The Sentinel=record., 1918-09-17

American Army lleadquarLers I'll Lorraine Sept 16.-Reutersl-AG Ger man officer captured by the Americans makes interesting revelations concern ing the St. Mihiel salient He declares that it's continued holding by the Ger mans would have been and was piece of msoldierly pretentiousness which was only persisted in from political ne cessiy.
 dIe was very angry about it and as- serted that representations had been made to the great general staff as 10 the impossibihty Of holding the salient with the troops assigned to it in the face of the American COncentratiou winch was known to be taking place, but at the same time it was supposed that the occasion was not propitious for attacking the Germans and any re~ adjustment of the German position was postponed until the moment for q complete evacuation was past.
 1t is probably not an underestimate to assume that the Americans, in oe- lilerating the St Mhiel salient, re- duced the enemys strength by the equivalent of four division. The vic tory of the Americans was due to Ger man inferiority in numbers and 8 greater inferiority in morale.
 The enemy was 50 busily occupied in getting out of the salient that nc did not have time to remove his dead. The statement from the German high command that it is glad to be rid of the salient may be believed, but 1t may he doubted that it is glad also to have lost GOO men. more than 100 guns, all mnumerable quantity of machine guns, trench mortars tons of ammunition' and telegraph material as well as raiI- road equipment rolling stock, clothing and supplies which either were burned or captured by the Americans.
 False conclusions must not be drawn from the results oi the operation. To put it briefly. the Germans did rot fight and the trilling damage they did 10 the French and Americans proves it.
 The Germans may have done the wisest thing. since, if they had tried 10 stand. their losses would have been in creased enormously The allies and the means to insure such a result and the fact that the operation required only 57 per cent of the time allotted 10 it is proof that much more streni- -~aus resistance was expected from the enemy. He was in such hurry to re move his guns that scores of them were captured without having fired a round
 The Germans already have begun to react. The number of enem airplancs has increased greatly and the alhes are striving hard to drive them off. At night the Germans attempt to bomo the Americans These things do not suggest beaten foe and it would be the gravest mistake to imagine that the Germans are done.
 Difficulties admost unbelievable were overcome by the Franco-Amer- ican troops who attacked the Germans on the western flank of the St Mihlei salient The heaviest fighting oc- cured on this flank, as elsewhere along the line of last weeks offensive the Germans retreated with little op- position.
 The attackers had to storm and pass forests and thickets which were almost q solid mass of barbed wire. They had to traverse roads cut by many trenches and were opposed not only by men and all the machinery of war, but by na ture as wsz However, they accom- plished the*almost incredible feat ol breaking through. Behind them they left torn masses of wire, ruined road ways and wooded hills belted wItf concrete forts.