e French fortress,
from the River Meuse above St. Mihiel to Avocourt, the Germans probably
have several thousand guns, at least 2,500, in action or reserve. Were
each gun fired only once an hour, there would be a shot every second.

"As probably half the guns are of middle and heavy caliber, the average
weight per shell is certain to be more than twenty-five pounds. It
follows that even in desultory firing about 160,000 pounds of iron, or
from four to five carloads, are raining on the French positions every
hour. And this is magnified many times when the fire is increased to the
intensity which the artillerymen call 'drumming' the positions of the
enemy.

"To the German guns must be added the tremendous amount of artillery
used by the French in their defense, estimated to be almost as large now
as that of the Germans. The conclusion is that more than 6,000 cannon,
varying from 3-inch field guns to 42-centimeter (16-inch) siege mortars,
are engaged in hurling thousands of high explosive shells hourly in
the never-ceasing, thunderous artillery duels of the mighty battle of
Verdun."

FROM A GERMAN OFFICER'S VIEWPOINT.

The stories told by those who, on the German side, lay in trenches
under shell-fire before Verdun for days at a time and week after week,
freezing, thirsting, in mud and water, between the dead and the dying,
thrilled the hearer with their pathos and devotion. These were the men
who, like the waves of the sea, beat almost incessantly against the
obstinate fortifications of Verdun, and there learned a new respect for
the French enemy. Such a story was written from the front in April by a
German officer named Ross--a man of Scottish descent--who, before
the war, was editor of a newspaper in Munich. In the Berlin Vossische
Zeitung he said:

"It is a worthy, embittered foe against whom this last decisive struggle
is aimed. France is fighting for her existence. She is no weaker than we
are in men, guns, or munitions. Only one thing decides between us--will
and nerves. Every doubting, belittling word is a creeping poison which
kills joyful, strong hope and does more damage than a thousand foes.
Only if we are convinced to our marrow that we shall win, shall we
conquer.

"In this colossal combat, where numbers and mechanical weapons are so
utterly alike, moral superiority is everything. We have more than once
had the experience that the effective result of a battle has depended
upon who considered himself t