The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-01-22
.el6l 20 kIenuer kep!LI
DIRECT FROM THE TRENCHES
Prof. j. N. Cru Tells What It Means
To Fight.

= To Fight.
1--WE are like the beasts of the for
est" -prowling by night in search of
food, crouching by day in terror of
bullets, sleepless day and night in
the rain-soaked mud of the freezing
trenches-it is Letter from the
world of war to the world of peace.
1t is the story OF at teacher tprned
soldier. the keen impressions of ].
Norton Cru, for six years instructor
in French at Williams College, who
returned to join his regiment at the
outbreak of war, and who now
writes to his former colleague. DR..
F. b. Barton of springfield in these
terms
I'VE live here apart from the civil
and civilized world, in military and
subterranean waste. and we are so
happy to receive news from your
world, from Williams, which survives
in such contrast to our trenches.
This reminds me that few months
ago ! was teacher, peaceful citi-
zen devoted to his studies. A teach
err? | hardly resemble one now.
My long beard, uncut for months,
gives me an almost wild appearance
the mud OF the trenches covers me
from my heavy boots to my Well
worn KEPT; my garments are torn
and are falling to pieces; my face
goes unwashed 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 the fifteenth of Oc-
tober First we were set to digging
trenches for our comrades, later we
occupied trenches made by others.
Yes. | have directed squad of men
with picks and shovels. And thrilling
it 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
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 IA
we hear the first one. we throw our
selves bat on our stomachs, our faces
close to the ground and wait until
it is over. Then back to the picks
and shovels again
For more than month we were
in vast forest where the hostile
aeroplanes could not see us. We
built huts of branches. where we
lived quietly enough in spite of the
shells which flew over our heads.
destined not for us but for others
One evening, however. as ! was fin
ishing my ration. sharp kissing
noise, followed by a deafening ex.
plosion. filled us with terror 1t was
shell of great caliber, a marmite
as we call them, that had fallen
nearby. In few minutes we were
all in the deep holes that We had
dug near our huts in anticipation OF
just such an exigency. 1t was lucky
for us that we had these retreats.
for other 'marmites' followed whose
enormous fragments moved down
hrn nh oil
us. No one of us was injured
Since then we have moved and
we are now not far from Verdun.
We pass successfully period of four
days in the trenches and period Of
four days in a village somewhat in
the rear, yet not beyond the range of
the German shells The hostile
trenches are at distances from our
own which vary from 600 metres to
scarcely ten (less than thirty-five
feet in certain cases. At the point
where | am stationed a road 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
and are active only at night when
they come out in search OF food.
During the daytime we watch with
out daring to show ourselves for If
head appears but for an instant
above the ground there is the hiss
of a bullet and another poor fellow
has paid with his life for his inn
prudence. AS the trenches are not
very deep. there are only few spots
where it is possible for a man to
stand upright without exposing his
head. There are arteries of com.
munication which connect the diff
ferent trenches. and in them you have
to walk almost bent double. 1t is
very tiresome to remain four days
without being able to stretch your
limbs or to lie down to sleep. We
are forced to remain I'm a sitting pos
ture, crouching low, with cramps in
L.