Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-28
The Ghost at Chateau Du Mont
BY Lieutenant Leon Archibald
British Royal Engineers

TN AN area of the British front honoreo
by the presence of our division in tho
earlier stages of the war, ON the one promi.
nent feature of the landscape and in close
proximity to the firing line, was situated
handsome old French chateau; which for
the sake of convenience may be called
Chateau du Mont" The censor. in this
instance, deems 1t advisable to withhold the
name by which 1t was known on French
ordnance maps, Just to be on the safe side.
LNOR months and months the Chateau
l. du Mont had been weathering the RACES Of
battle. when one day, for tactical reasons,
It was considered necessary to erase 1t from
the landscape. The removal of this fine
old pile was by no means decided upon
rashly. nor in haste. Every conceivable
plan had been considered whereby 1t might
be laft to grace its beautiful grounds, but
to no avail. The only action which could
correct a very grave evil was to level the
structure to the ground, thereby removing
from the German artillerymen highly
valuable aiming mark; as, on account OF
its nearness to the front line and prominent
situation. the German gunners could get
direct sights" on 1t, and, by carefully
observing their bursts" then switch on
to adjacent targets with unerring precision
in timing" and range" Chateau du
Mont must be razed. and our instructions
with regard to the matter were designed to
accomplish this desirable result, and in due
| time the thing was done.
TINE demolition was to take place at
a. m. on a certain night and about dusk
Of the same night proceeded to the
chateau in company with my section SER
geant and about dozen sappers. The
"blowing up was to be done with gun.
cotton, and the several hundred pounds Of
this commodity with accessories were
moved to the scene in &c. s." general
service) wagon. drawn by two mules OF
highly uncertain temperament.
AFTER a careful examination of the
n rather spacious and elegant structure
we decided where best to place the
Charges" to achieve the greatest results.
BY midnight each of the twenty odd pack
ages of destruction had been prepared. laid
and connected, so that all that remained
to add one more gaping wound to an
| already horribly mutilated countryside was
| TO push DOWN tne HdHult ol cApiouei'
| Two hours still remained before our
| nights work could be completed. and this
| time. to a large extent. was made use OF
| by the men in tours of exploration. In
| the building things stood pretty much as
| they had been left on the hurried departure
| of the owners. The wing nearest the
enemy had suffered considerably from the
| rayages of shell fire-great gaping holes
and shrapnel-pocked paneling. together
with manned and broken furnishings stand
| ing out In strong contrast to the elegance
| IN other and more fortunate regions Of the
structure. These Journeys of exploration
| and investigation were. to a certain extent.
being combined with not altogether illegiti-
mate acts of pillage, as it did seem pity
to see the &c. s." wagon return empty
| when all this stuff was to be blown up.
anyway. Little knick-knacks. such as the
| grand piano. the dining room table and the
kitchen range. were being gathered up,
when, all of a sudden. the riot started.
NNE Of my sappers, Higgins by name.
" and gentleman who on more than one
| occasion had stimulated other proceedings
with no mean portion Of zest. had In his
wanderings located the linen closet. Select
ing nice, large. white sheet, he then
donned his gas helmet: and. with the sheet
loosely draped about his generous frame. ne
SORTED forth. AS he entered the upper hall.
Haynes. one of his mates who was slightly
nervously inclined. was just emerging from
mademoiseles boudoir accompanied by .
generous portion ef that young lrdy's bed
sGtm spite. The teo1 ef Tie slairu vnG Vt
.'>. ~. S. X IL N IA rs. q, &. 5 ..@