Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-08-24
By WALTER KELLOGG TOWERS.

euGS4luS between OOIsSOAS 1uu
Reims in unbelievable force, had
rushed headlong with an over
whelming impetus that had carried
him again to the Marine We were
wondering that bright, clear morn
ing how he was to be checked and
Paris saved In every mind was the
conviction that it would be done
somehow, vet the how was was not
too apparent
We had watched the utterly
wearied forces of the French COM
ing back, and we had talked with
them For five days these men had
fought an unequal fight, and much
of the time without artillery sup
port; without aerial observation,
and without reserves. They had
faced forces ten times as great as
their own, forces which had every
other factor in their favor But
they had fought every inch of the
way from the Aisne to the Marine
and had made the Hun pay dearly
for every foot of their beloved
/ France they were compelled to sur
render to him.
These veterans of four years of
Z ~ a. LOAA vi eAA 4L4AA4GA4 OOll4Dd4 hAl1GAAA
( far more severe than anything they
/ had previously experienced, or Of
which they had dreamed-a bonn
{ bardment so tremendous that in a
+ few hours it Ieveled deliberately
prepared trenches, blasted dugouts,
and laid fat great tangles of wire.
/ And this fire had come from posi-
tons which they had had every rea-
/ son to believe the Germans held
] lightly, with little artillery. With
this bombardment had come clouds.
I of gas.
The instant the bombardment
/ ceased division after division Of
/ shock troops were upon them, rush
ing on in wave after wave They
were borne back by weight of num-
bers. Much of the artillery was
lost in the first overwhelming rush
Reserves of men and guns had been
all too few.
Spirit UnbrOken.
Yet these men had never waver-
ed. The line was bent, and bent
badly, but it had not broken. After
five days of apparently hopeless
fighting the spirit OF these men was
the volatile French OF whom one
thinks, but steady and cool in the
crisis. And each spoke of the hero
ism Of the others
All, those gunners; they were
wonderful" said one of them. Il
saw one of our batteries still firing
into the masses of the foe There
was no chance to get the guns
away. But did these gunners nee?
No. They stayed and served their
guns AS we were borne back l
saw the Germans take gun after
gun, but the last gun was still FIR
ing, its crew working desperately,
with the other guns in the hands
OF the Hun. 1t WAS magnificent"
And that battery that came up
/ behind US Tuesday, said another,
was it not splendid! All night they
pounded the bOche with shrapnel.
( What damage they must have caus-
ed him. And in the morning when
| the great rush came again, they
held their ground until the last
minute, spraying those waves with
lead. And then to see the battery
/ CONE out under fire, the horses gal
/ lot&g, the men shouting. They
stayed till the last and still served
their guns"
German Preparation Complete.
But as we regarded the shattered
ranks of this splendid, decimated
regiment and considered their story
( we wondered anew as TO which way
! the balance was to tip in this fate
full struggle upon the threshold of
which we stood. The immensely
and completeness of the German
/ preparation was well-nigh terrify-
ing. How I wished l might have
had there q group Of my acquaint-
ancRs in America who seem TO feel
that the war will easily and Ger
tainly be won, and so there is really
no necessity for them to bestir
themselves
! We watched, too, the troops of
the French and British as they
pushed forward, hurrying from
other points where the allied re
serves had been gathered. Their
officers rushed by in swift motors
or on horseback ieutenants, cap
tains, majors, colonies and an oc-
casional general.
NOW Edllc q Chatter Ol HOOIS anu
a long column of horsemen swept
by, wearing the horizon blue, with
rifles slung across their backs.
Sprinkled thickIy down the column
were small carts bearing the dead
ily mitrailleuses The sight cheer
ed US, for these "dismounted cav
airy are among the finest fighters
/ in the world and have served
j France nobly in every emergency.
! l looked as they swept past and
thought of reports / had heard in
America that France was bled
white" and that her soldiers had
! lost heart" Never had l seen a
more vigorous body of men. They
were strong, straight, powerful,
and rode superbly, with confident
/ bearing. I had read of "eyes that
shot fire" but never before had I
! seen them 1t was hard to meet
! the gIances of these men. They
seemed TO see through me and in
quire, Where are you Americans"
| Looks for YankS.
/ Battery after battery Of French
/ 75s moved steadily forward, the
men sitting erect in their seats,
calm and confident. Their supply
wagons rumbled on with them, in
a seemingly endless stream. Now
we made out some numbering trac-
tors, drawing behind them the great
naval guns. the powerful 1855. But
my eyes eagerly swept the roads
for sight of our own Yankees.