The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-02-26

see them come out of their holes
in the ground like so many wood
chucks, only in perfectly military
precision, take their places at the
guns and fire as the word is given.
They all speak at once and the
noise is indescribalble.
zone of these shells dropping
would destroy an entire block OF
buildings here. The largest weigh
1900 pounds and travel accurately
for a. distance OF q miles.
"Nsxt we went to Rheims. As
we entered the city we saw little
children at play running for
cover, looking up at the sky with
expressions of terror on their
faces. There was q German
plane hiuh in the air above Us.
q The children acted like little
chickens when q hawk is soaring
overhead. These children knew
what might happen and were
getting 70 safety ~ fast as pos-
sikIe.
1--WE went to q house for lunch.
The town was being shelled as 1t is
shelled every day by the Germans
Every time shell would strike the
AAGIGA OAA @AAS ASAA40 "~AAN @N~~Ne~#
See Rheims Cathedral.
~T never had seen the cathedral.
We went to visit 1t. Even after the
bombardment it is one OF the most
beautiful places ] ever saw. The
great pillars which support the
structure large enough to put sew
eral churches inside are protected by
sandbags and the same method has
been taken to protect what statuary
is stu intact. / could almost cry as
I heard the old sexton tell of the
destruction of the beautiful edifice
by the Germans. Our guide told us
of how, when the building was first
shelled and set on fire, vapor from
the fire caused q peculiar spectacle
to rise through the flames. The peo-
pie watching saw as the flames shot
up a triple leaf Of their beloved
fieur-de-lis, the emblem Of France,
Since then the Germans have tried
again and again to take the city but
have failed. l don't believe. all the
power in Germany can shake the
faith Of the French people who are
holding and viii continue to hold
'oThe great cathedral has great
holes in the roof which are as large
as the roof Of an ordinary church.
The beautiful rose window which
was the work of a French artist was
smashed to bits. We saw the people
carefully collecting the glass from
this window in an effort to restore
il. They were picking up bits no
larger than the head Of a pin. Many
times since the work Of reconstruc-
ton had been under way, shells sent
the efforts at repair. While We stood
watching the people at work the
Germans sent lis shells into the
town trying to get the cathedral. The
ofacers said we would have to get
out for fear shell might strike at
anv moment. We could hear the
walls OF the houses falling as plain
w as II the noise were made by
dominoes YOU knocked over on a
table in front Of you.
In Chalk Trenches.
EWa were taken 70 the
trenches outside the town. The
trenches there are dug through
noIid fields Of chalk and the men
Iiva in duuouts constructed %
and 20 feet beneath the surface
In this chalk deposit. There the
men live comfortably IN rooms
tbat have walls as white as It
made of marble. We could see
fhe flash of the German guns
nJainIv from there. The trenches
are IN range of the smallest
FeId pieces Of the Germans yet
the enemy never has been able
10 take them. The French there
have no more idea Of being lick
ed than when the war began.
eve visited the great battlefield Of
Verdun next. In the air we saw
Great swarms of observation bal
looms lowering over the french INES
and 9. little distance away the Ger
man observation balloons ana back
of them the German airplanes az
work signalling to their artillery. IL
was one OF the most wonderrul
sights / witnessed.
1--WE visited the cathedral in this
town which also had been destroyed
bv German shell fire and then we
visited cemeteries-acres Of them.
or hin facing Verdun that was
once heavily wooded there is not a
single vestige of any living thing to-
dav. The amazing thing about mod
ern warfare Is that you never see
anv men n the battlefields. They are
mostly in the trenches or below
ground. All you see is a vast eX~
panse Of dishgured earth that has
been churned and distorted by con-
tinuous Smelling. In Verdun we