The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1915-05-03
COREY is D
|. FIRE In TRENCH
Soldiers Play Grim Jokes on Core
spondents-They Are Compelled to
Seek Cover Of Understands"
BY Herbert Corey.


LILLE, France, May 8-As l look
back upon today's experience In the
German trenches In front Of La Bassee
n thing stands out wildly. That Is
the way the mines looked as they were
tossed over by the English mortars.
The fell clumslly. end over end. They
looked precisely like beer bottle
quArt-slZed bottles some one had
henved at us for Il Joke. They fell
no faster than bottle would Men ran
and laughed and him themselves IN
the holes IN the trench walls. The
mines shook the ground when they eI
ploded. but my memory Of these
things is almost muted by my recol
lection OF that unCauny. slow tumbling
This Is an unHshamed narration Of
a personal experience. Nine ot us
shared II, all correspondents. We were
the first ncwspapermen 10 reach that
part OF the German trenches which
front against the British We were
shelled the fifth Of Il second in an au
tomobilc's speed would have made this
story AN Ohituary-W were watched
from hostile Heroplaues, and we were
SHIPPED at by English riflemru The
important feature Of the episode IL
that, So far ms we know. we we're the
first observers from neutral nations to
see n mine thruWpr or a thrown mine
I'm hostile operation Perhaps not
one Of us ever spent two such nervous
ly stimulating hours or wants to do
30 again.
We had walked through long mp
proach trenches and were peeriug
through the portfolios M the dead Eng
lishmen who-pOnr devils lie Just
outside. when the Joking started This
Is literal Nine Of us furnished the
low comedy for Il trench filled with
German soldiers. We gave them the
laughter they sorely need For one. /
do not grudge them one single cucklc
OF mirth / can remember the corporal
with a fringe Of beard about his face
the corporal who held his sides and
was only able TO spout "Ach. Gott,
at intervals-with n feeling Of positive
comradshlp TO tell the truth. we
laughed ourselves.
The Officers Mysterious Order.
You can send up four said the OF
ficer IN command OF the trench diyi-
sion In which We We're gaping about
That didn't mean anything to us
then. We saw two men pass along
the trench grinniug from ear TO ear
Each had two cylindrical objects
Rugged tight to his breast. / didn't
examine them closely was not In.
terested. But ! remember they were
about the size " n beer bottle. other
men grinned as they say these things
Still we didn't understand We must
be a peculiarly innocent lot Of re-
porters. our minds are lmperylous to
suspicion.
Down the trench a bit, on Il plat
form cut out OF the dirt walls. stood
q rusty little gun on "A rusty tripod
II looked more like a bit OF worthless
stovepipe than anything else can
think ~. IL was Of peculiarly crude
construction, 70 that the levers and
things about the butt were " raw
Iron, which seemingly had never been
polished. Later we came to know that
abandoned bit " ordnance az n "mlnen-
werfer'-O mine thrower-the pur.
pose OF which Is to gently toss bombs
into the other mans trenches. We also
learned that each side reScnts this
form Of amusement. 1t Ii an almost
invariable rule that the precise mum
Der OF mines thrown ia returned BY
the other fellow We saw the two men
putterlng about this depraypd little
gun. Pretty soon
"Puhwhoosh goo II said.
II didn't make a bang like n real
gun. II went of with a wet, powdcry
sort Of a sputter The soldiers stood
IN attitudes " attention. Those who
were at the portfolios watched with
eagerness. Others who could seize
the periscopce through which r watch
IA kept over the trench entertainments
and gszed eagerly NJ the mirror. There