HISTORIC HILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 207, 9 February 1915, Page 5

HISTORIC HILL.

GUNS OF HEIGHT 108. NONCHALANT FRENCHMEN. (Delayed Cable.) London, January 25. A Times correspondent in Champagne writes: "East of Berry-au-bac, on the left bank of the river Aisnc, you can see a small bare hill. It looks insignificant, yet Height 108 will become famous. To its flank men have clung for many weeks, grimly tenacious, as though tho whole fate of the world depended upon their hold, "A French gunner aaily repeats William Tell's exploit with the apple. He removes the pine branches which cover an enemy's gun from an inquisitive aeroplane just as the shopkeeper pulls down his shutters for another day's business. A telephone buzzes. Some numbers are shouted out. The gun commander removes his pipe from his mouth and repeats the order. With a roar, the shell is away, and the gun re-: coils with a shock which shakes the ground. When the civilians have recovered, the gunners are still sucking . their pipes and grinning at the surprise of the visitors, while the shell has burst exactly where it was meant to go. '"After passing through a maze of underground galleries, We reach a room that is lined with straw and roofed ■with iiioa:;. Below us is the valley ,o£ . the River Aisne. The river has strayed from its setting. It floods the meadows and forms a string of miniature lakes along the reads and fields. Towards the middle of the landscape is Berry-au-bac, which for four months has been continuously bombarded. "Whore once rose up tJie smoke of happy hearths now hangs the smoke of shells and the Hash of rose-coloured' flame, while a ball of greenish smoke marks where the shells pound into the ruins. The fire is coming from the enemy's batteries at a camp where Caesar once wintered on the Aisne. "The -staff decided to have a word with tho3-5 batteries. An olficer stoops 'c the telephone, and the reply goes speeding over the valley. The telephone becomes more active, and the French' Rhellg njore frequent, until finally the_ German guns are silent, and the French artillery has again established its superiority 1 i ' ' ]