The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-10-30
NIGHT WORK IN WAR
Manning a Roaring Cannon in
Total Darkness.
Splinter OF Shell Whizzes by Writers
Head and Buries Itself With a
Thud In ciiff-Fifteen
Shots Fired.
By GABRIEL DELAGARDE.


At the Front, in French army.-We
have scarcely finished our dinner
when an under-ofiicer appears at our
stable door.
"Delagarde, Lerrick, you are to 60
on duty tonight at the quarry"
And away he goes. We prepare our
things. Besides our cartridge case,
which contains indispensable toilet
articles and a few provisions which a
prudent soldier always carries with
him, such as biscuits and timed beef
we each take our blanket, cap and
tent canvas. also a cane, and start to
mount the hill.
Just above us a few German shells
fall on the trenches. A fragment OF
a shell breaks the branch OF a tree
under which | am sitting
Unfortunately, our guardhouse IL
badly situated. We are in an old sand
quarry, three yards deep. dug almost
on the top of hill. The top is nearly
fat and the two adversaries hang on
to the sides. A hundred yards sepa'
rate the two lines of trenches.
Our cannon is installed at the foot
of a little artificial cliff formed by the
excavation of the quarry. Our refuge
has been dug alongside. A $50" would
soon demolish it.
And the refuge is very narrow. 1t
contains two berths formed of wattles
and supported by heavy logs.
Hardly have we extinguished our
candle than a rat races across our
faces. And he is promptly followed
by friends who come out of a hole
above our heads. These poor beasts
cannot be very comfortable. for they
are devoured by parasites.
At about seven o'clock. in our first
troubled sleep, we begin to notice ex-
plosions which seem rather near. In
the dead silence of our shelter and the
black night, deadened by the walls Of
earth, these brusque detonations
reach US at intervals of one or two
minutes. They come from our right,
from place where there Is a trench
which we know has not many occu-
pants. Doubles the earth is flying.
But the explosions draw nearer. A
"minenwerfer" exploding close to US
makes us Jump. We hear footsteps.
A man enters the shelter
We are glad to be disturbed. to get
away from the insects and from that
mutual compression which was so try
ing. We could not even move an arm.
The lieutenant has sent us orders to
fire few torpedoes in the direction of
the wood. We examine our list and
mark the direction. Then the head
gunner goes out and points the small
dark cannon. which is hardly visible
in its black hole. We light our way
by means Of a candle which we have
to hide under our coat. 1t Is who go
to bring the torpedoes to the shelter
l crawl in the moons rays. silently.
and soon return. l place one in the
lannon's mouth. The third gunner at
taches the fuse; the head gunner sets
a light to the wick and we withdraw
Briskly the powder burns
with a sputtering noise.
Each time the shock of air extin-
guishes the candle in our shelter
We fire four or five times. A mes
senger arrives.
"The lieutenant says you can fire as
many times as you like. Fire chiefly
in retaliation, but you can do as you
like"
We return to our shelter and dis
cuss the situation.
The head gunner says we are to fire
to the right or to the left, but not In
front of us, as this would draw the
shells our way The Germans will be
deceived as to the direction Of our ma
chimes. (And the unfortunate infantry
will pay for IT'D
We take out our list and mark the
direction. Our head gunner. feeling
himself at liberty, is anxious to fire.
Meanwhile we are being bombarded.
During one of my trips to bring the
torpedoes a splinter of a shell buzzes
over my head and buries itself with a
thud in the cliff.
The head gunner gets excited He
wants to keep firing; he would exhaust
our ammunition. He admits he Is
afraid. Besides. he is the head gun.
ner and is anxious to show it. We sue.
coed in calming him.
This night work does not appeal to
me. ! do it unwillingly and the deaf.
ening noise of the exploding projec.
tiles which wait for us does not tend
to make my heart beat with pleasure.
The third gunner. an old. peaceful ter
thinks the same as |. More
over. our head gunner expends this en-
ergy solely as a reaction against his
fear. He is as unwarriorlike as pos
sible; he hates this war. Is II not
curious that men like that are often
the most ferocious?
We fire Is shots. All is silent Not
a rifle shot. not an explosion. Moth
ing further troubles the night.
AS it is really too uncomfortable In
the berth roll myself in my blanket,
my tent canvas. and lie down ON the
ground.
Il is now two o'clock in the morning
We shall sleep till six o'clock. when W.
shall be called. for today we hav.
only twelve hours on duty instead o
and thus fortunately onl,
one night to pass here.