Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-14
HOW SOLDIERS
FARE IN TOWER
Men Stationed in Artillery EN-.
placement Have to Be Patient
Under Fire.

Munich, Jan. 13.-Life in Al artil.
lery emplacement is exciting. Men
so stationed are subjected to gun.fre
which never before, has reached such
an average of accuracy, and at times
must protect themselves against the
attacks of the enemy's aviators.
In a letter just published here this
Is we'll illustrated. After dwelling
on the comforts of the bomb proof
cave in which the men Of the battery
dwell-in which they have even, ia.
bles, chairs, lockers and a stove--the
writer continues as follows, the shift.
ing lenses being his:
"A tremendous black column of
earth rises from the ground as the
shells strike near us. The clock in
our cave strikes as if scared cut o,
It's wit, and then stops. Everything
trembles and shakes. The dry earth
on the sides Of the bomb-prooe peels
off and falls.
"We sit quietly-waitiMg for the
shell that will bury us. One after
another falls close by, but the one
We wait for does not come. The en-
emy's battery has fired five shots and
now stops.
IAN hour later the bombardment
started again. We sat there like par
alyzed. On the table a cigar burned
a hole into a glove. Nobody hac
sense or ambition enough to prevent
it. ....
when the b~ombardment was over,
everybody felt a peculiar sor of ia
tigue. All conversation ceased. One
of the mea left his seat and YEARLY
threw himself upon the straw bed.
Before he went to sleep, he turned
over and whispered:
"'Call met ~
"The worst of it was that we were
not permitted to return the fire. No
doubt the division staff had its good
reasons for that. Things would be
different had we been able to return
shot for shot. We would have been
of the best spirits in that case Eut
to sit there, like dumb brutes, and
wait for orders under such a fire was
a bad experience.
THE day passed il this maner. Tie
enemy's fire ceased at 100 in the
evening, and after a meal of bacon,
bread and coffee, made of cereals. we
felt better. A partridge pie, which
my brother had sent me, helped to
cheer us up. .
Next morning at 500 the order:
Ready for fire.! came by telephone.
Man the guns-distance 2,1O0 yards
shell fire. said the voice at the 9th.
er end of the wire. Though it was
still dark, We heard from the distance
the %thrashing of infantry fire.
"Our shells shrek and whistle
across the plain. Shot we'll placed
battery salvos-every ten seconds one
distance nov 1900 yards tslephon.
ed the observation officer. &C.
"The fua commences. 1t is hard
work. Precipitation rolls off US like
the rain, which has just commenced
to fall.
"E'ut the enemy's motor battery al-
so starts again. The first shell hits
near our position. The second one
hits the bombproof-we had been To-
Gated. A veritable sea of explosions
surrounds us-lightning detonatioas,
crashes, shrieks, smoke and powder
stencil give W environment the ap-
pearance of the crater of a volcano.
We are covered with mud which the
enemy's shells throw up and which
descends on us like hail.
"'2,175,'. l shouted at the gunner.
But he did not move.
"'Fischer!' was my next shout. At
that moment the body of the gunner
S1inno1 h1tyvoon Tho cant o~J kho
sighting mechanism noticed that a
fragment of a shell had entered his
forehead.
Gently We placed the body to M
side and another gunner took the
seat. We continued our fire-calmly
-steadily-in our minds saw the de-
struction wrought by our shells in the
lines of the enemy's infantry.
$50 it continued for some time,
then cana from the observation sta
ton the command: Cease fire for
awhile
I'm the afternoon another shell hit
our position, and another man had
to be laid aside. He was a lovable
fellow. Later we buried the two.
Rain fell throughout the night anG
next day. BY noon our bombproof
was filled with water. We waded
around in that up to our waists. Lat
er in the day the bombproof caved IL
and we saved nothing but the tele~
phone instrument, our carbines and
coats. we then spend some time in
the cellar of a nearby farmhouse and
tomorrow we 60 back for a rest. Our
place will be taken by a reserve regi.
me1t with wonderfully clean uniforms
and brand new brown boots. Our uni
forms have all the colors of the rain.
bow on a mud-yellow background"
BIG BUSINESS ASSURED.