The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-10-02
AMERICANS ON
MEuSE MOVE
FORWARD over.
STRONG LINE.
Enemy Withdraws on Left Of
U. S. Troops Going in Dr.
rection of Brunhild-Kriem-
hid Line Juncture.
AERIAL FORCE ACTIVE
(By Associated Press)


WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE, Oct. 2.-It was reported
late tonight that the Americans on
the front between the Meuse on the
Argonne have again moved forward
over one of the most hotly contested
sectors Of their advance, the ground
north and west of Montfauton.
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY
NORTHWEST OF VERDUN, Tues
day, Oct. 1.-The enemy tonight ap-
pears to be Withdrawing on the Amer
lean left Broadly speaking he is go:
ing in the direction of the juncture OF
the Brunhild and Kriemhild systems.
In the Argonne forest Americans
made progress today. East OF the for
est they are operating north OF C1erges
and hold position on the road from
Gesnes to Exermont.
In this district there has been stif
fighting, local positions repeatedly
changing hands until the Americans
today established their supremacy.
The excellence of the American aer-
ial force is demonstrated by a total
bag since September 26. of 100 hostile
planes and 21 balloons.
Counter-Attacks Fail.
German efforts to penetrate or bend
the line between the Meuse and the
Aisne dwindled rapidly today. One
minor counter-attack, some outpost
scrimmaging and half hearted bonn
bardment characterized the enemy's
activity
The Americans repulsed a counter
attack north of Apremont and then
accepted the situation. Both the front
line and the back areas held by the
Germans were shelled vigorously from
early morning until night In the aft
ernoon the clouds disappeared and
aviators were able to resume their OBJ
servation patrols and pursue enemy
planes and balloons.
With the clearing weather the en-
gineers have converted the areas back
of the American front into an orderly
pc once more. Roads that had
been untouched for years and made
worse by the movement of truck
trains and artillery were once more
made passable.
Clean Up Arsonne Forest.
On the left flank of the Americans,
the French pressed their lines slight
ly forward, bringing near the time
when the Germans must fight with
less hopefulness to maintain their
line west Of the Meuse.
American detachments in the Ar
gonne forest continue to clean up that
wilderness, sending back scores OF ma
chine guns, trench mortars and other
captured material On the salvage list
there appeared today three observa-
tion balloons. They had been left in
their shed at the eastern edge of Ex-
ermont wood.
In addition to their work Of recon
structing bridges and roads, the en-
gineers have had the task of removing
numerous mines. AS happened north
of the Marne many positions aban-
doned by the Germans had been elab-
orately equipped with mines, but as
also was the case north of the Marne,
almost every mine was sprung by the
engineers, who traced the wires to
trap left near by. There was a for
midable outlay of mines in the town
of Vauquois, which had been used as
a German headquarters.
Below the level of the town there
were hundreds of yards of subterran-
can passages which had been turned
into comfortable, even luxurious quar-
ters.
Information reaching American
headquarters continues to indicate
confusion behind the German lines,
not in the way Of traffic conditions,
but in organization. 1t is known the
enemy is using units as small as pla-
toons to reinforce those in the fight
ing line
Illinois troops taking part in the
offensive between the Meuse and the
Argonne advanced more than miles
on the first day of the attack, the
unit reaching its objective hours
ahead of time.
The Illinois men pushed forward
just to the west of the Meuse. Start
ing from the neighborhood of Dead
Mans hill they headed directly north
until half way to their destination and
then turned to the northeast. Their
advance was SO rapid that in the re-
gion of Observation-Disclosures they
came upon a party of Germans just
about to sit down to a luncheon in
their dugout. The party was over
come and German colonel, who was
one of the group, was shot in the heel
as he was attempting to escape.
Astonished by Americans.
The Illinois soldiers helped them
selves to the Germans lunch of pork.
red cabbage and black bread. Seven
kegs of beer, supply of wine and
German typewriter were found in the
dugout. The wounded colonel told
the officers he was astounded at the
rapidity of the American advance. He
had no idea that the Americans would
reach that region. for days at all, he
said. The colonel had SO many war
maps and other paraphernalia includ-