Gilpin observer., 1915-11-25
sN|PER's GRIM WORK
Sharpshooter's Bullet Has Spe-
ciaI FormidabIeness.
For Hours the sniper Patiently Waits
for the Opening Of loophoie
or the Sight of
Cap.

l
interesting, IL such calculation were
possible, to classify the agencies to
which the total daily casualties are
| due. Whatever the statistics might
prove, the most formidable agency is
still the sniper's bullet.
| 1t is possible, perhaps even proba-
! BILE, that the majority Of British cas-
ualties would be found to be attributed
to shell fire. 1t might be found that
along particular line of trench the
bulk of the men are knocked out by
hand grenades. But the sharpshoot-
ers bullet has a special formidable
ness of it's own such as is enjoyed by
no other weapon.
The shell, the rifle grenade, the
trench mortar at least give some
warning to the ear; the bomb and the
aerial torpedo are visible as they come
through the air in daytime, and may
frequently be lodged. The listen
ers" are generally able to give some
warning as to the operations and prog
ress of hostile miners. The bullet
alone is absolutely unobtrusive, instan-
taneous, and unceasing.
One may take a certain amount of
liberties. as it were, with shell fire.
A single man, or even two men, pro-
vided that they are not obviously peo-
pie of importance, may risk walk
along stretch of ground in view of
the enemys guns, simply because it
is not worth a gunners while to shoot
at every individual enemy he sees.
No such familiarity is safe with a
sniper. He is always on the lookout
for unconsidered trifles, and all the
more ready to fire that his ammuni-
tion is so cheap and plentiful.
This static trench warfare has large
| ly curtailed the activities of the old
| type of sniper-of the sniper, that is
to say, who concealed himself in sCme
neat piece of cover and thence, with
the aid oil telescope sights, picked off
individuals at long range. And this,
| for two reasons.
In the first place, as soon as the
two armies realized that trench war
fare was likely to last for months,
they set to work very naturally to
elaborate their defenses, and have
largely defeated the sniper proper by
the very elaboration and multiplicity
of their communication trenches. And,
secondly, the immobility of the front
has meant that very many of the
sniper's haunts have gradually become
| found out ana are so carefully
watched as to be almost untenable.
The old sniper has thus been forced
more and more into the background,
and finds it increasingly difficult to
get anything like a good days bag.
The other afternoon l was with
two snipers when they at last spotted
German summing himself in field.
The distance was made out to be Just
over 1000 yards. Each of my COM
panions was a well-known big game
shot, and they each fired a couple OF
rounds at the enemy.
The bullets must have gone uncom-
fortably near the mark, for. after each
shot the man ssared about him with
puzzled movement, but he stalked off
unhit. This was, OF course, an ex-
treme range, but the marksmen were
exceptionally good, and their failure
to find anything but so unpromising
target shows clearly enough that
the only possible marks are frequently
set at virtually impossible ranges.
| But, with the temporary extinction
of the sniper proper, there has grown
up host of trench snipers, men who
are constantly firing at from 20 to 900
yards or whatever may be the ridicu-
lously small distance separating the
opposing lines. One of the bewil-
dering features of the war is the daily
publication Of long lists at a time
when there is nothing sufficiently i'm
portant to justify a British COM
munique. Behind the rows of sand
bags which face one another with such
apparent purposefulness. there are the
snipers who will spend hours wait
ing for the opening of loophole the
sight of cap or hand incautiously
raised above the parapet, the hosting
of periscope. a shovel-anything
which may betoken the least undue
activity.
There is constant pitting of pa
tient vigilance against ignorance, care
lessness. or the sneer recklessncss
born of physical fatigue. The strain
of being under shell fire may be more
acute while it lasts, but, in the long
run, 1t is the unintermittent crack of
the bulle, which Jars the nervous sys-
tenn most permanently.
A man, whom | will call "a" was
admittedly one of the first half dozen
rifle shots in Great Britain. In the
early days OF the war his special
value as rapid firer during the Ger
man attacks in masses was great.
"A" was later put in a machine-gun
section, and was finally killed while
going to fetch water for the gun.
That, surely, was job which might
have been detailed to a less valuable