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THE "FIRE MONKEYS."
GEE MAN TREE-DWELLERS BOM
BARDED.
A wounded officer has furnished the fol
lowing instance of the way in which the
Germans on the East Prussian frontier
turned natural features of the landscape
into fortifications' (writes a Petrograd cor
respondent, under date December 24). His
battalion,' with two others, backed by field
artillery, was ordered to take a very strong
-position:-'*"!^ early- across the whole German
front was a marsh; on one side was an ele
vated and dry space, and on the other a
paved road. Thick woods protected the
flanks. 'Advance had to be made across
the narrow dry space Zand along the road.
When our men, after "losing heavily from
rifle and shrapnel fire, got within 600 yards
of the. first German trench, tbey were shot
down in scores by sharpshooters in trees
on our right. The Germans easily picked
our men off, and there was no seeing where
they , were hidden in the antupin foliage.
Our nien called the enemy 'fire monkeys.'
We tried to take, by storm the tree fort
ress, but found it completely surrounded
by barbed wire in several rows, with en
tanglements. That foiled our plan. All
the afternoon we shelled the wood. We
knocked down half the trees. When to
wards evening our infantry again advanced,
they found the barbed-wire broken down
in places by falling trunks. Our men now
got under the trees and began a series of
duels with the enemy. The Germans ended
this by a strong counter-attack. They
waded through the marsh water and mud
at a spot we thought impassable. " Next
morning we found the . barbed-wire re
stored. The Germans again shot from the
trees, and picked off officers. I got
wounded there. In the end we had to
bombard the whole copse out of existence.
It appears there were about a hundred
'fire monkeys.' Many stuck to their trees
until the trees crashed down, and s
were killed by taring trunks.":
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