Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-06-16
Messines Ridge, Rent
By Blast, Presents
Vast Scene of Horror

from the front the Mathis correspond
ent describes the way Of the British
victory at Wytschaete. as Dantesque
path, where terrifying visions, scarce
ly conceivable to delirious imagina-
ton, rise up at each step.
1.-THE earth there is rent as if by
magic and is strewn with human
debris" he says. "Bloodstains are
everywhere. Mine craters, a kilometer
in circumference, are visible wherever
one may look. Fantastic landsiips
wherein are buried unknown numbers
OF Bavarian troops confront the vision.
The appearance Of the battlefield is
one Of horror, but grandiose horror,
which sentiment and Justice make COM
soil has sought vengeance and in an
outburst Of hate has engulfed myriads
OF its oppressors.
Work Of British Artillery.
AS gazed on the aspect of the land
feeling Of admiration succeeded the
horror which Is at first felt The great
cataclysm was the work Of the patient
and methodical, but unbridled British
artillery. A nut crushed to a pulp by
giant crackers is the image evoked by
the sight of the German trenches and
defenses.
SRight into Wytschaete the cement
bastions, six feet thick, were shattered
and uprooted from the ground, mang-
ling and burying the defenders
1.-THE only trench preserving its form
contains fifty Germans, lying in line.
Death had immobilized them into posi-
tions Of fear. An officer has his arm
raised, and between his teeth is
clenched a cigar, from which only the
ashes have fallen.
Heap Of PuIverized Brick.
"Wytschaete now Is mere heap Of
bloody, pulverized brick. A great brass
ball browning the ruins marks the site
Of a church.
Beyond the village is an upturned,
luxurious auto. Under this motor car
are five dead Prussian officers. A
British aviator, descending within four
yards of the automobile wrecked it,
and with machine gunfire sent it's oc-
cupants to Valhalla, abode Of their an
cestors.
1.-The British artillery barrage iso-
lated for four days whole divisions.
During this time these divisions were
without food.
Among the prisoners is professor
Of philosophy from Koenigsberg Uni
.versity. We can not hide the fact that
England will not leave go until we are
completely on our knees he told me.
David Lloyd George has said that the
greatest minds Of France, America and
England are collaborating to beat the
submarines. They will do it. The
thinking classes Of Germany have nc
illusions" -.
Coal Miners Dug Shafts.
Andre Tudesq, in the Journal, gives
the statement Of an officer describing
the preparation Of the mines which
wrecked the German defenses south of
Ypres and prepared the way for Cen
eral Plumer's great advance.
Nearly year ago." he says, 200
special miners were brought from the
Newcastle and Cardiff coal mines.
They took six months to bore a two
kilometer sap extending to Messines
Ridge. Then they dug nineteen mine
pockets under sixteen Of the most for
midable concrete enemy fortresses.
"A quadrangular well like an elevator
cage was then installed in each and
filed with terrible explosives each
charge being twenty-five tons.
Lived Over Hidden He'll.
Gan electric system, which was des-
tined to convey the fatal spark, was
completed by the end Of winter. Since
January the German first-line troops
have lived over this hidden hell.
THE result of these long prepara-
lions was seen at dawn on June Z. The
CONFUSION of mother earth, vast as a
supernatural cataclysm. demolished the
hill, obliterated marshes and gave birth
to. green and rust colored sheets OF
water where they had been.
HChanged as If by magic has been
not only the history of the last two
years, but the geography of the region.
Cubic masses Of earth were hurled
furiously aloft and fell heavily, crush
ing the trenches with their forts and
garrisons.
Each Crater ! fcharnes House.
y Each mine crater Is charnel house.
Scared rats scurry among the debris,
and on the edge Of red pools formed
by rivers Of German blood, ugly green
flies abound in swar1ns. These beasts,
warned by instinct, alone survive.
Never have seen such dead
bodies" says Mr.. Tudesq. Some were
drowned, to subside In oozy mud face
downward or stuck headfirst, their
convulsed limbs twisted in the air.
Others were crushed between blocks Of
concrete like wretched Samsons, with
their hands, clawlike, trying to stay
the avalanche"