Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-19

which fell to the lot of Captain --, a
French General Staff officer n chauffeur
and myself at the Somme
We were six correspondents. four Ameri-
cans, one Dutch and one Danish Under
escort of two lieutenants, we had ridden the
day before from Amiens in four staff auto
mobiles to the ancient chateau of -,
twelve miles away, TO be presented to our
host General -, commanding the
- Army Corps.
Now, I've always found that while you
may not receive for the asking IL you don't
ask you don't receive. So, after General
-, portly, white-mustached soldier,
had greeted us and arranged our program
for the day, | made bold enough to ask that
we be permitted upon the morrow to go be-
yond the limit usually accorded corre-
spondents.
While my fellow writer's listened and
members Of the generals staff looked with
interesting physiognomical expression at
my seeming presumption | said, standing at
salute:
Mon general, because some of my line
have given their lives for France in 1870
and 1914, ! crave permission to intertwlne
with my journalistic duty the indescribabe
JOY of standing upon the recouquered
ground of recent battlefield, Of seeing the
modest, brave blue-clad poilu occupying that
which but days before had been RoChc first
line trench, Of going beyond to the present
French first line, and looking beyond that
stil to where the invaders stand for n little,
ere being driven further toward the kultur
they came from"
General -- looked me straight in the
eys as | made my siXty-second speech,
smiled, and answered.
"You May Go"
81 will grant your request, monsieur,
which does you honor. Captain --, to
morrow you will escort these gentlemen. I
shall have pleasure in shaking your hands
again before you return to Paris"
At 1880 the next morning we left head
quarters in four cars for the communicating
trenches, "A few kilometers away. The road
we were to travel is always under fire. The
morning was gray and foggy, with fine,
misty rain, so we could not be seen by en-
emy glass.
We left the cars upon the edge of a half
demolished wood and stepped into the first
foot Of trench. \ dozen times upon our
winding walk of twelve kilometers to cover
a distance Of three as the crow flies, we
tramped, now inches deep in oozing mud,
now ankle deep in thicker masses of it, now
half to the length of puttees I'm muddy
water, There was perfect silence in our In
dian file save as we CrOuChcd on order in
shelter from shell fragments breaking upon
either side of the four-foot trcnchs width.
And dozen times we arose and proceeded
TO the wicked, rOCkct-likc sCrceCh Of l50,
n 40 or a 22O passing over our heads. once
we stopped and entered a Cayern-liie shell
ter ten feet under the foot of the trench. at
what seemed for five minutes to be the be-
ginning Of a continuous bombardmeut As
its regularity ceased we emerged to find
bare eighth of a mile away upon our on
ward course that twelve feet of our trench
had disappeared through contact with a 17O
We silently descended into and out of the
hole made by the shell and finally reached
our objective.
Retracing our steps, always amid inter-
mittent shell and intermittent crouch, we
presently reached our automobiles.
They are un peu mcchant," said our
chauffeur: I'VE have been spattcred with
mud through their courtesy. Two broke in
the wood"
Climbing into our car and removing our
helmets and gas masks as we got under
way. we lit cigarettes and talked Of what
we had seen. We were travelling at forty
miles an hour and half way toward head
quarters, when a tremendous instantaneous
flash of white light, as white as an angel
from Heaven instead or the hell ii came
from, accompanied by a stupendous sound
of high explosive to which nothing can
compare, opened as if by fairy wand a cir
cuar hole eight feet deep and twelve in
d ameter directly before our front wheels
There was a crash of glass and rending of
metal as our car buckled up within this
magic hole.
The Miraculous Escape
We had been on top of its happening a
bare five feet away, from an exploding $50
or six-inCh German shell. That Coseness,
through Gods providence. alone saved us
For as with contact the Boche $50 eXplodes,
its full charge of scientific death rises en-
masse to a d stance of twelve feet i'm the
air ere spreading in a circular curtain to
MAIN and wound and kill within an area
of sixty feet. Had we been five feet nearer
we would have been blown twenty feet in
the air as we were rended apart. Had we
been thirty feet further away we would
have been ground to pieces on the surface,
automobile and all,
Captain -, who with me had been
thrown against the front of the car, put out
his hand and managed to open the door as
far as 1t would reach against the angled
side of the depression. He got out and |
followed, both bruised, | with a slight
scratch on the right knee the captain with
an equal one on the right elbow. The
chauffeur was picking himself up Blood
ran from glass cut on his cheek. But he
sauted his officer and said:
-"Un $50. | heard nothing until | saw II.
Nous avons de la veine. mon Captaine'"
The second car. an eighth of n mile be-
hind and thus well beyond the danger zone
reached us in iiffy, pulled out of the road
across the wet green around the hol" and
TO the good muddy going beyond. 7 stood
ankle deep in half dry red earth looking at
the wrecked car. The bleeding chauffeur
reached and stopped the still putting motor,
and Lieutenant --, IN the other car,
called
ices Boches s'amusent.' Get in we must
not stay here"
AS we sped away from my vision of the
white light of hell l thrust my head and
shoulders out Of the window and gazed in
amazing wonder at the wrecked automobile
in the magic hole behind. 10 sang it's
wicked song high in the arr overhead
As sat down Captain - with a cool
smile reached out his hand.
As | grasped it full and strong I heard
him say
you are not hurt, monsieur? Ben Only
shaken as l. I am glad. for you were in my
care Pour moi. | have lucky star. This
is the fourth time death has said bon jour
TO me, but never more cordially than
today"
NOT EUROPE'S QUARREL
not E,,irOne'S that is