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diff --git a/43649-8.txt b/43649-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9be4d69..0000000 --- a/43649-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3895 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Over the Front in an Aeroplane and Scenes -Inside the French and Flemish Trenches, by Ralph Pulitzer - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: Over the Front in an Aeroplane and Scenes Inside the French and Flemish Trenches - - -Author: Ralph Pulitzer - - - -Release Date: September 5, 2013 [eBook #43649] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OVER THE FRONT IN AN AEROPLANE AND -SCENES INSIDE THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH TRENCHES*** - - -E-text prepared by Quentin Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 43649-h.htm or 43649-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43649/43649-h/43649-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43649/43649-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/overfrontinaerop00pulirich - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -[Illustration: [See page 2 - -"A FEW SECONDS LATER THE TWO GREAT PROPELLERS BEGAN TO FLASH ROUND"] - - -OVER THE FRONT IN AN AEROPLANE -AND SCENES INSIDE THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH TRENCHES - -by - -RALPH PULITZER - -Illustrated - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -Harper & Brothers Publishers -New York and London - -OVER THE FRONT IN AN AEROPLANE -------- -Copyright, 1915, by Harper & Brothers -Printed in the United States of America - - - - -TO MY WIFE - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. A FLIGHT TO THE FIRING LINE 1 - - II. HOW THE FRONT IS VISITED 16 - - III. IN THE FRENCH TRENCHES 41 - - IV. A TYPICAL DAY'S TOUR 59 - - V. A GRENADE-THROWING SCHOOL 88 - - VI. WITH THE BELGIAN BATTERIES 99 - - VII. IN THE FLEMISH TRENCHES 120 - - VIII. LESSONS 140 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - "A FEW SECONDS LATER THE TWO GREAT PROPELLERS - BEGAN TO FLASH ROUND" _Frontispiece_ - - "BELOW US STRETCHED AN UNBROKEN WHITE OCEAN OF - THESE LOWER CLOUDS" _Facing p._ 6 - - "THERE WERE AUTOS WITH ... RAZOR-EDGED - KNIFE-BLADES ATTACHED" " 32 - - CAPTAIN D'A---- AND THE AUTHOR " 32 - - "THERE MASS IS STILL HELD EVERY SUNDAY FOR THE - BENEFIT OF THE SIXTEEN INHABITANTS WHO STILL - PERSISTED IN STAYING IN THE VILLAGE" " 48 - - THE AUTHOR IN A FRONT TRENCH NEAR RHEIMS " 52 - - "WE WERE COMPLETELY ABSORBED IN WATCHING THE - SOFT LITTLE CLOUDS PLAYFULLY DANCING ALONG - AHEAD OF THE LAZILY DRIFTING AEROPLANE" " 68 - - "AS WE HIKED ALONG AT THE GENERAL'S FAVORITE - PACE" " 72 - - "A HEAVY FIELD-PIECE STANDING ON TREADLED - WHEELS" " 72 - - PART OF THE ENORMOUS ENCAMPMENT OF SUPPLY-WAGONS, - WHICH CARRY THE COMPLETE SUPPLIES FOR THREE - FULL DAYS FOR ONE ARMY CORPS " 84 - - "COLONEL D----, COMMANDING THE ARTILLERY OF THE - SECTOR" " 104 - - THE AUTHOR IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHELL-PITS, WHICH - WERE TEN FEET DEEP AND TWENTY FEET IN DIAMETER " 104 - - COMMANDANT L---- IN THE NICKEL-STEEL SKULL-CAP - WHICH HE WORE INSIDE HIS KHAKI CAP " 120 - - "THE CHAUFFEUR REACHED THE OPEN PLACE BY THE - CHURCH" " 126 - - ON THE SHATTERED CHURCH HUNG THIS CRUCIFIX INTACT - THOUGH SURROUNDED BY SHRAPNEL HOLES " 126 - - UNDER HEAVY FIRE IN A BELGIAN COMMUNICATING-TRENCH " 136 - - - - -OVER THE FRONT IN AN AEROPLANE - - - - -I - -A FLIGHT TO THE FIRING LINE - - - PARIS, _August 13th_ (_Friday_). - -I have just returned from a unique visit to the front. This afternoon -I flew in an army aeroplane from Paris to the fighting lines, skirted -these lines for a few kilometres, and flew back to Paris. - -We made the round trip without a break. - -I am indebted to the quite exceptional kindness of the French Foreign -Office and of the French War Office for this flight. No other civilian -has been allowed to ascend in a French army aeroplane at all, and as -for visiting the front in one, it has apparently been undreamed of. -Poor Needham went up in a British military aeroplane, but what he saw -and felt were buried with him. - -I received definite word yesterday evening that at four-thirty this -afternoon I would find a military motor at the door of my hotel; that -it would take me to the great aviation station in the suburbs of Paris, -and that at five-thirty o'clock a double-cylindered battle-plane would -set flight with me. - -Everything ran like clockwork. At five o'clock I was shaking hands -with the Captain of this most important aviation station, and he was -explaining to me just how, day and night, his aeroplanes guarded Paris -from German air attacks. - -At five-thirty o'clock I was struggling into a heavy leather suit which -I put on over my regular clothes and a heavy padded helmet which was -carefully fastened under my chin by a buttoned flap and also an elastic -band. - -A few minutes later I was climbing sinuously into my seat in the -front of the aeroplane while my pilot wormed his way into his seat a -few feet behind me. A few seconds later the two great propellers (or -rather tractors) began to flash around. With a snap and a roar the -battle-plane started slowly forward, gained in speed till we were -running along the big field like a racing automobile, then suddenly the -people standing around dropped away from us as if on a gigantic express -elevator leaving one standing on the upper floor of a skyscraper, and -in a moment more the earth had become a strange and placid panorama -with which we had no connection or concern. - -On and up, on and up, we flew, headed straight as an arrow for -the closest portion of the battle-front, ninety kilometres (about -fifty-four miles) away. - -As the vast crazy-quilt of numberless shades of green and brown rolled -slowly below us I had time to pay more attention to my immediate -surroundings. I sat in the front, or observer's seat, of a great -new French biplane which the English call a battle-plane, and the -French call an "avion de chasse," or "hunting aeroplane." They call -their smaller single-motored machines their "avions de réglage," or -"regulating aeroplanes." But these great biplanes they fondly call -their hunting aeroplanes, for with them they hunt the Taubes and the -aviatiks of the enemy, and they tell me that their enemy usually gives -them a wide berth. - -I found myself sitting in a little cockpit strapped to a comfortable -seat. A few inches in front of my nose was the breach of a heavy -machine-gun whose muzzle projected over the bow of the fuselage. At -each side of my seat, under my elbows, were coiled long belts of -cartridges for the machine-gun. In the floor of the little cockpit, -right in front of my feet, was a little glass window through which I -could watch the ground passing directly (though some thousand feet) -underneath. Just behind this window, in the floor under my feet, was a -little metal trap-door. By straddling my feet I could open this, for -the purpose either of taking vertical photographs or of dropping bombs. -Only the three long, shell-like bombs which generally hang in straps to -the left of the observer had been removed, as had also the Winchester -rifle which hangs to his right. - -I could get an uninterrupted view of the scenery across a space of -about four feet right ahead. Further to right and left the view -flickered curiously through the lightning-swift twirling of the -propeller-blades. "Don't stretch your head out in front to either -side," had cautioned the aviation Captain before I left the earth, "or -you would certainly get guillotined." I craned my neck gingerly round -to look beyond me. In another little cockpit about four feet aft sat -the pilot. I could see his face peering over the edge through a low -windshield. Past his head on each side I got a view of the country we -were leaving behind. - -This happened to be a farewell glimpse of Paris. It stretched vaguely -away, bathed in the late afternoon sun and yet shrouded in heavy haze -and smoke, a sort of bird's-eye Whistler. - -Now feeling the air becoming distinctly colder, I looked ahead again. -For a time we had been flying at 1,000 metres. Now we gradually climbed -to 2,000 metres. The outrunners of the clouds began to drift by in -wisps of what seemed like mist. Below, the earth looked like the -display of a carpet-merchant's dreams. Square carpets, oblong carpets, -long strips of carpets, carpets of light green, of dark green, of -every intermediate shade of green; carpets of fawn color and of brown, -thin carpets and carpets of wonderfully thick pile, plain carpets and -carpets with symmetrical designs in light brown dots (several thousand -feet nearer those dots would have resolved themselves into homely -haycocks). - -Now the carpets stopped as we sailed over a forest of dense dark green -with little mirrors stuck in it, which, when looked at through my -field-glasses, proved to be not the tops of greenhouses, as I had at -first imagined, but big lakes. - -And now the wisps of mist became banks of fog. As we still climbed -on upward through these white banks the earth could only be seen in -isolated dark patches. Higher and higher we climbed, till finally the -earth was entirely veiled by the clouds below us. At a height of 3,000 -metres, or 9,900 feet, we straightened our angle and on an even keel -headed away toward the front. It was a magnificent sight. We were -flying along in a clear belt between the lower and the upper clouds. -Below us stretched an unbroken white ocean of these lower clouds. The -sun was just high enough to shed its slanting beams along the surface -of this snow-white sea. Above us were the lowering masses of the higher -clouds. - -[Illustration: Page 6 - -"BELOW US STRETCHED AN UNBROKEN WHITE OCEAN OF THESE LOWER CLOUDS"] - -In this lonely world of our own we flew forward at 130 kilometres (80 -miles approximately) an hour. The air was very thin and cold, but for -some reason there was no rush of wind against my face. If I moved my -head to right or left I could feel the wind from either propeller, but -in the middle it was relatively calm. The air felt very thin to breathe -and I had to swallow constantly to keep clearing my ears and the tubes -back of my nose. - -On and on we flew, until finally I felt, instead of hearing, a violent -rapping. Turning my head, I saw the pilot hammering with his right fist -on the deck between our cockpits to attract my attention. He grinned -amicably and opened his mouth wide. I could see he was shouting at me, -but could not hear the faintest sound over the roar of the propellers. -He pointed to the whiteness below us a little to the right. Then he -wrote an imaginary word with his forefinger on the deck between us. I -could not read it upside down. I opened my leather coat, and with the -cold instantly biting into my chest, hauled out my notebook and pencil -and stretched them out to him. He shook his head and indicated that he -could not take both hands away from steering. So I buttoned up my coat -again in some perplexity. - -Then, without abruptness, with a certain sickening majesty, the -aeroplane stood on its head and swooped down onto the surface of the -white sea below us. As it swallowed us we began to spiral rapidly -around as though we were tobogganing down a giant corkscrew. As we -went on down through this white nothingness I became very dizzy. The -propellers had slowed 'way down and I thought the engines had failed, -and that we were either falling 10,000 feet or making a forced descent. -But the pilot sat still back above me, so I did likewise. - -Suddenly we spiralled violently down through the bottom of the cloud -into sight of the earth again. Instantaneously the engines broke into -their old roar and the aeroplane stopped pointing straight down and -assumed a steep slant. If any one ever heaved a sigh of relief I did it -then. - -I felt the rapping behind me. Looking round, I saw the pilot pointing -down at the earth, ahead and to our right. I shook my head. Then, as we -careened downward, he stopped his motors for a fraction of a second, -and in the sudden deafening silence he shouted out, "The front!" - -Here, if my hopes had materialized, I should be able to give a most -striking picture of a battle as seen from an aeroplane. But honesty -compels me to say that any one who wants to get a good clear view of -the front had much better go there on the surface of the earth, and not -through the air. - -In the first place, it takes quite a little time and trouble to -discern the lines of opposing trenches even when you stand on a quiet -observation post with a General painstakingly pointing and explaining, -by the help of landmarks, just where they run. Here, though we were -now only 1,000 metres (about 3,300 feet) up, we were racing along the -front at 80 miles an hour, and all my friend the pilot could do was -to point here and there frantically. So among the maze of white lines -I saw running below me through the hazy atmosphere, some which I took -for trenches were undoubtedly roads; some which I took for roads were -equally undoubtedly trenches, while only a few, by their zigzagging, -could I unhesitatingly have guaranteed to have been trenches. - -In the next place the roar of the engines totally drowned out all the -reports of the guns which were going off below us, and the explosions -of the shells, which are such a striking feature of the front. - -To make matters still more undramatic there was no battle going on at -the precise moment when we shot downward out of the clouds, but only a -rather languid artillery exchange. Even a regulating aeroplane which -was sailing around directly below us and about half-way down between -us and the earth, correcting the fire of some batteries, was having an -exceptionally peaceful time of it. We could look down and see plainly -the red, white and blue circles of France painted on the tops of its -planes, but there were none of the customary woolly little white clouds -of German shrapnel bursting round it during the few seconds that it -remained in sight. - -Furthermore, the guns right below it and us were so cleverly concealed -that they were quite invisible. The only signs of its being a front at -all were the bursting shells from the French batteries. These little -puffs of smoke in the hazy distance the pilot spotted unerringly, but -he had a discouraging time pointing them out to my unaccustomed eyes as -we raced along. - -So this, I fear, is all that any one visiting the front by aeroplane -would have seen this afternoon. Possibly had we hung around longer we -might have seen more, but the pilot and I both had important dinner -engagements in Paris, and the sun was getting very low. We therefore -reluctantly swept around and, leaving the silver band of the Aisne -behind us, started for home. - -We kept low, not over 1,000 metres, so that the landscape was very -clear and interesting. First we passed over the city of Compiègne, -where I had lunched with Dr. Carrel only three days before to the -accompaniment of an artillery obligato. Then right over the big, -dark green Forest of Compiègne where I tried but failed to locate a -château I had visited with Mme. Carrel. Then on and on over a further -entrancing exhibit of parti-colored carpet fitting together at the -edges as snugly as any completed picture-puzzle. - -Before long we reached Senlis, where I had stopped on my way to -Compiègne the other day to take snap-shots of the streets of houses -gutted by the Germans during their brief occupation before the battle -of the Marne. Passing over Senlis, we dropped lower, so that I could -get a clear bird's-eye view of the havoc. Then on and on, without -incident, till the smoke of Paris came in sight, and on and on again, -till I looked down through a thousand yards or so of space on the -aviation field from which I had started just one hour and twenty-five -minutes earlier. - -Suddenly the motors stopped, the aeroplane keeled over onto the tip -of its left wing and, pivoting round on it, we began our dizzy spiral -descent. First on one wing-tip, and then on the other, we corkscrewed -dizzily down. First the whole surface of the earth would swiftly fly -up, revolving as it came, and slap me on the left side of the face, -then, a fraction of a second later, the same revolving surface would -heave swiftly up to slap me on the right side of my face. This double -spiral descent is certainly by all odds the dizziest proceeding that -was ever devised by man. - -Finally, with a swoop which I made sure would carry away most of the -chimney-pots of the suburb, we made a beautiful glide and alighted on -the grass of the aviation field as smoothly as a canoe launched from a -beach into a quiet lake. - -Here one would think our day had ended, but there was one very vivid -thrill left. - -As the aeroplane came to a stop a mechanic came running up, carrying -a pneumatic wheel. He spoke a few sharp words to the pilot, and the -latter asked me to get out quickly, saying that he would return -and explain some of the details of our flight a little later. So I -scrambled out, the machinist scrambled into my place, carrying the -pneumatic wheel, and with a rattle and a roar the aeroplane rolled -across the field and leaped into the air again. - -I joined some aviation officers and asked what was the matter. They -pointed to a machine a few thousand feet above us, and explained that -in leaving the ground that machine had lost one of its pneumatic -wheels. The aviator was ignorant of this, and, unless warned in time, -would, on trying to make his landing, turn turtle and get killed. My -pilot had gone up to meet him in the upper air and by waving the wheel -at him indicate his predicament, so that he could land on the left -wheel and tail of his machine. - -"Unless he understands before he lands he is a dead man," said the -officer. This really was a dramatic spectacle--the one aviator soaring -on guard high in the sky in complete unconsciousness of the death that -awaited him; the other, climbing nearer and nearer, then circling round -and round in narrowing circles. Finally, the first machine started down. - -"He understands," said some one. - -"No, he doesn't," said others. - -"Get the ambulance ready," ordered the aviation Captain, and the engine -of the motor-ambulance began to chug with a most sinister effect. - -We all stood perfectly powerless and watched the machine spiral down. -As he made his glide, men stood in the field waving spare wheels at -him to insure his understanding. But no. Instead of landing tilted -to the left on his sound wheel and tail, he made his landing leaning -over a little to the right where the wheel was missing. As it touched -the earth the great machine buried its nose in the ground, its tail -rose and rose till it stood perpendicular, and then fell forward in a -somersault, so that the plane was lying on its back. - -"He's finished. Get the ambulance," ordered the Captain. - -We all started at a run across the field toward the motionless -aeroplane, the motor-ambulance following close on our heels. As we -got to the wreck a figure crawled out and began to swear fluently at -not having been warned in a way that a sane man could understand. How -the aviator escaped will always remain a complete mystery. But his -escape made a happy climax to the thrilling ending of an unforgettable -afternoon. - - - - -II - -HOW THE FRONT IS VISITED - - -When the average newspaper-reader reads the average war correspondent's -excellent stories from the firing-line, his ideas are probably vague -indeed as to how the correspondent reached that very elastic zone known -as "the front." - -He probably pictures the military authorities extending to the writer -a magnificently sweeping invitation to witness and immortalize their -armies in battle. In his mind's eye he sees the journalist equipping -himself with automobile, shelter-tent, sleeping-bag, canned food, -medicine-chest and revolver--with everything, in fact, necessary -for the hardships and emergencies of campaigning. This visionary -correspondent then sallies forth from the luxury and security of Paris -(let us say), sitting by his chauffeur, military map in hand, directing -the course of his high-powered car to that section of the front where -the General Staff has informed him that a critical battle is to take -place. Arrived there, he watches an infantry charge capture the enemy's -trenches; then, leaping into his waiting motor, speeds away to another -portion of the line, which he reaches according to his schedule, just -in time to observe a particularly interesting bombardment of the -enemy's lines by a battery of heavy artillery. He is called away after -a time by the necessity of covering several miles more in order to -watch the defenders of a front trench repel an enemy attack. He may -lunch with a General, if he happens to drop in at headquarters just -as lunch is served, or he may have to share a soldier's frugal meal -in the darkness of a bomb-proof. After attending an aeroplane duel, -having a chat with the Generalissimo of the armies, inspecting the -consolidation of a few hundred yards of trenches just taken from the -enemy, watching the explosion of a mine, interviewing a fresh batch of -German prisoners, with whom a punctured tire almost causes him to miss -his appointment, and observing the methods employed by the Red Cross -in collecting the wounded under fire, he is overtaken by night after -a busy day, and sleeps in his shelter-tent before making up his mind -which particular army he will visit the following day. - -It is a thrilling and romantic picture. But how sadly distant from the -truth. - -The war correspondent does not buy himself a motor, because if he did -he would not be allowed to use it. All he buys himself is a railway -ticket. When it comes to motoring, he is packed with an assortment of -fellow-correspondents into military autos specially assigned by the -army authorities. - -He does not buy a shelter-tent or a sleeping-bag, because at a certain -scheduled hour every evening the staff-officer who has him and his -colleagues in tow will lead him into an excellent hotel in some large -town or other and assign him to a comfortable bedroom engaged ahead. He -does not buy canned