Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-19

, aIso in the right-angled formation OF the
deptils in a Greek cornice. Behlnu' par :
| ricaded line Of retreat ana re-entrenc
| renlIca of the first line, but much less
strong. These saw-tootn anu la =
trenches were very deep and very VIDE a
tnli efth in the first instance and half in
The second beyond the regular size. Ana
the communicating trenches were OF equai
width but deeper by two feet LheH
floors were laid in heavy wood, spaced 50
that the rain might filter through
In tbe drst-lihe trenches, no shelters
M ahris nothing in which the Boche could
take shelter under fire. But in the COM
muncators and the second, third ana
fourth line Of similar and weaker lines
so per cent more abris and shelters than
usuaL They were much deeper, with tun-
neled passages leading from half the dis
tance between first and second line to the
fourth defense and thence to the open.
To this point from the line itself was a
distance Of five to eight kilometers, accord
ing to the topography Of the ground Your
Boche is truly a digger within the soil,
miner caveman. who likes to burrow for
your i'll in the dark.
Tons of Barbed Wire
Before the first line, ten feet away,
barbed wire hung on spiral ended iron
stakes, the stakes closer and the wire
thicker than I have ever looked upon on
this front, with a second and similar de-
tense ten feet further away and third
ten feet further away still There were
tons and tons Of wire and tons and tons of
stakes: or rather. the remnants mostly of
both Those still standing were always
three feet six inches high. At regular in
tervals connected with the first line by
tunnels were mitrailleuse posts. They were
about twenty feet apart concealed and
blinded with cement tops upon which earth
and branches had been thrown so that
-, tor har dItr
mitrailleuse post contained two guns.
cemented to a parapet and turntable like
the gun on a battleshp with a lever.
Their muzzles just left the soil and no
more The swivel opening through which
these muzzles passed was lined with a
metal casing,
Between the first and second defense the
same system, with the guns set exactly be-
tween the guns in the first-line trenches.
Between the second and third defenses
like condition again, with the guns again at
equidstances. Had the three lines of
mitrailleuses been upon the same front they
would have been ten feet apart Within
each mitrailleuse post was an observation
post and periscope.
There were four groups to each sector,
and each constructed with painstaking care.
Work upon them must have been begun
early in 1916, at least The earth removed
had been transported elsewhere no doubt,
uSeu IN part LOT tne drtlncldl mis- nave
referred to.
There was nothing behind. This is proved
by the state of the ground and the lack of
debris Nothing was ever going to get
through. of course. How could IT, since 1t
was the genius of Hindenburg?
The Systems Faults
Nevertheless, portions Of all four lines Of
trench and all three lines Of wire and iron
were IN the hands Of the poilu and the
Tommy. having fallen exactly in the man
ner the walls and barrlcades fell in the
tale by Viollet-le-Duc.
Both the ancient and modern fault Law
In these defenses being too close together
and allied artillery, moving up, cuts at will
into the virtually undefended territory be-
yond. The actual Boche line today be-
tween Arras and Froidmont Farm is a
Jagged, crooked thing that would meas
ure ten times its straight distances between
these two points. In part, it is the orig
inal layout, and in part the open behind
the entire plan.
And the hammering goes right on. The
English rest in infantry attack for the
nonce, preparing while the guns keep
steadily on the job. And unless miss my
guess, the French front close by takes
up the work Indeed, l believe before this
story crosses the sea the line of Wooden
Headed and Wooden Statued Siegfred will
have been pierced in a certain point [
could name to the second barricade And
then later still the English. With beyond
that the French again.
Who can tell? Perhaps there NAV be
bit left for the khaki-clad boys from
the land of liberty to clean up, to be in at
the death in the dungeon.
Where will that dungeon be? In Belgium,
Or In Bocheland? Take it from me N
amt goin' to be in Francew