Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-02-13
APPALLED, BY HAVOC
. In LA BELLE, FRANCE
Ensign Arnold Hanger Writes Inter-
esting Description of His Visit To
Battle Fields and Trenches

\ AAShdc anu 1IenC0eS
Ensign Arnold Hanger, who was ON
the destroyer Tarbell, which conveyed
the Presidents liner, George Wash
ington, to the Peace Conference. has
written his mother, Mrs. II. B. Hang
Ter, here a very interesting letter, de-
scribing his experiences. The miss,ve
was dated at Brest, France, Dec. 8. He
wrote:
Dearest Family-Have returned to
my snip and made trip to Queens
town, England since / wrote you from
Parls. l am now back in Brest. We
had a rough trip of it with the old
ship. Since we came to this side, it
mas rained four out of five days. The
sun has been out only twice. There
is no news concerning our return TO
the states. My trip to the front was
very interesting. We covered in an
about $50 miles of first and second
line trenches. It is impossible to con-
ceive the vastness of such a war with
J out seeing the waste of those once
beautiful French villages and forests.
We ended our tour with trip to the
city, Rheims. Rheims I'D until the
bombardment, was a city of 10000
population. Today there are no in
habitants save French troops billeted
there. All the buildings and resi-
dences are level with the ground. One
sees just piles of brick and stone
knocked into all sorts of shapes. Here
and there in the ruins one will see a
chicken or dog trying to live. Cop
per kettles and other domestic imple-
ments of the household are blown
Iaround into all sorts of shapes.
Rheims was shelled (long range) for
Is months and altho the city is moth
ing but ruins, the boche never captur-
ed it. The cathedral there, in which
Joan Of Arc-realized her spiritual
leadership back in the 18th century,
still stands. The roof is gone and
most of the loaded glass windows. The
main structure still stands altho badly
Clipped by shrapnel and heat. During
the bombardment, there were numer-
GUS fires and the heat faxed the out
side etchings and sculptural pieces.
There are many other small villages
in the Champagne district which are
reduced to dust no higher than ones
waist. A few of the old French peas
ants have come back to their homes to
live in a cellar, but these are hard to
find. The country is a barren waste,
trees for miles around are stripped
and shot down to the stump. Won
derful vineyards are ripped up with
shell holes. In fact. one tumbles into
so many shell holes that they cease to
be thing of interest, but nuisance.
In the Belleau Wood district where
the 5th and 9Th Marines saved Paris
in June, 1918, it is hard to realize the
magnitude and fierceness of the fight
ing. For the trees still stand and
there are few trenches and shell holes.
This, however, was due to the open
fighting. 1t was worse than trench
warfare. Some call it "the too close
for bayonet battle" It was throat to
throat. Those Marines are certainly
the devil dogs They came into the
breach just as the French had thrown
down their guns and were in full re-
treat to Paris. The Marines (only A.
000) fought and held until reinforce
ments came. Out of the 1000, it is
. said that $500 were hit. From the
name of the battle, / expected to see
. IA huge forest, but there never was
any forest.
The military roads all the way up to
the front are very good. The camou-
) lfiage screens still stand over the roads
: and on both sides. All over No Mans
Land in the Scissors district, you see
the worst, just as the Huns left it in
: their pell nell retreat We went thru
7 the German first and second line
trenches and then the French togeth-
, Ter with the heavy artillery bases. The
trenches are works of art The Sol
ssons No Mans Land is probably the
most interesting because the most
Igrewsome. 1t was once a beautiful
plateau, about seven miles long and
Ieight miles wide. Now it is a mass OF
ibarbed wire, unexploded ammunition,
smashed guns and equipment of all
5 sorts. French and German dead, to-
: gether with horses, mules and dogs,
, ARE thrown about unburied. The
trenches are beyond description. No
thing has been touched since the Ger
!, Imam retreat. In time. all of this de
lbris will be collected and the trenches
Iought to afford many tourist the
thrill of his life. For this country
J lover which they fought is to be made
national park. There is a great
, IDEAL which I have not time to write
, about now. I missed home and Christ
, Imas time great deal, but the charces
. fought to be good for my being there
to the next one. A heartful OF love
: and best wishes to all.D