provisions, because before going to bed the officer -buys him an appetizing dinner, follows it up with a good breakfast the -next morning, and at lunch-time introduces him to a courteous General, -or, at a pinch, to another hotel-keeper, by one or the other of whom -he is supplied with a prearranged and excellent lunch. - -He does not buy himself a medicine-chest, because he is always within -shouting distance of enough medical talent to treat a whole city. - -He does not buy a revolver, because it would be gently but firmly taken -away from him if he did. - -If he is sensible, he does not even buy himself binoculars, for the -officers by whom he will find himself uninterruptedly accompanied -will be glad to let him use theirs, and though he may not look so -picturesque without them, he will be much more comfortable if he has -any hands-and-knees work to do. - -Finally, he will not have a word to say as to where he wants to go or -what he wants to see, for that has all been settled in advance. - -It is true that different Generals vary greatly in the risks that they -will allow correspondents to run with their respective armies. Some -feel that if a correspondent wants to take chances that is his own -affair so long as he does not unduly endanger the life of a valuable -staff-officer along with his own. Others feel personally responsible -for the safeguarding of visitors, whether the visitor is willing to -take chances or not. - -But these variations merely affect the more or less dangerous details -of the trip, not the programme as a whole, which is quite rigid. - -In the beginning of the war a few men, like Alexander Powell in -Flanders, and Robert Dunn in the retreat from Mons, were actual -knights-errant of the pen and wandered or whirled where they pleased, -and saw what happened to come their way. - -But on the western front, at least, that is all dead and gone. - -The activities of war correspondents have been thoroughly regulated, -systematized, standardized. Just what the correspondent is to be -permitted to see at the front is deliberately considered and arranged -in advance. The authorities decide what fights are fit for him to see -just as painstakingly as chaperons used to decide what plays were -fit for débutantes to see. He, together with the six or eight other -journalists who are to make up the party, is placed in the hands of a -military duenna who guards his every move from the time the admirably -organized tour starts, until he is again safely delivered back in -Paris. The precise duration of the trip, the precise route to be taken, -the precise place at which each meal is to be eaten, the precise room -in the precise hotel in which each night is to be spent, the precise -General to be met and trench to be visited, are all inexorably fixed in -the schedule of the trip. - -The only phenomena which the general staffs cannot predetermine are -the activities of the aviators and the course of the enemy's shells -and bullets. Hence, the only spontaneous adventures in store for -correspondents, which may come unexpectedly, at any moment, are the -whirring of aeroplanes overhead, their shelling and their duels and the -sudden passing or arrival of enemy projectiles, from tiny bullets up to -enormous "Jack Johnsons." - -Even this element of surprise can be avoided in the case of a -small minority of visitors who I understand prefer to limit their -researches at "the front" to the hospitals, supply-trains, motor-repair -organizations, encampments of reserves, and similar objects of -interest, which lie some twenty kilometres behind the trenches and yet -really are sufficiently a part of the front to be known as its rear. - -The front has a second category of visitors besides the war -correspondents of whom I have been writing--"the distinguished -strangers." These do not come to the front for the purpose of writing -about what they see, and are for this reason, as well as because of the -courtesy which it is desired to show them, allowed considerably more -latitude, although they, too, are kept religiously away from any part -of the lines where real trouble is expected. - -I myself was fortunate enough to be invited to visit the French and -Belgian fronts in a sort of dual capacity. Having pledged myself not to -go on to Germany, and to write nothing about anything that was shown me -in confidence, I was given a special trip, instead of going with one of -the regular "journalists' parties," which certainly have an unromantic -resemblance to Cook's Tours. I was thus enabled to visit certain -advanced trenches where larger parties, in the nature of things, could -not go, and was shown things which had not previously been shown to -correspondents. But the organization of my trip resembled that of the -average correspondents' tour closely enough to enable me to describe -its details. - - * * * * * - -In Paris in a rather small room on the second floor of the Ministry -for Foreign Affairs, at a methodically cluttered writing-table, on -which one of the oddly-shaped French telephones lapses into occasional -silence, sits a slender, suave, well-groomed Frenchman about forty -years old. He has a glossy dark moustache, large and pensive dark eyes, -a nicely deprecatory manner, and a beautifully conciliatory smile. He -chats to his visitor in excellent English, if English be required, and -smiles at him this almost tender smile. He is Monsieur P----, the war -correspondents' Czar. He is the absolute ruler of their destinies. For -it is he who picks and chooses among their waiting numbers, and decides -to which to accord the privilege of a place in one of the parties which -leave about every two weeks for a two- or three-day trip to the front. - -When an eager newspaper man has come over all the way from California, -let us say, for such a trip, has waited in Paris a month or six -weeks for such a trip and has seen colleagues favored above other -men start off with enthusiasm and return with hauteur from such a -trip, the transcendent importance of Monsieur P---- in that craving -correspondent's eyes verges on the pitiful. - -When you think of this hungry horde of newspaper men collected from the -ends of the earth on this one assignment, receiving curt cables and -telegrams every few days from their papers asking where their stories -are, all as suspicious and jealous of each other as prima-donnas, each -trying to "put over a beat" on the other, and each terrified lest some -other "put over a beat" on him, you can perhaps imagine that Monsieur -P----'s official duties do not constitute a sinecure. - -Behind the back of Monsieur P---- they grouch; before his face they -grovel. They try on him all the arts and practices of their profession, -from bluff, through blandishments to supplication. And Monsieur P---- -sits and smiles at them with tender sympathy and gives them their trips -fairly and squarely without fear or favoritism. The room echoes with -their pleas and protests, the telephone buzzes with their wheedlings -and reproaches; but Monsieur P---- deals out even-handed justice among -them and never turns a hair. There is probably not an hour of the day -or night that some war correspondent in any language from English to -Japanese is not calling down very horrible curses upon this autocrat's -head. And yet they all cherish for him the most sincere affection and -respect. - -I myself was fortunate enough to be introduced to Monsieur P---- within -a couple of hours of reaching Paris, my special trip to the front -having already been arranged for the following morning. Its machinery -was the same as that of the regular trips. Monsieur P---- got out an -official printed form of military pass for war correspondents. My -photograph was pasted on its cover. I was asked to write my signature -on the next page, which was devoted to this trip. There were several -more pages for possible other trips. On this first page was written -the name of Epernay, the city behind the front to which I was to go -by train the following morning. It was specified that the trip was to -last three days. The name of the staff-officer who was to accompany me -was written in, and subsequently his signature was appended. The whole -thing was signed, stamped by Monsieur P---- and handed over to me to -carry with me on the trip, to be handed back to him immediately upon my -return, and to be used again should I later make other trips. - -Then the staff-officer who was to be my chaperon came in and we were -introduced. In private life he happened to be a prince. In the army he -was at present plain Captain d'A----. Incidentally, he proved to be a -fine fellow and a very pleasant companion. - -Following his instructions, I was at the railroad station the following -morning at eight o'clock, together with Lincoln Eyre, whom I had been -permitted to invite on the trip. I presented my military pass to the -ticket-seller, who scrutinized it closely before selling me a railway -ticket to Epernay. It is the rule in France that correspondents must -pay for their railway tickets themselves, so that the Government cannot -be accused of paying their way for propagandist purposes. After you -reach the front the military authorities furnish army motors, and -themselves take care of your meals and bedrooms. - -On the train was one of the regular personally conducted -correspondents' caravans, consisting of about eight correspondents. -There were three Americans, a couple of Frenchmen, a couple of -Scandinavians, and, I think, a Russian. Their cicerone was a very -tall staff-officer who looked slightly worried by his cosmopolitan -responsibilities. Their party was going on to Verdun. - -After a comfortable two-hour trip we got out at Epernay. There we were -met by Captain F----, a staff-officer belonging to the General Staff of -the 5th Army, which we were to visit. Thus Captain d'A----, from the -Staff of the Paris War Office, had general responsibility for the trip, -while Captain F----, who also was to accompany us, was responsible for -the detailed military arrangements during our stay with the 5th Army. - -Captain d'A----'s orderly (who before mobilization had been the wealthy -young proprietor of a steamship line to South America) having taken -our bags to the hotel, where we were to return to spend the night, we -immediately started off on our schedule. - -The ground plan of my three-day trip was planned to give me a condensed -view of all the component parts of a French army of five army corps, or -about 200,000 men, from the rear up to the front trench. - -We accordingly began with the Motor Transport Repair Corps, situated in -Epernay, consisting of 1,000 men and 14 officers, including 3 doctors. -It kept in up-to-the-minute running order the 1,500 motor vehicles of -the army corps which occupied the front 20 miles before us. - -The Captain who showed us around had been technical supervisor of the -Rochet-Schneider Auto Company and had, together with all the other -mechanical experts, been mobilized directly into the present work. -He answered my surprise at the number of soldiers employed in these -peaceful labors by explaining that two soldiers at work in the rear for -every three soldiers fighting was the regular formula. - -Epernay, being the centre of the champagne industry, most of the -military repair garages had been located in the great wine storehouses. -It was odd to see soldiers repainting grim wire-cutting autos rubbing -elbows with peasant women busily wrapping gold-foil round the heads of -fat quarts of famous vintages. - -"Yes, they work together," smiled the Captain; "and it is not so -incongruous as it looks. For the champagne was a good ally of ours -during the battle of the Marne. It made enough casualties among the -Boches to have an appreciable effect on the course of the battle. When -we chased them out of here the broken bottles looked as though there -were no more champagne left in the world. But as a matter of fact, so -enormous are the quantities stored hereabouts that the German inroads -were relatively slight." - -It was remarkable how much we were able to crowd into an hour's -inspection. Great meat-lorries, each carrying enough fresh carcasses -to stock a city butcher-shop, secured ventilation yet guarded their -contents against flies by close-meshed steel netting instead of solid -sides. But to protect the meat from dust science had had to bow to -nature, for to the netting in its turn were attached pine boughs which -admitted air while excluding dust more efficiently than any artificial -contrivance. Enormous repair-lorries were each a perambulating garage -fully equipped with machinery for repairing broken parts or making new -ones. Some of these lorries ran on their own power. Others were towed -along by a big motor. In either case they made their own power to run -their repair machinery, and their own brilliant electric light by which -to work at night. They had almost hermetically sealed curtains to keep -the light from leaking out, for in mobile war they are often called -upon to do their work in sight and range of the enemy. But the trench -warfare has rooted them to the spot for a weary time. - -"But wait!" said the Captain. "When the advance begins just watch us -keep up with the procession." - -There were autos with a steel frame running from the radiator, overhead -to the back seat, this frame having razor-edged knife-blades attached. -In open warfare while scouting along strange roads these were useful in -shearing through any wires which the thoughtful foe might have strung -across for the decapitation of speeding visitors. - -There were uninteresting-looking big gray ammunition-lorries, -ambulances, post-offices on wheels and hundreds of ordinary autos for -the use of officers, messengers, etc. - -I was informed that the life of the average car in active service was -very far from being as short as was popularly supposed. "Why," said the -Captain, "we have many cars coming in which have been working hard for -eleven months, and now for the first time are compelled to come in for -repairs." - -I noticed with what fastidious care all the cars were painted and -varnished. "Yes, that is the way we apply psychology to motor-repair -work," chuckled the Captain. "Experience has taught us that when a -soldier is given a beautifully finished car to run he takes pride in -it. And he not only keeps the outside well cleaned, which greatly -postpones the date when it must come back to us for doctoring, but he -also bestows much more care on his motor. So it is not only æstheticism -which prompts that beautiful finish. But talk about æstheticism, here -is a real example of it." - -He showed me a car from whose front lamp-brackets some artist had -wrought in iron two very beautiful palm fronds. - -"The man sacrificed much leisure time to making those branches from -sheer love of his art and of the beautiful. The French people are like -that, Monsieur." - -Having eaten a sample of the good bread and most excellent Irish stew -which constitutes the soldiers' lunch, we returned to the hotel for our -own early lunch. Then I climbed into one military motor with Captain -F----, while Eyre installed himself in another with Captain d'A----, -and at about 12.30 we started off for the front of "the front." - -We climbed rapidly out of Epernay, up a long very steep grade, flanked -as far as the eye could reach by vineyards, in which peasant women, old -men and boys were busily harvesting the raw material for future "Secs," -"Extra drys," and "Bruts." Our bellowing military motor-siren drove -most of the heavy two-wheeled peasant's carts hastily toward the gutter -to give us passage. Every now and then some cart's fantastic creakings -would drown our clamor, and then as we finally forced our way past, the -soldier-chauffeur would launch some terse but terrific imprecations -at the driver. At the end of the ascent we cut loose along the broad -turnpike which ran through a forest across the top of a wide plateau. -Sprinkled all along the highway were uniformed "territorials" working -at road repair. - -[Illustration: Page 30 - -"THERE WERE AUTOS WITH ... RAZOR-EDGED KNIFE-BLADES ATTACHED"] - -[Illustration: Page 32 - -CAPTAIN D'A---- AND THE AUTHOR. (STARTING FOR THE FRONT FROM THE -FRONT OF THE HOTEL AT EPERNAY)] - -"It is of extreme military importance to keep all these lines of -communication in first-class condition," explained Captain F----. "It -is not so romantic to mend a road as to mend a trench, but it is just -as necessary." - -By rights we ought now to have started our routine of courtesies -by calling on General Franchet d'Esperey, commanding the 5th Army, -the first of whose five army corps we were about to visit. For the -amenities of a trip to the front require that in theory the stranger -should pay his prearranged respects to all those in command from the -General of the Army, through the General of the Army Corps, down -through the General of Division, to the Colonel of the Regiment he -happens to be visiting. And practise in this matter sticks uncommonly -close to theory. Charming though it is to meet these courteous, highly -intelligent and often illustrious men, it is impossible not to feel -that the amount of time devoted to such visits of ceremony is quite -out of proportion to the very limited time allowed the average visitor -to the front. It is not the actual ten or fifteen minutes spent in -conversation with these hospitable gentlemen which eats up the time, -but the fact that meetings with some of the busiest men in the world -are necessarily definite appointments which must be very punctually -kept. And four or five such appointments in the course of a day at -places scores of miles apart necessarily tear that day to pieces. - -However, General Franchet d'Esperey had suddenly been called out to an -inspection of a certain part of the front, so we skipped the engagement -which had been made with him, and motored on to call on the General in -command of the Army Corps with which we found ourselves. In the _salon_ -of a small château we were introduced, and conversed pleasantly for a -few minutes. Then he assigned one of his staff-officers to accompany us -to an observation point on the edge of the plateau from which he could -give us a sweeping view of many miles of the front, and point out the -interesting topographical features and the course of the trenches. - -I was thus simultaneously accompanied by Captain d'A----, the -staff-officer from the Paris War Office, by Captain F----, the -staff-officer from the 5th Army, and by the staff-officer of the Army -Corps. - -Having explained to us the "lay of the land" and incidentally pointed -out to us the sizable crater of a shell which a few days earlier had -come within twenty yards of putting a definite end to this particular -observation point, the last officer bade us good-bye. We climbed back -into our motors, and made the steep, winding descent from the plateau, -and raced over the long, straight road so well known to motor tourists -of peaceful days, which leads to where in the distance the low roofs -of Rheims can be seen, like some muddy tide washing the foot of the -craglike cathedral. In Rheims, which the enemy had considerately -stopped shelling an hour or so before our arrival, we had to go to -the headquarters of the Colonel in Command. He was out, but had left -a Major with instructions to show us to X----, a village about a -kilometre from the outskirts of Rheims and immediately touching on -the front trenches. We left our motors near the edge of the city and -walked to where down the street ran a deep narrow ditch lying open, -waiting for its sewer-pipes. "Climb in," said the Major. "Here's where -the communicating trench begins." In we climbed and were led by the -Major along a zigzag kilometre of trench until, fifteen minutes later, -we climbed out again in the main street of X----. There the Major -introduced us to the Captain at the moment in command of the battalion -occupying the village. He became our guide through the rest of the -afternoon, which we spent in the front trenches, and which is described -in the following chapter. - -Thus the War Department from Paris had notified the General Staff of -the 5th Army that I was to make a three-day visit to that army. That -General Staff had arranged a complete programme and had notified the -staffs of the various Army Corps which I was to visit. The first of -these Army Corps Staffs had decided that I was to visit the front -before Rheims, and had so notified the Colonel. The Colonel had decided -which particular portion of the front I was to visit before Rheims and -had so notified the Captain. And the Captain in turn had made up his -mind which specific trenches I was to visit, and conducted me through -them. - -Thus far my programme had been more interesting but just as rigid as -that of any of the correspondents' tours. - -At the end of the afternoon in the trenches a minor example arose of -the advantages which my special trip conferred. - -As we returned to our motors in the outskirts of Rheims, I told d'A---- -how keenly I wished to see the Rheims Cathedral. - -"It is not on the programme," he answered; "but if you want to see -it you certainly shall. It will get you back to Epernay pretty late, -instead of at the hour arranged for, but that will not matter." - -So we rolled through the streets of Rheims, where of the 110,000 -original population 20,000 still live and carry on their daily life. -The greater part of the city showed no signs whatever of the constantly -repeated bombardments which it has sustained, save for the blocks -on blocks of houses closed and with windows boarded up. But when we -entered that portion lying to the east of the cathedral and toward the -enemy, we passed through the fleshless skeleton of a city. The house -walls generally stood intact, but through the gaping windows one could -see the nothingness that lay behind, where great shells had plunged -downward through the roof, sweeping the whole interior, floor by floor, -down into the cellar; or where smaller shells had gutted the interior -by fire. Every now and then we would see a street completely blocked -by a great barrier of rubble, where a whole house had been plucked -out bodily from between its neighbors by some monstrous explosion