Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-26

making their way to the rear, march,
ing without escort. Damaged German
machine guns lay everywhere, while
scattered around were heaps of am
munition, cannons and immense
quantities of military material.
Many Taken Prisoner
Many Germans were captured in
the enormous cavern of Fruty. The
approaches were battered severely
and large holes had been torn in the
roof, demonstrating the power and
efficiency of the French artillery. Not
an inch of ground hereabouts had
been left unchanged. The cavern
and galleries about one kilometer in
length with many exits, most of
which had been damaged greatly by
the French guns. When the French
infantry dashed forward in the dark
ness they approached the entrances
warily and found them full of Ger
mans waiting for the moment of at
tack. Hand grenades and smoke
bombs soon brought them out with
their hands raised in token of sur
render.
Meanwhile the tanks had advanced
with the infantrymen until the sec
ond German position was reached,
machine guns opposing the progress
of the French troops. The tanks ad-
vanced several kilometers during
which they met and demolished
many machine nests. One tank was
opposed by determined German Of
ficer with a large body of men who
poured bullets upon the armored
sides of the machine without effect.
Finally, the French officer in COM
mand descended from the tank and
with his revolver forced the whole
group to surrender.
Tanks Valuable
Another tank found a battery of
field guns facing 1t. AS soon as the
tank opened fire half of the artillery
men threw up their hands, while the
remainder bolted only to fall Ee-
meath a hail of machine gun bullets
from the monster.
To-day the French advance pro-
ceeded rapidly and the units reached
the various detectives with regular
ity. After taking the village of
Pinon, the patrols went forward and
entered the forest of the same.
They found many German cannon
abandoned but with the breach
blocks gone. Dead horses, killed by
the German gunners, lay beside the
cannon. The Germans had found ii
impossible to get the weapon away
over the marshes adjoining the Aisne
canal, over which most of the bridges
had been destroyed, making a retreat
of artillery impracticable.
French Casualties Low
Hundreds of machine guns were
captured by the French and many
of them were turned on the fleeing
Germans, who had left plenty of am
munition behind. 1t is reported
that 120 cannon have fallen into
French hands, but the number is un-
certain owing to the condition of The
battlefield and its width. The same
uncertainty applies to the number of
prisoners, hundreds of Germans be-
ing encountered on all parts of the
field, marching wearily back to the
French lines.
The sight of the towers of the
cathedral of Laon on the horizon a
few miles away spurred the French
soldiers to wonderful efforts of en-
durance and swiftness. They went
on determinedly in pursuit of the
Germans, leaving parties behind to
clear out cellars and caverns which
disgorged hundreds of demoralized
prisoners who seemed astounded at
the vastness of their defeat.
With all this severe fighting on a
battlefield where the Germans held
strong positions and where they ac-
cepted the challenge of tn French
army to a stand-up combat, the
French casualties were remarkably
low.