Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-04
Every Man Seems to Find Something
In Dismal Surroundings to AZ
ford Mirth and Comfort.
ENJOY LIFE IN REST B1LLETs
Arrival of Soldiers Causes Deserted
Villages to Spring Into Life.
Every Branch OF Army Wonder
fully Organized.
ny f. AsnMEAD BARTLETT.


must pass through the rest billets OF
the men who are having their turn of
duty. You enter one OF them through
perfect sea of liquid mud. 1t is rain
ing hard, and the whole countryside is
oVerhunE with dull. gray. wet mist.
Anything more chcerless II would he
difficult to imagine. The village itself
is almost deserted. and presents n pic
ture OF desolation and ruin. Some OF
the houses are intact. and others are
lacking walls or roofs, or show rrca,
gaping holes where the German shells
have entered. \ few women and chill
dren are wandering about and a few
stray dogs.
This is all the signs OF life YOU see.
There Is occasionally the roar OF n big
gun or howitzer. which is engaged in
keeping the Germans busy. allowing
chem no repose by night or day. The
village consists OF few Struggling
streets. and the houses on either side
arc divided by lane OF deep. thick
mud. which seems to suck you in at
every stop. Tho country is absolutely
fiat. Heavy plowed fields surround
you. and your horizon Is only broken
by occasional patches OF wood or long
lines OF poplars marking the roads.
SEIZED WITH SUDDEN
FIT OF LONELINESS
thousand yards away. you arc told.
are the British trenches. but YOU see
nothing of them and. except for the
occasional Smelling. YOU might he miles
away from a battle field. The cold and
rain, the fintness of the land. and.
above all. the mud. send the shlvers
down your back. and you are seized
with sudden 1T of loneliness You
a ri I,.
the most horrible country | have
ever seen" You are. In fact not far
wrong. This part of France is certain
~ most unattrac;ive. They grow hons
and beets
Every beet field has n corner nut
aside for the cultivation OF hops Poles
about twenty feet high are stuck IN the
ground Mt intervals. Joined at the tor
by wire. The plant Is trained nm
these, but in w!ntertimc YOU only see
these endless poles. which seem 20 u.
there just TO mock our troops by in
wiling them to hang up the washing
they haven't got to hang
Then. again. to add to the melancholy
OF the scene, arc the etcrna! little
wooden crosses which you see everv
where. each marking the last resting
place OF a dead hero who has given his
life for his country Eut 1t is the rain
which depresscs YOU most of all. Til"
ground never apparently dries The
roads are seas Of mud. but the fields
prohibit walking altogether. You
could not march infantry or cavalry or
drag gun or a wagon across them in
their present state.
STRANGE THING ABOUT
DOORS Ix HOUSES
So Hat is the country that. although
you may be In the presence OF thous-
ands of men and animals, you never.
see them until YOU are right in their
midst. You notice one strange thing
about the doors Of the houses In these
villages. Each one OF them has some
strange chalk marks on the outside
You see i'c or Ac, or some other letter.
and then scrawlcd IN almost incgibl.
characters, the words "bille,s' for so
many men. 9u.think wha, an awful
place In WHICH ia haTa TO stop. Then.
just when you ara wishing yourself
In some sunny spot or dry ground ti,
distant refrain of "A familiar air is
waited from the road which leads
from the trenches.
AS i; grows louder YOU hear the
steady spiush. splush OF hundreds Of
feet sinking into the slush in perfect
unison. You then catch the words of
the song. or the refrain OF the tune
which is being whistled There 10
'Tipperary." but Sister Susic's Sewing
Shirts for Soldiers" seems to be- even
more popular. All sorts Of "ragtinc"
refrans. however. are popular ut the
front Then, swinging round the bend
OF the road into the village comes the
battalion
You see solid phalanx OF khaki-
clad figures. each bearing so many dif-
fercnt articles of equipment that tn.v
look almost as broad as they are long
The whole battalion looks as If IL had
been taken bodily and dipped In thick
mud. Officers, moncommissoncd officers
and men are plastcrcd with it The
knapsacks are the same. The puttees
are hidden 10y it. the hands and faces
are plastercd with it. Only the rifles
are approximately clean
These men have just finished their
allotted span In the trenches Th.y
are weary. chiefly from lack nf sleep.
but otherwise YOU would irnagin. they
were just coming In from rnuneuvcrs
and returning 10 barracks before going
on leave. rather than merely having a
short rest. when they hav, an
preached near enough, ana you are able
to catch glimpse OF faces beneath
the outer coating % Flanders YOU sec
fat. cheerful, HAPPY looking lot OF
English lads. fun OF huinor and good
spirits.
Every man seems 20 find something
in these dismal SURROUNDINGS TO AFFORD
him mirth and comfort. They are not
on their way to some luxurious town.
full Of shops ana nice warm beds
Their destination is the miserable
haif-destroycd villages. with the
strange calabalistic signs on the doors
have attempted to dcscrib. Com
fort and happiness in life ar. purely
relative, and these men are perfectly
cheerful. because they have JUS, cs-
capped from the filth and mud and con
slant alarms OF the trenches 10 what
is. to them. the acme of luxury. a smell
In a ruined Village.
LIFE CONSISTS IN HIDING
IN MUD TO ESCAPE DEATH
The cheerfUlncsS hc snldiera T..