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Show FIGHTING FOR LIFE 01 THEME IER Germans Hurriedly Make a Stand, Crossing of English Eng-lish on pontoons (Spec al War Dispatches of the Inter national News cervlce and tl e London Times) HAVKE Sept 16 To the story of the battle of the Marne most be added that of the A sne river cross ng which was on a scale such as never before has been seen in the world The t me was Saturday evening and the n oment had arr ved when if the flee ng host was to be saved a stand of so e sort must be made The ene .my gathered hurr edly together for a great effort on the he ghts that over look the r ver He had h s guns in place and his men ready when our troops and those of our ally reached the south bank of the river Clearly it as essent al to the all es that the crossing should be made f the great pursu t was to be cont nued and the hard won v ctory pressed homo Cons der what the attack meant The r ver was swollen and runn ng swiftly after the recent heavy ra ns Br dees must be bu It under a w thenng fire They must be ma nta ned undamaged The must be crossed and all vantage po nts were held bv men rendered des perate fight ng for their very 1 ves It was a terr ble prospect, but t d d not daunt our splena d forces The attack began on Sunday morn ng w th all the elan and dash wh ch character zed the great struggle of the week before Our guns were brought up and placed n pos t on and a terr fic duel opened for so long as the Ger nan art llery rema ned uns lenced the hope of effect ng a passage was si ght ndeed From what I heard, and fortune has (Continued on Page Pour ) FIGHTING FOR LIFE M THE MM lie (Continued from Page One.) favored me in this respect, that wrangle of great guns was an inspiring business busi-ness a combat of titans. Over the valley shells screeched hour after hour, doing fierce execution on both sides, but our gunners held to their posts in a manner that evoked the wonder and admiration of all who witnessed it. 1 have heard doubts expressed as to whe'thor the events of the last week may not, have exhausted the endurance of these warriors and rendered theni incapable of continuing the pursuit an unworthy fear. Victory has fired our men, just as reverses stiffened them. Kar from showing any sign of weariness, weari-ness, they are difficult to hold back. "Keep the enemy on the run,-" is the watchword of the whole force. But what a task that of bridging a gjcat river. Tho crossings are at Aftichy, at Vic and close to Amblerin. between Compeigne and Soissons, so far as the course of the center is concerned One may imagine that the slow stern work of bringing big pontoons into position po-sition anrl launching them would be difficult under favorable circumstances. -Now it might seem almost impossible. The engineers labor doggedly under a tire that eats into their numbers as the day grows old. Over on the' north bank the enemy's guns are being hushed as the fiercest hours of combat are passed. One by one (he great pontoons are brought into line. Soldier lads begin to advance across the new opened bridge and still our artillery sweeps Jhe heights, making way for them. In tho hour of sunset a chill wind sweeps the heights. , The heights are won and the enemy again thrown back. He has gained his respite of twelve hours, but that respite is not enough. Darkness falls upon his bitter recoil. "They fought, stiff on the banks." said a soldier, "but not stiff enough Once let us get right up to them and they must break. Our iron does it. Besides, it had been a long dav and i think they were hungrv. not 11s. "Wo went into them and into the rout of them and they melted. Afterward it was queerly quiet in the night. Our boys aro mad and the I'Vench are mad." All along the linen was victory. Xot once, but many times, and in" many places has this crossing been accomplished. |