Evening star., 1917-11-04
'7EUTONS ARE KEPT
ALWAYS ON MOVE
Gen. Grosetti, Commanding
Monastir Front, Already Has
Gained Many Miles.
HIS CAREER NOTABLE

esaR Correspondents Of the Associated Press.
ARMY HEADQUARTERS. FLORINA.
Macedonia. October 2o.-Gen. Grosetti,
commander-in-chief of the left wing
Of the Army of the Orient, was at
headquarters here few days ago when
his chief Of staff. Col Expert-Besancon
arrived with welcome news Of a big
success. Our party had just arrived
from Gen. Sarrail's headquarters at
saloniki. and this gave the opportunity
of sharing In the good news and Of OBJ
serving its sequel when the French
Official account was verified and the
German account was proved to be in
correct.
Col Besancon's good news was that
the Albanian mountaineers. had caught
an Austrian detachment In packet
and made short work Of it, The Aus
trians had stacked their arms and were
coats OF. Suddenly the French and
-Albanians burst on them from sur
rounding hills, sweeping the camp
with machine gun fire from a hIgh
Cliff. The fight was quick and awful.
The Austrians had no time to get their
guns. They were literally annihilated.
Those who were not killed surrendered.
The counted dead numbered 300. the
prisoners. 45o. The French-Albanian
loss was only three men killed and
seven wounded.
German Account False.
The French Official communique duly
recorded this incident. with the killed
and wounded. The German communique
also referred to 1t, but gave different
version. According to the Germans. the
French made an attack. which was re-
pulsed without loss That night the
American ambulance section from Le-
land Stanford University. Cal. arrived
with some of the wounded and with in
dependent evidence, based on talking
with the captured prisoners and count
ing them. that the French version had
told the truth and the German version
had concealed 1t.
The whole route from Saloniki to
Flortna ran through vast marshy
plain, with scummy water and a foggy
miasma hanging over it. This was the
deadly fever zone, which dragged the
vitality out Of troops The Nardar
river, for which Serbs and Bulgars con-
tend. was crossed at o'clock. 1t is a
shallow, marshy stream, deadly with
fever germs and breaks into three ir-
regular branches crossed by a long
steel bridge.
From end to end of this low plague
region Serb soldiers were giving an
other evidence Of their heroism and en-
durance. They were at every bridge
and culvert, and formed the guard for
the whole railway route, SO vital in
moving troops and supplies. Most of
the Serb soldiers were old men. Their
tents were down in the marsh, and
they were literally living in the scum
my water. They looked yellow from
this terrible work
West of the vardar Macedonia grows
more fertile. There are small farms,
with water buffaloes dragging primi-
tive wooden plows. This is the region
which the Greek government hopes to
reclaim into a vast farming section.
Evidence Of Heavy Fighting.
tfina there were evidences Of the heavy
dghting which had been going on. The
splendid five-span steel bridge at
Eksisu had been blown up by the Bull
igar-Austrians as they fell back after
the last drive. The twisted framework
of the bridge was down in gully.
with portions of the girders hanging
to the piers at either end. The enemy
was only a few miles to the north. and
was still showing its resentment for
this drive.
At the nearby British Red Cross
bombs had just been dropped in an air
raid. killing number Of sick and several
nurses. although huge red crosses. laid
nat on the ground, plainly showed this
was nospltal entitled TO prOtect1on.
Gen. Grosettf keeps hammering away
on this Monastir front, just as he did
on the Marne and the User. He has had
one of the most notable careers OF the
war. 1t was his division Of Foch's
army which made the famous drive on
Won Kluck's flank at the battle Of the
Marine. which In the Judgment of mill
tary experts turned the tide in that
great battle. Then he was in the big
Champagne offensive, and the Argonne,
and Oh the User. and now he is in chief
command of the French. Serb, Russian,
italian and Greek divisions which have
cleared the enemy from Monastir,
pressed him back forty miles, and has
the task of keeping him on the move
to the rear.