The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1918-02-07
very one instinctively recoiled-

Crash!
No More Observation Post.
Five of us went down in a heap,
| stunned as with hammer blow. There
was great. enveloping noise, with the
smash and crack of walls, the flying OF
fragments, and then the heave of tons
of earth. mortar and masonry, plowed
up By. the huge missile.
1t had struck that observation post,
just Is feet away, which we were about
to enter. There was no more obSerya-
ton post; it was swept clean. But
fortunately the shell had gone straight
through, battering down massive wallis
and digging deep trench into the
earth where it had exploded under
ground. throwing up great geysers. But
while the earth and stone few like
hail, the underground explosion had
held the shell fragments. Stunned as
we We're, the first impulse was of self
preservation. A hasty glance showed
no one was seriously injured, though
the trickle of blood on the right tenn
pie Of one of the party told that a fly
ing stone had found ozark.
"They have this range" said the es-
cort as we struggled to our feet "a1d
one shot means that another will fol-
low"
There was hasty scramble from the
battlement, over the tons Of debris
thrown up, which now completely
blocked the three-foot path skirting
the wall.
The shell had suddenly brought to q
close our observation of the battle
front with all it's tragedy and majestic
beauty. But worst of all, it put an end
said no further chances Of this kind
could be taken. It was just as WELL
for now the great offensive of the.
enemy burst unexpectedly, and with It
came the retreat from the Goritz line
Fortunately or unfortunately, I had
seen it at the last moment when the
tide was turning.
Situation Explained. -
At the cafe where we went for lunch
the officer from headquarters laid out
the big military map on the table and
explained the military situation. It
was this: The enemy was bringing
great masses of men to the north Of
the Biansizza plateau. His design was
evident. The Italians by their last adj
vance had swung a ring which was
Trieste. To save Trieste.
the enemy must force the Italians back
to the IsOnzO river, as another italian
offensive would clear the Carso~ range
and give the Italians the mastery Of
Trieste. To the enemy the time had
come when he must act before the Ital-
Ians played their final card and held
the jewel of the Adriatic.
AS we pored over the map the in
roar of the artillery told that
the enemy was losing no time in his
part of the military game. The pro-
prietor of the cafe was an intelligent
old man, and I asked him IL the fire.
we heard was the same&as= uSuaf He |
shook his head and said: "NO. it is
very much heavier and 1t seems as
though something was going to hap
Den." This was the instructive feel
ng of the people on the spot who had
gone through this day after day for
months. They felt the blow coming.
On the corner there were two women |
IF the working class talking together |
1nder an umbrella, for it was raining |
lard Their indifference to the she'll
ngt seemed strange, and stopped to
lsk them If the bombardInent did not |
'righten them and keep them awake at |
hight.
So They were puzzled for a moment, as
hough not comprehending such an in
Iuiry, and then they shrugged their
shoulders.
eve are used to it," they said. eft
lsed to frightenr us at first, and the
children still cry at night. But what
an we do?"
These were typical townswomen
Who had become habituated to the dan
Ter and destruction all around them
md were now stopping on the street
Orner in the rain to exchange the
attest gossip. One Of the women had l.
he features of an Austrian, and she
rniled as she heard the rumble of the
AUSTRIAN guns and looked off toward
he enemy lines so near.
Within three hours when we got
ack to headquarters the full force Of
he blow had been struck and the great
Austro- German offensive against Italy i
vas in full operation.