The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-08-28
FIFTY THOUSAND
SOLDIERS LOST
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| smoke. were used as one means d
defense. was told by passengers ar
| irving here on a French steamship
| today.
The submarine attacked the vessel
at 9:45 a. M, on August 20. just out
| side the bay of Biscay. Most OF tne
women passengers were still In peo
or in their baths and at the danger
signal came tumblnig on deck IN
various phases Of undress. The snip
| Immediately began to zig-Zag wnlie
} the naval gunners blazed away al
the u boat which could be plainly
seen before the, smoke screen was
released.
The new smoke contrivance looks
like a series of huge cheese boxes
swung on the side of the ship. Inc
bombs are released from these ooxes
and let loose dense clouds OF smoke
| Passengers said the screen was en-
tirely effective. After 1t was dropped
however, the gunners could not see
!! the submarine.
Cayairymen Now In Trenches.
TBy Henry Wood, United Press Stan
Correspondent
| WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES
Aug. 5.-(By mail )-American cav
| airy regiments now undergoing lnten-
sive cavalry training may be sur
prised on their arrival at the french
front to find their horses relegated
TO the stables and themselves to the
trenches. "a
AS a matter of fact, the role OF
tbe French cavalry has been largely
one of afoot in the trenches. unless
the whole character of the war on
the western front should change
completely, it is entirely possible tnat
American cavalry may undergo the
same experience
The change in the. war that came
when the Germans dug themselves
in on French soil rendered 1t neces-
sary for large number OF the
French cavalry regiment to be dls-
mounted and the men utilized IN the
foot service Enough Of the cayalary
was retained to meet any require
ments that may yet come with re-
yersal to open warfare, but the WIS
dom of the change has been demon
strated by the fact that since then
the French cavalry that still CON
tinues as such has only had two oc'
casions to get into action. during
the first few days of the battle OF
the Somme cavalry patrols were
thrown out ahead of the advancing
infantry for a few days, and during
the German retreat of last March the
cavalry again had busy week cnas
ing the fleeing Germans.
But that has been all. With the
whole war on trench basis, THESE
Cavaliers a pied" or cavairymen
afoot as they are known. took their
turns in the trenches. A consistent
euort was made to use them where
their especial qualifications and MT
ness would render the most service
It was quickly found that they were
especially valuable for advance posts
for sentinel and watchpost service
for scouting and "couveture" WORK
which resulted in great NUMBER o.
them being used In small groups OF
one or two platoons.
A notable instance Of where just
the right kind of a nook" was found
for them was on the User. Where
the French line runs into the North
sea at Newport, marine Infantry were
found to be the most adapted for the
trenches there, as there was all the
atmosphere of the sea and marine
warfare. A little farther south, how
ever, there was a long line OF ad
yanced posts entirely detached from
the rest of the line and which could
only be reached by little foot bridges
thrown across the canal at just zoe
wards from the German sharpshoot
ers. The dismounted cavalrymen took
to this wonderfully and with thefl
marine brethren to the north made
things warm for the Germans until
that part Of the line was taken oVel
short time ago by the British.
Not few of the dimsounted cav
airy regiments had the good fortune
not to be broken up into separate
groups this way, but were organized
| for example, into regiments OF l1gh'
infantry for special tasks. Regiments
of this class won laurels for the Cav
airy afoot" in the French offensive
of May S, when, supported by tanks
they tore open about six kilometers
| of the hinge Of the Hindenburg line
at Vauxaillon.
Greater evidence of the worth o.
these dismounted cavalrymen as foo
soldiers was demonstrated in the re
cent fighting about Hill 304 at Yer
dun. The record of the squadron o.
the Twenty-fourth Dragons, consist
ing of only forty members, that de
feated the model battalion of the Ger
man stosstruppen after three houl
hand to hand fight in which half o.
the dragons were killed will prob
ably remain for long time the elias
sic example Of what French cavalry
men are doing afoot. That the turf
| of the American cavalry may also
come Is a very great possibility.
| Russian Infantry Retired.
| PETROGRAD, Aug. 2S.-Wfthou
even having been under attack, Rus
sian infantry around Boyany retired
permitting enemy occupation of TIL
positions. today's official statement de
clared.
Violent ArtiIIerying.
PARIS, Aug. 2S.-Violent artillery
ling over half a dozen sectors OF thu
French front, coupled with raids, wer'
reported in today's official statement
~