The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1915-01-20
CLOCK STOPPED
BY HUGE SHELL
German Gunners Sit Like
Dumb BruteS" While Fired
On By Enemy,
SEND ANSWER NEXT DAY


stationed oro sp,i.,t,J =, ,un fire
""''" never O''"'' mas I'"'o'u sue"
an average of accuracy, and at times
must protect thonscl,r, against the
attacks Of the enemy, ayiutors
In letter lust published here this
Is well Illustrated After dwelling ou
the comforts Of the homhprqof cave
In which the men Of the butter, dwell
in which they even have tables.
chuirs, lockers and stoyr. the writ
or continues ~ follows. the shifting
lenses being his:
"A tremendous black column of
earth rises from thc ground us the
shells strike ncur u-. The clock In
cur cave strikes "a, If scared out NJ It's
wits. and then stops Everything
trcmhles aud shakes The dry curth
un the sides Of the bumhpruof prrl-
of and falls.
We sit quietly waiting for the
shell that viii bury us Onr after an.
other falls close hy, but the one We
wait for does mot come The enemy S.
huttery has fired five shots aud now
stops
An hour lutrr the uumhardmrut
started again We sat there like par
ulyzcd. ON the table Il cigar burned
a hole In u glove Nobody had scusc
or ambition enough tu prevent t.
when the homhnrdmcut WAS over
everybody felt peculiar sort of fu
tiguc All conversation ceased Ouc
of The men left his seat and wmriy
threw himself upon the straw bed Re.
fore he went to sleep he turned over
and whispered.
Partridge Pie Cheered Squad
The worst of It was that We were
not permitted ~ return the fire SO
doubt the division staff had IT, good
reasons Tor that Things would be dit.
lcrcnt had we been able to return shot
for shot We would have been of the
|hosl spirits in that case. But tu -it
there like dumb brutrs and wait for
orders under such fire was bad
|rNpcrlcnce
".lhc day passed in this manner
The curmys fire ceased nt T o'clock
40 the evening and, after meal ot
bacon bread, aud coffee made Of cp
reals We felt better A partridge pie
! which my mother had sent me help
ed to cheer us up.
Next morning at five the order -
ready for fire. came hy telephone
Man the guns-dstance 100 yards
shell, fire, said the voice at the other
end Of the wire Though II was still
dark, we heard from the distance tn,
thrashing Of infantry fire
"Our shells shrek aud whistl,
across the plain Shot well placed
battery salyos every ten seconds
distance now 200 yards telephone,
the observation officer
'Ihr fun commences. II is hHU,
work Persplration rolls off us lik,
the rain, which has Just commence,
TO fall
"But the enemy's motor battery al
sO starts again The first shell hit
near our position The second ON,
hits the bomb proof; we had been 10
Gated. A yerltable sea Of explosion,
surrounds us lightning detonatiOnS
crashes. shrleks, smoke and powder
stencil give our environment the ap
pearance uf the crater uf Il volcano
We are covered with mud which IN,
ciemy's shells throw up and which
descends ON us like hail.
Gunner Did Not Move
80 49, shouted at the gunner
but he did not move.
Fischer :. was my next shout Al
that moment the body Of the gunner
Slipped between the seat and IN,
sighting mechanism. noticed that
fragment " shell had entered hl
forehead
Gently We placed the body tu on,
side, and another gunner took IN,
seat We continued our fire calmly
steadily IN our minds saw the de-
Hines or thc pnrmy's infantry
$50 # continued for some finn.
.In.cn came from the observation NJ,