and -smashed to pieces on the pavement as you would smash an egg on the -ground. - -Then we came out into the great square before the cathedral, and looked -up at its cliff-like façade. - -I heaved a sigh of relief. I seemed to be looking at the same -incredible beauty that I had looked at just over a year ago, when the -world was still at peace. It is true that half the great rose window -was empty of glass; that here and there stood statues headless or with -chipped and mutilated limbs. But in the vast profusion of carvings on -the façade these were almost lost. Gradually, however, the full tragedy -bore in on me. - -Have you ever seen an exquisite cameo face congested by drunkenness -or disease so that it remains but a blurred and subtly bloated -semblance of its former loveliness? If you have, you will know what -has befallen the façade at Rheims. It stood away from the German guns -so that not a shell hit it. But Fate and inefficiency left it covered -with scaffolding which caught fire, and the towering blaze licked -and licked so furiously at every sculptured angle, line and curve -that in a few hours all those keenly chiselled outlines which the -centuries themselves had only faintly mellowed, became flabby, blunt -and indeterminate. One used at times to gaze at the façade through -half-closed lids, so that no exquisite detail should distract from -the swimming, hazy glory of the whole. That glory it still possesses, -but to those who knew it in its earlier unmarred splendor it seems to -stand, straining aloft, in patient martyrdom. A heavy barricade, built -at a distance of some twenty yards, prevented entrance or even a close -approach. As we stood counting the shrapnel scars on the horse of -Jeanne d'Arc, which ended the myth that this statue had come through -the whole bombardment miraculously untouched, a little girl approached -with a basket full of pieces of colored glass. These she offered for -sale as fragments of the priceless stained glass of the cathedral. -It required no expert to see that they were pitifully spurious. Thus -huckstering makes pennies out of tragedy. - -We departed silently, and leaving Captain F---- to return to his -headquarters for the night, we were quickly speeding through the -twilight on our way back to Epernay. - - - - -III - -IN THE FRENCH TRENCHES - - - WITH THE 5TH FRENCH ARMY, _Aug. 3_ (_via Paris_). - -On the anniversary of the last day of the world's peace, the 365th day -of the war, I stood in the darkness of a very advanced front trench. - -A short section where I stood was roofed and bomb-proofed. Through -a row of very narrow rifle-slits came little beams of daylight that -rested in flecks on the white, chalky back of the trenches and were -thrown up very faintly against the logs of the trench roof. - -Very dimly, I could gradually make out a narrow plank standing-platform -running along below the slits. A card was tacked to the wooden frame -of each opening, bearing the name of the particular soldier to whom -that opening belonged. Above each slit hung (or could hang) its owner's -rifle in slings from the roof. - -Every few yards, set in little recesses dug out from the back of the -trench, stood fat bottles. They contained chemicals with which to soak -the soldiers' mouth-coverings if attacked by poisoned gas. - -The trench was nearly empty of men. But at the loophole nearest me -stood the rigid figure of a soldier. His legs were invisible in the -darkness. His body showed up vaguely. His face was brilliantly lighted -by the thin blade of light through the rifle-slit. He stood silent and -motionless, his eyes intently focussed out into the sunlight. - -I looked through the next slit, through a spider's web of barbed wire, -between stunted black posts, across two hundred yards of green grass -and wild flowers, at another tangle of posts and barbed wire with a -narrow furrow of white chalky soil running along just behind it--the -German trenches. - -Not a living thing was in sight in the sunny loneliness. There was -silence except for the crack, crack, crack of striking bullets from -inaudible German rifles. I looked back at the face of the "guetteur," -the watcher. His eyes, fixed on the narrow white line, were puckered -with intentness, but his lips were parted in an easy, good-humored -smile, brightening a face young, clean-cut, alert, calm and very -patient. - -He seemed to symbolize the spirit of the new France, the France of -endurance, of determination, of buoyancy, of patience, the stoic France -that can keep silent and motionless, the France that can stand in the -darkness undismayed, watching and waiting till the moment comes to leap -up and out into the light. - -Early that morning, from the window of a château on the edge of a -high plateau, a young staff-officer had shown me the great plain of -Champagne stretching away to the low hills on the horizon. Miles away -lay Rheims, made to seem squatty by the cathedral which towered in its -midst. - -Across the green fields of the panorama, over swelling hills, -disappearing into dark woods, reappearing at the other end, I saw two -tiny lines of white like the aimless tracing of a child's slate-pencil -on a slate. They ran on across the landscape, now drawn boldly forward, -now swerving with indecision, now zigzagging with perplexity. Sometimes -the child's pencil had slipped and made short little lines at right -angles. Sometimes the pencil had made three or four short starts -parallel with each other before it finally got under way. Sometimes -it had made a regular little maze of lines. But always the two white -scratchings on the slate were drawn on and on till, wavering but always -close abreast, the trenches of the two armies disappeared into the far -distance. - -Through powerful glasses the officer showed me little puffs of smoke -floating up from the sunny, silent, peaceful landscape. They were from -the exploding shells. To the right I saw a high cloud of smoke rising -lazily into the air out of some woods. It was a house in the German -lines fired by French shells. And, though the little puffs of smoke -were only here and there on the landscape, everywhere I could see -through the glasses the microscopic figures of peasants working busily -in their fields, bringing in the harvest. Many were soldiers helping -out, but very many were old men, boys and women. Again the scene seemed -symbolical. - -Behind the soldier watching in the bomb-proof were the innumerable tiny -plodding figures, undaunted by the abrupt little puffs of smoke, doing -their patient share toward bringing in the harvest. - -In the château itself as I went down-stairs I passed a bedroom door -with "Seine Koenigliche Hoheit" written across it in white chalk. -The Duke of Brunswick had slept there at the high tide of the German -advance. His staff had had their names chalked across various other -doors, but few of them remained. - -One by one they were being gradually scrubbed off. It was explained to -me that these chalk marks were particularly hard to remove from wooden -doors. But with patience it is being done. - -The trip which I was taking to the French front had been most kindly -arranged for me by the French Government as a special trip for my -particular benefit. It had the advantage of enabling us to go into -portions of the advanced trenches, where the larger parties could not -go for fear of precipitating shelling by the Germans. - -Our party consisted of a staff-officer from Paris, a staff-officer from -army headquarters, Lincoln Eyre, whom the authorities had allowed me to -ask along--and myself. - -After leaving the château we got into two elephant-gray army motors -with Remington carbines swung on their dashboards. The military -chauffeurs tore along the road, which was in easy range of the German -artillery, but which for some reason never was shelled. - -As we whirled along we passed a variegated procession of vehicles. -Now a high peasant cart carrying home the harvest; now a military -motor-cyclist; now a motor-ambulance, with a pair of white feet showing -through the back, and the wounded man lying on a stretcher slung from -the roof by four straps to reduce jolts to a minimum; now a motor -full of officers smoking cigarettes; now a cavalryman exercising an -officer's mount. - -Finally we stopped about a kilometre from a little village, which must -be nameless. On leaving our motors we walked a little further along -the road and then climbed down into a trench. This was about six feet -deep and three feet wide, the bottom and sides of white, chalky soil. -We pursued a serpentine course, but there was method in its meandering, -for a straight vista of trench leading toward the enemy would be a -splendid hunting-ground for bullets. - -We had not gone far when I heard a sound like a boy cracking a toy -whip. "A bullet striking near us," explained an officer ahead of me. - -I found it almost impossible to tell the difference between the report -of the French guns and the explosions of German shells. An officer told -me that their time-table nickname for French gun reports was "départs" -(departures), while that for the German shell explosions was "arrivées" -(arrivals). - -Of course if either gun or shell explosion or both is very near to you -you can easily tell the difference, if there is enough of you left to -tell anything. - -We walked on with the toy whip cracking at every other step and -"départs" and "arrivées" inviting guesswork as to which was which. -We passed soldiers in shirt-sleeves, deepening and widening a -communication trench. It was rather difficult to squeeze past them, but -this very definitely emphasized the wonderful terms of discipline, yet -the democratic friendliness, existing between the French officers and -the men. The officers talked to the men intimately and placed their -hands on the men's shoulders affectionately in squeezing by. The men -answered the officers easily, without restraint, but all stood at -attention and smartly gave the salute, which they regarded as a dignity -and not a degradation--a marvellous combination of discipline and -democracy. - -We finally climbed out of the trench at the first house of the little -village, or rather of what had been a little village, for it was, on -close view, nothing more than the aftermath of an earthquake. In actual -fact it reminded me vividly of the walk I had taken through the remains -of Messina after the last great earthquake. - -Before entering the village I stood in the road looking through my -field-glasses at a German war-balloon to my left. "Come along, come -along," shouted one of the officers. "If you stand there you'll start -the Germans shelling. You're in plain sight of them." Needless to say I -came along. - -We walked through the shattered village, which the Germans shelled -religiously every day, until we came to the remains of a church. -Climbing in over the ruins we saw that there was one corner where -miraculously enough a few yards of floor and a few yards of roof had -escaped being shelled to pieces. There the altar had been set with -about ten chairs crowded in front of it. There mass is still held every -Sunday for the benefit of the sixteen inhabitants who still persisted -in staying in the village. - -[Illustration: Page 49 - -"THERE MASS IS STILL HELD EVERY SUNDAY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SIXTEEN -INHABITANTS WHO STILL PERSISTED IN STAYING IN THE VILLAGE"] - -These must indeed be solemn little services, for the Germans are far -from being Sabbatarians when it comes to shelling this particular -church. - -Going on, we stopped in front of what was a house for one story and a -skeleton from there up. It looked as if nothing less than a squirrel -could get up to its rooftree, and nothing larger than a cat could -conceal itself behind any of the shreds and tatters of its roof. -Nevertheless, up there was the observation-post which I was about to -visit. We entered and found some soldiers cooking meat and potatoes on -a smokeless stove. One of them was amusing himself prancing around the -place on a pair of child's stilts. - -Following instructions, I climbed up a long ladder, which led to two -rafters--the sole survivors of the second floor. A few planks had been -stretched between these. From them another ladder ran up to a small -patch of attic floor which, marvellously intact, nestled around three -sides of a brick chimney under the fragment of the roof. Arrived there, -I carefully lifted a little leather curtain, hung over a hole in the -roof, and squinted cautiously down upon the German lines. - -The French trenches were practically hidden by the houses of the little -village, so that the first thing I saw was a belt of barbed wire, and -an unostentatious little white line, which marked the advanced German -position. Look as closely as one could, it was impossible to detect the -slightest movement, yet it was from this innocent-looking little line -that the bullets were imitating toy whips. I wedged myself into the -chimney to get a view of another side and then climbed down. - -We now left the village and walked into the open advanced trenches. -The most remarkable thing was their utter desolation. We walked for a -hundred yards at a time, past scores and scores of rifle-slits, without -seeing a man. An officer explained that troops are not permitted in the -open trenches during the daytime, to save them needless loss from the -shells, which each side all day long, in a desultory way, threw into -the open trenches of the other. - -The men stayed down in the shell-proof shelters all the day and manned -the trenches at night, when attacks are most feared. - -It seemed as if the Germans could easily rush these trenches before -the men could be called out to meet them, but along the sides of every -trench ran one or two telephone wires. Apparently one quick order -would have these front trenches lined with men. We came to one of the -points nearest the German lines, from where the German trenches seemed -a mere stone's-throw. From there French soldiers used to crawl out -and fraternize with the Germans, between the lines, but that is now -forbidden. - -We next came through a covered trench to a covered grenade section. -Here a table stood against the outer wall. It had three lines of -sockets in it, one ahead of the other. The soldiers fastened grenades -to the muzzles of their rifles, shoved the muzzles up through the -protected slit in the roof, rested the butts in one of the three -sockets, which gave three different ranges, and pulled the trigger. If -there is a premature explosion they are saved from its effects by the -muzzle being above the roof. - -We continued on into a long section of the covered front trench, where -the rifle-slits have wires stretched across them about three inches -from the bottom. The soldiers must stick their rifles out under the -wire, which prevents their overshooting in the night. These covered -trenches are roofed with logs and covered with two or three feet of -earth. They are proof against ordinary shells, but not against heavy -artillery. - -When that starts bombarding, the men climb down into excavations, -fifteen feet below the level of the trenches, and wait there until the -storm is over. - -Soon we came to a black little underground chamber. An officer gave -an order and a brilliant ray of light shot in through an aperture in -the wall, near the low roof. This aperture was some three feet from -one side to the other, and only about six or eight inches from top to -bottom. It had been opened by dropping a hinged steel shutter which -was worked by a wire running over a pulley. The aperture was just -above the surface of the ground outside. In the little room stood a -machine-gun with its wicked-looking muzzle just flush with the opening. -The gunner showed us how, by swinging the gun from side to side, he -could play a stream of bullets through the wire entanglements, a foot -or two from the ground. - -[Illustration: Page 51 - -THE AUTHOR IN A FRONT TRENCH NEAR RHEIMS. (THE GERMANS ARE ABOUT -THREE HUNDRED YARDS BEYOND THE WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS)] - -At regular intervals we passed watchers, some standing in the covered -trenches gazing through the slits, some lying out above the open -trenches behind steel shields, and some using periscopes--all depending -on the location of the trench. - -Looking into such a periscope one would swear that he was looking -straight out through a loophole. There is not the slightest sign of -looking at a reflection in a mirror. We walked bent double through an -extremely long pitch-black tunnel in an advanced position where some of -the officers themselves had never been, and then started back through -the open trenches. - -At one point a lot of Germans had been buried. Sometimes a shell -explosion does a ghastly bit of disinterment, but I saw nothing -unpleasant on this occasion. At another point above the heads of each -side of the trench stood two shattered ammunition-carts. The Germans -shelled this place pertinaciously, believing that the carts were guns. - -At another point we walked under a framework of wood, covered with barb -wire resting on two transverse timbers stretching across the top of -the trench. A rope hung down from one of the transverses. If the enemy -broke into the trench the defenders, by pulling this rope, could drop -the barb-wire contrivance into the trench, thus blocking it. - -Finally we got back to the village. I had asked how the sixteen -inhabitants made a living. An officer replied that they sold eggs and -milk to the troops. I asked out of what they produced the milk and -he replied, "Very certainly out of a cow." As an answer to my polite -scepticism I was taken to see the cow. We walked down a little street -where I was told that the Germans were directing most of their shells. -They fortunately were napping while we walked through. We suddenly -turned into a gateway, and there in the middle of this wreck of a -village was a barnyard with chickens clucking, a horse tied to the -wall, and three cows. - -And on a stool by one of the cows sat an aged woman making the milk -hiss down into a tin pail. There she sat, shells sailing to and fro -over her head, with the "départs" starting and the "arrivées" bursting. -There she sat and rocked with hearty laughter at the story of my -scepticism, and went on effectively proving her existence by her cow -by the extraction of that very milk which was sold to the soldiers. -We left the old lady surrounded by what seemed to her to be all the -comforts of home, and a few steps further were introduced to the Mayor -of X----. - -It was a smiling, bland old man who greeted us most genially. -Apparently he had not a care in the world as he stood courteously -making conversation. It seemed to me that the humble old woman milking -her cow, and the Mayor entertaining visitors to what was no longer -his village, were further symbols of the spirit of a nation which was -not easily destined to decadence and downfall. Leaving the Mayor, we -entered the cemetery. There we were looking at the graves of two German -officers, two French officers and seventy French soldiers when an -"arrivée" burst with a louder report than we had as yet heard, followed -by a deep noise. - -"What's that?" I asked. - -An officer replied, "That's the metal fuse which at the moment of -explosion flies off through the air. You can only hear that when the -explosion is pretty close. You can certainly say now that you have been -under shell fire." - -We went back to the end of the village furthest from the Germans -and entered the headquarters in one of the few houses still in fair -preservation. There the officers in command of the village opened a -bottle of champagne in our honor and we stood around drinking each -other's health. At that precise moment an unusually loud salvo of -French artillery went off by way of a salute to the toast. - -On the way back through the communicating trenches, we saw an attempt -by the German guns to bring down a French aviator, who was flying above -us. The latest development of fire regulation by aviation is that the -Captain of the battery himself goes up in an aeroplane and sends his -corrections on aim down to his battery by wireless. This Captain had -his four "seventy-fives" hidden near our communication trench. Every -time they went off their report was so violent that I could not help -jumping. - -The battery Captain was sailing around overhead and the German gunner -was letting drive at him with what looked to us to be pretty bad shots. -I could see the aeroplane wheeling in the air and hear the distant -reports of the "départs," wait an appreciable time and then see the -burst of white flame high up in the sky, followed by little puffs of -smoke. - -"That's a wretched shot," said I, as one shell burst over our heads, -far behind the aeroplane. - -"Yes, a bad shot for an aeroplane, but a good shot for us," Captain -F---- replied. - -I was standing with my head away back, looking straight overhead. -"Come, move on, move on, or you'll catch some of that on your face," -warned Captain d'A----. I obediently moved on and, sure enough, a -couple of seconds later he picked up a strictly fresh shrapnel ball -which had just fallen into our trench out of the sky. In the mean time -the Captain up in the air had corrected his guns, so that they were -hitting whatever they were shooting at, and he sailed away to the rear, -while his battery became really enthusiastic and went off with a series -of tearing crashes, which kept me jumping all the way to the end of the -communicating trench. - -There I climbed out with my ears full of the "seventy-fives'" violent -reports, the distant explosion of their shells, the distant reports of -the enemy's guns, the "crack, crack, crack" of the rifle bullets and -the occasional sharp whistling of one overhead. - -But my mind was full of the soldier watching and waiting, of the -peasants harvesting between the smoke puffs, the laughing old woman -milking the cow, of the genial Mayor extending his ruined hospitality, -and of what little things like these should bring to pass in the future -of France. - - - - -IV - -A TYPICAL DAY'S TOUR - - -The morning after our trip to the front at Rheims we got up at seven -o'clock after a good night's sleep in the comfortable hotel, and by -shortly after eight were ready to start. - -But here came a hitch in the smoothly running mechanism. - -The evening before, on our run back to Epernay, Eyre and I had noticed -the exhilarating abandon with which our soldier chauffeur slung his car -along. We supposed that was the traditional method in which military -cars were run. We christened our driver "Barney Oldfield" and commented -jocosely on his various close squeaks. We noticed that Captain d'A----, -who in the front trenches had been absolutely imperturbable, did not -seem wholly at ease, but kept on leaning forward and muttering, "Mais -doucement! doucement!" through the front window. We thought, however, -that this was mere consideration on his part for our inexperienced -nervous systems. - -On this following morning he declared to us that our chauffeur was -evidently a veritable maniac besides being an execrable driver, and -that nothing would induce him to ride behind "Barney Oldfield" again. -Shells and bullets were all in the day's work, but he'd be switched if -he would have his neck quite superfluously broken by an imbecile like -that. - -He therefore, with our cordial approval, had sent round to the -auto-repair department for a sedater driver. But it was apparently -against the regulations to keep the same car if we changed chauffeurs, -and it was as hard to get another car in this headquarters of cars as -it is to get fresh milk on a cattle-ranch. - -So we fretted politely for the best part of an hour before the new -chauffeur drove up. This delay haunted us for the rest of the day. - -We motored over the same road we had covered the day before till we -got near Rheims again. There, at about ten o'clock, we met Captain -F----, who had been cooling his heels for an hour. I transferred myself -into his motor and we started off to inspect some batteries. - -First, of course, we had to present ourselves to the General in -Command of the next Army Corps which we were to visit. We reached his -headquarters after half an hour's run and found him an interesting and -agreeable man of the world. He was much upset by the death the day -before of a Lieutenant of engineers. It appears that this Lieutenant -had been in command of a sap that was being run under the German -trenches in order to explode a mine. The Germans had counter-sapped, -broken into his tunnel, and exploded a mine there. He had recklessly -crawled down his sap and had not returned. Then his Colonel crawled -down the little tunnel after him, first taking the precaution to have a -rope tied on to himself. The soldiers at the French end of the tunnel -paid out the rope till it suddenly stopped. Then, as there was no more -movement, they became alarmed and, hauling in the rope, dragged the -Colonel back in a senseless condition. The Lieutenant had reached the -neighborhood of the exploded mine and had been overcome and killed by -the unescaped gases of the explosion. The Colonel in his turn had been -overcome, but had been hauled out in time to be revived. - -It was strange to see how this loss was taken to heart by a General who -must in the past months have had to receive reports of deaths by the -thousand. - -We motored on and about eleven o'clock were ushered into the -headquarters of the General of Division whose batteries we wanted to -see. - -The other Generals had greeted us in the luxurious _salons_ of -châteaus, sitting near writing-desks holding a few papers, but without -any token of the military work on which they were engaged. This General -was housed with his staff in an old shooting-box. The room in which he -welcomed us had large-scale maps on its walls, and engineering plans on -its tables. The General himself was a splendid type of French officer, -remarkably young, wiry, snappy, keen as mustard. When the war began he -had been a Lieutenant-Colonel and had gone up the ladder by leaps and -bounds. - -He said he would begin by himself taking us to an observation-point at -the top of a high hill, whence we could follow the whole sweep of front -from about the point where it had yesterday run out of our sight, on -for many miles to the Aisne and well beyond it. - -Up the hill we went at about as fast a walk as I have ever used on -a stiff up-grade. Beside me, setting the pace, went the General in -his baggy red riding-breeches, his tight-fitting black tunic, his -well-polished black-leather puttees and shapely boots. As we climbed at -top speed he talked a steady and most interesting stream. I began to -listen for any symptoms of the pace affecting his breath. But not a bit -of it; on he walked and on he talked. It was a hot day and the sweat -began to drip off of me in spite of my cool khaki clothes. But the -General in his black-cloth tunic and red breeches remained as cool as a -cucumber. By the time we legged it over the crest of the hill I would -have been willing to back him in a walking contest against any one of -the twenty thousand men in his division. - -Now we walked along a level path through woods till we came to an open -space on the hillside. - -The General stopped abruptly. "Don't go further here," he snapped out, -"the Germans might see us through their glasses. They've got them -constantly trained on this hill to try to locate my observation-post. -They have not struck it yet, though the other day they happened to drop -a shell not far from it which killed two of my officers." - -So we retraced our steps a short distance and took another path which -avoided the open place on the hillside. - -Finally we reached the observation-post, carefully screened by an -artificial bower of pine boughs. Maps were tacked on a rude table, -while a big telescope stuck its muzzle surreptitiously out between the -boughs. - -The young General pointed out the two white trench lines pursuing -each other league on league across the face of the summer landscape -below us, now abruptly approaching, now coyly withdrawing from each -other in their deadly courtship. He ran swiftly over the various -features of interest: That white scar on the slope down yonder was -where the French had recently exploded a great mine under the Germans. -Particularly bloody fighting had been going on at that point. Those -roofs in the hollow the other side of that little hill were the -village of Bery-au-Bac, which so frequently appeared in the official -communiques as the scene of desperate attacks. Over there beyond -the canal in that angle between it and the Aisne for perhaps half a -kilometre there was a complete gap in the trench lines which were -popularly supposed to run uninterruptedly from the North Sea to the -Alps. Still further over yonder the hostile trenches approached each -other so closely that one of those houses had one end occupied by the -French and the other by the Germans. - -"Over there," said the General with a sweep of his hand and a shake of -his head, "occurred one of the great misfortunes of the battle of the -Marne. Our troops there had hurled the Germans back across the Aisne -and clear back over those hills. But the French troops over here more -to the left had had their advance checked by the retreating Germans. -Now those troops to the right were so far ahead that they had lost -touch with the ones to the left. Had they been veteran troops they -could easily have manoeuvred the backward troops up into line with -themselves, and had they done this, with the Germans forced back beyond -that line of natural defense, the Craonne plateau positions would have -been turned and there is no knowing how far the German retreat might -have been compelled to continue. But alas! they were green troops, and -when they had waited and found that the troops to their left were not -linking up with them they fell back from their precious territory to -form a line with their fellows. And that is why we are here to-day." - -The General then led the way some little distance to another -underground observation-post to be used in case of a bombardment. - -A flight of steps led down into it. It had a good many feet of solid -earth above it, and consisted of two rooms with two bunks covered with -pine boughs in one, and two camp cots in the other for the General -himself and his artillery aide. It was well stored with water and -provisions, and here the General, in case of a sustained bombardment, -could remain in relative security for days on end, observing the -effect of his own artillery fire or of any infantry attacks he might -direct, and sending his orders out by telephone. It will probably be -asked how he could do much observing from a cellar several metres under -ground. The answer is that the second of the two rooms had a sort of -window about a foot high and running the whole length of the wall, -which opened out through the side of the hill. It was covered by a -heavy steel shutter which could be partly or entirely swung up by a -pulley arrangement, and through this crack in the hillside the whole -sector lay in perfect view. - -Climbing out again, we ventured a hint or two as to how interested we -were in batteries. But the General himself was intensely interested -in an intricate system of subterranean passages which his Chief of -Engineers was building to connect up the observation-post with other -points, and he took the very human view that the technical explanations -of the Engineer which were so absorbing to him must necessarily be -equally enthralling to us. - -Finally we started back across the hilltop toward where my imagination -conjured up serried arrays of great guns frowning at the enemy. - -On the way we stopped to inspect the telephone central which connected -up the observation-posts with all the batteries behind and the trenches -in front, and for that matter, with Paris or any other part of France. - -In a low log hut, its roof and walls protected by several feet of -sand-bags, a soldier sat at a large switchboard with a telephone -receiver strapped to his head. As we stood for a moment watching him -a bell tinkled. He stuck the small peg into one of the multitudinous -little holes. - -"Allo! This is Number 15," he said in a low voice, then listened -intently to some message. - -"All right," he said at its conclusion. Then turning half round on his -stool he saluted and reported: - -"Mon General, Number 19 reports that a Boche aeroplane has passed them -and is coming over us." - -"Telephone our guns to fire at him, and warn Numbers 11 and 12 to -prepare for his coming," ordered the General, and as the soldier stuck -his pegs in and gave his telephone messages we hustled out to see the -excitement. Sure enough, we had hardly got out when we heard a distant -whirring, and high up in the air saw an aeroplane floating our way. - -[Illustration: Page 70 - -"WE WERE COMPLETELY ABSORBED IN WATCHING THE SOFT LITTLE CLOUDS -PLAYFULLY DANCING ALONG AHEAD OF THE LAZILY DRIFTING AEROPLANE"] - -"Keep under the tree! Keep under the tree!" warned the General sharply. -"If he sees us all standing here, and gets away, he will report this as -an important point and it will rain 'marmites' for days to come." - -So he, his staff-officers, Eyre and I grouped ourselves under a big -tree and stared up at the approaching aeroplane through the gaps in its -branches. - -"Whang!" A "soixante-quinze" exploded violently in the woods close by, -and I jumped equally violently. - -"Whang! Whang! Whang!" came three more shots in extremely close -succession. - -"You've got a whole battery shooting, haven't you?" I remarked. - -"Oh, no! There is only one gun located just there. It does not waste -time in firing, does it?" smiled the General. "Our 'soixante-quinze' -field-guns can shoot twenty-five shots a minute." - -Other guns in the immediate neighborhood took up the chorus, and, -looking through our glasses, we could see little soft white cloudlets -puff into being all around the aeroplane. - -But he kept sailing calmly on. - -A little further off in the woods came a staccato rat! tat! tat! tat! -tat! like a boy drawing a stick along a picket fence. - -"There goes one of our mitrailleuses at work on him." - -We were completely absorbed in watching the soft little clouds -playfully dancing along ahead of the lazily drifting aeroplane, when -the General's voice brought us back to earth. - -"Come! Come! We must hurry or we shall be late for lunch. I did not -realize how late it was." - -I looked at him in horror. What! Forsake the sensations of this moment -for such a thing as a lunch! Any one of those gentle little white puffs -might transform the aeroplane into a hurtling mass of flame. Lunch! - -But the General was entirely sincere and very positive. From his point -of view Boche aeroplanes could be shot at any hour of the day, but -lunch was an event which took place only once in the twenty-four hours. -Lunch was the recognized symbol of hospitality; aeroplane shellings -decidedly were not. - -As we reluctantly followed him through the woods he may have noticed my -disappointment, for he remarked: - -"It is highly improbable that you would see anything more than you -already have seen. They are very difficult things to hit, you know. As -a matter of fact, we were doing most of our shooting in front of him -rather than at him, so as to head him back. But he evidently has his -nerve with him, for he has kept right on and got away from us. Listen! -Our guns have stopped, and there are the guns I telephoned to at Number -12 taking a shy at him." - -As we hiked along at the General's favorite pace Captain F---- -diffidently suggested: - -"And the batteries, mon General, in which this gentleman was much -interested. I suppose there will be no opportunity to see them?" - -"Oh, there is really nothing interesting about them, as they are not -firing to-day. The pieces are scattered all over the hillside in the -woods, and the crews are having their lunch. But as a matter of fact -our route home takes us right by one 120-millimetre gun and we can -have a look at that." - -Walking down the rear slope of the hill, we came upon a party of -soldiers, apparently out for a picnic, eating their lunch on a rustic -table, with pine branches over their heads and fragrant pine needles -under their feet. - -They jumped to attention. - -"Show us the piece," said the General to their non-commissioned officer. - -The groups of soldiers hustled over to a big object bundled up in -tarpaulins, which stood a few yards off. Stripping off the coverings, -they showed us a heavy field-piece standing on treadled wheels with its -muzzle pointed apparently aimlessly up the green-wooded hillside at -some clouds which floated in the blue sky just above the hill-crest. - -"That gun," explained the General, "is aimed at the village of ----, -about eight kilometres distant, behind the German lines. Their reserves -have to pass through the village to reach the front; so whenever -we hear that they are bringing up their reserves we start this gun -shelling that little village. Usually an important village is shared by -several guns, but that village is the particular property of this gun. - -[Illustration: Page 71 - -"AS WE HIKED ALONG AT THE GENERAL'S FAVORITE PACE"] - -[Illustration: Page 72 - -"A HEAVY FIELD-PIECE STANDING ON TREADLED WHEELS"] - -"Show the gentlemen how it works," he ordered. The artillerymen leaped -into position, swung open the breach, lifted a heavy shell, and thrust -it into the chamber. - -"Careful there; don't shoot it off!" exclaimed the General, and added -to me, "There's no use damaging our own French villages more than is -indispensable." - -As tenderly as a thoroughbred is blanketed after a race the big gun -was bundled up again by its crew, and, leaving them to resume their -picnicking under the pine-tree, we strode away to the shooting-box and -the lunch. - -And a very excellent lunch it was to which the General, some eight of -his staff-officers and our party of four sat down in the dingy old -dining-room of the shooting-box. - -"You certainly mobilized an excellent chef," laughed Captain d'A---- as -we reached the entrée. - -With white wine mixed with water to drink during the lunch, champagne -served in the French fashion with the dessert, and cigars, coffee and -liqueurs to follow, the commissariat department undoubtedly deserved -congratulations. - - ------------------------------------ - - MENU - - du 1º Août 1915 - - ------------------------------------ - - DÉJEUNER - - ------------------------------------ - - Hors-d'oeuvres - - Oeufs pochés à la Rossini - - Tournedos grillés à la Bouchère - - Pommes frites - - Pigeons rotis - - Haricots verts à l'anglaise - - Crème au chocolat - - Compote de pèches - - Dessert - - ------------------------------------ - -The conversation was of course not for publication, but one passage I -think I can repeat without fear of violating confidence. - -"Why did not Von Kluck march on Paris when he had the chance?" I asked -the officer who was sitting on one side of me. - -"I will tell you," he replied. "In the 1913 'Kriegsspiel' [great -manoeuvres] in Germany the theoretical invasion of France by the -attacking armies was precisely the same advance as in actual fact they -made the following year. In the maneuvers Von Kluck commanded the right -wing precisely as he did in the actual invasion. In these maneuvers he -came to a point in his advance where he had to choose between attacking -Paris and swinging past Paris in pursuit of the enemy. He decided to -attack Paris. The verdict of the board of generals who were judging the -maneuvers contained the severest kind of arraignment of Von Kluck for -having violated the cardinal principal of German military strategy by -allowing a mere geographical point to divert him from the one paramount -object of German generalship--the enemy's army. We actually possess a -copy of this official reprimand, for 'tout s'achête' (there is nothing -that money will not buy), you know. Now when little over one year -later Von Kluck in actual warfare came face to face with precisely the -same choice of alternatives, with the previous year's censure still -stingingly fresh in mind, he ignored Paris and followed the enemy army." - -Luncheon over, we bade the splendid young General and his staff -good-bye, and motored quite a distance to visit one of the French -field hospitals. The wounded, after having first aid applied in the -trenches, were brought here in ambulances, where their wounds were -thoroughly dressed or operations performed. When there was a great rush -of wounded those capable of standing the journey were shipped on to -base hospitals as quickly as possible to make room for the new cases. -During the last few months, however, there had been so little hard -fighting on the section of the front which this hospital served, that -many of the wounded had been kept there for weeks and some for months. -The big rooms on the ground floor of the large country house in which -the hospital had been located, had been converted into wards for the -wounded privates, while the bedrooms on the upper floor were reserved -principally for officers. - -It was curious to hear the deprecatory tone in which the Chief Surgeon -regretted that he had no freshly wounded to bandage or operate on -for our benefit. In fact from the front hospitals to the great base -hospitals of Paris the surgeons are all alike. They cannot keep a -professional note of regret out of their voices when explaining that -very few wounded have come in of late, nor a professional note of -encouragement when they understand an important action is soon to be -fought which will again fill their cots with "cases." It would be an -outrage to hold this attitude against these splendid men. If they had -not become impregnated by their professional point of view toward the -horrors of their work, they would all long ago have been in madhouses. - -Our whole progress through the hospital was a strange conglomeration of -pathos and farce. For the Surgeon in Command, on our being introduced -to him, stated that he was the proud possessor of an orderly who -spoke the English tongue "à merveille." Our staff-officers politely -indicated to him that our own French, though not perhaps up to -Comédie Française standards, was no mean thing, and would render his -explanations entirely comprehensible to us. But these hints were of -no avail. The accomplishments of his linguistic prodigy must not be -wasted. So the orderly was produced and turned out to be master of the -most grotesquely unintelligible English that I have ever listened to. - -As we passed between the lines of cots, each with its still figure -huddled under its gray blanket, as we were followed about by the -wondering gaze of the many eyes which look so incredibly large in the -wasted faces of the wounded, we had to listen to the explanations of -the Chief Surgeon, and then lend our ears to the burblings of the -orderly exterpreting them for our benefit. Even when we stood in the -modest little graveyard where those who had died of their wounds were -buried we were torn between tears and grins by the attentions of the -excellent man whom, I am ashamed to say, Eyre and I had christened -"the pest," and by the embarrassed writhings of our staff-officers -who spoke such excellent English that they thoroughly realized the -situation. - -Having spent perhaps three-quarters of an hour in the hospital, which, -judged by the somewhat unexacting French standards, seemed efficiently -run, we departed for the first impromptu engagement of the day--the -studies of a class in grenade-throwing, which met not very far from the -hospital, and which I have elsewhere described in detail. - -After an hour devoted to this exceedingly interesting experience, we -were whirled away to a distant appointment with another General of an -Army Corps. He led us to the flat roof of his headquarters, from which -at some distance he pointed out a third installment of the trenches -continuing from about the point where they had that morning run out of -sight, and from that point stretching along the Craonne plateau, nearly -to Soissons. - -Having terminated a fifteen-minute meeting with this extremely -courteous General, the next number on our programme was the inspection -of an aviation "esquadrille" or squadron. - -On our way, however, we