The Dolores star., 1916-04-14
SWEPT vERDUN
Crashing Of Shells Only Sound in
Deserted Village.
Three Remaining Civilians Doast Of
Their Courage In Staying In Bonn.
bardsd Town-osndarmss Keep
Good Watch and Prevent
PiIiasIns.

London.-H. Warner Allen, repre-
sentative Of all the British newspapers
with the French armies. sends tho fol-
lowing picture Of war-battered and de-
serted Verdun:
Today. Verdun 10 not crowded. Not
a shop 10 open. It can muster three
civilians, and all three Of them are
rightly proud Of their courage in stay
Ing in the bombarded town.
have Just been walking down the
main street. Everywhere there 10 a.
lence except for the crashing OF the
big shells and the sound Of splinters
falling on the roofs. All the goods tho
shopkeepers had collected ~ specially
calculated to appeal to the soldier in
the trenches have disappeared and
now when one walks down the Rue
Mazel ones course 10 frequently inter.
rupted. There comes . rush of wings
In the air and instinctively one makes
for the nearest doorway. ducking A.
one goes. Then there 10 . big explo-
sion and one goes on.
It was in the Rue Mazel that l met
one Of the three civilians Of Verdun.
He was contemplating the view from
his door with . contented smile and
looked at me with supreme contempt
when I scuttled for cover at Q par
ticularly loud explosion. you are tax
ing refuge on the wrong side of the
road" he remarked mildly. The left
is the side to escape from splinters,
since that 10 the side from which the
Boches are firing. Anyhow 1t 10 no use
ducking. since by the time you've
heard the shell the danger 10 over"
Az we went up the steep. lonely
streets towards the cathedral our At.
tention was suddenly attracted by q
stronge. piercing sound that con-
trasted quantity with the continuing
roar Of exploding shells. It was .
kitten mewing plaintively in tho first
story Of . house. It had obviously
been forgotten in the haste of evacua-
ton. The owner Of the house had
closed up the shutters and had never
given = thought to the poor beast and
1t was slowly starving to death.
rescue party wAs At once formed,
M. Georges Scott, the artist. who IA
modified as q chasseur alpin, mount.
ed on my shoulders and endeavored
to pry open the shutter with a stick.
but his efforts were unavailinR, and
eventually the Kittens life was saved
by the firemen of Verdun, who, at our
request, broke into the house.
Several large shells had fallen near
the cathedral. One of them had gut.
ted q girls school and another had
landed fair and square on a shop that
sold religious ornaments and emblems,
For some unexplained reason there
was q cures hat lying pathetically on
the top Of the debris, and at the back
against a wall that had miraculously
escaped destruction stood . stucco
statue of Joan Of Arc.
The pigeons, which were flying in
uneasy circles above the cathedral.
seemed to be curiously disturbed by
the bombardment. As Q general rule,
the birds seem to regard bombardment
as natural cataclysm, to be suffered
since It cannot be prevented. Anyhow.
the pigeons Of verdun have not yet
grown accustomed to the noise of the
German bOmbardment.
Despite German shells, the French
gendarmes keep a good watch in Yer.
dun. There II no pillaging. and the
refugees who In their hurry left their
house windows open and doors IN.
locked can sleep easy a. to the con-
tents Of their houses, except in 10 far
as an enemy proJectile may reduce
them to powder. Just near one of the
gates there IL . house Of which the
shutters have not been closed and
the window 10 still open. It seems
that Just before the evacuation the
owner Of the house had some special
occasion to celebrate. Looking through
the window one can see . table laid
for 16 persons and everything pre-
pared for an excellent meal. There
was . beautiful, clean tablecloth with
napkins folded miter-shaped for every