The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1918-01-04
Ry FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE
of the Vigilantes.

of the Vieilantes.
Somewhere in France"-l never
;imaesaed in the widest flights Of fan
cy about war that to gain an objective
under modern battle conditions an
army has not to lay waste Il position
!or q village but practically country
side. You can motor nowadays for
hours in the region generally known
as the British front, sweep the land
Escape for miles in every direction, ana
see nothing but ruins Of what used to
be human haMtations. Your guides
point to a scattered dump OF brick,
mortar, twisted Emoers, indiscrmi-
nate Rubbish af all sorts, lining either
side OF the roadway along which you
are spaAniag. Here and there at ir-
regular intervals tae bare, charred re-
mains Of what osace were trees SUCK
tup from amid the debris and tie
chaos. gher- is net q suggestion OF Il
,stankiAg wall anywhere, nor even OF q
door or window-fra9e, and, OF course,
no segxAance Of a roof. There are
only ceHars int which houses, shops,
churches. stores, schools-everyth
have been thrown into crazy hold
all of a town-wide grave.
eve are now going through -,
remarks our military chaperone, Ia
iconicxhy, and we recognize the name
iof place prominent in the fighting
during some important push weeks
or msnths ago-aow wiped from the
face Of the earth as effectually as II
honest French peasants and villagers
had never striven through the genera
'tious to make comfortable abode for
themselves and theirs. One hopes that
the nlanSt ering angels permitted them
TO eyacgate the town before their
homes were splintered and crushed by
l15-inah deatb-dealerS. One wonders
3how maay hulaaa remains may still lie
buried beneath the wreckage of beams
and sandstone. One speculates
whether men, women and children who
,contrived to escape the shells Will
ever again be able to start life WITH
their dwellings,, places Of business and
cultivated fields lnangled and devas-
tatea. One is persuaded that stupen-
dous as is the work Of destruction
wrought by twentieth century warfare,
the task of reconstruction will be
enormously more gigantic still. Towns
that teel years to make have DeeE
shot to pieces il an hour.
Last Word in Perforation.
I have heard, OF towns in our own
wild aad woody West that have been
.s'shet-up." But is surely the
last weird in complete and scientific
perferasdea. In Ja1y, 1914, it was a
happy, thriving community OF 3o,OOo
or 4o,00e inhabitants, smiling town.
with a wonderful Grand place and
picturesqxe Petit place, q noble Gothic
cathedral ana s. splendid town hail.
Round the Grand place ran quad-
rangle Of coaeanaded houses OF sur
passing architectural beauty. For the
rest, she tswR was sypieally French,
by which ] mesa complex of neat
stores aaS dwelling houses, churches
and factories. schools and eStaminets
(cafes). Today there is not solitary
building Of any kand in the whole town
that is not entirely or partially wreck
ed. There is net a single thing OF
wood, brick or stone that is intact.
Not more than 1860 or 2,OO0 people
live there now, and Trey must hide In
cellars mest Of HE time, lest Boche
shells search them oar. Death turks
lin every street, egem though the Brit
,ish have held 1t for more than two
iyears and have extended their lines
beyond 1t considerably during the past
few Baoasas. EAessa they have long
since tnraea the towE into scraps of
Its former self, sas Germans seem filed
with an unsuitable IeE to fatten out
even HE SCRAPS. Eca walk through
THE Gsna place, hCggng close to the
walls hg erder Of yoar army guide, IN
iperpetnsa danger thst souvenir from
EKrupps will land at your feet and send
fragments Of you 6ying into the
ethsreed eternal But you are only
living the life that the British garrison
land indomitable Httie civilian rear
guard Of 1850 or 1000 people-mostly
old men and wolnea too fragile to seek
"a safer abode further behind the lines
ARE living day In and day out.
Museum Of German Savasery.
This thought occurred to me while
surveying the tunlbled-down cathedral
and mince-meated town hall and the
Iimitless field of desclation and devas-
tation lying all around them at every
turning: Why not keep it just as it is
today, a pile of glorious ruins, as u
world museum Of German savagery?
why not leave 1t, stricken, battered
and MANNED in its every structural
limb, just as We saw it this day three