The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-04-06
Germans Post Ironically Worded
Sign: Don't Be Cross;
Only Wonder"
STATUE REPLACED BY DUMMY
Beautiful Old Church a Pitiful Mass
Of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Is Evil
dence Of Carefully Planned De-
%struction by Germans.

British Headquarters in France
On the wrecked front Of the Hotel de
Vile at Peronne the Germans before
e%vacuating the city painted a large
sign. This, when translated into Eng
lish, reads: Don't be cross; only
wonder"
The meaning Of this bit Of parting
irony was only too apparent on all
sides. peronne lies a smoldering ruin.
The picture is most abject. Some sec
tons of the city have been damaged
by shell fire, but everywhere else there
is evidence Of carefully designed de-
struction by the garrison before retir-
ing.
Some fine old residences which. be-
cause of their outlying location, had es-
capped both shell fire and torch, had
been wrecked inside. top to bottom.
Many of them apparently had been
used for the messes of officers and
men. All bear evidence of the part
ing orgies. Furniture, mirrors, crock
cry and pictures have been shattered
and the mantelpieces smashed. In
some of them We're found pickaxes
that had been used as the wrecking
tools. The dining salons mirrors and
windows evidently had been smashed
with Rhine wine bottles, which were
strewn about in scores.
The deliberate character of the de-
struction wrought by the Germans be-
fore their withdrawal from PerOnne
is painfully evident in the once beau
tiful avenue of trees leading to the
railway station. These trees were I'M
touched by shell fire, but each II was
hacked in two With axes and the gashes
and chips show that the work was
done within the last few days. The
beautiful gardens of the outlying
houses also were wrecked and every
fruit tree within several miles Of the
town was sawed two-thirds of the way
through and then broken down.
Views Great Scene Of Ruin.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press was among the first visitors to
Peronne In the wake of the English
troops, who have swept we'll beyond
that place. 1t was necessary to pass
through half a score Of ruined villages,
which only n few days before were
within the zone of intense artillery
fire. before reaching the banks Of the
Somme. Crossing the stream IN an
improvised bridge and trudging
through Halle, Peronne was reached
over a road which had been recon-
structed within "a hours over succeed
inc rows Of German trenches md
through recurrent masses of rusted
barbed wire, some Of these being Mt
least six feet in height and so feet In
width.
There was a ghostly silence in most
sections OF the city. No sound OF wal
was to be heard. except once when
n prying German nirplane scudded over
IN the shelter Of the high clouds and
antiaircraft II IN opened. driving
him to quick retreat. British ON
GERS pointed out building after building
where apparently the total damns had
resulted from interior explosions. ~
many cases walls. facing away from
ia line Of British and French lire,
had great squares blown through them,
differing strikingly from the round
holes made In other buildings by
shells.
caudily Clad Dummy Is Left.
The beautiful old sixteenth century
church of Saint Jean WAS II ritifnl
mass ~ ruins, Int II of lis oil PANT
inrs sim hung on Il hit ~ wall ~ he
transient md wns mirncnlonsls IN
,an,hed. The statue " Catherine
| i1,x,ix. which "A! adorned the great