The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1917-04-03
THE: NEW SAHARA
Abandoned by Teutons Lest
Their 1roe ps Go Had.


of the London "News and Leaders
Bean, Of the combined Australian pa
pers and "A1fzac,' staff colonel, l
have just explored the new Satara, that
hideous country abandoned by the Ger
mans lest their troopers go mad.
The British gave it the name Saba
ra. Crown Prince Rupprecht s men
called it by another-the graveyard.
But I should give it another still-the
field Of thousand shudders- place
where Nightmares are made.
Take your map Of France andfnd
Bapume. To the west and south of
that place lies the new SAHARA. If your
map is a large one you will find it Gov
cred with the names Of hamlets, vii
lagos and towns, but today all these
are gone. No trace Of them is left and
as one stands in the middle of this
blighted country, no sprig Of grass, no
sign Of tree, no weed, flower or shrub
greets the vision as far as the eyes
can see. There is only greenish black
SOIL freshly churned up and becratteresl
by shells ranging in depth from five
to so or more feet.
Of course, one cannot ride through
this country. Nor for that matter can
one walk. One can only slip and slide
and stagger along, even in danger of
falling into funnel shaped quagmires
from which escape is impossible with
out aid. I know of two correspondents
who came near losing their lives in
just such places, more perilous far than
the dreaded quicksands. Horses and
mules, on account Of their weight and
the difficulty in helping them once in
the tolls Of the ooze, usually are drawn
down to their death.
"Look out Cor tho bavonet!' is
common cry Of warning as you STUN
BILE through the mud and hundreds and
thousands Of rifles are buried providing
the walls were firm enough; if not, his
body was thrown, outside. The bodies
Of soldiers who fell in this sector dur
ing November are only now being bur
led and by tie English-the Germans
were unable to get at them.
In the pitch black darkness, many
soldier fell in the awful funnel shaped
death traps in the mud to be left to
suffocate III the terrible mixture prob
ably already holding bodies Of previous
victims. By day, while shells fell on
disinterring the already buried, dead
faces stared at the Kaiser's men from
every side and at night crisped hands,
sticking out Of the mud tripped and
threw those who had to venture into
the open. Iron nerved troops felt
creepy. They were afraid to be left
alone in the dark. Showers Of flares
were sent into the air to shed light on
and about the trench, but these only
served to throw horrible glare over
the unburied dead. Faces twitched,
nerves failed, and prisoners say some
soldiers went mad
This new Saraha is the wonder of
artillery. One wonders while standing
by a clean warm muzzled gun as it
blazes away what is happening at the
other end Of the shells trajectories I
have seen Immediately the Germans
went out [ went in and the product of
the intensive gunnery, the drumfre of
artillery which I had seen and heard
throughout weeks lay before me-the
new Saraha. And in the middle Of this
hellawful desert was the field of 8
thousand shudders, nightmareland, the
ultimate horror place in wardom. PEG
pie asked why the Germans retired. Do
you wonder why they left? Here 20,
have an inkling-but only an mixing
Of what the British guns are doing
making new Satara s along the German
front reason, and to the noisome smell
Of miles of muck is added an unmistak
able stencil. Intuition would tell yo1
the cause of it even were not the hodie
lying about plentiful to be seen. The,
lie slngly, In all kinds Of attitudes, o
in groups, or piles. They are on mound
or at the bottom Of shell holes, in frag
1nents or so entire as to resemble mere
~ very tired and muddy soldiers gon
to. sleep regardless Of time of place.
Here ran the German lines durin
December and January following tn
Ho4 II,
were no communicating trenches lea6
ing back, the British smashed them a
they dug-,and to get into our fore
most positions the soldiers had to trs
verse the open ground at night. Foo
and ammunition had to be brought II
in the same way and as shells neve
ceased falling. in this area and ever