Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-01
66ntlcss Pieces of Smaller
Calibre Cutting Way
for Germans
WILL SOON BE CHECKED
Men Are Tiring and Difficulty
s-. Of Transport Slows Ad.
vance to South
BY WALTER DURANTY
ecisi Cable to Evening Public Ledger

sfVnehsfve burst. They are still stub
borniy disputlng the German advanc
n IN the wooded heights where the ac
non has been i'm our full view. saw
where the forest intervenes. The gen
sral had just returned from three
hour visit to the firing line-his con
pempt for danger is proverbial-ant
me stood In the shade of a ruinet
house. He said.
The German advance southwark
has been rapid, but not alarmingl,
& 80. II is the normal consequence. o
snumners, four or FIVE to one superior
0endine the arrival of reserves Then
goo, one must consider the effect ol
Herman gas In weakening the phvsica
Amciencv' of my soldiers. I never saw
ANYTHING like the violence of the Ger.
man bombardment. On the trenche,
Dnly, ANAL calibers were used. thre,
ana four inch, and minenwerfer. bu
meir number must have beeng prodi
s}1ous, should think a gun for every
slferd. IL placed in a straight line. And
- course. the enemy's progress has
8een facilitated bv the thick woods
Qereab0ut of which thev take ad
vantage and infltrate' under cover
among the numerically weaker defend
Srg. They do 1t cleveriy too, and
hvidentlv have been well trained. They
Are making good war"
WIN Soon Be Checked
His tone was calm, unprejudced It
was the fair verdict OF professional
soldier. veteran OF "A score of cam
4 paigns. He went on:
However. ] think we shall soon check
mem now. Already they Seem to he
Nrfns and the aggressiveness is per-
ceptibly diminished. It has become
practically an infantry battle as in
March. Nearly all the wounds are in
Aicted by rife or quick-firer bullets
s The Germans have managed to bring
along a few light field guns and what
- more remarkable. sausage to direct
them. but shell transport Is difficult and
the cannonading negligible. The salts
\ factory thing about the whole affair is
e tnet the enemy is not making much
heAdway on our tanks. Provided he
0nnot push westward there is little
-. worry about from military view
3 Point The loss of ground is regret
Hble, but IN a war of movement you
must expect movement to occur
To use an expression that became
nAmous in the early days Of the war.
4 Uofore the movement gave place to posi-
<ssisn fshting. the whole German force
e19a6ed In this Offensive forms
marching wing" that is trying to turn
x0e Allied positions to the west and
y 0orth, which are too strongly held for
( y direct assault
SRA vivid picture Of the opening scene
3 - the great battle was given by Brit
Nh medical colonel who, until Tuesday
had been the head of the largest hos
pttal In the sector attacked He talked
leaning against one of the camfons cf
X me- unit In the streets of village which
~ by now doubtless under enemy fire.
Prepare for Attack
The long central street was throneed
y Eth troops on the move amid the swirl
ing dust clouds thrown up by rushing
z l4rrics Or high-powered staff cars
~ The Colonefs khaki uniform was gray
Nth dust, his face was haggard with
= stratn and fatigue of four sleepless
NIGHTS, and his cheeks were covered with,
= three days ol6 beard. But for all that
I be must soon resume his weary pilgrim
R0e. Yet his voice rang and his eyes
hrtghtened as he spoke OF the gallant
y Tteistance of the French and British
aeAtnst tremendous odds, or praised the
fsvottcn Of his hospital staff, who safely
K temoyed all their numerous wounded at
an hours notice on Tuesday morning
asspate exceptional difficulties. He said:
-. Though the violence and size of the
attack was to a certain extent a sur
YrtpA II must not be supposed that we
ware entirely unwarned. In the latter
part OF last week. a prisoner declared
4 fhat there would be an assault on the
nactOr about midnight on Sunday. Al
\ Though such Information Is always open
= ~ question. We started a heavy barrage
= ~ the hour named upon the roads and
REPRESENTATION points behind the German
Apes- Soon afterward the enemy ar
4ry preparation began, and our gun
- redoubled their efforts, with the re-
5Uf. ss we learned later from prisoners.
rat the storm troops. advancing at the
Ast moment to assault positions suf-
SlAEed extremely severe losses
-H '~fhe preparations appeared to be exc
4uteo by an unexpected large number of
ArNe batteries, which proves that the
4ernans had taken the utmost care to
4yseirnulate the preliminary work OF reg
letrattcn. The heavy guns devoted thei
whole attention to our batteries Ieayins
7 TIE infantry defenses to light artiller~
Ind trench mortars.
TAT the moment of assault regular
4nil Of mifrailleuse fire developed. from.
&hich came the greater part of the first
+ Wounded to reach me,
III Ambulance Work Under Fire
- Although the enemy aircraft. flying
~. swept the roads behind our line
4 Nth bullets, the ambulance service func-
Ibned admirably. and by Monday eve
s4inG we ha0 received half our total ca
6Rcity.
The attacking numbers were so great
- literally to submerge the first lines
S ~ our defense. but individual mitrail-
1(fGa pests here and there continued to
\ roncre the advancing foe long after
passed the points where they were
taated
confess that 1 was surprised by
eplendid showing of our new drafts.
division had been just brought up
1krength BY fresh troops from Eng
after the March battle. but the
6eters fought like veterans. despite
Internal prelude of gas and high
~ French behaved equally well.
Informed that one of their regi-
9as surrounded early on Monday
>1Qrtot on our left The follow
<t1<6ecn message came from them
Ift1F pigeon that few hundred
9ors were stu holding out in
~ redoubt. improvised with an
&Ht Of logs and barbed wire.
- was silence. but deeds like that
1ulate W to be worthy of our
sissssfs Bsnb Hospital
the Germans gained a footing
5hemin-des Danes plateau they
~ rapidly. and by Monday
teo1n&6 that they had effected
~ ~ the Aiene That nisht.
~ ~ hcsp1tal. despite