American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-03-21

low
The battery arrived s~pectacularly
as the Boche artillery was pouring a
barrage INTO the valley, and swept the
Boche positions with an enfilading
fire. The barrage ceased abruptly,
half a dozen German guns we're pub
licly blown up and the rest of them,
beat a hasty retreat over the hilltop.
Wire and Mines in River.
1t was not during the retreat, but
preceding it, however, that the Yanks
did some of their most notable work.
The Germans chose to stand on the
Velse because of the protection
against surprise, which this stream,
modest though it is, offered them and
the retarding effect it would have up
on pursuit.
First, they put wire in the riverbed
to prevent wading and supplemented
this by mines. Then they kept the
river under artillery fire and drenched
it with gas. Any worklof the Ameri-
cans along the river vas almost GER
tain to be done in gas and likely to
be complicated by high explosive and
shrapnel.
1t was under such conditions that
one night, with no other light than
that afforded by the moon, a company
of Engineers was ordered to put a
bridge across the river. They gained
the bank of the river without mishap
and, working in gas masks, threw
their bridge across.
It was found to be ten feet short,
For the remainer of the night the
company cut down trees and trimmed
/ thar1 m DaaEn cfr1rfc and hr1pps for
an additional span to cover the de-
ficiency, and before daylight they had
completed their work.
} Smoking Ont Shippers
1t was under such conditions, too,
) that a captain and three men swan
the river and burned a big warehouse
near the bank which had afforded
> cover for Boche machine runners and
{ snipers, and it was under such condi'
, tions that, a few nights later, when q
> footbridge upon which a company Of
. Infantry was crossing the river gave
n way, a lieutenant and Sergeants F. ]
n Roskosko and Jules Gingras tore of
f their gas masks and plunged into the
r water to rescue a dozen soldiers WHIT
4 had fallen into the river, saving thu
8 men in the water. but being gasset
!, themselves.
O After the actual retreat had start
g ed, however, the river ceased to be
barrier, although the Germans, IL
their parting barrages and long rang
# shots, we're feeling constantly for tn
n bridges thrown across in double tim
e When one shell fell so close to on
a bridge that two men on the river ban
d we're buried in mud and Private Elme
n Fppenheimer. a message bearer, wa
knocked into the river by the con
c~ussion, it was an incident of the da
d forgotten almost as soon as the tw
a inferred men has been dug out unhur
and the courier had swan ashore an
ir continued on his way.
D. The Engineers distinguished them
selves establishing the communities
tions, and they did more notable wor
,e afterward. While the Infantry wa
warily tracking the Hun across cour
I'd try, forcibly eiecting him from patche
lie he sought to hold, and renewing co
tact on the canal paralleling the Aisr
10 which the enemy chose for his ne
line, they sought out and remove
es the fangs of BOBBY traps. There wei
n scores of these trans, and all of he
f. bespoke much work and Hun ingenl
H. ity.
One chateau in a town quilted /
the Boche blew up with a bang
e. couple of days after the American
as entered the village. The explosive
IT which caused its destruction had ev
gh IDENTIFY been detonated by a timing d
TO vice. But as it was the only unharr
a. ed building in the town, the Amer
Mt cans, with the suspicion Of exper
@ ence, had given it a wide berth.
he From beneath the cellar of anoth
is chateau the Engineers dug 16 kegs
nv powder-after carefully d|isconnectil
r. a trip wire connected with the fro
he doorstep.
oh A sergeant came upon a Germi
an sword sticking in the bank at the 81
ne Of the road. He tied a 50-foot strai
hit OF wire to the handle and, from II
ng distance, yanked it out of the grour
of A mine blew a 10-foot hole in
ire middle of the road.