The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-09


 Afansieff who has been studying the new born love of soldiers and of civilians for trench and dug-out dwellings. Afansieff says that if the war lasts much longer (as it is bound to last), half Poland and a great part of France Belgium and Aus tria; perhaps, too. of Germany, will be digging itself deeper into the earth in or der to avoid shells, keep warm, and escape the deadening, nerve rending thunder thunder of 10000 guns. The soldiers will have got so used to underground life that they will feel as wretched in house as a Troglodyte would feel at dancing class.
 "The social results for civilians" he continues, will be equally remarkable They will first get used to their mud homes and then they will come to like them. Thus Europe will gradually revert to a cave dwelling stage. The caves vii bo in Mother Earth. Later we may get to stage which resembles the time when man was not. when rabbit-like mammals first took to borrowing holes That will; be the chief service to mankind of the Armageddon which began in 1914. and which will last till 2o-?"
 This is not a Bulwer-Lytton dream of the future. It is what Afansie1f calls a bello- sociological fact. The social conse- quence of modern war. Outside this city one already sees the trend The soldiers begin to like their dug-outs, and to hate the tedium and needless circumstance of the modern house. Soldiers sent back for ] a rest find the best rest in trenches. Dur Ing the last three weeks the fighting on Bsura. Rawka and Nida dwndled in in |. .fxxlx ing of his mems comfort, arranged relief system under which men would be sert in l succession to the rear for a rest. The men first were delighted. They went to the rear. But they refused to dwell in the windy Polish cabins many of which have shell holes through the roofs. They found better resting and sleeping places, of q kind which they had come to love These | were the trenches and field Notifications between the present fighting front and ! Warsaw. The Germans made these forti- fleatons when they advanced too near Warsaw in October and there are still bigger works made by our army for de- fense in case the present line is aban- doned. Some lines of entrenchments stretch without break for 10 miles ] There are endless galleries well covere l in On top. Far under the parapets stretch oblong holes as big as rooms. The lnder- , ground halls are supported by balks sc l that the fOO1 Will not 1du III, many ar | foored with boards and carpeted with straw. The Germans at Pjassetchno dug underground rooms 10 yards square and | boarded the ceiling, floor, and walls. FIX , cept for lighting and ventilation, these rooms are better than the room Of the average peasants hunt The rooms need nc firing Above the earth 1t is below
 freezing point; there is no fuel; and a
 whp-lke wind misses over the plains , Underneath, the temperature is seven or
 eight degrees milder, and soldier With a good overcoat can keep himself warm.
 At first the relieved soldiers went to ! Warsaw. There they felt out of .iiings
 and now they crowd into the empty fortii fcations sleep all night and part of tn.
 day, and have a good rest. Cards ar.
 played, and as there Is no drink. relief Q life goes smoothly and merrily. Best ot
 all is the quiet. In the advanced trenches
 night and day proceeds a detestabie
 nerve wrecking cannonade which hurts worse than shrapnel bullet. The soldiers . cannot talk, and swearing, being heard by
 no one gives no relief. They long for
 quiet When they creep into the still 6 placid, sound proof earth holes, 1t IS like
 getting rid of a week-old toothache. The, U sleep steep. sleep. When they awake they are merry: they adorn their eartf
 holes with sacred images, and sing th'
 reliefmans trench song, which runs a'
 follows:
 l ''Vrashe zemlianoi khatye,
 Spiom mu <ak na vatye-
 Which means:
 "In our houses underground
 We sleep as if on cotton wool
 saw these relief men in the aban
 doned German earthworks at Blone
 BIone Is 20 miles from the front ane l12 from Warsaw. and across the rail
 way are the German works. Towards the works were marching score O . newly arrived relief men. They were !. covered with mud; had long boards; ant = thin drawn, ancient faces They ha'
 been fighting for three weeks withou | more than a few hours unbroken sleep When these arrived, out of the earth works tumbled party of relief sapper7 who had been resting for week. The! were even muddier than the newly come men, but they were rosy, fresl and placid. Having had 8 rest In tn earth they wore ready for moro fight ing. An officer from the artillery re pair works came to see them "A res in a dugout." he said to me, Is wort two rests in a noisy town. It turns al old man into a young man" l aske what about getting wet. He said tha when no fight is gong on, 1t Is very eas Ito keep dry. The men had time to drail the trenches and corridors. In spite O mixed rain and wet snow the Blon earthworks were perfectly dry.
 | Into Warsaw come relieved officer: You see them in the side streets. rougf unshaven, wild. and as muddy as thei men. They live at second-rate hotel and small inns The rich ones. havin no clothes, fear to go to good hotel: met Lieutenant Melton whom kne, in Moscow as a "one-year volunteer. He was staying at a small hotel in tn grubby Stare Miesto. He told me he ha been in the field for i've months; an . had never since been in a town of mor
 than 10000 inhabitants. The last cfv1 . ized town he had seen was Soldau 1 F East Prussia. He said he had becom decivilized. When he and his conrad k officers got a fortnight's relief res
 they looked forward to Warsaw as
 dream of heaven. Warsaw the city c
 clean people. where there is no nois
 but talk and laughter. where there ar
 real beds to sleep in. These dreams wer a frustrated. The officers had got so wal d inured and feld-inured that tho cit e displeased them. When they got out g the Kalisch depot they were bewildere ' by the street confusion. They locke n shame facedly at their muddy clothe
 and wanted to hide the impossib c packs in which they had their luggag They found a mirror in the depot. Hay ling seen their drawn, wild faces, the
 got the first fright we have had s this war-it was worse than the eight inch shells"