El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-19

: exposed road was covered at a speed
] OF 80 miles an hour, with the great
guns Of the fighting forces drumming
I continually just over KENNEL hill.
He'll Fire Corner.
me car drew up in Npres. two
I blocks from the ruins Of the cathe-
/ dral and about so yards from He'll
l fire Corner" that exposed cross roads
( IN 1pres which is constantly under
the fire Of German batteries. or rather
Z upon which there are guns contin-
ually trained. Some refer to il as
/ Bloody Corner" The Germans had
Z the range SO exact that il was a mat
/ ter of only a few seconds from the
! time they see men at the corner IN
I til a shell drops within a few feet OF
the crossing.
As the congressman got out OF the
car the officer cautioned:
Keep as far apart as possible: do
not form group OF more than two.
for the Germans have this place under
observation all the time and will drop
shell wherever they see more than
one man II you cross the corner. run
across"
How far are we from the German
lineT" asked one of the congressman.
About a mile; perhaps less than a
mile There was little excitement
out there this morning"
The group separated Five minutes
later. by some mischance, they all
came together again 80 yards from
Hellfire Corner.
Boom, Zeeng, Bang"
4 four inch shell exploded 200 yards
away from the group leaving a puff
OF black smoke so the Germans could
gage the accuracy OF their fire The
shell exploded exactly in the center
OF the roadway.
we had best move out OF here"
suggested the officer; they will fol-
low US up the road with shells pretty
quick They know we will go out one
way"
Down They Go.
He had no sooner spoken than
Boom Zeeng-
Drop on your belliesr called the
they all dropped The shell was
coming with . shrek straight for
them
'.Eeng, Bang
p The shell struck less than 100 yards
away Debris splashed around the
congressman
Boom, Zeengi Bang
4 third shell dropped within .
yards Of the group. A chunk Of it
tore up the ground just ahead OF Mr.
Hicks and another man Mr. Hicks
picked up the piece. smoking and hot
As soon as the cloud cleared they
moved toward the automobile run
ming across Hellfire Corner. Within
10 yards Of the automobile a ma
chine gun barked and a sniper popped I
with a rifle The bullets sang past
but spattered against the walls. The
wall stumps were Just high enough
to give protection
Thirty seconds later the automo-
bile was speeding out OF the debris as
fast as II would pick up on open
throttle. When the car was about
100 yards away three shrapnei bursts
sprayed the spot where it had stood.
Pot -fOf-2-rnrf 80
The machine gun barked again But
the car was far Up the road now and
going more than so miles an hour
The Big Siege Guns.
Slowing down they turned north
and east. drawing up close under
some great British siege guns As
the congressman picked their way
through the sand a young British Of
1icer came out Of his hole in the side
OF the hill He shaded his eyes for a
second then a smile spread over his
face and he beckoned the crowd up.
It was a real welcoming from a real
big hearted, red headed. freckled
youth 7 shall never forget that
smile and the cheerful greeting" said
one q the congressman.
It's great here" he said with gen.
uineness
And the place looked it The struc-
ture was as clean. orderly and fresh
as a battleship. There was perfect
lALcAe tlAAF4A every kltEE- ne EIcdl
guns were so magnificentlv balanced
that the pressure Of a finger would
depress or raise them. Every contin-
gency had been provided for.
And back Of the heavy weapons a
sergeant was doing a little farming.
as II there were no Germans within
4 thousand miles. He had strings OF
tomatoes. mushrooms. beans. marrow
plants and melons thriving
Better stay TO dinner" he invited,
and only the pressure Of time pre-
vented the congressman from having
a fine meal. They wanted IL.
We can give you a rabbit dinner"
persisted the sergeant. He led to a
big wired cage where he had a fair
sized weir Of fat. wiggly little rabbits.
How many are there
Twelve on last count" was the
quick response
Leaving the genial young officer
with a strong compliment, the dele
cation then drove to La Panue.