Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-29
DESPERATE FIGHTING
IN REGION OF VERDUN
American Army Pushing ahead Despite Determined
Resistance OF Foe-Foch Gaze Pershings'
Men Hardest Task
By EDWIN l.. JAMES

| the RUNS OF tn's oV'ce P'e'' h'' '
| ley town.
Eastward we have dug northward
into the Bois des l.oges. making the
enemy position at Belle Joyeuse farm in
tho nature of salient threatened on
| three sides.
We have received evidence that the
Germans are building new line run
ming through Briuuenay eas, To Dun
| s,r.Neuse Ave to seven kilometers north
| ~ tho Freya line II will be recalled
;ha, since, we started our advance we
have rushed through the HindeNburg
line and the Volker Stellung and bitten
through the kriemhiid iine ana up 10
| tho Freya Stellung, which We have
| reached at Grand -Carre farm. north OF
Bantheville.
II has been explained why the Ger
mans are fighting SO hard to hold back
tho American First army. how the ad
vance of Pershins's men threatens
I.o,nguvon- n-Mezieres-Foie de Rocrade
the most important line of communlca-
tion Of the German army. and how tn,
gaining OF that line would bottle up the
whole German army with only one ave-
nue of withdrawal through the Liege
gateway.
our rirat Major Operations
II was Just one month ago that the
American army began this operation
between the Aisne and the Meuse, the
fighting east Of the Meuse developing
later as part Of this operation. This
may be called the first major operation
for the reduction of the st. Mihiel salt
ent might be regarded as a local opera
| tion on a large scale, since IL had I'm
| tied objective
II has been hard four weeks for the
American army. 1t has been one of the
hardest fought and most bitterly con
tested battles of the four years of war
We have drawn more than thirty Ger
man divisions from other parts or tn
western front. and by that have helped
the advance of the British and Frcncl
and Bclgians. It Is the least sensational
part of the big battle of nations. II i
the TOUCHES, job that Marshal Foch hat
to assign. and he assigned it to Pershing
The German command has shown in II
orders that it will withdraw clsewher
If necessary before 1t will withdraw iron
before the American troops.
The American people should under
stand this battle, for it understand
baseball and therefore knows what /
meant by sacrifice hit. Carrying ou
the analogy. Americans know that it i
not always the harde.t- fought game tha
has the biggest scores.
Downed $50 roc Planes
Since September 26 we have hrough
down 23o airplanes. In addition twent!
three enemy observation balloons hav'
been shot down in flames This record il
remarkably good. in view of the fac
that the weather has heen adverse wit
but three really good flying days.
Our air-bombing service has mad,
many successful sallies behind tn
enemy lines by day and night. dropping
more than 10000 pounds of high ex
plosive bombs. On one of these eXpedi
tions more than zoo airplanes were used
making the largest airplane concentra
tion on single mission ever known.
Our engineers have done yeoman wor
in remaking roads ruined by four year
of shellng and German mines. Over
five kilometer zone ahead OF our start
ing off point no roads existed and tn
Americans faced a formidable task T.
keep supplies, food and ammunition NOV
ing steadily. as has to W done to rul
great army
Forty thousand engineers w1-kiny da
and night rebuilt the needed roads
using stone from destroyed villages TO
the greater part and incidentally wiz
ing on the map villages which for fou
years mad existed only i'm dismal an
scattered piles of moss-b bla nketed stones
The noteworthy feats which the en-
gineers accomplished in the Argonn
forest included the crossing of Forge
brook. which finds its way into the Meus
River north of Nerdun. In the Argonn
many hundreds of yards of barbed wir
enta aglements had to be bridged becaus
they could not be cut.
Garry Rocks on Backs
There the roads. sunk into obliteratin,
through four years neglect became i'm
passable for two days after we frs
started using them. because the bla
soil would not stand up They hat
to be repaired with the greatest labor
the engineer force In many cases carry
ing rocks on their backs because trucks
could not be got up.
The road over FORCES swamp wa
built under fire and made by laying flag
gots and sticks, corduroy style, in mudd.
swamp land
At one point. where ammunition wa.
sorely needed and no materials were n
hand to make a road several thousan,
shells left behind by the Germans wer,
laid end on end, covered with dirt ant
trucks passed oyer them until the i'm
promptu road was replaced by a bette
and safer one,
And the battle goes on. The Germans
seem somehow to find fresh divisions
to throw in almost every day The,
are fighting bravely and well
, Their deep interest in the Centra
Powers move for peace has>not affcctel
their fighting morale as yet and the.
; are being driven on with promises o
early peace IL they make last stant
) for the fatherland.
, Despite considerable losses and theil
suffering from cold and the terrific straii
of combat. the American soldiers ar.
full of fight and vim and no word o
complaint can be heard from one en-,
OF the line to the other.