ALONG THE FRENCH BATTLE FRONT

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 156, 31 December 1923, Page 7

ALONG THE FRENCH BATTLE FRONT

VERDUN AND ITS VICINITY

jJOURNEYINGS OF DR. THACKEB.

(»BOH OOR OWN CORRBSPONDENW

- LONDON, 7th November! — 1 -Qr. Henry Thacker. and: Mrs. Thacker have, reversed the usual process ty leaving London to the last in their European; pilgrimage. THey: arrived- here a-" fewdays ago, and Dr. Thacker has some interesting; observations- to make regardW= the many places-.he has visited., —.- After leaving Devonshire' a "month "or two ago. Dr. Thackerandhis- wife' wentover to the-Channel. Hands. Here- D.r, f.nacker had an opportunity.,of studyr ing the,question of the island cattle' In view of the recent tendency shown at ;tne Islington Dairy Show to. judge animals, not only; from the, point of; view of' mUk producers,. but from,, the p.oipt 'of '■ view of beef producers, he was interested, to see.the Guernsey.stopk. whi£h'-aTeV b.'gger animals than the Jersey, anymore; suited for tne dhal purposes The dais-' houses of Guernsey were an impressivV Bight. Here they specialise in fruits' grown mdoors as distinct,from, the. out-'' .door production of tomatoes.: and. lucerne" ;in Jersey. One: man was Bend:ng. 250; melons to Lond6n per day, and getting Siree crops a year. ?■..■-.«?-. After leavingthe^Channel Islandsthey. T? ??- to St"Mao, and thence to PanV. ilie things that most-'injferested*'i)r:v Thacker here was. the war. pano^la tne. i antheon, showing in', life, size every' type of person Who took? parkin-the great conflict. From Paris.they-•motor-' ,roun. d *he R-ench. battle front, ' a part which is not frequented so "much by. our Dominion visitors as the British' n-ont. It_was interesting therefore] -to hear of Verdun and its vicinity. Verdw [„ of _ course, was well behind'the acT^rl t t ™6S) a"d; Was n^er damaged to the Extent that such-places as anfi- Arras were. At the furthestpoint of advance of the German army ttw* French have placeda rhonumenf bea"r ing the inscription: "Here we-stopped our infamous .foe." The monument itself w-the-figure of-a dead.. lion/ indicative of th valian Frenchmen *ho - had £al!tn in; the greatest effort on -the i'rench front. ■ . "

In the vicinity of the 'Verdun forts on a plateau eight miles beyond the town there i s - a grim- reminder of the tecrors of war A company of - soldiers were bunad by an explosion and they have been left m-the position of: their death, with their bayonets still protruding from the ground. On another occasion the Uermans advanced in tanks. ' The French, being prepared, retired" slightly leaving traps for the tanks, with the-re-sult that many of these were blownup. ™V; J t , SaWu S°mJ whi* .had. been split m two by the mines. -

RHEIMS CATHEDRAL^ Rheims Cathedral he found not nearly so shattered as he had been led to believe. It was evident that German gu US had never been trained on it with?the tfnn'^W 11'6?!: 10? °f destruction When the roof is repaired toUeep out the ram, said Dr. Thacker, it would be one of the greatest monuments of the Vlsifc *** also Paid~to Challons and Thiery, where the Americans; fought, their greatest action. Belleau Wood.where the most intense fighting-.; took place, has been acquired by the United btates Government, and is being converted into a beautiful garden. An American sildier who is quartered there told how the large number of American dead whose identity, discs had been taken by the Germans were, identified. Accord-' ing to him, the German authorities- encouraged their men to bring proof of the slaughter of American soldiers; ■ and .consequently a large number of the discs were carried away. *The American authorities, however, had caused a, denture impression to be taken of all their troops. Three hundred' who.had perished in the wood or in the vicinity were npp identified in the ordinary way but where the jaw s were stift available every one of these was identified by means of. the wax impression that had previous-, ly been taken. \ Quinton. Roosevelt, who perished m an aeroplane, and was given a military funeral by the GePmans,_ has Been commemorated by the Americans by a drinking fountain^ set up in a village near the field in which he fell. . ■ ■"■'■'■ DUBLIN UNDER PEACE CONDI- ", TIONS. -.. .;;,-;' Dr. and Mrs. Thacker later paid a visit to Ireland. They were surprised io find that business there seemed to be fiourishing. In Dublin the shops wer& as good as those in Paris: There was nothing to remind them that there had been a civil war,-except tee civic gu*rd which appeared in the streets in blueuniforms and patrolled the country on bicycles. On,the sites where bniWings had been destroyed had risen up' fine-up-to-date buildings. Bridges in which. gap s had been made by the rebels: had not been rebuilt, but they wereall-re-paired sufficiently to carry, the trafficj"' Dr. Thacker attended a sitting of the Dail (pronounced "doll," by the'way), and he was much impressed by the"businesshke way in which the proceedings were carried on. There side tracking or humbug. It was yety'muolr like a meeting of directors'.of;aJbig. company. The messengers were' well uniformed and knew their business." Dr Thacker also visited Betffistj^bul 41? maintains that things wef<s not-nearly "as brisk there as in Dublin.; AiribnSfit ffim people who had opposed ihe measure °* Home Rule in the North he found "con"-* siderable satisfaction. They" were \tt ready to. settle down to the hew^order of" j things. ■ .■.'■.■; :!,' \!\;.

A visit has been paid to-jfatlock' Baths, of -which Dr. Thaefcer speaks"very highly, and at the same time he deplores the ignorance of the English of their'up-to-date therapeutic establishments. JHa will shortly be visiting Droitwich. Dr. and Mrs. Thacker will beMfeavinfj England by the Berengaria on 12th December, and will go from New York tft Los Angeles, leaving San Francisco for 'homi on 25th January. . „,-.. ..'"::'._.