Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-05-14
CAPTAINS MAIN
DUTY NOT TO
LEAD CHARGE
Keeping Men Cheered Up Is the
Vital Point, as French
Officer Tells It.
SOME SOCIAL EVENINGS
Artillery Lieutenant Ventures to Say,
the-F amous rs" Is ,"of Little Use"
Fire 10 Too Direct-surprise
Ahead for the Germans.
BY GABRIEL pELAcARpE.


Correspondent Chicago Daily News)
Amiens, France.-He is q captain
who comes to Amiens from time to
time for few days of rest. Here
he has comfortable quarters, where
his wife impatiently awaits him; in
the small village near Albert all he
has to 60 to is a subterranean cabin,
the ceiling Of which is of earth. =
This, his permanent residence, is
on crest 500 yards frc1f>,the enemy.
The narrow space, with its wall of
clay; measures perhaps four yards
in length by one in width. Entering
and seeing the owner Of the place, his
back to the wall, a shapeless bundle
OF animals skins, one might imagine,
were it not for telephone in the
corner, that one had been carried back
to prehistoric times.
Sleeps, Eats, Works in Cave.
1t is here the captain sleeps, eats,
writes and gives and receives his or
ders. 1t is here that, through the en-
brasure which overlooks the plain, he
constantly surveys the little wood to
the left, and, in the distance, those
narrow lines Of yellow earth, the
enemy's trenches. 1t is from this cave
that he regulates the firing OF the
French batteries so that their shells
will hit the real trenches filled with
men, not the counterfeit ones which
are masses of earth
A narrow; zigzag passage connects
the small hut with the, first line
trenches. Three or four times day
the captain splashes through It. In
spite Of the trunks of trees, with
which the bottom is covered, the wet
clay lie slippery. .,-.,...
This is why my coat is so thread
BARE" he says. Constant brushing Of
the mud wears away the cloth. And
what is more annoying even than fall
Ing fiat In the clay is being splashed
on the head by wet earth hurled BY
a she'll" H. =. H.
Thus slowly and. cautiously one ar.
rives at the advanced trenches.
Real Duty Of a Leader.
DO you know the most difficult part
Of chiefs duty?" the captain asked
me. 1T is not SO much directing a
combat. At times attacks are rare:
we have not had single one for two
months. The real duty of the chief
is to sustain the morale OF his men:
watch over them; talk to them famili.
arly Of their families. their Affairs. as
it is that which interests them most,
1t is to improve the quality of their
food, prepare what hardly dare call
a social evening, when they can drink
cup Of tea and eat few cakes or
dered from Amiens. In short, one
must be constantly watching them.
talking to them, encouraging them
For instance, recently, one of our
sentinels at the entrance to a smaIl
wood was killed one night. Our patrol
found him at the foot OF a tree with
his throat cut. A second sentinel met
the same fate. "A third likewise.
Captain Called to Calm Men.
AT once my men became uneasy
What was to be done? No one had
heard anything. Sentinels are sta.
toned there at night only. to prevent
q surprise in the trenches. They are
stationed near an isolated oa (. whence
lthsyg survey the path which Is the
only outlet practicable through the