Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-01-22

Earthworks and Blows Men to Bits.
Supplying and Poisoning Others
Shot From Distance Of 800 Yards.
Oxford university has responded
with great enthusiasm to Englands
call for men. Two-thirds OF the mem
bers of the university are either In ac
tive service at the front or training
that they may be sent on. No class
has responded better than the Oxford
dons. All of them up to the age OF
sixty are in training. the younger for
commissions. the older for home de-
Tense should need arise
1t is literally true LAT Oxford Ia no
longer an I."s~n University. The
largest part . me student body are
Ame1,c.h> and indians. with the usu
al nuniher of orientalS and those few
Englishmen who are either under age
OF physically unfit.
Professors and students in the med
ical department Tor that part Of 1t not
in France with the Royal Army Med
zeal corps, are getting degrees by cur
ing the wounded ut home. The exam
nation schools. the Masonic building
and the town hall are military hos
pitfalls. Many Of the college gardens
have been turned over to the Red Cross
for the exclusive use of cOnvalescents
It was found necessary to keep the
Germans, Of whom there are some $50.
in a place apart.
Professor Describes Fighting.
One very interesting description Of
fighting in Belgium comes from Bal
liol professor OF Latin and Greek. who
writes back to his junior dean and has
evidently found things OF more impOr.
lance than sentence or paragraph struc-
ture. He has been q master of scouts
since the outbreak of the war and
writes from somewhere near Ypres.
though the names Of towns and units
were carefully excised by the censor
In France. The letter follows:
This is the thirteenth day in the
trenches. at least think so, but can
hardly tell, and ] have experienced ev-
erything but a bayonet charge and q
wash. We have been holding trenches
in pine wood-at least it was pine
wood, now 1t Is match wood. soaked.
splintered, spattered with wet and
blood. There has been no hand to hand
fighting. 1t has all been done by the
shell and rife fire. with pneumatic
bombs. The Germans main trench runs
In a line. whose nearest point Is 500
and farthest 1900 yards from us. But
in between they have been burrowing
up. and In the last few days, when !
have been scoutmaster. have discov-
cred subsidiary trenches. pits and dug
outs from within 100 to 80 yards Of
our line. You can't see them because
of the tangled woods. but you can hear
the men digging and hacking as soon
as you get Eve yards out. myself
have constantly within the last few
days been within thirty yards. This
morning ! shot at four men in a pit al
a range Of five yards in the weird light
of n damp and frozen winter dawn.
1t was all like dream seeing the
phantom spade rising and falling be
hind a mound Of damp earth, creeping
up pistol in hand through broken and
small tree trunks, peeping down into n
six foot pit. sighting four ghostly. blue
gray figures and punctuating the whole
gray unreality with four red pistol
flashes
Ashamed Of Shipping.
II didn't wait long. | may have hit
one or two. but the others had rifles
in their hands by this time. and their
main line Of dugouts was only twenty
yards in front of me. turned. called
upon the two scouts who were with
me and ned- Il am going to tell you
what brave man am, because
don't know when shall be hit. though
somehow | feel confident shall come
through. and want to leave testi-
mony. You'll think I'm savage.
Shipping Is little better than murder.l
mo one who hasn't seen this can
realize what 1t Is like. The Germans
have terrible machine which has
been brought into play against our
trenches in the last three days. Shot
from a distance Of 300 yards. two
foot long projectile. which one can
watch at all points In its fight. goes
high into the air and comes down al
most plumb at the point aimed at. 1t
is called. ! believe. a Minenwerfer-
200 pounds Of shell. A special corner
Of our ine-not our company section.
thank God--has been their special aim
They put these Internal bombs into
a circle Of thirty yards radius They
smash in the trenches. blow men +"
bits and stupefy and poison others.
II had the escape OF my life yester
day afternoon. I had reconnoitered all
the German positions In front Of us,
going out daily ut dawn and dusk and
nearly always coming within thirty
yards Of our enemy-l and my fOrr
scouts. reckon we have shot some
Germans. though am rotten marks