New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-16
Cutting Orient Railroad
Would Begin End of War
Rut Saws CORRESPONDENT at the Front the Difficulties
Confronting Sarra in Transport and Man
Power Are Almost lnsuperable

! liam obscurity. Ten miles an hour was
about the trains best average. OecS
sionally we would descend grades az
the reckless speed of twenty miles an
I hour or so, but at others we craWleu
along at about five miles an hour
Swamps and Quagmires
When daylight came we could see
/ the melancholy spectacle OF the Macs
/ DOMAIN plain. Nothing could be seen
right up to the horizon but brown
stubble fields, now endless swampsi
Hundreds of acres were Transformed
\ into lakes from which here and there
/ depressed looking willow trees emerge;
{ Marshes had become quagmires ana
roads were simply mud boys. hour
after hour In the flashing rain we
/ trundled along, being sde-traeked az
/ every station to allow empty goous
/ trains or crowded ambulance trains 70
pass US. One village seemed an lsLanu
/ in the midst of a huge lake. mere
and there deserted tents are sun
/ standing in the midst of the HOOD. MY
object was to reach the headquarters
I Of the army, a matter OF twelve HIie'
away. But transport there was none
For four days it had rained uhceaS
ingly, rendering the road imposslole
for motor traffic and causing mo-
mentary stoppage of the narro"-gauee
railroad which connects Nertekop WIN
/ headquarters
The only thing was to telephone to
the headquarters to know what. were
: the nrospects for the next day. Some
forage wagons, / was told, were com
ing in next morning, which would 'ahe
the small amount of baggage l carry
IA bivouac tent and a folding oedl'
while the Chief of Staff promised
riding horse for myself. There was
therefore, nothing for it but to accept
the cordial hospitality of the SERBIAN
J surgeon in charge of the ambulance
for the night. | planted my. bed IN
bell tent in six inches OF water.
Undressing under such circumstances
forms a problem. The dlmculty Oh
getting off a muddy pair OF riding
Roots and spurs while seated on the
bed island without covering everythlhs
with mud must be experienced TO be
properly appreciated. All night long
the pouring rain made a noise Ike
kettledrums on the sides OF the tent
And such raini II rained ramrods; II
rained buckets Talk of the windows
of heaven being open" the side Of the
house was out. | thought Of the thou-
sands of Serbian soldiers In inc
trenches among the mountains exposed
to the pitiless downpour, and the nun
dreds of transport wagons churnlhg
their way through seas OF mud carry
ing the indispensable 1909 ana the
equally indispensable munitions 10 'he
front.
Cloudless Day Dawns
With morning. however,, came
pleasant surprise. A brilliant sun
rose in an almost cloudless sky. The
water. which covered the landscape IN
patches as far as the eye could reeaeh,
was everywhere glittering IN sunshine.
The air was as balmy as day IN
spring. On every bush soaking mill
tary overcoats were spread out to dry
while the saturated tents were steam
ing i'm the midday warmth.
After luncheon the carts arrived
from the army headquarters together
with a riding horse under the charge
OF mounted orderly. When we
started, about 1880, the first mile or
two of road Just outside the village
had dried up somewhat under the neat
of the sun. but when we got OF to the
lower lying ground it was a mere
slough of despond Motor traffic, eX-
cept for one or two light Ford ambu-
lance motor cars, was at complete
standstil Ia Ford motor can do any
thing, ! think, except climb tree)'
Four miles out / met half dozen DIS
consulate army service corps men with
their boots on their bare feet and the
trousers rolled up TO the knee wading
stoldly through the muddy water.
They had left their lorries completely
begged about II couple of miles away.
as this ere river or a road, slr!
one of them asked me plalntlvely,
looking with profound disfavor at the
muddy liquid swirling round his bare
legs. "Whichever of the two 1t really
is, il is certainly a good attempt at
the other" was all | could contribute
to his information.
However, "it's an i'll wind that blows
nobody any good" as the enforced
scarcity of motor traffic contributed TO
my personal comfort The horse | was
riding had a rooted objection TO motors
in every shape and form. Every time
we met an ambulance car churning
through the mud we had a circus which
lasted five minutes Then when we
fell into a four foot deep she'll hole
under the mistaken idea that it was an
ordinary three-inch rain puddle, his
distrust of every succeeding pool OF
water made rapid progress difficult.
Road Is Indescribabe
The condition of the second half of
the road was indescribable, and an
army of soldiers and peasants was
cutting trenches to run off the water
and dumping tons of road metal into
the sea Of mud to reestablish some
thing like a negotiable road bed. As
a French chauffeur remarked to me,
"You don't know where motor driving
ends and navigation begins" In
crossing a ford of river which had
become a torrent one of the forage
wagons broke down the undermined
bank and with the driver and two
horses rolled back into the river. The
driver sat on one of the wheels in
the middle of the stream and used
language which even my limited knowl-
edge of Serbian suiiiced to show was
not Of the kind used in drawing rooms.
The four remaining drivers sat stOlid-
ly on their wagons with that fatalism
peculiar to the Serbian character on
such occasions, probably the result of
five hundred years OF Turkish domina-
ton. The chef de convoi and myself
rode off to find help. A few minutes
later we came on a score of Bulgarian
prisoners working on the road and
sent them off to get the wagon on
the road again. IL was $3.50 when |
reached headquarters, having taken
exactly four hours 10 cover twelve
miles.
When last | visited this army the
whole staff was under canvas, but the
advent of the rainy season has driven
them into winter quarters. The morn
ing after my arrival the telephone in