The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-06-16

why the British soldier wants
Tommy goes ahead repairing the
roads and clearing the debris from
village streets, admitting that It was
military good sense for the enemy to
obstruct the lines OF pursuit.
But the Germans said they did these
things to prevent the concealment OF
troops. And the soldier reasons It
this way: The Boche aeroplanes
never get over anyway to observe
where the troops are massIng. So
what difference could IL make whether
they have concealment? Also, the
Boche was careful to ruin orchards,
but he left many. acres Of dense but
unproductive woods.
what's the answer? Strafe EN-
Peronne Cathedral refuses the plea
OF military necessity. Dynamite blew
out the east wall and two sides and
brought the dome crashing amid the
PROSTATE stone columns. Today the
interior Is q mountain Of hopeless
wreckage. On its saKging balcony
the pipe organ sings the ghost OF q
peace-time anthem as the May breeze
goes soughing through the valves.
The pipes jangle as q brick Is dis
lodged and tumbles to the door. Far
away the guns boom.
Invaded Homes Of Dead.
The British never sheIled the
church. The remaining west wall is
not SCARED by shell fragments. 1t
was left standing to hamper British
observation.
At the outskirts OF the town lies
Peronne Cemetery. where the Boche
dug in among the dead. Corpses
were thrown into bonfres and the
vaults occupied by German officers as
duEouts. Two trench lines run
straight through the cemetery.
Military necessity made the enemy
smash the door OF q French family
tomb where six dead had slept for
many years. The collins remained ex-
posed.
Two English guard regiments with
q little feud between them went into
the cemetery on the heels OF the
Boche- The first arrivals found one
coffin bored by a machine gun bullet
from the direction OF their advance.
This message was on the white-wash-
ed wall:
THE Boche may have had dugouts
here. but he didn't shoot the hole in
the far-off coffin"
To which the lste-comers scribbled
this reply:
Neither did they write on the
walls, you blackguards."
Strewn with the fragments Of head
stones and battlefield junk are count
less bead-work wreaths, placed by
mourners in days of peace. "a Notre
Chere Grandmere." said the inscrip-
tIon on one. Grandmere's grave may
be one of those pried open.
At the edge Of the cemetery was .
very little grave. carpeted blue with
forget The headstons said
Madelaine was only four years old
The Boche had not touched II. Near
by, a row of wooden "ITon CrosseS,"
each inscribed "Unser Ramerade."
gave proof that the German cadaver
factory lost some raw material
through sentiment
DesoIation IL Complete.
At Arras the cathedral and the
Hotel de Vile are smashed beyond
possibility OF restoration Only a.
small corner OF the hotel survives
as a memory OF that grand specimen
of Spanish architecture.
Bapaume Is hideous shell, al
though the Australians have cleared
up the streets. Here an Australian,
peacefully tending a cooking stew.
told how the Boche hate goes mad
at times.
"A German naval gun tries to shell
US now and again. he said. But the
gunners must be crazy, judging from
the way they shoot" The road to-
ward Albert runs through the coun-
try where the British artillery first
discovered its strength. Ruin
stretches for miles. On top Of the
Butte de Warlencourt is q wooden
monument OF British regiment
erected to their comrades who died
storming the country. There is not
the slightest trace OF the town. With
a field glass abandoned tanks may
be sighted on this old battlefield, one
OF them. labeled in Russian "Petro-
grad"
1t Is inconceivable to the battle
field tourist that the country was
green farmland and woods, dotted
with villages before the Boche came. |
The famous bronze statue OF the
Virgin still hangs from the steeple
OF the church at Albert. The sur