Evening star., 1915-01-18
PLANTS TR|C0L0R
|NFRONT OF FOE
Soldiers Courage Is Combined
With Touch of Caustic
Humor.
OFFICER DESCRIBES
DARING OF SLATER
Two Germans Seeking to Tear Down
Flag of Foe Meet
Death.


Foreign Correspondence Of The Star.
PARIS. January 5-For cool courage
combined with a touch Of caus..c hu
NOR. this exploit recounted in an Off
GERS letter would be hard to beat.
You must know that our trenches
are about 200 yards from those of the
Boches. and separated from them by,
on the right, field of beetroot, to the
left field Of stubble. Between the
two fields. and equi-distant from both
trenches. is a derelict reaping ma
chine, which plays the chief part in
my story. Last night at o'clock
was luxuriously stretched out on my
mattress in the trench dormitory. when
there was a knock at the improvised
door. and one of my troopers. a sturdy
Savoyard. came in.
Mon lieutenant" he said, Il am very
happy. have just received package
from home
Splendid I said; you'll have some
ehmg to keep you warm-a fine jersey,
I betY
NO said my savoyard; you would
lose your bet. What I have received
Is big French flag that l asked for.
I had an idea of my own
And what was that, l asked.
Plan of the Soldier.
I'm tell you.' said the soldier. L
nave cut stick twelve feet long and
fastened the flag to it. With your per-
mission I shall now go and attach it
to the reaping machine In front of the
Germans trenches. Thatll remind
them that they are not on their own
territory, fact they seem to rather
forget sometimes
"But, my man. l objected. the idea
is sheer madness. With this bright
moonlight you'll be riddled like sieve
before you go ten yards
"'Don't worry. mon lieutenant. he
answered. confidently, L am slater by
trade. and know how to crawl on my
stomach
Seeing that his heart was set on the
venture. I gave him permission. and
off he went delighted Half an hour
later the French flag was waving in
front of the German trenches, and my
Savoyard-the slater by trade-was
back in our lines without a scratch
We'll l said, laughing, this is all
very fine for the moment, but what If
the Boches pull your flag down and put
one of their own in its placer
If you come back in a quarter of an
hour you shall see what you shall see.
Finds Carriage Bell.
Come back I did at the appointed
time. and found. suspending from
string between two stakes a fine car
riage bell with placard beside it,
bearing the words. Alarm signal In
case of danger pull the cord
What nv Savoyard had done was
simply this: He had crawled out again
to the reaper and attached a string to
the staff of the flag, connecting this
string on his return to the trench with
the bell, which he had unearthed some
where.
Tragic Side of Trick.
Next day the story of the flag had
made the rounds of the trenches, and
my Savoyard had to do the honors Of
his installation to all the staff officers
of our division. But the tragic side of
the successful trick was to come. 1t
was supplied by the enemy.
"In broad daylight two German SOL
diers left their trenches and ran to-
ward the flag-to be shot down ten
yards away from the reaping machine.
1t had been not forlorn nope Tor
them but sheer suicide. What had hap
pened must have been this: That morn
ing the German officer when he reached
his trench had been infuriated by the
sight of the hated tricolor. He must
have summoned the two men on sentry
to tear it down. Obedience and dis
obedience alike meant death. They
chose to die by our bullets rather than
by their officers hand"