JENNIE DUFAU’S NARROW ESCAPE

Jennie Dufau, the American opera singer, had one of the most thrilling experiences told by a refugee from the war zone.

Miss Dufau was visiting in Saulxures, Province of Alsace, when the war started, and was in the hitherto peaceful valley of that region until August 24.  She was with her sister, Elizabeth, and her two brothers, Paul and Daniel.

On August 6 the German artillery occupied the heights on one side of the valley, overlooking the town.  On the 12th the Germans occupied the town itself.  At that time there were but two French regiments near Saulxures.

The French, however, opened fire on the Germans, and Miss Dufau with her father and sister at once retreated to the cellar in an effort to escape the flying shells.

“Then began a tremendous artillery duel that lasted for days,” she said.  “All this time we were living in the cellar, where we were caring for ten wounded French officers.  I often went out over the battlefield when the fire slackened and did what I could for the wounded and dying.

“My brothers Paul and Daniel were drafted into the German army.  They had sworn an oath not to fire a shot at a Frenchman, and their greatest hope was that they would be captured and permitted to put on the French uniform.

“Between August 12 and 24 the artillery duel raged, and finally the opposing armies came to a hand-to-hand fight with the bayonet.  First it was the Germans who occupied the town, then the French.  The Germans finally came to our house and accused my sister, my father, and myself of being spies because they found a telephone there.  The soldiers lined us up against the wall to shoot us, but we fell on our knees and begged them to spare the life of our father.  They gave no heed till a German colonel came along and, after questioning us, ordered that we be set free.”

VALLEY OF DEATH ON THE AISNE

A non-combatant who succeeded in getting close to the firing lines on the Aisne when the great battle had raged continuously for five weeks, wrote as follows on October 21st of the horrors he had witnessed: 

“Between the lines of battle there is a narrow strip, varying from seventy yards to a quarter of a mile, which is a neutral valley of death.  Neither side is able to cross that strip without being crumpled by fire against which no body of men can stand.  The Germans have attempted to break through the British and French forces hundreds of times but have been compelled to withdraw, and always with severe losses.

“A number of small towns are distributed in this narrow strip, the most important being Craonne.  The Germans and French have reoccupied it six times and each in turn has been driven out.  The streets of Craonne are littered with the dead of both armies.  The houses, nearly all of which have been demolished by exploding shells, are also full of bodies of men who crawled into them to get out of the withering fire and have there died.  Many of these men died of sheer exhaustion and starvation while the battle raged day after day.