| Show WHEN FOEMEN r t i MEET IN GRIP OF BATTLING 4 l' l t I r J rJ r French and German Now T Wi Within lin Stones Stone's Throw at v I f r r WARFARE Vl ARF ARE IN WINTER T I Endure Hardships 1 Uncomplainingly Ready for Any Sacrifice N z S N tho Summit of ot dO s I Alsace Dec Dee 23 Deep 3 Deep In Int Inthe I t anon the listening posts of ot the French 4 and sand Germans are within a few rew yards s 0 ot or each cach ot other ler on the slopes of the Hart Hart- I with the tho French In InI I 1 possession of or the dominating position For FoOl man many months this part of or the tho front has been the quietest portion of or the Inline although tho the opposing troops are in such Buch close touch Sometimes days 1 pass ss with jut a shot hot being fired tired but just on the da day when the Associated fv Iress r correspondent visIted tho the most Advanced line a 1 daring raid was car- car tried out b by a French detachment Tl TI J 1 object object was to capture a German Germ prison prison- jf i ter er In order to discover er the th- composition r ot of the tho forces In n front of ot the French positions The exploit was B plashed so well that a party part of fifteen prisoners was brought hack back An and not aman a a. aman man man of or tho French detachment was injured In- In j. j The lines Qt f the French and Germans Germanson V on on on this hel height ht are eo to near t together rether that thaL If l tho the troops occasionally cn engage a e In a sharp sh battle with stones Intermingled often toften with hand grenades and these encounters are Interspersed b by short hort I V artillery ilu dus s 's which without exception Conclude by the silencinG of or the German Ger- Ger man guns Juns y The summit of or the mountain In the hands ands of or the French since last January has lias been mentioned probably ns as often I ns any part pait of or the line owing to tho I t UI fierceness of or the fighting for It its po pos pos- I pos pos- It I Is not however howo considered of ot of prime Importance from om a strategic I point of or vl vi 11 v v. v although h Its ownership I y permits the troops in occupation to see sees sees' s' s Il the surrounding country The eft of- of t t of or holding It Is greater reater for the I d-I I immoral value than from any other cons con- con s t The Tho correspondent was vas permitted to adrance even e beyond the front German trench and was able to study at clo close e band lhand the system of ot defense introduced ito to meet conditions quite different fromi from i those prevailing plen at those sectors of or t the line where the fighting men face ace leach cach other under normal conditions of or warfare if Ti To arrive at the front line on the a lon long climb up sharply winding paths has to be undertaken undertaken under- under taken Mile llIe after milo mile along alon- tho the edge edgett tt o of steep precipices and slopes sometimes some- some P times Imes bare Rn and l sometimes covered 4 lY with pines an and firs brings one ono onoKi Ki fat at last to the zono where the armies K swatch watch closely each others other's movements mo Dotted here bore and there are huts and ands whacks hacks s and b tel positions so well that their presence Is not until pointed out 10 In the Danger Zone J 3 When hen the danger zone is reached the character of the conery charges barges p o of the summit Is clear of or trees trpe which have been cither felled or shot 11 wa The he g ground round Is broken broon r up by y aches and heal heaps Scattered ral bout out in to sheltered positions lo aro are d de- de H o of troops troop ah always as on the alert Some are exposed to dl- dl feet firo from German batteries on mt other sad Id lower loner summits of ot tho the sur- sur hills k In l i T-f T When the correspondent visited i the thet t mountain in th the last days duys of November o snow V UlO I cov covered d the ground roun to a d depth of or l nearly a foot He Ile and his companions Hh the the thc party was ma made e as l as po possible ble owing o to the risk ilsk in- in 1 I etl il made way nay toward toward to- to ward sward the tho front trench i Ml ron From this the tho Gorman Grinan n 1 line could easily 23 11 I r distinguished and 1111 stretching ri IWa iy for mites on either th could be beleen e teen leen the the- tops toi of the posts supporting a field of barbed wire entanglements S burled partly In snow now which in the thc k bright sunshine tool on a red reddish color color color col- col or or t 11 In of ot the tho hardships brought t L about b by the col cold and wind In the hills together with the arduous work worle r lot of t tucking roads loads and bringing up supt sup sup- t plies lies over O the rock rocky hillsides many o of oft t the th officers and and men have become so 80 sou u accustomed to their th surroundings that h they decline to be relieved ell and went cent to late roar to enjoy the the- rare periods of or 1 cst rest est aCcor accorded ed to the fighting fon forces oS s Th men In the front line like their mr at other parts of ot the front from Switzerland to the orth forth sea ea tare have to content themselves Ith th tho the shelter afforded b by dugouts ore ioro ro they I keep eop warm b by means of ur clothing n ns there thero I It is peril In l lIn fires even en under cover er lh The of ot tho the ground however howe permits the approach ot of supply details id nil under most circumstances at least ne 10 ne hot meal daily ail is provided pro Tho The I cold Is II so so piercing that it has been boen found foun necessary to shorten tho tiro period on on ditty In the open Even en the hardy mountaineers composing tho the troops employed employed em em- em d hero horo cannot resist the sharp frosts while standing rigidly on guard for man many horns hours at a time lime Tho The now nou of or quick rOlles has hoa been found to work ork very Yen well welt and there la is aston aston- astonishingly astonishingly 1 little suffering and no complaint complaint com com- plaint on tho part parl of or the m men Further down own tho the hill trill slopes In tho the second nn and third lines linos the men are arc well weB housed in comfortable shacks which thc they find a A. A Va way of o heating healing Here tho mon men gather their dan dally daily dut duty of or building roads digging l trenches trench and transporting supplies Is finished and they contrive to make themselves quite at home Tho chaplain ln 71 with th the regiment now on duty in the front lino line has been on time the mountain side and summit four months without once descending to the valley valloy Ho Ito has haI started for forr tho the benefit of or the men n n. operative co store which he has established in a n. hole In Iii the rock rock- here IKic tho men arc nrc able to purchase pur- pur chase at co cost L price almost anything III in the way a of or Inner comfort and around It thc they gather to read rr-ad their newspapers uC and letters and anu to exchange opinions on I news of or the day Close b by is n a small open olen air chapel where th chaplain chaplain chap chap- lain holds a dally daily service When hen fighting Is proceeding tho the chaplain always Boos into the front lino line with tho the men with whom ho he f IB Ie a great favorita fa- fa fa vorita |
