El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-04
FRENCH MARVEL5
ON FIRING LINE
Their Genius at Mobiliza-
ton Saves Their Country
From Germans.

It stood on that afternoon Of the
fifth day Of the battle, when the issue
OF the war was trembling In the
scales: the movement Of troops and
guns from the quiet sectors OF the
front had begun, i knew; but what
saw a few hours after leaving Paris,
from my car window. and for days
thereafter. amazed me more than any
thing 1 have seen in this war.
Military transport is VIGOROUSLY
slow. Trains, as a rule are contlnu-
ally held up, wheeled traffic blocked
The nearer one gets to the front. eA-
ceptinE the last few miles behind the
line. the more congestion exists 70
get guns. placed under cam0u1lage
within view OF the enemy out OF the
zone Of fire into safety on the ROADS
behind. is a lengthy operation that IN
normal times requires days; some
times. II heavy guns are involved
weeks
Pushing Up transportation.
The s o s. passed along the front;
the crisis Of Ferdun. Of the Marine,
had come again. Three days later,
looking out Of the window OF a great
trunk railway that runs behind much
OF the front south OF the Oise. i
watched with awe and thanksgiving,
train after train Of those ridiculous
toy engines, pulling the funny little
French 1aIcars and boxcars that
Americans So laughed at. once. me
trains were running FAST good 50
miles an hour and on headWay OF
not more than two minutes
Upon each Of the little flatcars-
and there were IS TO 40 TO each train
stood a motor lorry- out OF the
hack Of one lorry in every three poked
the nose Of e hOWitzer, or IlelQ gun
in each Of these beside their gun, were
the helmered POilus who within rev
hours would be serving il against the
enemy. The other lorries were laden
with cassi0ns, with extra supplies OF
shells, OF With wagons llIled WIN
euu1Iies. snare wheels strapped on
their tops TO make repairs when snelLs
should smash them-wagons that
could go forward 10 the guns where
motor traffic would be made lmpOssl-
be BIZ the enemy's fire
Filling the Gap.
Nothing was forgotten, nothing was
lacking As these trains reached rail-
head. the lorries were ready 10 roll
down into the road and OF 70
strengthen the barrier between the
successful enemy and the final VIC
tory that seemed so near me spec
f-eie reminded me Of specials running
20 a Tale-Harvard game.
But the railway traffic was only
uart Of the irresistible flood OF Weap-
ous OF destruction and men that was
flowing TO the north on each SIDE OF
the track, along the roads were otner
professions Of lorries, proceeding IN
der their own power Many OF these
carried the deadly z5's that have since
rorvn down thousands Of Germans
others were packed with troops the
shock troops Of the French army al
ways kept in r serve for attack or de
fence where the task IS hardest For
five hours, until darkness came ana
] left my train. ] watched this process
sion Of Guns. l0rries and men going
10 repair the break in the dyke
Column Never stops
Every one Of these men, every gun
withdrawn from the front elsewhere
since the disaster occurred Here and
there. along the main road that was
a moving platform OF motor Iranspol =
] saw. tumbled in the ditch, lorry- II
had developed engine trouble per
haps some trifling ailmeut that the
driver could Fix in three minutes no
rnatter-into the ditch Il must 90. The
orders now are that the column, 1oW-
ing for more than loo miles, must neF :
er stop already the left hand side or
the roads Is occupied by empty lore
ries which have made one trip and
are coming back for fresh loads There
IS no room for machine TO draw
aside. to halt for a moment meant end
less confusion when lorry breaks
down. there is one inTarlaole rule as
on the road 10 Nerdun; the poilus pile
out. grab rails from a fence. or any
convenient. nearby emergency lever
and Dry the lorry, gun and all, into
the ditch Later. when the rush Is
over. the salvage corps VIII come
along.
Guns and Troops-EveryWh
The roads we're filled with the end
less chain Of l0rries. Already, / could
see that most Of the available small
guns had gone Up. for there were more
infantry in the lOrries on the trucks;
and. as the day wore on, and I tried
with very poor success to reach -