Evening star., 1916-07-26

dier, the white or the black?"
The white, by all odds. is better
and braver," was the instant judg-
ment of the soldiers. who added un-
complimentary references to the fight
| ing customs of the Senegalese troops
which had resulted in very few pris-
oners being made from among these
regiments.
The next group encountered was a
detachment of lightly wounded men
walking back from the dressing sta
tion to the railroad head. No despond-
ency was evident among them. An
turned from another part of the
southern front. Its experience had
been much the same as that of the
hrst regiment and the soldiers eX-
hibited an Identical feeling of abso-
Lutte confidence that they had the
upper hand over their enemy.
one man when questioned said that
he had not seen the great French
trench during the preliminary bonn
bardment and was dug out after two
| hours and sent to the rear. His nerves
apparently were not at all shaken by
his experience. He. like all the others,
took his return to the trenches as a
matter of course
French Also Are Confident.
The correspondent also visited a
group of several hundred French pris-
oners captured during the fighting at
Estrees. 1t must be said that they
too made an excellent impression. They
showed no trace of dependency or de-
niordiizatlon. They were mostly
Bretons and colonial infantry
The troops had been ordered in by
Gen. Foch in vigorous endeavor to
open the German sack position and
give the British and French the neces-
saly elbow room for further effort
Lateral expansion is the object also of
efforts to this end. have been far
greater than those of the French.
zen. HalS has employed two soldiers
10 every one by Gen. Joffre and his
losses nave been proportIonately even
greater, it is said. The irnmensity of
the British effort may be iudged from
Information supplied the Associated
fFesS correspondent by the commander
ln-chiefs intelligence officer that thus
lar In the July offensive over half of
ene aNallabie divisions of the British
army, counting even those of the ori-
ent, but excluding the divisions in
england not yet ready for seryice at
the front, nave been used on this com
paratlVely narrow front.
we nave them stopped now" was
me conHdent verdict of this officer
agreeing with that of the commsnder,
ih-chiefs staff chief.
Quiet Before the Storm.
The correspondent returned TO tho
front with the expectation of Witness
ing a manifestation of this counter
pressure against a certain sector hut
un1avorable weather conditions with
io"-hanging clouds and mist hiding
ne;I sne hela OF operations and preventing
artillery observation, deferred the new
struggle for the coveted stretches of
fertile Picardy.
General quiet before the storm nre-
Valied along the section of the front
visited. ,l the activity of the artillery be-
ing scarcely greater than the normal
scale where no particular Operations
are IN progress, and infantry and ma
chine gun fire being heard onIv oc-
castonally. The troops visiteJ-tha
Teg1ments regiment coming directly from the
move into the forward unes-ware
FOUND ready. even eager. to renew the
sIruggie; The gaps in the units have
oeen hlied up with fresh men. the
-"orn-out cannon-for guns as well as