Ripley County democrat., 1917-12-14
under FIRE IN
French TRENCHES
Correspondent Describes Visit to
Battle Line In Argonne
Forest.
KOIsIEsT Thing IS BIRDS
Germans Drop an Occasional Poorly
Aimed shelI-officer Calls It Dull
Life-visit Acceptable Break
In Monotony Of Daily Life.

Somewhere In France.-Just now the
Argonne forest is no place for a man
aching for scrap. vauquois Plateau,
where thousands Of French and Ger
mans met death In bloody combat, is
as quiet on these sunny autumn days
as the Polo Grounds In midwinter.
Barring an occasional thunder roll
from far away batteries, and an hour
ly reciprocal bombardment by French
and German guns, the nolsiest thing
that stirs the valleys is the twitter of
the birds.
A young French officer, returning
to his trench sector from a village O
short distance behind the front, es.
corted three correspondents to q po-
sitlon from which a wide stretch Of
the Argonne front could be easily seen.
Our car sped through an utterly de-
serted village, devastated by the re-
treating Germans after the battle Of
the Marne and more completely ruined
by later bombardments.
The road led straight out into a
great amphitheater bordered by wood
ed hills, criss-crossed by the ruins Of
old trenches.
Batteries In Woods.
"See those sticks?" said our escort,
pointing to row plainly visible to
the naked eye along the top Of hill
to our left. "There are the Boches'
barbed wire and trenches. He has
few batteries In that woods. II he was
energetic he might give US a few
Shells"
The German positions were getting
uncomfortably nearer. We left the car
under a slight rise In the ground that
hid 1t from German observation, and
started on foot across field to seek
cover behind a hill held by the French.
We had barely clambered out Of the
car when shell burst 600 yards ahead
In a field near the rohd over which our
car had been speeding.
swell, he did try one on U.S." laugh
ed the French officer, ''but 1t was a
bad one. TIL wire the kaiser to take
AWAY his Iron Cross"
Over In the dugouts behind The
French trench line an assortment Of
poilus were whiting away at knick-
nncks, playing cnrds or taking cat
haps. The dull boom Of guns came
across intervening hills from the Ver~
dun front, only n few kllometers away.
Our escorting officer led the way on up
over the hilltop past an anti-alrcraft
gunner who wished US "bon jour" and
lamented because he hadn't seen q
German for many days.
Calls II Dull Life.
At an artillery observation post our
coming was an event. The officer In
charge conided that 1t was a dull life.
The Germans hadn't sent a shell his
way for long time. He was glad to
meet newcomers and mighty glad to
break the nonotony Of days work
by pointing out the Boche trenches In
the valley below and the great vau-
quois mine crater on the yellow side
Of Vauquois plateau. No sign Of life
came from trenchland. At one point
where V-shaped German trench
seemed almost to run into v-shaped
French trench--only 60 feet separated
them-there had been little grenade
tossing few hours earlier, when poi-
lus and Boches needed warming up ex-
ercises after breakfast. That was all.
Rack we went to the officers dug
out for quite palatnble war bread and
wine.
War out here" he said as we were
leaving, moves like molasses."