Bisbee daily review., 1917-10-05
Important Crest
 Taken by British
Continued From Page One.)

vation and defied the British armies to dislodge him. It has been a tre- mendiously strong position, but the last weeks of bitter fighting have shown that it is not invulnerable. Bit by bit the dogged British wrested the lower reaches of the ridge from the invaders. Each thrust brought them nearer to the complete occupation of this gateway to the rolling plains of Flanders.
 British Want Mere.
 Tower Hamlets, Inverness Copse, GlenCorse Wood, Poiygon Wood and numerous other positions which form part of the Passchendaele-Gheluvelt chain on its southern end have been torn from the bitterly resisting enemy and have been held in the face of de .ermined counter attacks. Today the British were again reaching out for more of these crucial points.
 Series Of Ridges.
 The Passchendaele-Ghelu eleva- tion really is Composed of series of ridges and hills. There is Passchen- daele ridge proper, on which stands the town of the same name. Below this is Broodseinde ridge and still low CT down Gheluvelt. From the village of Passchendaele it stretches in a southwesterly direction toward the old salient, in long curves like the letter s. At Iverness Copse it reaches its nearest approach to the stricken city of Ypres, which lies about four miles to the west of it.
 In their successful thrusts recently the British have either taken over DOT tions of the ridge or pushed their way forward to the lower slopes as far north as Zonnebeke, which lies just under the crest. Above Zonnebeke the ridge takes turn to the northeast, while the British line has gone well back to the northwest. A portion of the ridge between Zonnebeke and Pas schaendele thrusts out toward the west a long arm known as Craven staefel ridge" within which lie hill called Abraham Heights and the viii lage of Gravenstaefel. All this area has been stlSngly held by Germans.
 Ridge Now Bare.
 In the days before the war the Pas hendaele-Gheluvelt ridge was cover ed with prosperous farms and dotted with picturesque bits of forest. Now it lies bare and desolate, it's earth churned up by tens of thousands of great shells which the British artillery has been hurling on it for weeks. Hardly yard of ground remains that is not pitted with huge craters sur rouned by piles of earth. Here and there a few bricks rear themselves 10 show where a farmhouse or hamlet has stood. Zonnebeke lies like a smudge on the landscape
 Mass Of Ruins.
 There are no longer places along this ridge. Passchendaele is a mass of ruins. South of it were little com munities, such as Nieuwemolen, Brood seinde and Miolenaarelstkoek. All has disappeared in tre deluge of breaking steel
 An infantry advance over territory of this description would be difficult. even if there was no enemy opposing. Shell holes. many of which are filled with water, form d serious obstacle 10 rapid advance, and anyone of these excavations may be a nest for German machine guns. Concrete pill box and redoubts also appear in profu- sion throughout the line and all these divers defenses were reinforced with baTbed wire.
 Mud Is Enemy.
 Mud is one Of the greatest enemies with which the British have to con tend. Much of this area little streams like the Retelbeek and the Polyon- beck have been bordered with verit- able marshes, in which the troops have coundered desperately. knee-deep. Ev- en a few hours of rain turns large sec tors into fields of liquid mud and pools which may conceal shell holes of ma chine guns. The artillery preparation for this offensive had been among the area est if not the very greatest.