Buy War Savings Stamps DREUNAUT Motor RE-TOP WITH DREDNAUT Elegant in Appearance Drednaut's Reputation garret of a house on the hillside with my father, and through his glasses we could see the French troops. I wanted to cheer, but father wouldn't let me, for fear that the Boches might hear. Before it was dark we could see the blue uniforms quite close on St. Jeremy Hill [southwest of the town], and on Friday morning at seven o'clock they were in the streets. Then we could cheer all we liked, and we did. "Every one got out the flags that we had hidden for four years and hung them from the windows. And my little sister gave a bunch of flowers to a French captain, and he kissed her in front of everybody. We were very happy, especially as we'd spent all night in the cellars because every one was afraid there would be fighting and the town would be hit by shells." Further east, both to the north and south, Pershing's men and guns had broken down the sides of the salient, releasing the little city on the Meuse; the victory was theirs, and was so recognized by the townspeople, even tho French troops were the first to set foot in St. Mihiel's streets. The clocklike regularity with which the American machine functioned is nowhere better indicated than in the time-table of a famous regiment, which an enterprising correspondent secured and cabled to the New York World. One gets a bird'seye view of modern war in the following timed outline of this regiment's activity on the day of the battle: 5:15 A.M.-Attack was begun punctually at five o'clock; advanced elements have penetrated the German wire entanglements. 5:35-Enemy front line is entirely in our hands; we have taken prisoners; enemy is retreating in haste all along the line. 6:05-Battalion is approaching Mad Brook (a small marshy rivulet meandering between St. Bausant and Maizerais); we have established a liaison with the artillery by means of flags and lights. Our artillery is pouring heavy fire upon the organized German defense at Maizerais. 6:30 Our 1st Battalion under (name deleted) reports encountering outbursts of machine-gun resistance from Maizerais; have taken seventeen prisoners. ト 6:50-Machine-gun fire is temporarily delaying us from crossing Mad Brook. Some enemy machine guns have already been silenced by our artillery. Our patrols are in the marshes south of Mad Brook. 7:40-Our advanced elements have crossed Mad Brook, under enemy machinegun fire, but without loss. Progress is slow through the marshy ground (I know from personal experience that one may sink knee-deep into the squashy mud in these swamps), but our main bodies are ready to cross. 7:50-The battalion is all across Mad Brook and is advancing up the hill toward Maizerais; we are meeting with shrapnel and machine-gun fire. 8:50 The 1st Battalion has entered Maizerais after attacking three machinegun crews from the flanks, bayoneting the gunners and mopping up other squads. 9:20-There are no more Germans in Maizerais. We have taken twenty prisonThe Germans are fleeing in droves across the fields northward toward Essey. Our artillery is shelling Essey heavily. 9:25-The enemy guns have been turned in force on Maizerais. Our tanks, ers. which assisted materially in the capture of the village, despite the difficulty of getting through the Mad Brook marshes, are moving toward Essey. 9:30 Battalion (name deleted) is advancing astride of Mad Brook east of Essey without encountering resistance. 10:30 Enemy machine guns are enfilading us from Essey; send word to our artillery. 11:40-The machine-gun fire which held us up east of Essey has ceased. The Germans have evacuated the village, according to reports from the (name deleted) infantry on our right. Our first battalion is advancing, in close liaison with (name deleted). 12:35-We are approaching Pannes, which is under heavy fire from our guns. Houses are burning in the village. 12:55 The enemy appears to be holding Pannes in considerablé strength. 1:20 Battalions of scouts are advancing on Pannes, under the trees along the road from Essey; there is considerable machinegun opposition. 1:26 Opposition from Pannes has broken down. Our scout patrols have captured two machine guns and som.e prisoners. Battalion is entering Pannes. 1:45 Our scouts are heading northward out of Pannes, over which German shells are bursting. 1:55-We have reached our second objective. The battalion is holding the line on the southern edge of Thiaucourt Wood. 5:40 Our battalion is consolidating its positions in Thiaucourt Wood, by order of the Brigadier-Commander. Our scouts are far ahead. A rest of several hours was forced upon the men at this stage of the proceedings. Reports were resumed early Friday morning, and were as follows: 1:30-Orders have been received from brigade headquarters to continue the attack. The 3d Battalion (name deleted) will march toward the La Marche-Nonsard road (the 3d Battalion had been in support of the 2d in reserve, the regiment having been echeloned in depth). 