The Washington herald., 1915-01-10
TRENCHES OFFER
MANY COMFORTS
Cook Stoves and Bathtubs
Among Conveniences of
Soldiers.
TROOPS SLEEP In CAVES
Officer Tells of Scenes of Desolation
in Wake of Allied Armies
Operating in West.
TROOPS SLEEP In CAVES
sp.ial Cable to me Washington Hrr.Id.

SPECIAL Cabie to The Washington Herald.
London Jan. s.-Life in the trench is
not so bad after all, it would seem from
the following account by a white officer
of Sikh regiment.
THE last nine days we have been in
the firing line. There one exists in strong,
narrow, deep trenches. The top of the
trench is loop-holed for firing. and be-
low-inside-is a banquette, or step, on
which the men stand when they are
shooting. Behind this, and a little lower,
comes the bottom OF the trench, up and
down which one walks about and where
one is five and one-half feet or more
underground.
In our last trenches we labored in
cessantly and got the whole of the bot
tom of our trench paved with. bricks
from ruined houses in rear of the posi-
tiOn. The men had little caves, or dug
outs, in the front wall of the trench
in which to lie down. and in the rear wall
little fireplaces for cooking and drying
their clothes.
Leading away from the firing-line are
what We call communication trenches,
up which come our rations from the rear
and our water. We are well fed and
cook our own meals and wash up our
own plates, etc, such as they are.
Plenty of Drink.
For drink they supply us with the
wine Of the country or rum, but I con-
fine my own potations TO quantities of
tea or cocoa, which We get in plenty.
From the ruined houses behind, one can
collect all sorts OF treasures-knives,
forks, stew-pots, wood. coal. and all sorts
of things that make life bearable.
The officers dug-out is just an i'm
provement on the mems II he chooses to
have it made so. I had a shelter put
over the top OF my last one, and two
sacks hanging from it to keep out the
rain. 4 fireplace in front, and the two
blankets and a waterproof sheet that we
take with us in the trenches, plus my
coat and waterproof, kept me warm and
dry. In fact there We were well on.
In the place where I joined the regi-
ment things were different. There was
no dry banquette for the men to fire from
and nothing had been done to pave the
bottom of the trench, so one walked up
and down in the mud and never had dry
or warm feet. 1t rained continually,
and we had no fires. Ny dug-out leaked,
and at night used to get out in the
trench from time to time. and mark
time in the mud to dry TO get warm.
Shipping Incessant.
"A few men all along our line are al
ways on the lookout and fire from time
to time to keep the enemy down. The
rest remain in their dug-outs in readi-
ness in case of attack. and cook, eat and
sleep. The Germans play the same game,
50 night and day this sniping goes on in
cessantly; and now and then a man gets
hit-but We have beer very lucky and
have lost very few men indeed. From
time to time the enemy's guns open fire
usually at regular hours OF the day
and keep it up for about half an hour.
"One even learns to know what is COM
ing. There is the shrapnel with its quick
passage through the air. the loud bang
as IT explodes overhead. and the sharp
whistle of the shrapnel bullets through
the air. There is the distant stately
boom of the big gun Of the black maria
type. followed by the long. drawn-out
whistling sound Of the heavy shell lum-
bering through the air-slowly as one
would imagine from the sound-IilSe some
huge bumble-bee complaining of the task
Of having to travel so far and ending
in a loud "Crump'' as it bursts on the
ground throwing up clouds of mud and
black smoke.
These shells give one plenty of warn
ing by their sound, and one soon gets to
know where they are going. The rife
fire from in front sounds like the sharp
crack Of a whip. and always there is the
heavier hang Of our own men firing in
reply. Our GUNS fire on and off, and
make wonderfully good practice. They
drop heavy shells from far behind us on
to the German trenches. and now and
then give them n dose of shrapnel. And
through all this noise. one soon learns
to live and sleep-just as you do at
home.