“Our progress along the road was suddenly stopped by one of the most horrible sights I have ever seen. A heavy howitzer shell had fallen and burst right in the midst of a Belgian battery which was making its way to the front, causing terrible destruction. The mangled horses and men among the debris presented a shocking spectacle. “Eventually, we got into Dixmude itself, and every time a shell came crashing among the roofs we thought our end had come. The Hôtel de Ville (town hall) was a sad sight. The roof was completely riddled by shell, while inside was a scene of chaos. It was piled with loaves of bread, bicycles, and dead soldiers. “The battle redoubled in fury, and by seven o’clock in the evening Dixmude was a furnace, presenting a scene of terrible grandeur. The horizon was red with burning homes. “Our return journey was a melancholy one, owing to the constant trains of wounded that were passing.” GERMAN LOSSES FRIGHTFUL “The German losses are frightful” wrote another correspondent. “Three meadows near Ostend are heaped with dead. The wounded are now installed in private houses in Bruges, where large wooden sheds are being rushed up to receive additional injured. Thirty-seven farm wagons containing wounded, dying, and dead passed in one hour near Middelkerke.” DIXMUDE A PLACE OF DEATH AND HORROR From Fumes, Belgium, members of the staff of the English hospital traveled to Dixmude to search for wounded men on the firing line. Philip Gibbs, of the London Daily Chronicle, who traveled with them in reporting his experiences, said: “I was in one of the ambulances, and Mr. Gleeson sat behind me in the narrow space between the stretchers. Over his shoulder he talked in a quiet voice of the job that lay before us. I was glad of that quiet voice, so placid in its courage. We went forward at what seemed to me a crawl, though I think it was a fair pace, shells bursting around us now on all sides, while shrapnel bullets sprayed the earth about us. It appeared to me an odd thing that we were still alive. Then we came into Dixmude. [Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF THE SEA-RAIDER “EMDEN.” The Australian cruiser “Sydney” came up with the German cruiser “Emden” off the Cocos Keeling Island on November 9. After the “Sydney” had fired six hundred rounds of ammunition and covered fifty-six miles in maneuvering, she forced the “Emden” to run ashore owing to the breaking of her steering gear. The German vessel ran at a speed of nineteen knots upon the beach, the shock killing the man at the wheel. (_From a direct camera picture taken on board the “Sydney.”_)] [Illustration: SINKING OF THE GERMAN CRUISER “BLUECHER.”