AT VERDUN

North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13656, 26 August 1916, Page 7

AT VERDUN

___—>_....— a pitiable num. _; WOBK OF THE GET?MAN GUNS, A SECOND POMPEII. (By Whitney Warren, in the New York Herald,) PARIS, June 7. Last fhmday—thai ia, on .1 nii'• -I—l hail a most iiitercsling day :it Verdun, Fnr a long time I have been anxious 'o go there lo- I'otiHtalp with my own eyes'and ears the eniulitions existing, the possibilities of flu* resistani'e beingsuccessful and tlie o eaii:;e of the pei'idstent and cniiMiiiimis elToi'l, on (lie |iai'l. of the Germans against, a plan' (Inmilitary afrnfegir, value of which all ihe authorities ajffi'o on as being nil. The journey'from Bar-leDuc. \w, made in motor over the I'amons road on which all the communication between the two cities lia3 been kept open during the last three months. It vi inconceivable the amount of travel the road has m- • taincd and ihe perfect condition in which it has been maintained by Hie engineers during this uninterrupted p£vio<l of turmoil and agitation, of wear and tear of the most brutal sort which it-has had to endure. ■lt i 3 now relieved by a paralleling narrow gauge railway, but for the first month of the battle*everything in the way of mon, material and ammunition, eoming and going, had to be hauled over it.' It was one continuous stream, of trucks of the heaviest description, first hurrying forth with fresh troops and then scurrying back with those worn out or wounded; but all this has moderated tremendously, and Ihe travel, while heavy the .day T went over it, was not. cumbersome, and one felt that everything was in good wholesome condition so far as supplies and necessities were concerned. We met a certain number of troops returning for rest and we were accompanied by a corresponding relieving party, but otherwise things were normal) showing admirable organisation and sufficiency of reserve of every description. Before arriving; at Verdun we passed several hospitals, not forge-'ting one for cannon of all calibres, many of which were in a' rather battered condition. Blown to Pieces. 'We entered Verdun by the main road. The villas and farms of the have been badly punished. There is' fcarcelv a house—T am speaking especially of the isolated ones—which lias not been blown to pieces, This shows how absolutely dense and concentrated the fire has been. To be sure, what I remembered- was along the road, which was the target aimed at; buteven as far as I could see nothing remained untouched and the whole land was pock-marked by the holes made by the marmites as they exploded. The town itself is a pitiable ruin, scarcely a house that has not been worse than badly handled. That charming bit along the water front which ur-ed to be called "La Venise de Verdun" has especially suffered, - nothing' whatever remaining. The town i 3 absolutely evacuated, not a civilian remaining, and what .sentries there are inhabit sandbag-built huts, more or less bombXproof,. These few troops, groups of .five and. six, are simply left, to arrest -stragglers, and in case of fire to attempt to put it out or keep it from spreading. • Many of, the houses, and shops have their fronts blown off, and the interiors show the haste in which the occupants, left—the beds in disorder, hats and clothes still 'hanging on the pegs, while on the mantels and in files-arc still standing the objects cherished by the inmates, the household gods, ' ~ ■> ' ■ TheMififiry of lit. Olio's mind instinctively .rove'ts to the scenes which must have taken place on the last day of Pompeii, and the heart- is filled with' a great feeling of pity and anguish for the poor people. Ah. the misery of it! The vanity and uselessness of it! Aud all for the Kronprinz, in order.that he may return to Berlin the victor of Verdun-marshal of the Empire on the field of battle—for, be it well understood, it is.the heritage of the. Hohenzollcrn which is at stake, and it 'is in the vain hope that he, the Kronprinz, may hold down his job that hundreds of thousands of these brave French are being slaughtered and. twice as many hundred thousand Germans; the one defending their soil from the aggressor and the despoiler, the other misled by the most 'cynical and unhealthy of ambitions. 'The American people should realise that this is what is going, on; that Verdun is not being battled for for any strategical reason, but simply in-the hope that the defeat of the Marnc may be pardoned by tha annihilation of Verdun, so that the Kronprinz,, his hands reeking with the blood of the myriads of innocents, Christ-inspired on the one hand and-Baton-led on the other, mav.'place upon his head at some future date the emblem of the dynasty, which has loosened upon the universe, not the dogs of war ""of heroic time,