stopped unexpectedly to look at a most -beautiful new anti-aircraft "seventy-five," a gun numbers of which the -French had just completed and were bringing to the front. As I was not -allowed to photograph the gun even from a distance and was enjoined to -regard its details as absolutely confidential, I can only say that, -mounted on its own motor, it could travel along the roads at forty -kilometres an hour; that it could be in action within one minute and a -half after coming to a stop, and that the way the turning of a couple -of little cranks which a child could whirl made the heavy muzzle swing, -and mount, and cut figure eights in the air, was something wholly -incredible. - -We listened to a technical but most interesting exposition by the -Artillery Captain of the most up-to-date methods of firing at -aeroplanes, including the progressive and retrogressive systems, and -then sped away to the aviation field some ten or fifteen kilometres -distant. We found the aviation squadron on a very large field near -the top of a gradually sloping bare hill, comfortably installed, the -machines in their great hangars, the aviators in their small tents. The -whole organization was especially adapted for mobility. In one hour, at -need, the field would have left on it not a man, a stick or a shred -of the encampment. Hangars and tents would be careering along some -highroad, neatly folded in the big aviation lorries that stood handy, -mechanics would be sitting on the box seats or have their legs dangling -over the tail-boards, while pilots and observers would waft themselves -more comfortably by air to their new camp site. - -The Captain of the "esquadrille" showed us, with quite pardonable -pride, his "avions de réglage"--planes carrying no bombs or -machine-guns, but equipped with wireless, which are used to correct -the fire of artillery, and his "avions de chasse" or hunting-planes -equipped with bombs, a machine-gun and a Winchester carbine. Some of -these had the pilot sit behind and the observer in front operating -the machine gun over the bow. Others had the pilot in front and the -observer behind, in which case the observer, standing up, operated the -machine-gun over the head of the pilot. Finally he showed us a splendid -new Caudron biplane having two independent motors and two traction -screws in front, so that if either motor were put out of business the -plane could continue flying on the other. - -I was so enthusiastic about this machine that the Aviation Captain -turned to me and asked casually, "Would you perhaps like to go up and -take a 'petite promenade' in the Caudron?" - -Would I? It did not take me many fractions of a second to impress on -him that I certainly would. But here Captain d'A---- demurred. It -was, he said, absolutely forbidden that any one should go up in army -aeroplanes except aviators on military duty. Those were the strict army -regulations. He was quite right and entirely justified in his attitude. -But Captain F----, who was a good sport and had become quite a chum of -mine, said, "Oh, let him go up. After all, the Swiss Military Attaché -went up the other day. I'll take the responsibility." And as he was -in immediate authority while we remained with the 5th Army, Captain -d'A---- good-naturedly shrugged his shoulders and let it go at that. - -So I hurried down with the Aviation Captain to his tent to put on a -warm aviation suit, while the Caudron was prepared for our flight. -As we approached his tent, a single-motored aeroplane took aboard its -pilot and observer, its propellers whirred and roared, and it rolled -casually away up the gradual slope, through a field of standing grain, -till near the hilltop it took to the air as easily as a bird and -spiralled up toward the low-lying dark clouds. - -In the Captain's tent I struggled into a heavy suit of black fur made -like a suit of combination underwear, legs and body all in one piece, -put on a pair of goggles and a heavily padded helmet, and emerged to -meet the disappointment of my life. Down pattered some drops of rain, -down spiralled the aeroplane which had just gone up. - -"Too bad," said the Aviation Captain. "I can't send a machine up in the -rain." - -I pleaded with my staff-officers to wait here for an hour to see -whether the rain might not stop. In vain. Even that good sport Captain -F---- was adamant. We could not possibly wait, because it would -completely throw out a visit to a horse hospital, and an inspection of -an army corps supply-train which were both unalterably fixed upon our -schedule. We were very late already. We must be off. - -Well, then, could we not return early to-morrow morning to get the -flight? - -"Malheureusement ça ne peut pas se faire." (French euphemism for "No.") -To-morrow morning I was slated for a visit to a base hospital which, -including motoring there and motoring back, would consume most of the -morning. - -But I would infinitely prefer to go for a "petite promenade" in the -Caudron than to inspect the most unique base hospital in the world. - -Yes, they could understand that perfectly, but unfortunately the -hospital was among "the arrangements" and the "petite promenade" was -not. Personally they would throw the hospital overboard in a minute, -but the matter was beyond their control. - -So off we went, Captain F---- full of sympathy and I full of sulks, and -at about half past five visited what under other circumstances would -have been an exceedingly interesting big hospital full of hundreds of -sick and wounded horses. But I fear I was in no mood to appreciate the -ingenuity and thoroughness with which the kilometre or more of hospital -sheds had been constructed by the soldiers on a framework of poles, -with wicker-work sides covered with a sort of adobe, and a sloping roof -of thatched straw with little gables built here and there for the mere -love of beautifying which is apparently ever present in the French -race, whether at war or peace. - -[Illustration: Page 85 - -PART OF THE ENORMOUS ENCAMPMENT OF SUPPLY-WAGONS, WHICH CARRY THE -COMPLETE SUPPLIES FOR THREE FULL DAYS FOR ONE ARMY CORPS] - -On we went for another long run till we reached the enormous encampment -of supply-wagons, which carry the complete supplies for three full days -for one army corps. They had been there since the armies dug themselves -in. - -"We are not useful now," the Colonel in Command regretfully confided -to me; "for almost all the supplies reach our armies by rail. But only -wait till the advance begins. Then we shall show what we can do." - -This great encampment which covered some square miles of countryside -had begun as a bivouac and ended as a town. One walked down avenues -and side streets solidly flanked by the huts which this army had -built itself. They were all more or less standardized in building -materials--wattled walls covered with clay, and thatched straw roofs. -But there the uniformity abruptly ended. For these little houses had -not been merely constructed by builders as they would have been in -nearly any other country. This was France and they had been conceived -by architects. And each house expressed the original conception of the -soldier-architect who had designed it. - -No one who has not walked through this mushroom town or the many others -like it can imagine the infinite variety of architectural forms which -can be wrought in one-story shacks of wattle, clay and straw. The -pliable wattle and clay lent themselves to effects which could not -have been possible in stone, brick or wood. Extraordinary bays and -alcoves, never before dreamed of by the Ecole des Beaux Arts gave light -and shadow to long walls. Bas-relief and high-relief were done with -spirit and often with fine art in the clay which covered the wattled -walls, the thatched straw of the roofs was erected into strange gables, -dormer windows, turrets and machicolations. Eccentric, grotesque many -of these experiments unquestionably were, but they meant on the part of -the tired soldiers hours and days and weeks of extra and unnecessary -work, lavished, not for their creature comfort, not for their physical -safety, but solely for their artistic satisfaction. - -It was twilight when we took our leave and night had fallen long before -we rolled into Château Thiery, whither Captain d'A----'s orderly had -transported our bags, and where a very late dinner and comfortable beds -were awaiting us. - - - - -V - -A GRENADE-THROWING SCHOOL - - - WITH THE 5TH FRENCH ARMY, _Aug. 9_. - -I have just returned from attending a soldiers' school of -bomb-throwing. The military authorities permitted my presence as an -exceptional favor, informing me that this is the first time such a -privilege has been accorded a foreign civilian. - -This particular school holds its classes in a large green field in -a peaceful little valley, within long artillery range of the firing -lines. No German shells, however, have hitherto distracted the pupils -from their rather gruesome lessons, and I will not endanger their -continued studies by giving a more definite description of the locality. - -This school is attended by privates from each regiment, who spend four -days at their highly explosive studies. Toward the middle of the -field, about two hundred yards from one end and about three hundred -from the other, was a section of open trench about twenty yards long -and some four feet deep. This trench was about the usual three feet in -width except in its centre, where for about five feet it was recessed -back to a width of some six feet. This was where the French instructor -stood and whirled his arms to throw the bombs. A couple of feet to the -left of this recess was another recess, covered with a bomb-proof roof -of logs and earth. - -Into this the instructor and his pupil sought refuge from the effects -of the bomb explosion. As the explosion really is surprisingly violent -and takes place at the longest only five seconds from the time the -mechanism of the bomb is started, and at a maximum distance of thirty -yards, the instructor and any one in the trench with him have got to be -exceedingly spry in running under the bomb-proof in order to beat the -bomb. There is, too, the danger of a premature explosion. - -To make me feel more entirely at my ease, they told me that only a few -days ago an officer of explosives brought a Colonel to see one of -these demonstrations in another school, behind a different part of the -line. As they came to the entrance of the trench the officer politely -made way for the Colonel to enter the trench first. As the Colonel did -so, the bomb exploded prematurely and killed the Colonel outright. - -About twenty yards in front of the trench was dug a shallow dummy -trench to represent a German target. Some 150 yards further distant was -set up a section of wire entanglements. - -We found the 128 soldiers ranged in line a few yards behind the trench. -At its edge I took my place with the Captain of explosives and three or -four other officers. The infantrymen lined up two deep behind us. - -In the open recess in the trench stood the non-commissioned officer -of engineers, facing backward toward us. He was the instructor. At -the order of the Captain he placed an innocent-looking satchel on the -trench edge at his right elbow, plunged a hand into it and briskly -plucked out, one after the other, eight different varieties of bombs. -Picking them up, one at a time, he gave a terse lecture on the -construction and method of operation of each. - -The bombs were all fully loaded, and the explosion of any one of them -would have sent a great many of us well on the way to the cemetery. I -noticed in some of the officers, and undoubtedly in myself, a certain -tenseness as the engineer nonchalantly illustrated within an inch or -two of actuality how a percussion bomb would explode if brought in -contact with the ground. - -In demonstrating the first grenade he adjusted around his wrist a loop -with about eight inches of cord hanging from it. A heavy two-inch metal -pin was attached to the end of the cord. Picking up a black spherical -bomb slightly bigger than a baseball, he stuck the pin lightly into a -hole in its side. The bomb was to be thrown with full force. In flying -out of the hand it pulled itself free from the pin, causing a friction -which ignited the five-second fuse. The pin of course remained behind, -hanging to the cord, and was promptly stuck into another bomb. This -bomb, being particularly heavy, could be thrown only fifteen metres by -an average thrower and twenty as a maximum. - -The second bomb was black and pear-shaped. It had a spring which -looked like a nickel shoe-horn folded back tight against it. The -pressure of the palm against the shoe-horn in throwing it released the -spring and started the fuse, which, like all the rest, was set at five -seconds. - -The third bomb was a can of white tin attached by two wires to a white -deal handle. A nail was stuck into a hole in the can. The nail was -hammered in by a sharp rap against the ground. ("If you try to knock -it in against the palm of your hand it would hurt," explained our -instructor.) The nail, driven in, started the fuse. - -In the demonstration of this particular bomb our mentor was quite -peculiarly realistic, bringing it violently down to within what seemed -like the fraction of an inch of the ground. - -The fourth bomb was black and round and was started by scratching the -tip of a stiffly projecting bit of ignitible fuse against a black band -of raspy material worn round the thumb of the left hand. The fifth bomb -was lighted in a very similar manner against the side of an ordinary -safety-match box. These five were regular grenades. - -The sixth and seventh were incendiary grenades to set fire to wooden -obstructions, etc. The one, in exploding, scattered the burning liquid -to a distance of a few yards, the other set fire only to the spot where -it burst. These were both large spherical bombs. Before being thrown -kerosene was poured into them through a little bunghole, which was then -stopped up. - -The eighth was an asphyxiating bomb. I cannot, however, be too careful -in emphasizing the fact that this so-called "asphyxiating" bomb was not -poisonous, like the German asphyxiating gases, but merely irritated the -eyes, nostrils and throat, so that when thrown into a German bomb-proof -it would force out the occupants. It left no ill after-effects. - -Besides these there were two aerial torpedoes. One was shot out of an -old-fashioned little mortar propelled by black powder. The other was -bigger and more powerful, had a fin tail to keep its flight accurate -and was fired out of a complicated little gun. As both this torpedo -and its gun are new inventions, I am not permitted to give any closer -details concerning them. - -The Sergeant of engineers having completed his little lecture, with -himself and his class still in this world, the soldiers and officers -all withdrew to the end of the field, some 200 yards behind the trench, -and there lay down on their stomachs. I got into the trench with the -engineer, placing myself to his left in front of the entrance to the -bomb-proof, and the demonstration in the gentle art of grenade-throwing -began. He took bomb number one, stuck the pin at the end of the cord -firmly into the hole, swung his arm back and let fly. - -Having seen the departure of the bomb, I ungracefully tumbled into the -bomb-proof, with the engineer a close second. Once there, there was an -appreciable pause. Then came an explosion, the violence of which really -astonished me. I could distinctly feel the ground shake. - -After giving the fragments which had been hurled our way plenty of -time to come down on the roof, we stepped out into the trench again. -The engineer next picked up bomb number three with the deal handle, -hammered the nail home with one sharp rap against the edge of the -trench and sent the grenade hurtling through the air. - -The mechanism of the first bomb had not been put in operation until the -bomb started on its flight. But the fuse of this third bomb started -burning the instant he hammered the nail in, and was burning while he -was whirling his arm preparatory to letting it fly. As it thus got a -running start on us, we had only barely time to get under cover before -the explosion took place. - -Next came bomb number four. The demonstrator adjusted the black band -round his left thumb, took the bomb in his right hand and gave it a -scratch. - -He evidently had some doubts as to whether the first scratch had -lighted the fuse, because after glancing at it he proceeded to give it -a second scratch before throwing it. - -I need hardly say that I had already made home base in the bomb-proof -and was perfectly satisfied to watch from there his second effort to -get a light, which was crowned with complete success. - -After watching the way these three bombs were started and thrown I -now wanted to watch the rest of them explode. So after considerable -discussion between the staff-officer who had me in charge and the -officer of explosives as to just how much danger there was in the -operation, we moved out of the trench up to the top of a little rise -about fifty yards to the right, where we ensconced ourselves in some -bushes. The soldiers were all kept at their original distances of 200 -yards behind the trench. - -From my new position I got an excellent view of the engineer whirling -his arm and letting fly; of the heavy black objects rushing through the -air; of the accuracy with which they hit the dummy trench; of the lazy -manner in which they rolled only two or three feet along the ground -before coming to rest, and of the treacherous inertia with which each -lay apparently as dead and cold as a piece of coal dropped by some -passing coal-cart, while the second of time which possibly elapsed -seemed like a minute at the least. Then came an amazingly instantaneous -burst of lead-colored smoke covering a circle some forty yards in -diameter, accompanied by an explosion of surprising violence. I could -see no flash of fire at all. - -Next came the new aerial torpedo fired from the new gun. (The old -little mortar with the black powder was not used.) The new gun made -practically no report in discharging the torpedo. It was beautiful -to watch the slender fishlike projectile go sailing in a high and -graceful arc up, up, up, against the sky and then down, down, down, -until it landed just beyond the wire entanglements. But it really never -did land, for it had a percussion device in its nose which exploded it -on touching ground. This big torpedo had a reduced charge of explosive -so as not to destroy too much of the field. Judging by the report of -this reduced charge, the full charge going off must be the grandfather -of all explosions. - -Next came the two incendiary bombs. One of these burst on contact, -setting fire to the patch of grass where it landed. The other had a -fuse which shot out a stream of golden sparks like fireworks before -exploding. This bomb threw burning liquid in all directions, setting -many fires in the grass for a radius of several yards. - -Last came the asphyxiating bomb. It consisted of a sphere formed by -five pieces of perforated iron held loosely together in a sort of -disjointed shell by a little wire basket. Inside this openwork ball -hung a small glass vessel full of acid. When the engineer threw the -ball against the ground the five pieces of metal shell collapsed onto -the glass, breaking it and liberating the acid, which made a wet -splash on the ground. This acid in turn makes a gas which the French -somewhat euphemistically call "gas timide." - -To show that this gas was not poisonous, like the German gases, we were -invited to stand in a close circle right around the fragments of the -bomb immediately after it had been thrown, with our heads bent over. We -stood and stood, sniffing away, but could detect no gas of any kind. - -"Ah," said the officer of explosives, "in the full open air like this -our 'gas timide' takes longer to be noticed, but in an inclosed space -it works very rapidly." - -Hardly had he finished speaking when I began to notice a smell -something like wood alcohol. At the same time my eyes began to stream -with tears, my nose felt as though it was indulging in one long -continuous sneeze, and I turned hastily away, coughing and sputtering -and wiping my eyes, with an officer on each side keeping me active -company. - -"If that's a 'timide' gas," I remarked to one of the officers as we -left the pupils to begin actual practice, "I'd hate to meet a fierce -one." - - - - -VI - -WITH THE BELGIAN BATTERIES - - - HEADQUARTERS OF THE BELGIAN ARMY, - LA PANNE, BELGIUM, _Aug. 30_. - -Yesterday I spent a day with the Belgian artillery. In the morning at -ten o'clock Commandant L----, who had me in charge, called for me at -the very comfortable seaside hotel where I am staying. In his military -motor we threaded our way through the streets of the town. These were -jammed with thousands of Belgian soldiers enjoying their six days of -rest before returning for three days in the front trenches (followed -by six days in reserve and three days again in the front trenches). -A cheerful, well-fed-looking lot of men they are, not smart, but -husky-looking in their new khaki uniforms and greatcoats. - -"Alas!" an infantry Captain yesterday complained to me, "they are fine -soldiers and have good uniforms, but we cannot get the men to look -'chic' in them like the British. Just look at those caps! They've -pulled them and twisted them about to suit their ideas! Those caps a -few days ago were 'chic' caps! And now, mon Dieu! look at them!" - -However, I confess I was not much interested in whether these -privates were Belgian Beau Brummels or not. I had come to Flanders -not to inspect them on parade, but to watch them work on the firing -line. There I found them scrupulously clean, very patient and wholly -courageous, attributes which are more important than creased trousers, -unwrinkled jackets and well-blocked caps. - -Once free from La Panne, our motor made good time along the country -road till we reached Furnes. There we stopped to take some photographs -of the beautiful old Hôtel de Ville which the German shells that drop -in from time to time have left practically undamaged. - -From