Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 271, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1916 — BUILD A SUBWAY TO VERDUN FRONT [ARTICLE]

BUILD A SUBWAY TO VERDUN FRONT

Tunnel, 45 Feet Underground, Leads tn Within 300 Yards of Germans. AMERICANS MAKE THE TRIP New York Lawyer Narrowly Escapes Shots as He Views Trenches — Tunnel Cook Was Formerly Chef to an Ambassador. Verdun. —Just west of here, In the forest of Argonne, there is a remarkable military tunnel, 45 feet underground, running right up to within 300 yards of the German trendies. It is one of the most hard-pressed points around Verdun, but through this tunnel re-enforcements move forward without danger, relieving every two hours the men on the firing line. There was a very American atmosphere about this tunnel when the writer visited it, for the curious fact developed that the two officers In command were American residents, one a stock raiser in Alberta, Canada, and the other a bank official of the FrancoAmerican bank at Los Angeles, Cal. Both were born in France, and when the war broke out left their American businesses to come home trtid fight And now they are in full charge of this underground highway, leading up to one of the most desperate positions along the front They are so American that they speak English instead of French, and the commandant’s headquarters—a little nest in the clay—has a big picture of Uncle Sam hanging on the wall.

Creeping through this tunnel toward the front line, the members of the visiting party knocked their steel casques on the roof, and plunged through water ankle deep. Paul D. Cravath, the New York lawyer, a man of large build, 6 feet 6 inches tall, was bent double in the struggle through the tunnel. Along the way they passed an electric plant, throbbing with energy, and pumping the fresh air which keeps the tunnel habitable. Farther on. In a large clay hole, a kitchen was in full operation, with soldiers eating bowls of noodles.

Chef to an Ambassador. “Let me introduce you to our chef,” said the commandant, as a young soldier cook came forward. “He is now the cook for this tunnel —and he ought to be a good cook, for before the war he was chef to the French ambassador at Rome.” Emerging from the tunnel into the front line, the German trenches were plainly visible on the crest only 300 yards away. The intervening space was swept clear as though by a cyclone. Instead of the beautiful green of the forest, that was left at the other end of the tunnel, here the whole outlook. was gray and desolate; the ground'Jagged and torn as by eccentric plows, not a vestige of grass or verdure, and the few gaunt trunks of trees stripped of their last leaf and looking like so many scarecrows. “This has been a rather quiet day—only two mine explosions,” said the commandant, “two men injured, one in the shoulder, the other in the leg. That is little, for often we have forty to Sixty men killed or injured in these mine explosions, which go on continually as the Germans try to mine under our trenches and we try to mine under theirs.”

Even beyond the front line French trenches the French soldiers had pushed their observation posts into the fire-swept dividing line, 300 yards wide. Some of these daring men could be seen almost up to the cresL where the German line ran. They were crouched behind heaps of, bowlders, rifles ready. “Those men are only ten yards from the Germans,” said the commandant. As he spoke, Mr. Cravath of New York, said: “I see a German; there he is on the crest; you can see his uniform with the round cap.” •'And he sees you too.” said the commandant. “You have been under Are,” he added as he led Mr. Cravath and the others to a more secure position. Americans Are Lucky. “It’s good that German didn’t fire,” remarked Cravath. “It- might have been an international incident Think of it —killing an American visitor to the French trenches.” Coming back from the front-line

trenches one had a view of the ninny ceaseless activities in carrying on this great battle. At one point soldiers in shirt sleeves were digging graves in an improvised cemetery along the forest path. The cemetery was very large and had been given a name, “Maison Forrestiere,” or Forest Home. Every grave had a wooden cross above it with the name and regiment of the dead soldier. The shells kept whizzing and bursting as the party moved along, and it got to be a pleasant pastime to note the long s-z-z-z as the shells flew overhead. One of them struck a few hundred feet away, throwing up trees, earth and clouds of smoke. To those who wanted souvenirs there were big fragments of shrapnel lying at every turn. It was pleasant at first to pick them up, but after three or four of these heavy chunks of steel were carried half a mile the task was abandoned. The ingenuity of some of the trench quarters along the way Is shown in the use of empty glass bottles for windows. One officer pointed with pride to the very artistic effect he had secured with these empty wine bottles., A triple row extended all across the front of his log shack, giving light within and having rather a cathedral window effect without. The bottles are of white glass, used for* bottling the white wine of Bordeaux. Lives Outside City. The headquarters of General Nivelle, in command of the operations at Verdun, are quite a way outside the city, at a little crossroad hamlet, which cannot be named for military reasons. The general’s offices are in the town courthouse, a two-story stone structure. It was in this same building that General Petain, who preceded Nlvelle, and General de Castelnau quickly made the plans at the first onrush of the Germans, which held them until re-enforcements could be brought up.

General Nivelle goes to Verdun and along the trench front frequently. But most of his time is at headquarters, in telegraph and telephone communication with the whole circle- of defenses, and in touch, too, with the -other army corps and masses of supplies ready to be moved forward to fill any gap the Germans may make. As we were at General Nivelle’s headquarters a party of German prisoners came by. They marched two and two, their gray uniforms and round caps contrasting with the French blue and casque. Already they were being set to work, and instead of a gun each German carried a spade over his shoulder. At Verdun there is no civilian life whatever, but around General Nivelle’s headquarters there were peasant women and girls mingling with the poilus, indicating civilian life still existed thus near to the bombarded town.

The roads back of Verdun present the most varied scenes of activity. On one side is a vast aeroplane camp, with some twenty enormous hangars of basket steel construction covered witli canvas. Across the road is a riding course running for miles. Where officers can exercise their mounts and cavalry can push forward in emergency without blocking the highroad. Every now and then one sees a big vehicle shoot by bearing the sign “American Ambulance Cbrps.” Mules in Good Shape.

The thousands of horses and mules along the road are in good condition. Many of . the horses came from America and were run down by sea voyage, but after a month’s feeding they proved very serviceable. Ou seeing the mules one of the officers said: “The demobilization of the Greek army had one very important result for the allies—it released 10.000 mules which the Greeks had been using, and now these mules are proving invaluable to the allies." While the fields back of Verdun are rich with yellow grain, yet there is one melancholy evidence of the war in the burning of manure, usually the very life blood of the soil. The grain can be gathered by the soldiers and the women who remain, but there is no time to distribute tlie manure over the land, and so it is burned. The last glimpse of Verdun came as the party passed a detachment of French soldiers'just out of the trenches and going to the rear for reSt. They were tired and heavily laden, but happy and cheerful as they swung along in irregular ranks, laughing and smoking as though they came from some agreeable occupation. They were ail fine looking young fellows, and they typified that calm and Invincible spirit which the young French- soldiers are putting Into their service.