Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-22
NIGHT TRANSFORMED
INTO INFERNO WHEN
SHELLS HIT TRENCHES
Weird Lights Cast Gro
tesque Shadows AS Sol
diers Prepare to Defend
Burrows From Attacks.
Noise Heightens Effect.
BY PHIL RAIDER
copyright, 1915, by the tinted Press.

onAtlkNNt lVlNt DN NIo NNh''N = lfFN's
LONDON, March 1.-The most pic
turesque and weird hours Of all the life
in the trenches is the time between sun
set and the fall OF darNness.
II the real picture were put on the
stage 1t wouldn't be believed. As YOU
sit and watch 1t yourself YOU feel that
your eyes and mind are deceivlng you.
As the sun sinks and grows red and
the shadows grow long the gulch Of the
trench nils with early night. 1t begins
to grow cold and the frost crystals form
on tho muddy sides Of the trenches, Civ
ing the effect of tinsel or bits Of bright
stones The darkness OF the trench Is
broken now and then by the flare OF a
cigarette puffed nervously or by the flare
of a rifle.
Sllhouetted against tn, red sky is the
erect figure OF Legion soldier his
glisteuing bayonet protruding above tho
trench walls and catching the dying glare
of the suns light. Further along are
tho ugly shadows OF the machine guns.
frightened by the polished brasswork.
a 6 the darkness grows deeper you eaten
a glimpse OF a sharp pin point of light on
a distant hill, which nickers. in the Morse
code "A message from French battery 10
it's comrades many miles distant They
are talking of some new plot to Kill hu-
man beings. There is "A rattle Of rifles,
and their quick flashes, first at one point
in your trench. and then in another.
From afar comes the putt! putt, putt Of
Maxim gun.
GUNS ROAR Al NIGHT.
Nightfall is the machine guns hour.
During the hours of daylight the ma
chine gun men have got their ranges and
fixed their aims, and now, in the dark
ness, when their precious guns are safest
from sharpshooters, they flare out the re-
suits of the days work
From distant corners of the compass
comes the roar of decp-throRted batteries.
The stars seem all the brighter because
you are gazing at them from the bottom
of your black trench. Suddenly the sky
is blsccted by an arc of sparks termi-
mated by beautiful glare of pure white
light. which transforms night into day
for the space of many seconds
THE JUGGLrR" a CLOCK.
The gray of morning is sight Of good
cheer In our trench we measured the
morning light by whether or not we
could SEQ the legs OF the jugger" fut-
terinE in the wind
"The juggler'' was the corpse Of a
Frenchman, which for six weeks lay
some 200 feet in front Of our trenches.
lying on his back with his arms out
stretched, a canvas water bucket clutched
in each hand. his legs sticking up into
the air in q spot so deadly from rife
fire that no one could reach him. The
dead man lay there through the nights
and days. The French called this gro
tesque heap 'the juggler." because they
remembered that Japanese athletes
stretched themselves out in this dead
Frenchman's posture and tossed things
about in the air with their feet
When the rags on the legs of "the
juggler" were plainly seen then we knew
that morning had come, another night OF
madness had passed. and we might sleep
until the night lights and the night noises
broke out again at sunset