Furnes on we took the straight road to Ypres. The road was -for a time quite congested with ammunition-wagons, ambulances, -supply-lorries, etc. On our left we passed an encampment of -mitrailleuse dog-teams; on our right a park of British armored -motor-cannon. - -We passed, too, long lines of trolley-cars packed with cheerful -soldiers being brought back from the front for their period of rest, -and with others going out to take their places. Thus the humble -street-car has taken its place in the machinery of war. - -Soon we turned into another road which led us to the village of -Lampernisse. Here we visited and photographed the ruins of the church. -Not very long ago the Germans dropped a big shell into this church and -killed forty-two chasseurs who were sleeping in it. They are buried in -the graveyard in one big grave. Subsequently the Germans, believing -that the steeple of the church was being used for observation purposes, -kept on shelling it till they brought it all down, and incidentally -wrecked what remained of the village. - -From here on our movements must be shrouded in mystery, but ultimately -at about 11.45 we reached a humble group of farm buildings, the -headquarters of Colonel D----, commanding the artillery of the sector. -We found him in a little bomb-proof telephone central built onto one -of the farm buildings. With a Major and a Captain he was poring over -very large scale maps spread on a table. Behind him a soldier sat at -a telephone switchboard. From the outside a whole sheaf of telephone -wires ran away, in various directions. - -My Commandant presented me to the Colonel and explained my desire to -see some howitzers in action. - -"Perfect!" exclaimed the Colonel genially. "We have just definitely -located a German blockhouse in their defense system and at two -o'clock this afternoon we are going to destroy it with one of our -150-millimetre howitzers. So if you will honor the Villa Beausejour -with your company at lunch you can afterward watch the howitzer work." - -The old farm-house had been euphemistically christened the Villa -Beausejour by the Colonel's staff. - -Inviting me into the bomb-proof, the Colonel then showed me on one of -the large scale maps the whole lay of the land. Red lines indicated the -Belgian intrenchments, blue lines the German. In the same way all over -the map behind the red line the Belgian batteries were indicated in -red, while the same held good in blue of those German batteries which -the Belgians had managed to locate. Some of these latter were false -emplacements. It was only when a little blue cannon was drawn behind -the emplacement that an actual gun was indicated. - -The Colonel pointed out to me on this map the exact location of the -Villa Beausejour, of the blockhouse which was to be destroyed, and of -the gun which was to destroy it. He also showed me photographs of the -German positions taken from Belgian aeroplanes. Taking one of these -photographs and comparing it with a map, he explained to me how the map -showed only one road leading to a certain spot, while the photograph -showed a new second road leading to the same spot. This indicated the -existence of a concealed battery at that place. - -The telephone bell rang. "This is Number 12," answered the -soldier-operator. He listened for a few moments and then told the -Colonel that Headquarters wished him to send over an officer after -lunch to cross-question the two German prisoners just captured for -information which might be of use to his artillery. - -"Tell them I shall do so," replied the Colonel. - -As we had another half-hour before lunch, he deputed one of his -officers to take me to a battery of 75's not far off and incidentally -show me some of the shell-holes made in the neighborhood by the German -"marmites," as the French and Belgians call the big high-explosive -shells. - -A brisk walk brought us to the 75's, cleverly concealed in an -artificial wood which had been transplanted bodily. The Captain in -Command showed me the guns, and also a fine bomb-proof shelter which -he had just completed. It was very much needed, as, in spite of the -artificial woods, the Germans had roughly located his battery, and -whenever any Belgian 75's in his neighborhood open up on the enemy they -immediately cut loose on his battery. The whole surface of the fields -for hundreds of yards around was pockmarked with shell-holes. - -He showed me one of his guns where a curious thing had happened. A -couple of days before a German shell had hit obliquely the steel -shield of this gun and had glanced off through the left wheel, -knocking the spokes out on its way. The shell had then entered the -ammunition-caisson standing next to the gun, had there burst, hurling -the heavy caisson bodily through the air to where its wreck landed -upside down, and had not exploded its contents of shells. - -[Illustration: Page 101 - -"COLONEL D----, COMMANDING THE ARTILLERY OF THE SECTOR"] - -[Illustration: Page 105 - -THE AUTHOR IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHELL-PITS, WHICH WERE TEN FEET -DEEP AND TWENTY FEET IN DIAMETER] - -After taking photographs of some of the biggest shell-pits, which were -some ten feet deep and twenty feet in diameter, we returned to the -Villa Beausejour and lunch. We sat down fourteen to lunch--the Colonel, -ten artillery officers, the Chaplain, my Commandant and I. - -Lunch consisted of potato soup, paté de foie gras, vegetables, -strawberry-jam pie, cheese and coffee. There was no wine to start with, -but one of the officers soon came in with two bottles of white wine, -which we all mixed with our mineral-water. - -The talk ran mostly on the two German prisoners. - -"I certainly hope we shall be able to find out from them just where -that battery is that has been giving us all this trouble lately," -exclaimed one officer. - -"And those howitzers that I can't locate," from another. - -"And where that body of troops to the right sleeps," from a third. - -"Perhaps they'll know in which of those farms the German headquarters -are," from a fourth. - -It appeared that the prisoners were from German Poland. When the -Belgian artillery had the day before driven the German troops into -their bomb-proofs these two had seized the opportunity to crawl forward -out of the trench, through the wire entanglements, across the open to -a Belgian advanced listening-post, where they had surrendered. They -were now at General Headquarters and had already given much valuable -information, including the unusually large number of men who slept -during the daytime in the blockhouse, and the presence in a certain -farm of a number of German officers. - -A Captain of a battery of 75's who sat near me at lunch, was going to -tackle the farm-house that afternoon with his guns. The Captain in -command of my howitzers was not at lunch, as he was already on his -way to his observation-post, situated at the extreme front, within -270 yards of the blockhouse. From there he was going to correct the -howitzer fire, over some four kilometres of telephone line connecting -his observation-post with his guns. - -A good deal of the talk at lunch was devoted to anathematizing a -certain general-staff officer who had charge of the uniforming of the -army and, apparently, was bent on changing the new khaki caps of the -officers from the British shape, which they all liked, to the French -shape. - -A good story was told to illustrate the amazing efficiency of the -German intelligence department. One day when the army was being -reuniformed in khaki, a certain regiment of chasseurs was ordered to -leave their trenches right after dark that night to march to the rear -for the purpose of having their new uniforms issued to them. An hour or -two after they had received this order the Germans right opposite them -hoisted a great placard above their trenches. On it was sign-painted: - -"Good-bye, brave chasseurs! Run along to get your new uniforms at -seventeen francs fifty apiece!" - -Lunch being finished, my Commandant and I said good-bye all round and, -with detailed directions, started on a half-hour's walk to find the -howitzer battery. The Chaplain, in khaki, with an old black umbrella -and a long fishing-pole, came along as far as the first canal. There, -standing on a flat bit of embankment between two shell-holes, he -placidly began to fish. - -The artillery, which had been booming in a desultory way all morning, -had of course stopped during the lunch-hour. For the artillerymen on -both sides certainly keep union rules in laying off when the time for -the dinner-pail comes round. If the noon whistle blew they could not be -more punctual in dropping work. - -Now, however, the noon-hour was over and the guns again began to take -up their monotonous bass drumming. For a full half-hour we walked, -first along a deserted wagon-road, then to the left, along a path by -the bank of a canal, past an artificial hedge here and an artificial -grove of trees there. Some of these had batteries ambushed in them, -others were shams to divert the attention of the German aviators and -the fire of the German artillery from the real emplacements. - -Finally, we came to a tall false hedge made of withered saplings -wired together. In the lee of this hedge was a low flat roof, perhaps -three feet above the surface of the ground, covered with a sprinkling -of earth and boughs. Under this we climbed down into a cellar-like -excavation about three feet deep, giving six feet of head room. - -Here I first made the acquaintance of Julia. I found her standing with -her back to me under the plank shelter, with only her exceedingly short -and retroussé nose sniffling up at the leaden patch of threatening sky -which showed between the forward edge of the roof and the top of the -high false hedge in front. No one could well call Julia beautiful, but -there was power in every line and curve of her. She was a particularly -short-muzzled 150-millimetre heavy field-howitzer, and she had been -christened Julia in chalk letters across the back of her thick steel -shield by the members of her devoted crew. - -On her breech were engraved a crown and a big "C. I.," for she and -her three sisters had been intended for Carol I., King of Roumania, -before they were bought up by the Belgian Government. One of the four -had exploded through trying to fire a 155-millimetre shell through her -150-millimetre bore, but the other three were doing fine work for their -adopted country. On my way to my appointment with Julia, we had passed -one of her sisters, called "Zoe," cowering up against the wall of a -very disreputable old farm-house, hiding her humiliation in a hole in -the ground under a plank roofing and a false hedge much like Julia's. - -Any one who thinks that nowadays he will see artillery ranged in -imposing array, is doomed to disappointment. The artillery commander -(especially of the heavier guns) goes around the countryside stealthily -hiding one piece here, surreptitiously slipping another in there, -always selecting the most separate and inconspicuous locations, much as -a woman will wander around a hotel room stowing her pieces of jewelry -here and there where the burglars will never think of looking for them. -Only the burglars in the present case are hostile shells that make -holes ten feet deep and twenty feet across. - -Julia's crew consisted of a Lieutenant and eight men. The Lieutenant -and seven of the men were grouped around the breech of the gun when -I arrived. The eighth man squatted to the left by a field-telephone -with the receiver held to his ear. Commandant L---- introduced me -to the Lieutenant, and then asked whether his Captain had reached -the observation-post. The Lieutenant had not heard from him yet, but -imagined he must get there any moment. - -It began to rain hard, much to the vexation of the Commandant, who -feared it would hide the blockhouse from the observer and put an end to -the bombardment. - -"Oh! no," said the Lieutenant; "he's only 270 yards distant from it. -He'll be able to see it all right." - -On the board floor to the left, between the telephone and the front -wall of the excavation, were piled twenty-five or thirty wicked-looking -150-millimetre high-explosive shells. They were conical in shape, about -2-1/2 feet long and 6 inches in diameter, made of steel, with a copper -band around them near the base, and a copper nose. - -I started to lift one of them, and only succeeded at the second -attempt. They weighed about 110 pounds apiece. - -Stacked next to them were a corresponding number of hollow copper -cylinders containing stiff little cream-colored children's belts, with -eyelet-holes down the middle, coiled neatly inside them. Some of them -had one coil; others two coils, one on top of the other; others three -coils superimposed. These were the propelling charges for the shells, -and were of three strengths according as one, two or three of the -coils of cream-colored explosive were put in the copper shells. They -were topped off with a heavy felt pad which fitted neatly into the -cylinder. - -Meantime the rain came down in torrents and began to leak through the -thin plank roofing in little streams which were very hard to dodge. - -The Lieutenant showed us a bomb-proof which he had just begun to build -into the earth wall of the cellar, behind the stack of shells. He was -going to cover it with a concrete roof, pile a few feet of earth on top -of that, then some sand-bags, and top the whole off with boulders, so -as to make any shell hitting it explode at once on the surface, instead -of boring half-way down before exploding. He was doing all this work -with his eight men at night when they were not handling the gun. During -the day they slept except when, as now, they wanted to disturb the -sleep of the enemy. This bomb-proof was only meant for refuge when the -Germans began bombarding him. The men's regular sleeping-quarters were -a little to the rear. - -And still the rain came down, the air became raw and cold, and the -little waterfalls became harder and harder to dodge. But the man at the -telephone squatted patiently by the wall, and his seven mates chatted -placidly together in incomprehensible Flemish, switching instantly to -French when answering any question the Lieutenant put to them. - -The Lieutenant explained how the gun was aimed, the sighting device -showing a stake in line with a church steeple; only as there was -nothing to be seen in front of Julia except an earth bank and ten -feet of false hedge, it stands to reason that stake and steeple -were behind her and appeared, not through a telescope as I had just -stupidly thought, but as a reflection in a mirror--which is the way all -well-conducted howitzers are aimed. - -Finally, after an hour's wait the Lieutenant rang up his Major on the -telephone and asked whether anything was amiss with the Captain. No; -the Captain was only linking up a new telephone connection nearly four -kilometres in front of us. - -The Lieutenant pointed out a false hedge some hundred yards behind us. - -"That is exceedingly dangerous for us here," he explained. "It is much -too close to us. It should be at least 150 yards further removed. If -it draws the German fire, as it is intended to do, that fire is just -as apt to hit us as the false hedge. It was put up as a protection -to another gun which was off there to the right, but it's a very -uncomfortable thing to have near us, especially before we have a -bomb-proof to crawl into." - -"Ting--aling--aling!" went the telephone bell. The soldier listened. -"The Captain says, 'Are you all ready?'" - -"Tell him 'yes'," replied the Lieutenant. - -"Aim for 3,750 metres," repeated the soldier at the telephone. - -The Lieutenant and a couple of his men busied themselves around the -sight and elevating cranks of the gun. Another man removed a leather -cap which had been fitted over Julia's nose to keep the rain out. - -I was busy sticking cotton wool in my ears. - -"The Captain says to say when you are ready and he will give the order -to fire." - -"All ready," said the Lieutenant, backing away from Julia and holding a -thick white cord in his hand which ran from her to him. - -"All ready," replied the soldier into the telephone. - -"Tirez!" ("Fire!") said he a fraction of a second later. - -The Lieutenant's arm gave a jerk, the whole front of the shelter was a -mass of blood-red flame, there was a bellow of sound, the barrel of the -great gun ran smoothly three feet or so back into the cellar and then -smoothly forward again. There was a rush of air around my legs. - -Almost simultaneously with the report I heard with one ear the -telephonist say, "Coup parti" ("The shot has left"), while with the -other I listened to the long-drawn wheeze with which the projectile -mounted into the sky on its mountain-high trajectory. In the second -which had meanwhile elapsed one of the artillerymen had swung open the -breech of the gun, another had taken out the now empty copper cylinder -and placed it on the floor to the right of Julia, a third had lifted a -new shell and with the aid of the second had run it into the breech, -and a fourth had slipped in a fresh copper cylinder containing a full -charge of three of the little cream-colored tape-coils. Whereupon the -first artilleryman had swung to and locked the breech again. - -"In eighteen seconds you should hear the shell explode," said the -Lieutenant, taking his stand by the telephonist with an open notebook -and pencil in his hands--"15, 16, 17, 18"--I finished counting. Boom! -came the distant explosion. - -A few seconds of silence. - -"Plus 3," announced the telephonist, repeating an order from the -distant Captain. - -The Lieutenant made an entry in his notebook and simultaneously rattled -off some figures like a football quarterback. The men worked over the -sights and cranks, while my Commandant said to me: "That shot was too -far to the right; plus 3 means five three-thousandths further to the -left." - -"All ready," said the Lieutenant. - -"All ready," repeated the telephonist, and then: - -"Tirez!" and again the twitch of the white cord, the blood-red flame, -the roar, the slow, easy recoil, the diminishing wheeze, the "Coup -parti," the eighteen seconds' silence, and the distant boom. - -"Plus 4," sang out the telephonist, and there was a mechanical -repetition of operations. "The observer corrected the first shot about -ten metres to the left, and, finding that was not enough, corrected the -second shot another fifteen metres to the left. They'll edge along like -that till they reach the blockhouse, destroying the trench to right of -it on the way. Then, when they've destroyed the blockhouse completely, -if that does not take up all the day's allowance of shells, they'll -expend the remainder on knocking out the trench to the left of the -blockhouse. To-day's allowance for Julia is twenty shells, and probably -she will use up most of them on the blockhouse to make a thorough job -of it." - -"Tirez!" came the telephonist's voice, and as the roar was succeeded -by silence, my Commandant exclaimed to me: "Filons!" French slang for -which the American equivalent is, "Let us beat it!" - -As I reluctantly crawled up into the rain after having shaken hands -with the Lieutenant, my Commandant explained that the Germans would -undoubtedly begin to search the immediate vicinity with their artillery -to try to silence the gun which was throwing the "marmites" into them. -As we had the provocative false hedge right behind us and no bomb-proof -to crawl into, I had to agree that he was prudent. - -And so we "beat it" through the downpour, sliding around in the oily -Flemish mud, while the German guns began to drop whole kitchen-loads of -"marmites" into a poor wrecked village five hundred yards to our left, -from which they evidently suspected that our shots had come. - -As we slithered along, drenched to the skin, toward the "Villa -Beausejour" and our waiting motor, we could hear the Captain of -75's letting off salvo after salvo at the farm-house of which the -prisoners had informed him, while behind us Julia continued to explode -at half-minute intervals. There was all the difference in the world -between the dry short report of the big howitzer and the hollower, -sharper, more penetrating explosion of the 75's. - -To-day I learned from the Captain of the 75's that his first few -volleys had set the farm-house on fire. A lot of soldiers had come -running to put the fire out. His guns kept on dropping and scattering -these until, with a series of loud explosions, the whole farm-house had -blown up. It turned out that it was not an officers' headquarters, but -an ammunition store-house. - -As to our blockhouse, I understand that it was completely demolished, -though whether or not it took the whole of Julia's twenty shells to -complete the work I was unable to learn. - - - - -VII - -IN THE FLEMISH TRENCHES - - - HEADQUARTERS OF THE BELGIAN ARMY, - LA PANNE, _Aug. 30_. - -To-day I was given the opportunity of comparing the trenches of Belgium -with those I had visited in France. It was a very interesting contrast. - -Commandant L----, who still had me in charge, picked me up at my hotel -at 10 o'clock in the morning. Proceedings were delayed while I insisted -on taking a snap-shot of him in the nickel-steel skull-cap which he -wore inside his khaki cap. - -More and more of the French officers are wearing these helmets, and he -had just ordered his from Paris. It is an admirable protection, very -tough, not at all heavy, tucked inside the sweatband of the cap and -entirely invisible. If a bullet hits it straight point-blank it will, -of course, penetrate and carry a piece of the steel helmet into the -wearer's head with it. But a bullet hitting thus would be fatal anyway. -While if the bullet is spent, or if it hits at an angle, the helmet -will deflect it. - -[Illustration: Page 120 - -COMMANDANT L---- IN THE NICKEL-STEEL SKULL-CAP WHICH HE WORE INSIDE -HIS KHAKI CAP] - -On the way to the trenches we stopped off at the Belgian aerodrome, -where an Aviation Captain showed and explained to me the details of the -Voisin and Nieuport machines, which were chiefly used, including the -ingenious bomb-dropping mechanism and the wireless apparatus. - -The Belgians certainly deserve the utmost