New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-24
J. Norton Cru, College In
structOr, Writes of Life
on Firing Line.
HE NOW DIRECTS
SHOVELLING SQUAD
Tells Colleague on Faculty OF
Feverish Haste TO Construct
EarthWorks at Night.

trenches are living through the long
winter days'is graphically described by
j. Norton Cru. former instructor IN
French at Williams College, in let
ter which was received recently by DR..
W. II. Barton. a colleague on the Will
Jams faculty. Translated, the letter is
as follows:
81 received with great pleasure your
letter Of November %. We live here
apart from the civil and civilized world.
in a military and subterranean waste.
and we are so happy to receive news
from your world, from Williams, which
forms such a contrast TO our trenches
This reminds me that few months ago
! was a teacher, a peaceful citizen, de-
voted to his studies.
"A teacher? / hardly resemble one
now. My long beard, uncut for four
months. gives me an almost wild APP
pearance. the mud Of the trenches COW
crs me from my heavy boots to my
wcll-worn kepei; my garments are torn
and railing TO pieces; my face goes un-
washed for a week at a time (once for
two weeks; all of which is scarcely
PROFESSIONAL.
"The life that ! lead is hard, very
hard, but ! find within myself latent
reserves Of stoicism and healthy vigor
the existence Of which | had not even
suspected. ! have been at the front
since October D. First we were set
to digging trenches for our comrades I;
later we occupied trenches made by
others.
Eyes, my dear fellow, have directed
a squad of men with picks and shovels.
And thrilling 1t is TO do this work on
dark night opposite the German
trenches which are firing upon you.
/ Then you fear the moon, for as soon as
/ il comes from behind a cloud
dzinn, dzinn, comes volley OF rife
balls. We are ordered not TO fire. not
to reply. but TO work fast, very fast
All! these bees Of the night which buzz
in your ears. what horrid sound they
make! As soon as we hear the first
one. we throw ourselves fiat on oui
stomachs. our faces close to the ground
and wait until it is over Then back e
the picks and shovels again.
For more than a month we were in 2
vast forest. where the hostile aero
planes could not see US. We built for
ourselves little huts of branches, where
we lived quietly enough in spite of the
shells that flew over our heads, des
tined not for US, but for others. One
evening. however. as ! was finishing my
ration. sharp kissing noise, FOLLOWED
by a deafening explosion. filled us with
terror. 1t was a she'll Of great calibre
'marmite,' as we call them, that haC
fallen near by.
"In a few seconds we were all in the
deep holes that we had dug near oul
huts in anticipation of just such a con.
tingency. II was lucky for us that We
had these retreats, for other mar
mites followed, whose enormous frag
ments moved down branches and small
trees all about us. No one of us was
injured.
"Since then we have moved, and We
arc now not far from Nerdun. We pass
successfully period of four days in
the trenches and one of four day,
in a village somewhat in the rear, vet
not beyond the range of the German
shells. The hostile trenches are at g
distance from our own which vari IS
from 600 metres 10 scarcely ten less
than thirty-five feet in certain cases
At the point where | am stationed q
broad valley separates the two lines
"Our life in the trenches is very
curious. We are like the beasts of the
forest that hide during the day anc
are active only at night, when they
come out in search of food. During
the daytime we watch without daring
TO show ourselves, for if a head APP
pears but for an instant above ground
there is the hiss OF a bullet and an
other poor fellow has paid with his life
for his imprudence. AS the trenche:
.
few spots where it is possible for s
man % stand upright without exposing
his head.
There are arteries of communication
which connect the different trenches
and in them you have to walk bent al
most double. 1t is very tiresome e
remain four days without being abb,
to stretch your limbs or 10 lie down e
sleep. We are forced TO remain in 6
sitting posture, crouching low, witt
cramps IN our legs and an unbearablC
numbness in our arms.
"Some men sleep a little during the
daytime. For my part, do not sleeI
at all during the four days in tn,
trenches. My duties would prevent ms
from doing so. anyway.
"At night we are freer to show our.
selves. The enemy cannot see us anC
fires at random, or does not fire at al
in order not 10 waste his ammunition
II is during the night that most Of the
work is done. We widen the trenches
deepen the connecting passages or con.
struct new ones, stretch barbed wire
before our trenches, etc. Sometimes
on our right, or on our left, an attack
is going on. Then we watch in perfect
silence, ready to do our part if called
upon.
zone or two kilometres away we
hear the cracking of the fusillade. the
noise Of the grapeshot, like the whirl
Of a coffee mill, and above all tn,
dull roar of the cannon. Then all dies
away into silence and the next morn
ing we learn that we have captured 9
trench or lost one. But don't worry
about me. / am in a regiment of "olC
men" from thirty-fve to forty-twC
years old, and we are given the least
exposed trenches.
at is also at night that the cook:
bring us our provisions, but the sour
and coffee are cold when we get then
after long carriage on a winters
night. Sometimes We can warm up the
stew over the little charcoal brazieri
provided to keep US from freezing. W.
use charcoal because il gives neither
flame nor light. II is the only fire
that does not betray its presence. Il
sometimes happens that we do not
have even this meagre heat at time
when we most need il. Then we suffer
veritable tortures.
1--WE endured this from November
Is to 22. and not few men had THEN
feet frozen. In general we can pro.
tect ourselves from the cold, Dut
against the rain we are powerless
From December TO s we had -four
days of rain in the trenches and in