The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-15
.HOL IDAY TRUCE
 CHEERS ARMIES

Paris, Jan. 15.-The following is sent from the trenches in Northern France by a correspondent who vols unteered for service with the British army at the beginning of the war:
 Although ther was no formal truce declared during the holiday season, the fighters here had several days of quiet, by tacit consent.
 Germans and Eng1ishmen met on the plain field between the lines, shook hands, swapped tobacco, told stories, and were even planning an International football game when
 the weather turned bad. All day long there was much searching for souvenirs to send home.' and hum. dreds of fragments of shell or broken equipment were picked up in sections of the field where ordinarily it would mean sure death for 8 sol- dier to show himself.
 "All rifle fire stopped at twilight
 on Christmas Eve. During the
 evening both sides placed candles and little bonfires as Christmas lights along the top Of the trenches.
 intended to take advantage of the temporary peace, the soldiers began
 to climb out Of their trenches and
 took up positions in the bright moon
 light on the flat ground in front. Back and forth across, that two hun dred yard field they greeted each other with wishes for a Merry Christmas. There was much cheer ing, speech making, singing carols, and a little dancing. The English
 men got out their hymn books. with. which most of the soldiers are pro-. vided, and sang Lead Kindly Light. Abide With Me, and While Shep-
 herds Watched~ Their Blocks by
 Night The hymns were interspers- ed with such favorites as Mandelay euv7 iA
 Gradually a few of the groups
 from the two sides drifted closer to- l gether. Everybody was unarmed. f One of the foremost German groups waved a bottle of wine toward the nearest English groups and invited | them to join the party. After a mo-
 ment or two the Engishmen started l over, carrying a Christmas cake and "a box of chocolates. The men shook hands all around, and immediately cheers and cIapping came on1 both
 sides of the field. where English and l Germans alike had been anxiously 1 watching the meeting The group I had assrnoke and drink together, and very soon large parties of the late enemies were seen chatting together. All the time in the distance couid
 be heard the sound of artillery fl glat- | ing
 ssThe Enghshmen swapped pipe l tobacco for German cigars, and | BI1uSn ecanO1oS TOT C11Oc05 Hate. Later in the evening the Ger . mans sent over to the British
 trenches a small Christmas tree, with various cheerful messages and \, little gifts tied on it's branches, Il Ion Christmas Day the British
 soldiers brought a football out in front of @he trenches and invited the Germans to send a team over for a game during the afternoon They \ promised to do thiss but the weather I-or their officers-prevented it. J, soldiers uns1ung their cameras rI and took snapshots Of Itt1e groups o1 . men from both sides hob-nobbins { together. During the morning, some [ of the gayer spirits organized whai
 they called a fantastic parade 9ed by a German youth who had some l, how obtained possession of high , hat and dress suiti Among the 7 paraders were two soldiers mounted
 on old bicycles without tires
 t'The happy scene was rudeIy in. : corrupted about one o'clock in the ] afternoon by the arrival of a bis shell, fred from a battery severa nales in the rear. when sent every. body scurrying back to the trenches Ifor a time. ta Later in the, afternoon British ] soldiers helped the enemy bury ter t German soldiers whose bodies wer, : found in ditch in front of the Ger. ]. man trench. They were killed a fev q days ago in an attempt the Eng g fish outpost-s
 r.