The Newark journal. (Newark, Ark.) 1901-1959, 1919-07-10
SEEING BATTLEFIElDS AND RUINED
AREAS OF FRANCE FOR FIRST Time
Writer Describes Sensations Experienced at First Sight of Devas
taton Left in Wake of War-Admraton for the Wonderful
Spirit of the French People-Abandoned War
Material on All Sides

and the devastation needed no expla-
nation. We passed abandoned air.
planes, army trucks, camions and guns
of every description.
We passed numerous German pris-
on camps. Eight hundred thousand
prisoners are being utilized wherever
possible in repairing the buildings.
roadways and the part of the dam
Gge they have done.
The Debris OF War
Nearing Yerdun we came upon
many storehouses filled with ammu-
nition-shells, hand grenades, and
other war material-that has never
been removed from the containers.
What TO do with the tons and tons
Of this ammunition is one OF the af-
ter-wGr problems.
Niles and miles of narrow gauge
railroad lines were constructed over
which the ammunition and supplies
were sent to the front These rail-
road tracks, for many miles, are still
undisturbed.
Not single entire house remains
standing in Nerdun, at one time the
home of %, 600 civilians Where once
there were homes is now only noun
tain of stones, brick. rubbish and gap
ing walls The fort is intact-at no
point did the German guns penetrate
the walls We walked through four
miles Of tunnels under the forts. in
which the inhabitants lived with the
soldiers during part of the time
the city was under fire.
Fort Donamont, ten miles beyond
Yerdun. is merely a heap Of stones
and debris. entirely surrounded for
miles by torn and tortured earth re-
sembling plowed field. excepting for
the the craters made by exploding
shells. Here were the bones and
skulls Of dead Germans, empty shells.
helmets and gas masks Some of the
dugouts remain in the hillsides. This
is a most dcsolate spot on the earth
excepting possibly NO Mans Land"
between Citations and Reims.
Reluctantly we retraced our steps
and returned to Ste Menehould Here
We found an inn where we put up for
the night
Bright and early with the sun at
Our backs we started on Il 70-miIe ride
to Reims. BY noon it was showing
hard. The road between Citations
and Reims had not been put in
rs good repair as in some other see
lions. Shell holes forced us to pro-
coed cautiously.
Desolation Everywhere.
We followed the Hindenburg line,
which we crossed and recrossed sew
eral times during the morning. Miles
Of barhed-wire entanglements. dug
outs, trenches and abandoned huts
stretched along the roadway No
Mans land stretched before us for
miles. We reached Fort de la Pom
pelle shortly after noon. The fert had
been leyeled to the ground, but we
were able to proceed 20 feet below the
ground and along the tunnels lead
ing to No Mans land. The bones of
dead boches and horses are still un-
buried. Here we found abandoned
tanks and guns.
Reims, a city of 125000 before the
war, with many fine public buildings
including the cathedral, now has less
than n dozen buildings standing and a
population of 1000 people. Refugees
are just beginning to come back, and
few shops are being opened. The
beautiful cathedral with its wonderful
stained glass windows where kings
have been blessed, is a mass of ruins
with nothing but the walls standing
German prisoners were removing the
i stones, bricks and mortar from where
the roof had fallen to the auditorium
t below. 1t was estimated that i
would take IA hundred prisoners weeks
70 remove the debris.
German prisoners are being used (,
repair The parts of the building,
that can be used rs temporary quar-
ters and in rebuilding the sewers an,
water systems. It was here we saw
Germans hitched to wagons taking tn,