Evening star., 1917-09-23

shells. except, perhaps. the
q giant seventeen-inch, nine
teen-inch and twenty-one-inch. which
are as big as a man. weigh about two
tons, of steel and high explosive. and
make hole in the ground as big as a
house: but they'll never burst in the
roof of this place"
Why" I asked.
Because it is sixty feet underground.
or whereabouts, with fifty feet of solid
earth and rock above It. The Germans
dug it for themselves, and we are copy
ing it as a model to protect American
troops"
He who spoke was an American SER
geant who has been everywhere up and
down the front with French and Brit
ish non-commissioned officers, and this
place" was one of the deepest and prob
ably the most vast and solid of the i'm
menSe subterranean refugees which the
Germans abandoned in their retreat
1t is. extraordinary. Deep. deep, deep,
down broad cement steps (eaSy to rush
up down, for safety or attack, great
underground halls open into one an
other in long suites. They have yaulted
roofs. heating and ventilatinS appar-
atus and wall OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
which must have cost months of artis-
tic preparation and disclose the way
that German troops, by housands, ac-
tually lived down here, under furious
bonbardment, in 'gayety and safety.
There was beer hall (brasserie), a
concert hall, a moving picture hall,
theater or cabaret and sleeping dorrni
tories. dining halls and kitchens.
A thousand men could live at ease
down there. play cards, chat over music,
take in shows, smoke cigarettes. snooze,
mediate and take books from the Ii
brary, while killing time. And perhaps
5000 men could pack in, day at a
time. without great Inconvenience, and
breathe pure air from motor-pumped
ventilators. while the earth above them
fairly rocked beneath shell-fre.
Later, it was up broad steps like these
that German troops rushed with their
portable machinesuns to NOV down
the infantry of certain French ad-
vances
French and British have prof1ted by
the experience.
Americans are profitiDg by the expert
ence Of all three.
The Germans have perfect mania
for underground and concrete. At Lens,
even the sewers were enlarged and con-
creted. Above them (and communicate
ing with them by cunning secret ways)
the cellars Of house after house-cel-
lars of old times. already deep, orig
inally strong-were revaulted by REIN
forced concrete. Modern brewery vaults
ancient wine cellars hewed in lime
stone. drains and old abandoned coal
mines were found bolstered up with
concrete
The German troops were safe in
them, yet they surrendered when sur
rounded by numbers and threatened
with bombs. ITS another matter when
you are surrounded" says my American
sergeant.
Cen sixt Won Arnim gave an order,
found on prisoners. Tile commands the
fourth German army. up heIe.)
"Hencefor;h the strength of German
defense must be in the concealment OF
So runs the new German principle.
y ::
If We could know the plans of
French, British and American attack
the expressions would. undoubtedly. be
similar. What. you ask-conceal troops
in attack? How is it possible? Well,
it is possible.
The war is getting to be like a
moving picture mystery thriller. full
of secret passages, miles long. and
subterranean chambers says my SER
Gcant. DO you know on what preteSt
the Germans wrecked and flooded the
coal mines of Lens: They claimed
that the natives were communicating
through them with the British army.
eight miles distant, and were clearing
wide passages from mine to mine for
a British infantry surprise III their
rear
At the same tine, the whole affair
has become SO businesslike. so scien-
titic. commercial and industrial in its
methods that it reioices the American
heart Gen. Pershing. it is published.
rollers. 10000 shoveIs, 100000 picks,
125 miles of piping, 5O.0u0 rolls Of felt
lining material against dampness).
$4,000 stoves. thousands of power
pumps. stationary engines, electric
ventilating fans and Steamboat appa-
ratus..' What we are not told about
is the arrival in France of mysterious