The Sentinel=record., 1918-07-31
SHELLS BURT
 OVER VISITORS
coNGRESSMEN GADDING OVER BATTLEFlELDS FIND DANGER
 LURKING NEAR THEM.
Admitted That Their Experience Mon day was the Most Thrilling They
 Had Along Any of the Battle Fronts.

With the American Forces on the Aisne-Marne Front, July 30.-Six war-tired American congressman are on their way back to Paris today after having witnessed from a hillside on Monday the tustle for possession of the town of Sergy, two and half miles southeast of the former Ger man base at Fere-en -Tardenois in the Soissons- Rheims pocket.
 The congressmen saw American in - fantymen in action witnessed the firing Of entente allied big guns and heard the rattle of German machine guns and the crashing of the heavy cannon of the German crown prince. The congressman probably would have remained on the eminence long CT had not the German heavy shells begun exploding overhead, That end ed the sight seeing trip in that vicin- fly, one congressman remarking that the Germans "could quit that sort of business right then.r so far as he was concerned.
 The congressman, who had visited the Austro-Italian front, said their observations on Monday showed to them the first actual fighting worth talking about. The party was con ducted by Lieutenant Freeman Light of South Norwalk, Conn, and 1t con sisted of Representative Thomas A Chandler, of Oklahoma; M. Clyde Kel- ley, of Pennsylvania; Louis C. Cramp ton, of Michigan; Thaddeus S. Cara |way, of Arkansas; John A. Blston, of California and Joseph Thompson, of Oklahoma. The congressman had luncheon on a hillside at Chateau Thierry amidst the ruins of fine homes, the iazy Marne creeping along through a great gap in what was Chateau Thierry's finest bridge and now destroyed by the Germans.
 W hile the congressmen were sitting down to a basket luncheon, a fashion ably dressed woman from Paris came to the ruins of her old home where she found a group of American soldiers iu Ipossession The woman eplained her mission in broken English. She
 went to the basement, requested the aid of the American soldiers and had a private dig a hole in the basemen
 at a point indicated by her. The sol dier soon uncovered a basket full oi bundles, securities and other yalua- | bles. Among them were lot of five per cent gold 100 dollar bonds of the defunct St. Louis, Oklahoma and Gull railroad. The woman gave the sol dier three bonds for his trouble. The congressman visited the shat tered houses in Chateau Thierry anc also the hillside dugouts formerly oc- cupied by the Germans, gathered
 numerous souvenirs. They then pro Iceeded toward the battlefield, eventu- ally reaching the hill southeast o
 Fere- -Tardenois
 | When the Germans began replying
 to the allies fire in earnest. tho
 congressmen decided that 1t was about time to adjourn and did so. leavins
 behind the souvenirs they had gath
 tered at Chateau Thierry On theil
 way to the rear however, they passed | through the forest of Fere, visiting additional former German dugouts
 and camps and gathered up another
 assortment of rifles, helmets and va rious articles which they took back.
 The congressman also visited fielC Hospital having seen stretcher bear
 CTS bringing in wounded men from th' field They were satisfied that ever,
 thing possible was being done for th'
 men on the front lines and for those
 who fell in the fighting.