Show I ARTIFICIAL VOLCANOES BLOW UP ROWS Of Off f ENGH German Soldier T Tells e s of Luck in Being Saved F From om Counter Mine Correspondence Associated Press Ire BERLIN Jan 23 The Th The peculiar character r of the he fighting now going on in tho the forest of Argonne is illustrated by tho the following letter from a soldier tT TIe The e two companies forming our rj right ht wing ning had been beon lying for tor five da days only thirty to fifty yards from irom tho the eno- eno my mj ul along a distance o of nearly yards In front of our company to the left loft was as a little valley aile on the opposite op op- poite slope lope of which the French Fench had themselves in three CI lines of pits pita one ono bovo the other and this front wa was generally regarded as im un- un pregnable W We therefore had a detachment detachment de de- de- de of Pru Prussian sappers and miners which wa was assigned to our lines to tunnel under tho three French trenches in in order to blow them up The explosion was really intended togo to togo go fio off on ou the anniversary of the tho battle of Champi Champigny ny November 30 but the sappers said that the they had bad not yet yot enough h I snuff into their holes There was dan danger r that the French would undermine un dermine us and blow us into the air first Finally on December 1 every every- thin thing was vas reid ready At several o places lay lar many pounds of d dynamite amite under the French trenches II At At 1030 all our front trenches were evacuated but we masked maske this movement to deceive the French At 1121 1 a lieutenant of pioneers pre pressed his bis thumb on a button and there was nas a terrific crash One might havo o thought ht that the tho whole earth tarth was falling to 10 pieces piece From my position I saw aw a cloud of earth probably over 1300 feet high After about a minute something something some some- thin thing like a 11 mighty tempest broke broko loose in the woods 1 I did aid not know what it was till something struck my skull then I 1 knew it was a a. hail of dirt and stones which had been thrown up by the explosion I darted into our bombproof where I stayed for two minutes minute Meanwhile our two companies pressed forward and occupied tho the ga gap that had been broken in the tho French Frene lines line The Tho fi first t trench was full tull of dead an and buried Frenchmen In tho the next two they were so dazed that they surrendered surrendered sur sur- rendered without resistance I Within C a half hour we had taken prisoners the tho dwellers in all these trenches so eo far as tho they were still alive Amont Among them there were eight officers lull and privates who had not been Voun wounded ed Tho The rest including two tro officers eel cers were vere dead and buried burie under the debris V Wo captured three mine throw ers Our total tota losses were only three killed hillel and seven wounded A A soldier must have havo luck lucki The Tho captured French pioneers told us afterwards afterwards after after- wards that they ther had Dad m mined our trenches at eight points and were going to blow us up tip at 6 p. p m. m not yet vet hin finished finished fin fin- I putting in iu the tho charges When we 6 examined our trenches we ve found mines So wo had bad a lucky escape escape es es- es cape this time The higher authorities are giving unstinted pra praise e to our achievement Even the crown prince sent automobiles with woolen blankets and a bottle of wino wine for ea each b of us What moro more could a soldiers soldier's I I heart want 1 Such are the tricks that I we are arc playing here herol I |