credit for the way in which -they have developed their air service from nothing at the beginning of -the war to a highly efficient aviation corps. But for that matter their -whole army has been reorganized on an admirable basis. - -One must realize the shattered condition in which they were swept from -Antwerp back to the very fringe of their country behind the Yser. One -must realize that they are practically an army without a country. One -must understand that when they get furloughs they cannot spend them -with their families in their homes, getting comfort and encouragement. -They either stay within sound of the firing or spend a bleak six days -among the strangers of England or of Northern France. When all this is -considered their material reorganization and the preservation of their -_morale_ in its present splendid shape is a remarkable achievement. - -And let no one forget that if the British proudly saved the French by -their retreat from Mons (which no one seems likely to be allowed to -forget) it is equally certain that the shattered Belgian army humbly -saved the British on the Yser. - -Rolling along the straight highroad to Y---- we passed the usual -congestion of troop-filled trolley-cars, lorries, ambulances, -farm-wagons, officers' autos and motor-cyclists. Our military motor was -an excellent one, with the one fault that it seemed extremely difficult -for the chauffeur to shift his gear from neutral into low speed, and -he would frequently get hung up for several seconds with the car at a -standstill till finally he got his gears in mesh. - -At one point we stopped to see an interesting manifestation of the -newly developing art of war. A giant 12-inch British naval gun was -mounted on a specially designed railroad truck. It stood on a railway -siding, with its ammunition-car coupled on behind. A kind of crane -stood ready to swing the huge shells from the ammunition-car to the -breech of the gun. When some object was found worth firing 12-inch -shells at, the engine backed up to the gun-truck with steam up. The -track was cleared. - -Then the great gun did its firing at the object, and forthwith was -whisked away one, five or ten miles down the track out of danger of -the German replies. This is what, officers seem agreed, will take the -place of the antiquated fixed fortresses--miles of railway loops and -sidings running behind artificial concealments or in semi-open cuts, -with batteries of heavy fortress guns shuttling to and fro, firing and -changing position constantly. - -We motored on till we neared the point where the Belgian army ends and -the French begins. Here we paid our respects to the General in command -of the division we were visiting. He promptly asked us to lunch, and -a very good lunch it was: Vegetable soup, some entrée which I could -not identify, shoulder of mutton with potatoes and beans, cantaloupe, -cheese and black coffee, with a choice between beer, claret and white -wine to drink at lunch, a glass of champagne at dessert, and liqueurs -with the coffee. - -The conversation of the officers turned largely on what was happening -to their friends and acquaintances in Belgium, about whom they heard -by mail through Switzerland or Holland. One young countess aroused -considerable discussion. She had been sitting in a street-car in -Brussels with a Belgian friend when a German officer boarded the car. -Her friend bowed to the officer. - -"What! You bow to a pig like that!" cried the countess. Whereupon the -officer had stopped the car and placed her under arrest. She had been -given her choice between two months in prison or ten thousand francs' -fine, and had paid the fine. - -Certain of the officers held that she had been unpatriotic in not -accepting imprisonment rather than help the German exchequer. Others -felt she had done enough in insulting the officer and rebuking her -friend. The talk dwelt, too, on certain other Belgian ladies who had -compromised with their patriotism to the extent of taking up social -relations with the invaders. From what I heard I feel sorry for these -over-hospitable ladies when the Belgians are once more masters of their -own country. - -After lunch I began to feel more and more impatient to get started -for the trenches, but I had already learned too much of etiquette at -the front to show it. For the officers of all the armies feel that -it is infinitely more important to prove to you that they can give -you a good cup of coffee and a good cigar than it is to show you the -most beautiful battle that was ever fought. They are, too, all alike -obsessed with the very human fallacy that the little ingenuities and -contrivances which they have devised for their personal comfort, safety -or delectation must be of infinitely more absorbing interest to the -visitor than the guns and the trenches, which to them are such an old -and boring story. - -So now we had to admire the way one officer had had his sleeping-shack -wall-papered, how another had invented some home-made shower-baths, how -a third had had a genuine heavy wooden bedstead installed instead of a -camp cot. - -However, finally we made our adieus and motored away with full -directions from the General as to how to meet him at 4 o'clock at -an observation-post from which he was to witness an interesting -bombardment. As it was then a quarter to 3, my hopes of getting into -the trenches began to look slim. - -We were now motoring straight toward the front over a stretch of -country which the Germans had been profusely bombarding. The road was -full of holes where the Belgian blocks had been torn out by shells. We -bumped over the shallower ones and dodged the deeper ones, but every -now and then the chauffeur would miscalculate the depth of a hole -and the car would come down on its axle with a prodigious thump. By -shutting one's eyes one could easily imagine one's self taxicabbing -along a New York side-street. - -The guns had, of course, by now resumed work after their lunch-time -siesta and were grumbling away at each other in great shape. Presently -we came to a deserted village, which could be seen from some of the -German artillery positions and which they shelled on the slightest -provocation. The General had particularly told us to run through the -village in a hurry, especially across the open place around the church. -When we got safely out of the other end of the place, he had said, we -might leave our motor and sneak back on foot to take photographs. This -having been carefully explained to the chauffeur, he bumped us swiftly -down the ruined main street, reached the open place by the church, -where he had to turn to the right, came suddenly on top of a big, deep -shell-hole, just dodged it by slapping on his emergency, and stood -stock-still trying to get into first speed. - -[Illustration: Page 127 - -"THE CHAUFFEUR REACHED THE OPEN PLACE BY THE CHURCH"] - -[Illustration: Page 127 - -ON THE SHATTERED CHURCH HUNG THIS CRUCIFIX INTACT THOUGH SURROUNDED BY -SHRAPNEL HOLES] - -The Commandant cursed and I swore, the Commandant's orderly sitting -next the chauffeur shook his fist at the chauffeur, and the chauffeur -shook one fist at his gears while with the other he wrenched and hauled -at his lever. - -There is no use denying that we were all equally nervous. Every instant -we expected to see the first of a stream of shells explode near us. -Finally, after the suspense had in reality lasted not more than six or -eight seconds, the accursed low gear meekly meshed and we bumped off -down the side-street, heaving deep sighs of relief. - -Outside the utterly ruined village we left our car behind a clump -of trees and walked back to take some photographs of what had been -the church. Then into the motor and on again till we stopped at the -cross-road which led directly to the front. - -Here we left our motor. The rain suddenly beginning to come down in -sheets, we ducked into a ruined house whose roof some freak of the -shells had allowed to remain quite intact. We were quickly joined by -about fifty infantrymen who had been working at a reserve line of -intrenchments in the fields outside. Here we all waited for ten minutes -till the rain-squall stopped. - -It may not be a particularly pretty subject, but I think it well worth -stating that that mass of soldiers, packed into the small inclosed -space, left the air as pure and untainted at the end of those ten -minutes as it had been before they jammed their way in. I had noticed -the same thing the day before during the two hours that I had spent by -the howitzer with the nine men of the crew. There is no doubt about it -that even the English--who of course originally invented and patented -personal cleanliness in this world--will have to scrub exceedingly hard -to keep up with the Belgians. - -The rain having stopped, we slipped and slithered on foot along the -byroad till we came to a prairie-dog village of bomb-proofs with -soldiers' heads popping out of the little openings and then popping in -again. Here we met a young First Lieutenant, who very kindly offered -to show us the quickest way to the communicating trench, and off we -marched. - -At this point we were just about half-way between the two opposing -bodies of artillery. High in air, right above our heads, the shells of -the two armies, hurtling along in opposite directions, met and passed -each other on their way. These big projectiles in passing over us -sounded exactly as if they were running along aerial rails. You could -hear them rattling along these rails, bumping over the rail joints, -banging over switches. It was a perfect illusion. By closing your eyes -you could have sworn that you were standing under Brooklyn Bridge -hearing the procession of street-cars, with silenced gongs, roll by at -express speed overhead. First there would be a distant report, then -silence as the shell rose, and then suddenly it would get on the rails, -rattle up to the top of its grade, coast down the grade the other side -and leave the tracks a second or two before the final explosion. - -Some ten minutes later we were walking along a broad road, with the -noise of exploding shells getting louder and louder ahead. Then -suddenly a perfect swarm of bullets came chirping past us. - -"Just this little bit of the road is visible from the German lines," -remarked the Lieutenant. "They are about 500 metres away from us here." - -It must have been comical to see the way in which the Commandant, his -orderly and I did an Indian war-dance down that road, all three bent -double. The Lieutenant must have caught the contagion from us, for, -as more bullets came by, zeup! zeup! zeup! he doubled up himself. In -a few seconds, however, he said we were out of sight again, and so we -straightened up and walked forward proudly erect, although every little -while when some bullets went by just over our heads we showed distinct -tendencies to collapse anew. - -Now we came to the communication trench and climbed down into it one -after the other. It was very different from the French "boyaux," or -communicating trenches. Those were dug a good seven feet deep almost -everywhere, and never less than six feet. So that one could walk about -in them at one's ease without paying any attention to the bullets that -cracked up above. Only a shell plunging directly into one of these -three feet wide, seven feet deep ditches could be dangerous. - -But the Belgians could not dig down more than about two and one-half -feet at the most without striking water. That, with an earth and sod -rampart about two feet high, gave a protection never more than five -feet at its highest and often under four feet in height. Now, it -probably sounds very easy to keep sheltered while walking along behind -four feet of ditch and parapet, but if any one tries it for more than -five minutes at a time he will know what a real backache feels like. - -This trench, which ran forward in very short abrupt zigzags, was -floored with pieces of wicker-work to prevent sinking into the mud. The -half-hour's rain had filled long stretches of it ankle-deep with water. - -Crouched double, we waded along in single file, the Lieutenant, myself, -the Commandant and his orderly. The bullets were striking some ruined -farm buildings close on our left with sharp cracks. They hit the -breastworks with muffled thuds and passed close over the breastwork -with a kind of buzzing whistle. We paddled along till suddenly we came -to a place where, for some unaccountable reason, the trench stopped, -renewing itself again perhaps three or four yards further on. Across -the unsheltered surface of the ground which intervened ran a slack -telephone wire some two feet above the ground. - -"You'd better hurry up across here," remarked the Lieutenant as he -scrambled out of the trench, took a couple of strides, swung first -one leg and then the other over the telephone wire, took a couple of -strides more and dropped into the trench beyond. - -There is not the slightest question as to the hurry in which I -negotiated this obstacle. Then, to see what I must have looked like, -I turned to watch the two who were following me. The Commandant, I -must confess, managed to accomplish the feat in a fashion not wholly -destitute of dignity. But the way his orderly bounded out of the -trench, hurdled the telephone wire and with one lithe leap descended -upon us in the other trench was a sight for sore eyes. It certainly -must have drawn a chuckle from the German sharpshooters witnessing it -through their telescopic sights. - -A hundred yards or so further on we came to a halt at an angle in the -communication trench from which could be had a good view of the front. - -Lifting my head cautiously till my eyes were just above the edge of the -rampart, I could see some 250 yards ahead the chocolate-colored back of -the Belgian front trench. For where the chalky soil of Champagne makes -the trenches there very white in color, the boggy soil of Belgium is a -rich brown. - -Beyond the Belgian front trench ran a line of tall trees; beyond the -line of trees again ran another brown line. - -"That's the German front line, I suppose?" I said to the Lieutenant. - -"No, that's their second line you're looking at. Raise your head a -little more, and right over the top of our front-line trenches you'll -see their front line." - -I craned my neck, and, sure enough, another brown line hove into view -apparently only a few yards ahead of the Belgian front line, with the -usual barbed-wire tangle in front of it. - -"That trench is about 100 metres from our front trench," said the -Lieutenant. "The Germans have got all that barbed wire before their -front trench, but we don't need wire because we have the Y---- Canal -right before our front trench. Only it flows so close under the -breastworks that you can't see it from here." - -A great cloud of jet-black smoke suddenly welled up from the Belgian -front trench. - -"Ah, that's a six-inch bomb they've thrown into our trench with one of -their 'minenwerfer,'" exclaimed the Lieutenant. - -The report of the explosion from where we stood, not more than 250 -metres away, was not loud. - -The artillery was hard at it. Big clouds of black smoke rose sluggishly -by the German trench where the Belgian high-explosive shells were -bursting. Livelier clouds of white indicated the shrapnel explosions. - -I was craning my neck to see what damage was being done the German -trench when a whole swarm of bullets struck very close indeed to my -head. The Lieutenant pulled me down into the trench. - -"They shot at you that time, all right!" he laughed. - -"Impossible!" I answered. "I can only barely see their trench over the -top of your first-line trench, so how could they possibly see me from -there?" - -"Ah, but they were not shooting at you from there. They are up in the -tops of some of those trees," he explained, pointing to the row of -tall, innocent-looking trees. "Their sharpshooters climb up at night -and snipe from there all day, and those of them whom we do not locate -and kill climb down again the next night. They have telescopic sights -on their rifles, and these rifles are mounted on little tripods so that -they can fix their aim immovably on some spot where they think they -have seen a movement; and the next time the movement comes, ping! Only -I don't think they can use the tripods up in the trees." - -At the Lieutenant's suggestion we scattered down along the trench in -case our little crowd might have been observed from a tree and an -artilleryman might try his luck on us. - -Further down the trench where I took my new stand I went on watching -the shells burst, and listening to the projectiles from the opposing -sides go rattling along their invisible rails high overhead. - -A little off to our right the French 75's were firing so quickly that -I hoped it would develop into the famous "trommelfeuer" ("drum-roll -fire," as the Germans call it), but it did not. We had received word -that they were going to fire 400 rounds at some objective whose nature -I did not learn. They certainly were firing them, and losing no time -about it, either. - -I could not see their shells burst, as the lines took a turn just to -our right and disappeared behind some trees. - -At the points where the armies of different nationalities connect they -are always scrupulously careful to inform each other what artillery -work they have in preparation, so that a sudden violent cannonade on -the part of one army will not alarm the next with the idea that a -German assault is being resisted. - -It was particularly interesting to watch the Belgian soldiers, who -every few yards squatted placidly in the trench, short spades and -trowels in hand, busily engaged in digging little pits about two -feet deep in the bottom of the trench, and then scooping out little -channels running to these pits. These channels would drain the -surrounding yard or two of trench bottom into the pits, leaving muddy -patches where a moment before three or four inches of water had stood. -There the Belgian soldiers squatted like children making mud pies at -the seashore, and chatted complacently in Flemish while they fought -the enemy, who was only less hateful to them than the Germans. A -splendid, cool, nerveless lot of men, doing their work unostentatiously -but efficiently, neither dashing on the one hand nor dogged on the -other, but gifted with the admirable _morale_ of the imperturbably -matter-of-fact. - -[Illustration: Page 135 - -UNDER HEAVY FIRE IN A BELGIAN COMMUNICATING-TRENCH. (THE FIGURE -STANDING UPRIGHT JUST BEHIND THE AUTHOR IS THE LIEUTENANT, WHO -STRAIGHTENED UP DURING THE MOMENT THE SNAPSHOT WAS BEING TAKEN -BUT WAS NOT HIT)] - -Suddenly I heard an exclamation from one of the soldiers. Looking where -he pointed, I saw, just beyond the Belgian front trench, a huge column -of muddy water standing bolt upright against the horizon. It stood -there motionless until I began to think it would remain a permanent -fixture in the landscape. Then it suddenly collapsed. A Belgian shell -falling short had soused down into the Y---- Canal and exploded, -sending up this five-story waterspout. - -It seemed a shame not to go forward into the front trench, but with the -Germans lobbing six-inch bombs in there with their "mine throwers" and -the artillery getting busier all the time, the Commandant thought it -would be taking too great risks. So we turned and crouched along back. -As we did so, it is worthy of comment, three German shells struck not -far to our left at not more than half-a-minute intervals and not one of -the three exploded. It was a striking example of faulty explosives. - -We returned by a different trench, so that we did not have to repeat -the acrobatic feat over the telephone wire. But we had a little -excitement to make up for it, for, as I splashed along with a most -intense crick in my bent back, one of the German projectiles, which was -apparently running on perfect schedule along its overhead rails on its -way toward the Belgian artillery, suddenly jumped the track and came -hissing down toward us. - -Simultaneously with the crash of the explosion I saw the men ahead of -me passionately hugging the bottom of the trench, and I found myself on -my knees and elbows, not a whit behind them in my devotion. - -"That was a close one," said Captain L----. - -"What was it--a 75?" I asked. - -"Seventy-five nothing," he replied; "that was a 150 millimetre, and it -exploded within thirty metres of your head. There--see for yourself. If -we had not been in the trench that would have caught us nicely!" - -I peeped over the edge of the trench and there, sure enough, was a big -cloud of sooty black smoke wallowing up from behind some broken masonry -not more than thirty yards off. - -"Filons!" ("Let us beat it!") said the Commandant tersely, and we did. - - - - -VIII - -LESSONS - - -The great lesson that a visit to England, France and what remains of -Belgium to-day will teach any one who is willing to be taught by hard -facts and not by wistful visions is that peace in the near future is -quite impossible. For the only peace, in the conviction of the Allies, -that will end this war is a peace neither of conciliation nor of -compromise, but a peace whose terms are arbitrarily imposed by one side -and of necessity submitted to by the other. - -That is the end to which the Allies are determined to fight, whether -that end is achieved by the more merciful method of decisive military -victory or must be gained by the more terrible pressure of complete -financial, industrial and economic prostration. - -Any attempt to abort this object by mediatory proposals, whether -Pontifical or Presidential, the Allies frankly declare they would -consider an inopportune impertinence. - -I have had the privilege of studying the spirit of the English, the -French and the Belgians at a time when that spirit was being severely -tested--when their fortunes were at their lowest ebb since the days -just before the battle of the Marne. Their spring advance had utterly -failed to materialize; throughout the summer they had been held in -almost complete check by the Germans' depleted line. The Dardanelles -had turned out to be a slaughter-house, with success appearing more -and more precarious, and the only alternative to success seeming to be -disaster. - -The