Tombstone epitaph., 1918-09-22

ne was 10 act on the instant that the curt order came over the wire.
 II was moi much that he had to do. Merely make ;nnyeiHen; of his hands. Masses of troops continued to rush across the bridge until more than half were safely over. The bridge further above was not in such great demand. and with the lessen-d congestion al- most all who crossed here were already safe. We could see low the first of iIe French units had crossed. but the bridge confirmed to stand
 The sergeant who manned the appa- ratus al this bridge became restless waiting for orders. and finally on his own initiative blew it up. Some Frencimen and hundreds of Germans upon the bridge found their graves in the Narne
 At the same moment the officer standing nexr to ne received the order to blow up the last bridge. He hesi- tated to obey. for he could still see many Germans on the other side. He could see the race for the road leading to The hrid@ehead as ull sought safety al the same instant. There terrible panic le.gnoI. Many soldiers jumped into the river and tried to swim across. The pressure became greater as the thousands still on the other side tried to get back.
 The message over the wire became more and more insistent. Finally the officer sprang up. rushed by the piO- heer standing al the apparatus and second later there was q terrib'e detO- nation-hritlge and men were thrown into the air hundreds of meters. Just as a river at high tide races along. taking will fl all manner of debris. so th. surface of the Marne was covered with wood. men. torn uniforms and horses. Efforts 10 swim were futile, yet soldiers continued to jump into the river
 On the other side fhe French began 70 d!sarm such German soldiers as stood there with raised hands. Thou- sands of prisoners. innumerable horses and machine guns fell into the hands of the enemy. Several of our company were just about to retire with the electric apparatus when something de veloped which certain of our number made and it was too late to TSc:::; .:.
 The upper bridge which had not been used io any great extent by the Germans, should have been left stand ing,
 It had heen the purpose of the staff in command To leave this bridge so thai the enemy might continue its pur- suit of our troops until a certain num- her of Frenchmen had crossed the river The E.an was [" permit enough Frenchinsn 10 pass sO that they could he taken prisoner. vet. HO- toe large force. lest il might prove a menace fo the German arms.
 After these hostile troops had "roSSed. the plan was fo destroy the bridge 10 prevent theIr being re- enforced. Thai was why rhe sergeant rDanning this switch had been kept waiting for the order io blow up the bridge. Hur the sergeant in the ex- 'if.Heni anh confusion thought that he ,si'l- ro which hS ph"ur nas con lrrr..h mad been disr-'nueeret and blew IT. m. rrii:c nu .:s own ui;iaiive 'hH" ir w"> rr"v i n, Frr.r:;inen '"' '-''" ""'"r- ''.- ' rt..Id have
 .t.' ,':! ,..-,- sntich r,nnected win -ie explosives InGer the second bridge received his 2 ters. H- afterwards said that the order he received was hard to make nu; 2rd tlat he had lost his pre-.aCp of rIind and threw in .he sw.i-'r. thereby killing thousands on ihe bridge snd leaving many other thousands rc 'he mercy of the enemy.
 Before there was time for more i'm priSSinrs eur entire unit was ordered to Wit 10 he assembled in front of :he cathedral. With q sigh of relief vr hurried away. for the French ar tillery began once more ;o send shells with rlrch accuracy over the entire rounti! si,ie. Wounded men from other ietac!imsn.s whom We passed on the road tod US shat the French had al ready crossed the Marne in several different places. Everyone among us votced the same opinion. We had al ready sustained great losses on Bel SiaB soii and each day brought new sacrifices. Our lines became thinner and thinner. Many companies were entirely destroyed and all units suf- fered heavily. These companies whose forces had been reduced 10 minimum and with the survivors half starved were opposed by an army well . equipped with supplies and arms. The . enemy constantly brought up fresh . troops while our forces became fewer from hour to hour. We realized that 1t was impossible to make a stand here. We were constantly learning from soldiers of other contingents that their losses in men and materials were enormous
 I thought of the God of the Ger mans. Had he forsaken them?
 thought 1t so loud that the others could hear.
 Yes" said another, whom the Lord wishes to punish Is first stricken with blindness. Probably he thought of Relpium nopcbarv Sornrnaov .od