but the lust ami rapine of the barbarian. For by brutes ami barbarians arc tllC}' I'.'lJ fllli.' rinrn'j);- not "lll.'tt they are not ii|i to 'lale in orgaiiiwition mill ]i]V|iari'iliii':iH— nn llic i-niilinry—-bill, mini: tin' b'."i alu'.'iy.'i barbarian?:. Oil, Ilia!, our gund jn-*n»li* would but iiinli.'ra'taml Ihi-; ami rbic- in l!i'«ir moral ata-ngUi It) |»nil.c;-.1. I lie iiiifiily of i!— mill llhw of. (icrilia.ii iku.-i-ut with ua, ili)' linn nut U'alisr llial. it was .from ihi;, vi'ry :wl of lliin:; thai they came 111 lIS 111 wapi-.' ' Black Tiuin, The i-allirdral, while nnl dcmolbdi-'d. lia'd. badly Hiill'eivd, lln- rool: having been blown alniOKt ' completely off, but I'orlunalidy up In ilaln mil i;nt .1111 .lire. ('lnso by, 1 hi' i'Xi|niail.i' ciiilileeuiJi ciilnry buildings of I lie. College IfoinlMargiierile are, in a pitiable condition, Here wan installed ihe principal husjiital when tin; boinban.lnii'iit • began, Thoae who been to Venlim will remember the Court of the College as one oi : the gems of eighteenth century architecture, of a composition ami proportion quite perfect and by far the. most precious document, architerturally 'speaking, that Verdun possessed, unless it be the chef d'ouvre of-seventeenth century military architecture, the citadel anil its outworks, verily the masterpiece of Verdun' 3 genius, Strange to say, these fortifications remain intact. To be sure they are obsolete, and yet, in their grandeur and simplicity, among all these ruins they appear formidable. .The real citadel—the modern.oneis underground ahd/rconsists of a veritable city, with seventeen metres, of rock to cover it, IfHis a sort of palisade formation, so that the entrances arb on the plain, well dissimulated and protected. The'interior is a vast and admirable organisation, capable of' lodging any number of men, and with inexhaustible stores, all electrically lit and ventilated and everybody having the luck to inhabit it happy and contented, even to the hospital, where I left some tobacco in charge of the chaplain and the doctor. There is nothingnothing—these good chaps appreciate so much. It is comfort beyond words, believe me. • • ■ ■ . Afterward we went with General X., who commands the place of Verdun, to the surrounding batteries. The quantities of them is unbelievable. The cannonading going on was fierce. The hills are simply covered with them. Standing on the citadel in the evening the effect produced might be compared to what one sees 611 a summer night when the fireiles are very, thick—a continual and perpetual flashing. Dinner With Petain. On Sunday evening I had the honour of dining with General Petain and hi: staff—my old friend, Mr Francois Flaming! the official painter attached to this army,, and "Mybe,". the greatmilitary chronicler,, who accompanied me on my trip,, made up the party. General Petain is certainly a wonderful specimen of humanity. He.combines very smart in appearance, genial, modest'and generous—talent and courage all the qualities we Americans like to attribute to the French, and especially to a French chief; Very handsome, go without saying—and with an absolute sangfroid". He mfglit bo our Lafayette of olden time. No detail escapes him; they call him. the "terrasier" or "road-builder," one of his great cares being to keep his communications absolutely open and in the best of condition. He received' lis' most delightfully and remained, against his custom, talking more than an hour with "Polybc" and myself alter, tho'meal was over and.it was time for all good soldiers'to tor in bed, He is a'great leader Of a great army, for his moral and, sangfroid has penetrated to the most humble "poilii," , , . •' Indeed, these; are aiisjipus (lays' for us' Americans ont here, tfi'teheu politics and miserable petty party.jealousy may again lose 11s the chance of leading the world, even as President Wilson's amaleurish and ambiguous attitude did in the beginning of the war,