2:10 The 1st Battalion of patrols has gone far into Thiaucourt Wood without finding enemy resistance, 3:50-The 3d Battalion holds the line of road from La Marche to Nonsard, facing westward, in liaison with the (name deleted) infantry on its left. 9:10 We have advanced through Thiaucourt Wood to Saint Benoît without encountering serious resistance. Enemy artillery-fire is not heavy. Saint Benoît Castle, which had been occupied by the German corps commander, is believed to be mined, as well as the roads leading to it. 9:30 A good regimental post for you is Sebastopol Farm; there is a cow there and something to eat. 9:35 (Name deleted) reports that the regiment has reached its final second-day objective and is consolidating its positions. Regimental patrols are operating in the wooded district north of Saint Benoît. The cables have carried the story of a French girl who, in the course of that first night after the launching of the American attack, made her way through two barrages to bring news of German doings to the American deliverers. Another story, a bitter one, is that of a French mother who fell to her knees to pray for American victory as the olivedrab ranks advanced, and was killed by a German soldier who overheard her prayer. But in general German brutality in the region just delivered was confined to imposing financial burdens on the population. Deputy Mayor Malard, of St. Mihiel, acting Mayor during the captivity, is quoted to that effect in a dispatch to the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger: "On the whole, we were not so badly treated by the Germans. That is, compared to other places. At least my people have not suffered personal violence, and the enemy have not destroyed houses, as I hear they have done elsewhere. What damage you see fire in 1914. Evening Sun says that Mont Sec dominates the lower part of the St. Mihiel salient as the Woolworth tower dominates the lower part of Manhattan. A description of the dugouts in this vicinity furnishes a commentary on the domestic habits of the modern Teuton warrior-and on the fighting ability of the Yanks who captured them: The shelters were made of steel, concrete, stone, mortar, brick, forty or fifty feet within the mountainside. Some built in 1915 are ornamented with the They are littered with maps, papers, clothing, knickknacks, showing they were furnished in great comfort with beds, chairs, and pictures. German coat of arms. was inflicted by shell "But they exacted a heavy money toll. First there was 1,500,000 francs on their arrival to ransom us from sack,' said the German commander. We could never have paid even that much without the establishment of a syndicate bond system, guaranteed by forty communes in the Woëvre region. Those bonds formed our money (the unit value was 5 francs each), and small change was supplied by paper money from Lille, Roubaix, Douai, and other occupied towns. Then the Boches exacted an additional 500,000 in three instalments during the last two years, nominally for the maintenance of roads, water, conduits, and the like. We met that in the same way. "They refused to accept French money at the canteens and the market gardens established after the first year, but willingly changed it for bonds and small bills. They tried especially to get gold. They even offered a premium of 45 per cent. at their own bank, set up in the square. But the Boches got precious little. "It was in respect to 'requisitions' of furniture and mattresses that they treated us worst. All unoccupied houses were stript first; then they took what they wanted from the rest of us." The correspondent talked with a man of seventy-four whom the Germans robbed of a mattress on which he was lying sick, early this year. When he protested against the outrage, they said that the German soldiers' comfort was worth more than the lives of old Frenchmen. continued "During the last two years," the Mayor, "they took away all metal utensils, and even bells, statues, and the water-pipes they could find. "As regards food, we were kept alive by the American Committee. At first we got meat (horse-flesh) pretty regularly, but for the last year we have had nothing save vegetables and the daily allowance of three hundred grams of very bad bread, thirty grams of fat, and a little bacon. About once a month when a horse was killed or died it was distributed among us. But we were forced to slaughter