Evening journal., 1915-02-08
BY William G. SHEPHERD

and his clothes were caked ia the mud /
Of the trenches. and YOU could smell |
horse. gasoline ana gunpowdor wnen !
he entered the compartment of the
train. He was a human Whit straight
from the battle lines and he was so
delighted with the prospect of his STA
day leave of absence that in spite of
being an English jOr, and taci cfore
one of the most silent men on earth,
he wanted to talk II began about
the weather. and from that, shifted to
the mud in the trenches.
"rhcse American rubber waders arc
the only things to keep out the water"
he said. "W0dcrs" is the English
name for rubber boots Tho only
trouble with them is that sometimes
the water i'm the trenches is so deer
that il overtops the wadcrs and you
aosh around With them full Of mud
and water They ought TO come up 20
yCur hips.
"HcW much mud and water 40 yol
really have in the trenchcs?"
My dear man. some of my troops
have spent FIVE or six days in mud
above their knees II was so deep
that they could not lie down without
drowning in il. And what's worse
some nights il was so cold that skim
Of ice froze over the water as the men
stood in it. These didn't have waders
They were not protected from the icy
water in any way"
Don't think they die of colds No.
it's most extraordinary, but men who
have had stomach trouble and had TO
be careful of their eating, before they
went into the trcnchc- find after a
week. or So. that thcj -tomach- become
fine and stromg They can cat any
thing and as much as they want. They
don't Get much exercise hut the open
air lite makes new men of them.
~ on SEQ. really we're in winter
quarters 81 are the Germans don't
suppose the GENERAL. ON either side in
tended that there should Ice any lull in
1 the lighting thi. winter. but nature had
its way We couldn't tight if we want
ed TO- Pvc been in an important part
cf the line and we haven't done any
real lighting tor six weeks.
ITS a wonderful sight though tine
trench country All YOU can sec are
barb wire fences. The trenches are So
we'll made that YOU can't Distinguish
them from even short distance.
There's utter silence. most of tho tinc.
/ It's at night that We nave lively times.
! Each side is expecting the other to pour
out of the trenches and make an at.
tack; the situation is always very tense
in the darkness
Pm not saying that the men don't
70 to sleep, but there arc lookouts
whose nerves arc strained 10 high {
lall the time. The slightest movement
of any sort in the direction Of tho en-
cmy's trenches sets the lookout firing
Il may have been only a weed, stirring
IN the wind but that's enough for him
The men all Jump mp and begin firing
Immediately. whether they see any.
thing or not The firing runs down the
trench, some times for miles. This is
because we are afraid the Germans may
rush from their trenches and charge rs
"Thcn the Germans wake up. They're
afraid that all the noise means that
1--WE are charging THEM. They mattel
MS in noiso-making. They shoot int,
the darkness even though they may se'
nothing. This may 60 on for ten o.
fifteen minutes, and then an astonish
ing thing happens; great bomb o
white light eNplodes between the TIVE
trenches. That's a bomb of good cheer
even If the enemy did fire it. II mean
that the enemy wants to see whether
we're charging or not And it alsf
mcans that the Germans are not chaig
ing. These white night bombs have
come to lie taken as a signal from the
cncmy-and the Germans take the Same
signal from us-that there is TO be i'
charge and that the nervous sentry
who fired tho first alarming shot wat
mistaken.
"'It was all mistake. Let's quit
firing and go to sleep again" is what
the German white bomb tells US. OF
what our white bomb may tell the
Germans. And the firing gradually
dies out; silence falls again on the
trenches and it isn't until daybreab
that we really begin shooting again
i've never been able to explain the
shooting at daybreak. II alway'
J opens up. whether the officers start il
or not The men do it themselves.
suppose. perhaps, they do II to make
good with their officers for what's
going to happen at seven o'clock"
what does happen at Z o'clock
"Why they all stop lighting until
breakfast is over. One man after an
other lays down his rife and begins &c
cat the food that has been brought tC
him. via the communicating trenches
: And you can't hear any shooting unit
o'clock. Both the English and the
German officers, by tacit understand
ing, give their men from to
o'clock for eating and smoking.
"These English and German sol
dicrs know each other by face ant
even by name. And the astonishin.
thing is that they don't hate eacl
other. You can't keep up that feelini
of blind hatred between the trenches
You know that Christmas truce was
bad thing for the soldiers. from
military standpoint
Aud then the major said an astonish
ing thing
"If YOU wanted to end this war. al
you'd have to do would be to lot th
men have another truce or two lik
that Christmas one They'd get -
talking TO catch other and suddenl
they'd decide that the whole busines
was foolishncss and they'd lay dow
their guns and go back home.
PETROGRAD. Jan. 24-(By Mail 4
Now Yorkl-Thc latest Russian wo
man TO be decorated with the Cross o
ST. George for valiant services on th
battlefield, is Lydia =. Tychinia, nov
r...., s,.,ttr,de II, nuC ar III