans brought the correspondent over the
hills and showed him the destruction OF
Verdun. He described it wildly and con-
cluded that the condition of the town must
be desperate.
leutonic Stage management
They are a wonderful people, these Ger
mans, in their stage management. Of
course this was precisely the thing that
they desired that he should feel. They had
sent their shells at the right moment, tho
whole performance had gone off like clock
work. Those poor blackened masses Of
humanity in the house below were the coss
that was represented in the performance
And since there is much still left TO burn
in Verdun, the Germans may repeat this]
thing whenever they desire.
But somewhere three or four miles from
here, and between Verdun and the Ger
mans, are many thousands of Frenchmen,
with guns and cannon, and hearts of even
finer metal. They cannot even know that
Verdun is being shelled or is burning, and
if it burns to ultimate ashes it will not af-
feet them or their lines. This is the fallacy
of all the talk of the destruction of Verdun
city and the desperate condition OF Its de-
tenders. The army left Verdun for the
hills when the war began; the people left
when the present drive began in February.
Even the dogs and cats, which were seen
by correspondents in earlier visits, have
been rescued and sent away. Verdun Is
dead. it is almost as dead as are Arras and
Ypres; but neither of these towns after a
year and half of bombardment has fallen.
The correspondent who was taken up on
hill by the Germans to see Verdun burn,
after it had been carefully set on fire by
shell fire, was discovered by French gun
ners and shelled. He went away taking
with him an impression of a doomed city.
This picture was duly transmitted to
America. But two days later, when | WIS.,