all dogs." The only dog the correspondent saw in St. Mihiel was a tiny Pekingese in the arms of a woman. "I had as much trouble to save his life," she said, "as if it had been a French soldier's I was hiding. I was always in fear that he would bark and the Boches discover him, but the little creature seemed to realize the danger, and so I was able to keep him." Altho the town was spared, probably in consequence of the hurried departure of the enemy, the neighboring villages have not been so fortunate. Many were burned to ashes, and in others the French and Americans found houses smeared with pitch which the enemy lacked time to set afire. A correspondent of the New York The Germans had four years to do it in. These dugouts facing north and so difficult of observation by the Allies had fine porches, pretty tables, with a splendid view across to the Meuse heights, and it was there the German officers used to drink their beer. One of them had a hammock slung under the trees and another had an openair bath-tub, but great gaps showed where our shells had crashed in upon them, and one big dugout, by name "Villa Minna," had completely caved in. The occupants lay on their faces on the floor. In another dugout lay a dead German officer, while beside him lay a dog silently watching his dead master. He wouldn't make a responsive sign to coaxing or whistling. The whole top of the mountain is elaborately interlaced with paved paths railed with rustic woodwork, leading to all manner of observation - posts with outlooks at every possible angle. One big, pretentious villa had been occupied by a German brigadier. The strange coincidence is that the Americans got at Château-Thierry complete information as to the exact whereabouts of everything atop Mont Sec. They captured maps showing the whole thing. The Americans captured a whole German antitank school whose pupils do not seem to have learned their lessons well, besides a personage whose name is Otto Schmeerkase, a great gas expert, according to his veracious captors. In Beney to-day I lunched on German potatoes, coffee, and meat. The coffee had to be mixed with the American brand to be made palatable. The Germans left there in such a hurry that an officer found an Iron Cross lying upon a table in a German colonel's office. All manner of odd things were found in the old salient. American salvage men with red and yellow shoulder badges were busily collecting what they could save, but our boys are probably the world's greatest souvenir-hunters, and the salvage men will have to step lively. Of course, the St. Mihiel salient itself is the greatest souvenir of all. This view of the battle-field after the victory is given in a dispatch from another correspondent of the New York Evening Sun: Groups of our burial detachments with orange and red tags of cloth pinned upon their shoulders for identification were dragging forth the inanimate forms of Germans and sadly stowing them away for eternity, sowing the surface with mute memorials of another nation's misled efforts. Other groups of Dixie negroes from the labor regiments and of white men from pioneer and engineer regiments were filling 5 School at Home! from attaining the business and social position to which their natural ability entitles them. That foundation schooling is necessary for success in any line. If you never went to high school, you'll welcome this opportunity to make up-in your spare time-the valuable training you missed. Use Only Your Idle Hours Every week of your life you idle away ten to twelve hours that, put into systematic study, would give you a good education in two years' time. Studying by correspondence with us does not interfere with your regular occupation and recreation, because you simply spend in study the hours that you would otherwise waste in idleness. Taking a course with us involves no risk on your part. We guarantee to refund every dollar you've paid us, if, after completing ten examinations, you're not satisfied with your course. Meets Every Requirement General Education Teachers' Examinations You take up your schooling just where you Choice of 30 Courses Our big Bulletin-free on request-describes thirty other courses preparing for desirable and well-paid positions in engineering, business, and law. Spare time study will fit you for any one of them. On the coupon below, mark an "X" against the position that most interests you, and mail it to us for full information. Do it today. AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CORRESPONDENCE Dept. H2407 .Building Contractor Structural Engineer Name... Address.. .Certified Public Acc'nt ...Accountant and Auditor ...Bookkeeper ..Stenographer .Fire Insurance Expert |