starvation of Germany had become a conceded impossibility. Her -dearth of rubber, copper, cotton, etc., had assumed more and more the -nature of a superable handicap rather than a decisive crippling. Her -financial situation had already made fools of so many economic seers -that they had become less and less didactic regarding her impending -bankruptcy. - -The practical success of allied diplomacy among the Balkan neutrals -had grown to seem more and more dubious. - -Finally, Russia had been so manhandled that in the opinion of British -and French military authorities with whom I talked it would take her -from one to two years to reorganize her armies into condition for an -effective offensive. - -Yet, in spite of all these admitted disadvantages, I did not meet a -single Frenchman, Englishman or Belgian who was not sincerely confident -of ultimate victory. But only an ultimate peace could, in their -conviction, be victorious. An immediate peace, or a peace in the near -future, no matter what the German concessions, would for the Allies be -the peace of defeat. - -From Germany must come, not concessions, but abandonments, or the war, -with all its hideous sacrifices unredeemed, would be a failure. Such an -artificially fabricated peace, such a compromise between irreconcilable -principles, would be but the prelude, more or less dragged out, to a -fresh conflict. - -I have talked to men and women of many classes, of many degrees of -education and of many grades of intelligence. I found their views -unanimous and their reasons for these views so constantly the same as -finally to seem almost hackneyed. - -I am aware of the existence in England of such a body of peace -propagandists as the Union of Democratic Control, and in Holland -of some French pacifists, and scattered here and there of -Internationalists. But of all the men and women with whom I casually -talked there was not one who shared these gentlemen's views. - -Of all the French statements of reasons why the war must go on, which -were iterated and reiterated to me, the best came from a prince, a -retired naval captain and a little dressmaker. Unfortunately, they may -not be quoted by name. - -The prince said: "After this taste of blood the world can never remain -long at peace while any powerful nation dedicates itself to the ideals -and instincts of militarism. Germany, under the guidance of Prussia, is -to-day such a nation. These aims and instincts have been so thoroughly -absorbed by her people that, even if they sincerely wished to, these -people could not eliminate them inside of two or three generations. It -is ludicrous to imagine that these characteristics, which have become -nearly if not quite hereditary, could be negotiated out of them. They -must be subjugated out of the German people." - -The naval captain said: "It is a mere matter of arithmetic. It can -be easily demonstrated that at the end of this war, with its cost on -her shoulders, if France does not immediately reduce her armaments to -a minimum she is absolutely bound to go bankrupt. Now, as we cannot -conceivably trust any mere promises of disarmament which Germany might -make, it is obvious that we must go on with this war until we have -reduced her to such a condition that we can enforce disarmament upon -her, and thus safely enjoy its benefits ourselves." - -The little dressmaker said: "My husband has been fighting at the -front for months. It would be natural for me to wish the war to end -to-morrow, no matter on what terms, if I could get my husband back -before he is killed. But I want the war to go on until the 'Boches' are -crushed; otherwise in another ten years or so there will be a new war, -and then they will come and take away not only my husband, but my son -as well." - -In England the same line of reasoning prevailed. And the fact cannot -be too strongly emphasized that this reasoning did not take the shape -of stock arguments devised by politicians to bolster up some expedient -course and drilled into the people for parrot-like repetition. The -arguments were the spontaneous expression of the heartfelt convictions -of all these people. - -Intelligent opinion in England ranges between the two statements made -to me, respectively, by a very famous Tory statesman and administrator, -and by one of the best-known Liberal statesmen in English public life -to-day. - -The first of these was terse and to the point: - -"It is the greatest mistake for your Government to feel that the United -States can, by remaining neutral, help to bring the war to a close. -This war will be fought to a point where no mediation will be possible -or needed. No peace with Germany, signed with a Hohenzollern in power, -would be worth more than twenty years' peace to the world. To make -Germany's promises binding on her, her people have got to have a share -in her foreign policy, and that they cannot have under the present -dynasty or system." - -The second statement was: - -"The best information that I can obtain from Germany is that, if she -wins, the advanced party, which is in the ascendancy, plans to erect -Poland into a semi-independent kingdom, contributing to it that portion -of Poland which Germany herself now possesses. She will annex Belgium, -probably a strip of Northern France, and possibly enough of Holland to -give her command of the mouths of the Scheldt and Rhine. - -"Personally I cannot feel it to be unreasonable from her point of view -that she should plan to correct a situation where her great water -artery, the Rhine, is bottled up at its outlet. She will also take all -Courland, and this, too, is not so unreasonable, since the population -is far more German than Russian. Nevertheless, if such geographical and -ethnological changes as these were accomplished and to be maintained, -who can conceivably imagine that Germany can afford to modify her -militarism? - -"My own views as to what the general terms of peace should be if the -Allies win are shared by men in both England and France whose opinions -will have weight in the peace negotiations. They are: - -"To erect an independent Polish kingdom or state; to reconstitute -Belgium with indemnity; to hold a plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine, taken -by a neutral, preferably the United States, in order to determine to -whom they should belong, and in what proportions; to dismember Turkey, -excepting Anatolia, which, being strictly Turkish, should be left to -the Turks; to enforce a very large degree of disarmament upon Germany -and Europe; to leave the German-speaking German Empire intact. (This -talk about the deposition of the Hohenzollerns as one of the peace -terms is sheer impertinence.) - -"Now, you must readily perceive that any peace made in the near future -must conform or approximate to the German plans which I have outlined -and must involve a continuance of militarism and a standing incitement -to fresh wars. While a peace on the terms which we favor, a peace -that will perpetuate peace, must be wrung from a decisively beaten -Germany, and is therefore a long way off. That is why we shall have to -go through a very bad time of it for some period to come, and why our -ultimate victory will be at least one year, and possibly two or three -years off." - -The keenest realization that victory will be slow, the completest -confidence that its certainty is axiomatic, is to be found in the -allied armies. There, ungrudgingly, they give the Germans fullest -credit for their preparedness, for their foresight, for their powers of -systematic and sustained labor, for their inventiveness. And they do -not waste their time trying to devise discrediting substitutes for such -words as "ability" in talking of their Generals, "courageousness" in -talking of their soldiers, and "patriotism" in talking of their people. -It is only when you get far behind the firing line that manliness -merges into meanness in estimating the enemy. - -Yet these very officers who paid such soldierly tributes to their -antagonists were so wholly assured of eventual victory that any -scepticism on my part did not irritate them, but merely moved them to -good-natured smiles. - -"So far," an English staff-officer remarked to me, "we English have -been bungling amateurs in the art of war contending against trained -professional specialists. But with a couple of years' more experience -I believe we shall know as much about it as they do, and then we shall -win." - -"In the last analysis, talking from the military standpoint, this war, -like every war, will be won by men," said a French staff-officer. -"The Germans will not be beaten through lack of guns or ammunition or -machinery or supplies, but through lack of men. How long by the aid of -mechanics they can postpone the hour when the lack of men becomes fatal -to them I do not know--one year, two years. But in the end, with the -allied man-power steadily growing, and the German man-power steadily -lessening, their military collapse is inevitable." - -These are typical of a score of similar views advanced by officers, -from Generals down to subalterns. - -In the French army, as they show you their elaborate machine-shops -mounted on motor-lorries for the repair of all the vehicles in the -transport service, they will say with the most complete conviction: -"This mobility is not of much importance now, but when we begin the -pursuit of the 'Boches' then they will come in handy!" - -When they show you their great parks of supply-trains, each carrying -three days' complete provisions for one army corps, they will tell you -earnestly: - -"Not much use now when the railroads do most of the carrying of -supplies to the armies, but wait till the advance begins and then we -shall be useful!" - -When they let you examine their wonderful 75's, mounted on an -automobile capable of doing over thirty miles an hour over the road, -and of starting a stream of twenty-five shells a minute one minute -after coming to a standstill, they will shrug their shoulders and say: -"Something of a waste just now, perhaps, but when the advance is on -they will do wonderful work!" - -The advance! The advance! is in all their minds. - -"But when will the advance begin?" you ask a chalk-powdered infantryman -sweating in the sun-soaked trenches. - -"Ah!" he will answer with complete unconcern. "Not yet, Monsieur. They -say next spring or next summer. But then 'On les aura!'" ("We'll get -them!") - -And that unconcern means far more than appears on the surface. It means -that the "poilu" knows he will have another winter in the trenches, -with all the terrible discomforts that soldiers dread so much more than -they dread danger. He knows it, and is completely reconciled to it. - -"That was the one thing we feared"--a French General admitted to -me--"the effect on the men's _morale_ of the certainty that they would -have another winter in the trenches. But they know it now, and 'ils -s'en fichent!'" (to which the nearest American slang equivalent would -be "they should worry!") - -In the amazing New France (which the French prefer to consider a -reincarnated rather than a transformed France) the people are as -determined as the army. A short time ago, when the authorities first -began to give the soldiers at the front their "permissions" to go home -for three days, they did so with considerable apprehension that the -home influence on the soldier might be a disheartening one. - -But, on the contrary, the reunion seemed to give mutual encouragement. -The soldier braced up the "home folks'" confidence and pride in the -army, and the home folks stimulated the soldier's confidence and pride -in himself. Thus the experiment has turned out a great success. - -The politicians and their fermentations are, in France, the bugbears -of the army officers. This feeling of aversion and contempt extends, -so far as I could make out, down through the rank and file. They feel -that when a nation is at death-grips with its enemy even the most -beautiful of democratic theories should be safely locked away with -other luxuries; that the politicians should confine their activities to -voting the funds necessary for the successful prosecution of the war, -and should leave the conduct of the war severely alone. - -But in France even those politicians who hanker after a finger in the -military pie are unanimous for seeing the war through to a decisive -victory. They may play politics about whether the Government should or -should not have been removed from Paris to Bordeaux last September; -they may squabble over whether General Sarrail is the persecuted -military genius of the war or an incompetent officer whose removal -from Verdun should never have been sugar-coated by his appointment to -Gallipoli; they may intrigue to oust Millerand from the War Ministry -and try to get together on Briand for his place; they may stick loyally -to Joffre because an old man who is fond of fishing is not likely to -become an old man on horseback. - -But, whether tirading against the evils of a bureaucracy or perorating -against the iniquities of the censorship, you will find the politicians -of France, Royalists, Clericals, Conservatives, Radicals and Socialists -with all their subtle subdivisions, having proved their patriotism -by the greatest sacrifice of which a politician is capable--having -for nigh on ten months kept silent!--earnestly and honestly working -for their country. They are striving, not for the quick peace of -compromise which would relegate the silent, efficient soldiers to their -subordinate powers and would restore to themselves all the prestige of -full-throated eloquence, but for the deferred and definitive peace of -victory, with all the continuance of second-fiddling to which such a -postponement subjects them. - -It is indeed fortunate for the alliance that France--Army, Government -and People--is united in the determination to fight this war through to -its logical conclusion. For France is apt to be the nation which pays -the piper. England is physically safe behind her fleets, Russia proper -is physically safe behind her distances, for the German invasion is not -apt to go far beyond her alien provinces of Courland and Poland. - -But France is not at sword's length, but at dagger's point, with her -enemy--one little slip by any one, from an absent-minded General down -to a sleeping sentinel, and she may become not a defeated, but a -conquered nation. - -And this you can see in the faces of the French to-day. Not anger, -not bitterness, not sadness; neither excitement nor despondency is in -their faces, but a look of hushed and solemn suspense. It is a nation -with straining ears, with straining eyes, with bated breath, waiting, -waiting. - -After leaving the hush of France, England appears at a disadvantage -largely undeserved. Compared with the atmosphere of strain in Paris, -the atmosphere of London seems one of relaxation. Contrasted with -the breathless struggle for self-preservation in France, the British -attitude toward the war seems almost dilettante. - -This is unquestionably due in part to the fact that in England a -very literal-minded race is shipping its soldiers to fight in merely -geographical localities for seemingly abstract principles. The trouble -is that England has the Channel and France has the imagination. It is -obvious how markedly stronger the combination would be if Britain were -fighting an invader and France were fighting for a sentiment. - -The superficial impression of holiday soldiering that one gets in -England is emphasized by the British hatred of the dramatic and -the British worship of sport. The British go on laughing, dining, -play-going, dancing, supping; in fact, frivolling, because they think -it would be melodramatic to forswear these pursuits because of the war. -They go on cricketing, racing, fishing, shooting, hunting, because they -go on eating, drinking, sleeping and bathing. These are part of the -bodily functions of the Briton. - -To any other nation, sport, no matter how intimate a part of the -national life, in certain emergencies becomes trivial. To say that -to an Englishman would be equivalent to saying that under any -circumstances childbirth or prayer could be trivial. It is a national -characteristic which must simply be accepted. - -The impression made on superficial observers by these manners and -habits of casual unconcern does England a certain injustice. For as far -as her duties to her allies are concerned she has undoubtedly gone far -beyond her obligations. - -As one of her Cabinet members (a man who may well be her next Prime -Minister) put it to me: - -"The best two ways that I know of to prove one's devotion to a cause -are to pay for it and to die for it. England is voluntarily doing both -in far greater measure than her commitments call for. When the war -started she agreed to help France on land with an army of 150,000 men. -She has now raised an army of 3,000,000 men. - -"When the war started she agreed to assume the naval responsibility -of protecting the coast of France. She has not only done that, and -incidentally driven Germany from the seas, but she has thrown her ships -into the attack on the Dardanelles and has helped Russia with her -submarines in the Baltic. - -"When the war started there was a financial understanding between -England and France. England has not only carried out her share in this -understanding, but has been instrumental in the financing of Italy, and -stands ready to assume further similar responsibilities in the Balkans. - -"How any candid mind in the face of such a record can charge Great -Britain with shirking her share in the war passes my understanding." - -There is no doubt about the truth of this. To get the voluntary gift -of three million lives within one year, to get the voluntary loan -of £600,000,000 in less than one month is probably an unparalleled -achievement. Great Britain has done far more than her duty to others -called for. And yet the question will not be smothered: Is she doing -all that is called for by a strong, far-seeing nation's duty to itself? - -She has thrown into the scales all the peculiar assets of a democracy -in spontaneous zeal and voluntary sacrifice. But can a really great -nation in such a crisis as this afford to be the recipient of only -those contributions, no matter how prodigal, which are spontaneous -and voluntary? Can a really proud nation afford to base its career -at such a time upon the charity of its citizens? With Russia on the -one hand purging herself of the bureaucratic evils of absolutism and -forcing upon herself the pains of democratization, with France, on the -other hand, sacrificing for the time her most cherished principles -of republicanism in order to substitute the efficiency of Authority -for the waste motions of Democracy, can England afford to remain -complacently convinced that she represents the happy mean between these -two extremes--a mean which needs no modifying? - -Can England as a nation continue with admiring acquiescence to watch -the cream of her manhood spend itself in Flanders and the Dardanelles; -continue with deprecating acquiescence to watch the skimmed milk of -her manhood preserve itself at home for the sacred duty of fathering a -future generation? - -Can England acquiesce placidly in the professional, the business, the -financial sacrifices generally which so many Englishmen are splendidly -making, and acquiesce plaintively in the disgusting treason whose -guilt was shared in varying measure by the gouging coal-owners and the -striking coal-miners of Wales? - -Can England set out to curb the drunkenness which in certain parts -is crippling her ammunition production and then sink back into -acquiescence in the temporizing compromise which taxed drunkenness -instead of terminating it? - -Can England, in fine, afford to preserve Personal Liberty at the -slightest risk of imperilling National Liberty? - -Perhaps England can. Perhaps England must. - -So long as England fulfils and far exceeds her covenants with her -allies it is not a question for them to answer. It is assuredly not -a question to which any neutral visitor can with seemliness hazard a -solution. - -It is not even a question, in my opinion, which is apt to affect the -ultimate outcome of this particular war. - -But it is a question to which on some future day Macaulay's New -Zealander will, with positiveness and propriety, be in a position to -find the answer. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Printer's -inconsistencies in the use of accents, hyphens, and punctuation -have been retained. The original spelling has been used except -where there was good reason to correct it. Any such changes are -noted below. - -The following misprints and misspellings have been corrected: - -Page 3, "avions de reglage" changed to "avions de réglage". (their -"avions de réglage," or "regulating aeroplanes.") - -Page 4, "aviatiks" changed to "Aviatiks". (Aviatiks of the enemy) - -Page 4, "fusilage" changed to "fuselage". (projected over the bow of -the fuselage) - -Page 11, "pilot- spotted" changed to "pilot spotted". (puffs of smoke -in the hazy distance the pilot spotted unerringly) - -Page 33, "practise" changed to "practice". (And practice in this matter) - -Page 57, "departs" changed to '"départs"'. (distant reports of the -"départs") - -Page 86, "leant themselves" changed to "lent themselves". (and clay -lent themselves to effects which) - -Page 100, "scrupulously cleanly," changed to "scrupulously clean,". -(I found them scrupulously clean, very patient) - -Page 136, "drommelfeuer" changed to "trommelfeuer". (the famous -"trommelfeuer" ... "drum-roll fire," as the Germans call it) - -There is in the book the single use of the word "exterpreting" -(page 78) for which no adequate definition has been found. It is -not a spelling mistake. From the context it might be an amusing -play on the word "interpreting." - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OVER THE FRONT IN AN AEROPLANE AND -SCENES INSIDE THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH TRENCHES*** - - -******* This file should be named 43649-8.txt or 43649-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/3/6/4/43649 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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