Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-07
M4ING MOST CoLD-BLooDED
.7 WEAPON OF MODERN WARFARE
Epoder Pressed Down and Foe by Hundreds Is Blown to
Atoms-Thick of the Fight at Retaking of Douau-
mont Described by Eyewitness
written Specially For the EVENING LEDGER
BY ELLEN ADAIR

..aNerse that fearful mile Of wilderness that
STOOD between them and their salvation"
What happened when the hour struck is
now now Wen known. Poilu, with all his fght-
s pIood up swarmed by the thousan nd
a. oss tnat terrible field, Running crawl
,us; now lodging to the left now to the
rlsht, disappearing in vast shell holes. re-
appearing undaunted he made straight for
.ne , enemy and always singing the songs Of
france as he ran. "Marchons" :" and AUX
armes' citoyens :" mingled with the roar of
guns. ' "
And then the Germans saw that they
were taken on both sides Panic occurred
S!A Thousand pairs of hands went up in
surrender 'P y"
All day there was terrific fighting. too. in
lne small villages around, Old-time ferocity
came INTO full play. Men crept from ruin
~ rum, grenades poised, their tread cat
lIhe' Machine-guns ratified eerily from hid
pen corners and whole platoons went down
before them
Frenzied cries of "Kamerad Kamerad -
it ALL "''0' ''o'Neu
we were men who ran a winning race
L,oli, start TO finish" said pollu after
Naru, and 1t was only the setting OF the
sun mat stopped us in the end %
elore the hnlsh of the third day 10000
prisoners were taken
Then General Nivelle addressed ht. .,a q,
before leaving them Gentlemen" said he
ieaVe you after a splendid day. The ex
periehce is conclusive. Our method has
proved itself Once again the Second French
army has displayed more clearly than be-
lole its moral and material ascendancy
over the enemy"
Two London boys Of nv acouaintancs
were busly digging themselves into a trsnch
IN - Wood. They were bosom friends
q resular Jonathan and David and had
'oi''e throuSh'two years fighting unscarred
DREAD OF sNIPERs
Suddenly the younger Of the two gave
a little cough, his shovel clattered apaInst
ms pick and he slipped quietly forward,
saiper's aim had been only too accu-
rate, aud he will never WELD pick and
spade again.
Ills friend went almost mad with grief.
revenge was his leading thought. All
day ne crept stealthily from tree TO tree
till at last he sighted a dim shape in a
ming sky
lie took a careful shot. There was a.
crash. and something fell through the
branches with heavy thud. 1t was a
German sniper-and his friends death was
avenged.
The eerie sights Of No-Mans-Land vastly
impresses the average soldier
Never shall | forget one glorious dawn
when the sky was glowing in shell-pink
ana blush-rose, one poetioal Tommy told
me, everything In nature seemed wonder
tuI-tlll | had one glimpse of the wire be-
fore our trenches Ugh, Twas a fear
some sight Nearly a hundred dead Ger
mans were twisted over It, only n few Yards
from my nose. and one of them SO close
that | could lean forward ard touch him ="
He had the wire.cutters in one hand
and that was held stiff above his head, In
tho other was his rifle and his legs were
twisted. His head was twisted backward
over the wire, and his face was most ter
rible of all. For It was drawn into a
grin that showed every tooth.'
Turn his face away" screamed out a
soldier whose nerves had all gone to pieces
with shell-shock md who was trembling
with horror at the sight
And just with that the dead German
quietly slipped down--a touch of wind did
it-and as he slipped his chin caught in one
of the wires, his head tilted forward and he
stopped grinning.
But after that" concluded the Tommy.
"the beauty of rosy dawns didn't appeal
to me, and | was so busy Watching the
wires that | couldn't stop to watch the
sky! For after all, that's the safer way!'