The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-11-05
NIGHT WORK IN WAR
Manning a Roaring Cannon In
Total Darkness.
Splinter Of Shell Whlzzes by Writer'S
Head and Buries Itself With a
Thud In cur Fifteen
Shots Fired.
BY GABRIEL pELAeARpe.

"Delagarde, Lerrick you are to &
on duty tonight al the quarry"
And away he goes We prepare oul
things. Besides our cartridge case
which contains Indispensable tuile
articles and a few provisions which 4
prudent soldier always carries wit,
him, such as biscuits and timed beef
we each take our blanket, cap anl
tent canvas, also cane, and start tC
mount the hill.
Just above us a few German shells
fall on the trenches. A fragment ol
a shell breaks the branch OF tree
under which | am sitting
Unfortunately. our guardhouse is
badly situated. We are in AN old sand
quarry, three yards deep. dug almost
on the top OF a hill. The top is nearly
Hat and the two adversaries hang on
to the sides. A hundred yards sepa
rate the two lines OF trenches
Our cannon is installed at the foot
of a little artificial ciiH formed by the
excavation OF the quarry. Our refuge
has been dug alongside. A $50" would
soon demolsh H.
And the refuge Is very narrow II
contains two berths formed of wattles
and supported by heavy logs.
Hardly have we extinguished our
candle than a rat races across our
| faces And be is promptly followed
| by friends who come out of hole
above our heads. These poor beasts
cannot be very comfortable. for they
are devoured by parasites.
Al about seven O'Clock, in our first
troubled sleep, we begin to notice ex.
plosions which seem rather near In
the dead silence OF our shelter and the
black night, deadened by the walls OF
EARTH these brusque detonations
reach us at intervals of one or two
minutes. They come from our right.
from a place where there is a trench
which We know has no. many OcCu.
pants Doubles the earth is flying
But the explosions draw nearer A
"minenwerter' exploding close to us
makes us Jump We hear footsteps
man enters the shelter
We are glad to be disturbed, to get
away from the insects and from that
mutual compression which was so try.
ing We could not even move an arm.
The lieutenant has sent us orders to
fire a few torpedoes in the direction of
IN IKgt vA
mark the direction Then the head
gunner goes out and points the small
dark cannon, which is hardly visible
i'm its black hole We light our way
by means of a candle which we have
to hide under our coat 1t is who go
to bring the torpedoes to the shelter.
crawl in the moons rays, silently.
and soon return. place one in the
cannon's mouth. The third gunner at
taches the fuse; the head gunner sets
light to the wick and we withdraw
hurriedly. Briskly the powder burns
with a sputtering noise,
Each time the shock of air extin
guishes the candle in our shelter
We fire four or five times. mes.
senger arrives
The lieutenant says you can fire as
many times as you like. Fire chiefly /
in retaliation, but you can do as you
like"
We return to our shelter and dis
cuss the situation.
The head gunner says we are to fire |
to the right or to the left, but not in
front of US. as this would draw the
shells our way The Germans will be
deceived as to the direction of our ma.
chimes And the unfortunate infantry
will pay for it!l
We take out our list and mark the
direction. Our head gunner, feeling
himself at liberty, is anxious to tire.
Meanwhile we are being bombarded.
During one of my trips to bring the
torpedoes a splinter OF shell buZzes
over my head and buries itself with
thud in the cliff.
The head gunner gets excited He
wants to keep firing; he would exhaust
our ammunition. He admits he is
afraid Besides, he is the head gun.
ler and is anxious to show it. We sue
oeed in calming him
This night work does not appeal to
ne. | do it unwillingly and the deaf.
sning noise of the exploding prolec-
lies which wait for us does not tend
o make my heart beat with pleasure.
rhe third gunner an old, peaceful ter.
'itorial, thinks the same as t. More
,ver, our head gunner expends this en-.
srgy solely as reaction against mis-
ear. He is as unwarriorIike as pos
iible he hates this war Is it not
curious that rnen like that are often
he most ferocious?
We fire l5 shots. All is silent Not
rifle shot. not an explosion. Moth
ng further troubles the night.
AS it is really too uncomfortable in
he berth roll myself in my blanket
nv tent canvas. and lie down on the
round.
II is now two O'Clock in the morning
Ne shall sleep till six o'clock. when we
hall be called, for today we havr
My twelve hours on duty instead of
wenty four. and thus fortunately only
no niobt IN nags hero