South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-06
GORZZIA UNDER RAIN OF
TERRIFIC COMMANDMENT.

GORZZIA UNDER RAIN or
TERRIFIC COMMANDMENT.
Gorilla itself was under the rain
of terrific bombardment. for the
fun force Of the great offensive was
now only a few hours of. The
cannonade ran the whole range Of
violence. from the deep base rum
bic OF monster guns TO the STAG
cato rattle of machine guns which
sounded like strings of big fire
crackers in a barrel. A crash of
falling walls could be heard every
now and then as one Of the biz mis-
siles arrived" familiar term
used by those who live with this
shell-fre.
And yet with the imminent dan
ger. many people still chung 10
their homes and belongings with
that same tenacity which makes
the Vesuvian peasants cling to the
mountain side when the volcano is
raging and threatening to bury
them But most of these people
on the streets are the poor who
could not get away. and the small
shop keepers who cannot afford TO
abandon their goods. The biz stores
are all closed, and the place has
the air of a deserted city, with only
a few stragglers bringing up the
rear, Gorilla had $4,000 people but
only 10000 are left, and these make
only a scattered showing in the
wide main street fringed on either
side with its shell-torn fronts. 1t
was raining hard and this added TO
the lugubrious spectacle.
OF the ravage wrought by the
shells the main facts were cabled on
the day OF the visit. But there are
some additional details worth re-
cording now that Gorilla stands out
so symbolically. Entering the city
we passed the extensive jesuit es-
adjustment where 500 seminarians
were located one corner was
knocked off the cornices were
hanging and several big holes told
where the shells had found a
mark The main contour of the
street was preserved and the build
ings were intact with their front
wall gone and their upper rooms
with household goods showing from
the street But there was no vast
area of completely leveled debris as
at Verdun or Monastir. The out
lines of a city were still there. but
it was a city sieved by lombard
ment
one modest dwelling stood out
as we hurried along not by its ruin
but by its cheer in the midst Of this
desoIation. There were simple lace
curtains in the windows, from one
of which a pretty little Italian girl
was looking down on her garden.
She was quite unconscious Of the
sheIl-fre all about and called down
TO her companion below. Some of
the big buildings had their walls
shored up with long timbers to keep
them from topping over. At the
theater in the center Of the city the
bilboards showed the remnants of
the last performance, months ago.
when a company of Vienese players
appeared i'm comedy. Now there
were fremen standing in the thea
ter lobby. the fire engine was in the
orchestra floor. and the engine
horses had the green rooms.
There was no use looking for a
hotel. for here were no guests now.
and besides all the hotels had been
wiped out. The main hotel, a hand
some structure on the main corner.
was demolished by the explosion of
two 12-inch shells. which landed
squarelv inside The loss of life
must have been great and the ma
terial destruction was complete. not
a vestige of the building remaining,
except great heaps Of debris. The
cathedral near by had also received
a shell through the roof just over
the altar All the stainedglass win
dows were shivered and the bits lay
on the ground Looking through
one Of these empty windows we
could see the wrecked altar with its
ratings twisted and its marble sides
blasted into fragments.
VISIT To CITADEL
EVENT OF THE DAY.
The visit 20 the citadel was the
event Of the day. This is a huge
pile with old-time moat and battle
ing the whole country for miles
around Here we were 10 view Mt
Gabriel. Mt Michel. the Biansizza,
plateau and the whole range Of
ground which had passed through
this upheavat IL was uphill 10 the
citadel Everything showed tina
havoc OF long continued fire. In one
. rent .orrrf fnava u-ae "a prpffN little
chapel which had come through the
ordeal untouched though all around
was a wreck
once up the battements COM
handing view was ahead. There
was one point of vantage where this
view was particularly good, known
as the observation post. We halted
a moment. about 10 enter the post.
but others wished 20 push on 20 the
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