. Two German army corps were then practically
cut off by the Russians, but made a successful retreat, fighting their
way back to safety with the bayonet in one of the most brilliant
exploits of the war. Thus the net result of the German campaign in
Poland in December left the general situation there practically
unchanged and the Russian front unbroken, while in East Prussia, too,
the Russian invasion continued despite German efforts to roll it back
across the frontier.

The losses on both sides in the eastern campaign in December were
appalling, the fighting being of the fiercest possible nature. A typical
struggle occurred a few miles west of Lodz in the little churchyard of
Beschici, where the Russians, in one of the final phases of the
struggle for the Polish city, showed that in spite of their defeats and
discouragements they knew how to fight and die. This churchyard lies
on a small eminence which formed a salient into the German lines. The
Germans were able to make an attack from three sides with infantry and
artillery. All the Russian trenches were enfiladed by shrapnel from
one direction or another, but the Russians clung to their positions
obstinately. When the Germans finally captured the trenches 878 Russian
corpses were found in a space about eighty yards square.

It was resistance of this nature which the Germans had to overcome in
order to capture Lodz. Later in December it became clear that Russia
was getting her millions into the field and that the strategy of the
commander-in-chief, the Grand Duke Nicholas, would soon be aided by the
weight of overwhelming numbers.

BELGIUM THANKS AMERICA

During November and December Madame Vandervelde, wife of a member of
the Belgian cabinet, toured the United States soliciting aid for her
suffering fellow-countrymen. The response everywhere was extremely
generous and in appreciation of the aid given the war victims of her
country Madame Vandervelde penned the following poem, entitled "Belgium
Thanks America:"

But still we tell the story which once we loved to tell.
"Good will! Good will!" we read it, and "Peace!"--we hear the name,
And crouch among the ruins, and watch the cruel flame,
And hear the children crying, and turn our eyes away--
For them there's neither bread nor home this happy Christmas day.

But look! there comes a message from far across the deep,
From hearts that still can pity and eyes that still can weep--
O little lips a-hu