New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-10

VEkDIN, NOV. y IVh INC HHIS
.,ou,d Verdun one sees the earth as it
ms. have looked on perhaps the fourth
s.v Of creation week. 1t is all rolling
nd and slime. and man is down deep
:. ,be dust from which he will spring
cal, some day. There is not even
foo,hold for poppies on the hills
.,opnd Verdun, for mingled with the
IA earth sears are fresh ones. and
,bsre will be more tomorrow.
The Germans have been pushed back
- the edges Of the bowl in which YER
am lies. and now their only eyes are
,sroplsnes. Big naval guns are required
% reach the city itself, but the Ger
mans are not content 70 leave the bat
,sred town alone. They bang away at
,u;ns and kick a city winch is down
They FIRE, too, at the citadel, but do
70 more than scratch the top of this
great underground fortress.
Our guide and mentor at Nerdun was
distinguished colonel, very learned in
military tactics and familiar with every
nhase Of the various Nerdun campaigns.
The extent of his information was
borne home TO US the first day of the
Tip, for he stood the party on top of
Fort Souville and carried on techni-
cal talk for more than half an hour,
while German shells, breaking a few
hundred yards away, sought IN vain to
interrupt him.
From the top of Souville it was pos
sble 20 see gun flashes and to spy,
now and again, aeroplanes which dart
ed back and forth all day, but not
soldier of either side was to be seen
through the strongest glasses. On no
front have men dug in so deeply as
st Verdun. They have good reason
10 snuggle into the earth, for the
French have a story that one of their
projectiles killed men in a dug-out
seventy-tve feet below the surface.
They thought that this terrific pene-
trstion must have been due 70 the
fact that the she'll hit fairly upon q
crack in the concrete and wedged its
way through.
Barring plumbing and running wa
ter, which are always after thoughts in
France, the French make the under
Tound dwellings Of the soldiers mod
erstely comfortable. There are venti-
lsting plants and electric lights, and
IN the citadel a motion picture thea
ire. In one underground stronghold
We found the telephone central for all
the various positions around Verdun.
We wondered whether or not he was
ever obliged 20 report Your party
doesn't answer"
We travelled far underground, and
at last the colonel brought US out
again near the high, bare spot where
the automobiles had been left. AS we
walked down the road there was a
particularly vicious bang some place
10 our left. That wasn't very far
the first she'll which had stirred him
to interest or attention. Presently
there came another bang, and this
seemed just as loud The colonel
paused thoughtfully. maybe one of
their aeroplanes has seen US and
spotted US for the artillery" he said.
Tell the chauffeurs 10 turn the cars
around at once, and we'll 60"
The chaufeurs turned the cars with
comrendable alacrity and the colonel
started TO embark mis- party. Just then
he saw some ridge or hillock off on the
horizon which reminded him Of a phase
Of the Nerdun campaign which he had
forgotten. He stopped in the middle
OF the road and pointed at il with his
cane. He described in detail something
which had happened in the spring of
1915. Then he added what the Ger
mans should have done and the meth
DDS which the French would have been
obliged 10 adopt 70 meet such an at
tack. The colonel had once been an
instructor az ST. Cyr and he developed
his technical ideas at length in beau
srf~1 E~~~~L he, ~ Tho -
began TO interpret now and again, but
the colonel chafed under this restraint
and presently he abandoned pauses and
let those who knew no French shift
for Themselves.
A. the end Of twenty minutes he had
done full justice 70 the subject, and
then he yecollected. owed better 20
now" he said "The boche might put
some shells over here"
Although the colonel spoke no Eng
hLt, he vas familiar with much Amer
iesh literature in translation. Poe he
knew we'll, and he had read few
things Of Mark Twain's. Somebody
Mentioned William James, and cap
tain quoted a. length from an essay
called "A Moral Equivalent for War"
Ths Lieutenant on ny right wanted TO
know whether Americans still read
Walt Whitman, and ! wondered
whether the same familiarity with
french literature would be encountered
IT. any American mess. The little lieu
tenant had been z professor or instruc-
tor some place or other when the war
began and had several poetical dramas
In verse % his credit. He had written
play called "Dionysius" in rhymed
couples.
A, the beginning Of the war he had
enlisted a. private and had seen much
hard service. which had brought him
two wounds. a medal and a commits
sion. he hoped srdently 10 survive the
var, for he felt that he could write ever
70 much better because he had been
thrown into close relationship with
peasants and lsborers. He found their
tslk meaty, and az times rich In poetry.
One dsy. he remembered, his regiment
had marched along country road IN
A,e spring dawn. His comrade 20 the
right, q Partisan huckster, remarked as
hey passed cleaning forest: There
is wood where God has slept" The
...tle lieutenant said that II he had the
lsek % live through the war he was
gong % write plays without thought
q The Greeks and their mythology. He