there.
The difficulty of finding bodies is considerable on account of the
undergrowth.

"Long lines of newly broken brown earth mark the graves of the victims.
Some of these burial trenches are 150 yards long. The dead are placed
shoulder to shoulder and often in layers. This gives some idea of the
slaughter that took place in this battle.

"The peasants, who are rapidly coming back to the scene, are marking the
grave trenches with crosses and planting flowers above or placing on
them simple bouquets of dahlias, sunflowers and roses.

FOUGHT ON BEAUTIFUL CHATEAU LAWNS

"Some of the hottest fighting of the prolonged battle took place around
the beautiful chateau of Mondement, on a hill six miles east of Sezanne.
This relic of the architectural art of Louis XIV occupied a position
which both sides regarded as strategically important.

"To the east it looked down into a great declivity in the shape of
an immense Greek lamp, with the concealed marshes of St. Sond at
the bottom. Beyond are the downs and heaths of Epernay, Rheims and
Champagne, while the heights of Argonne stand out boldly in the
distance. To the west is a rich agricultural country.

"The possession of the ridge of Mondement was vital to either the
attackers or the defenders. The conflict here was of furnace intensity
for four days. The Germans drove the French out in a terrific assault,
and then the French guns were brought to bear, followed by hand-to-hand
fighting on the gardens and lawns of the chateau and even through the
breached walls.

"Frenchmen again held the building for a few hours, only to retire
before another determined German attack. On the fourth day they swept
the Germans out again with shell fire, under which the walls of the
chateau, although two or three feet thick, crumpled like paper."

The same correspondent described evidences on the battlefields of how
abundantly the Germans were equipped with ammunition and other material.
He saw pyramid after pyramid of shrapnel shells abandoned in the rout,
also innumerable paniers for carrying such ammunition. These paniers are
carefully constructed of wicker and hold three shells in exactly fitting
tubes so that there can be no movement.

The villages of Oyes, Villeneuve, Chatillon and Soizy-aux-Bois were all
bombarded and completely destroyed. Some fantastic capers were played by
the shells, such as blowing away half a house and leaving the other half
intact; going through a window a