Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-05
TOP DOG" NOW CRY
BR|TA|NS At FRONT.
Frederick Palmer Says SOL
diers Expect War to End
by Autumn.
FIRST U. S. REPORTER
TO ENTER ENGLISH CAMPS
English Resources Immense. Artil.
lery Superior, Aeroplanes Excel
lent. Health Fine. He Says.

in France for the Associated Press,
sends the following:
BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE, via London, March 4, go
p.m.-For the first time accredited
spaper correspondents have been
allowed to enter that zone where men
in khaki speaking English hold por-
ton of the allied line.
Where the trench crosses the road
the French and British are elbow to
elbow facing the Germans. French
peasants and villagers are living and
working under shell fire. neighbors to
the British guns, concealed from Ger
man aeroplanes. which shake their
houses as they fire. Signs in English
at the French crossroads give direc-
tions to traffic. and all French names
are pronounced according to the Eng
fish spelling, so that the soldiers or Of
ticers will not fail to understand them.
One is Impressed with the immensely
of the British resources. the numbers
of motor trucks and the completeness
and thoroughness of all the equipment.
All food and all supplies are brought
from England, while the French shops
are thriving on the English luxuries
which they sell to the troops.
Cry top Dog" Now.
The French are learning to say top
dog" That expression was the one
most often heard the first day the cor
RESPONDENT arrived at the front from
both officers and men.
TOP dog" now says Tommy Atkins
and the generals.
One gets it i'll the broad Scotch,
Irish and cockney accent and in
broken French 1t expresses pre- sfde b 5as
come and that the worst is behind
them.
The British artillery fire. which was
weaker early in the campaign, now is
stronger all along the line than that
of the German Once the correspondents
we're permitted to visit the British
line everybody talked with perfect
frankness concerning the operations.
and instead of the late starts and the
long lunches, dinners and other func-
tions which chara cterizc such tours.
they are usually awakened at $50
o clock in the morning and kept gong
until at night, with the hrst-a
packages served out at the oreak1ast
table.
one might think from the stability
of all the appointments that the Brit
fish had no expectation except Tor a
that the fall will see victory and the
end.
The thin line which held in the de-
Tense of the channel ports is deep now.
Aeroplane Excellence.
One is surprised at the excellence of
the aeroplane service, when it is real
lied that the corps is only three years
old This is not due to the superior
fyiug of the British airmen, but to the
thorouShness of their equipment and
mechanical department and the prodi-
sality of the expenditure of all
necessary assistance and resources.
Everything but the actual manufacture
of the engines is being done at the
front. The engines are assembled and
the wings made in different shops near
the aeroplane base. Successful recon
noissance With aircraft have nov h"-
come a matter of mechanical care and
organization. The British aviator
seems keenly to enjoy these maneuvers
and the chance to chase an enemy ma :
chine.
The official medical corps showed the
correspondent charts of the sickness
among the soldiers. which is less than
that among the troops at home. despite
the strain the men are under when
they take their turns in the trenches
This is due to the giving to the men
all the wholesome food they can eat
and plenty Of exercise when they are
out of the trenches and enforcing all
sanitary regulations with the strictest
discipline.
LAS Col. Gorgas met he health prob
lem on the Panama Canal, SO We met
lens on the Panama canal, SO We met
war" a medical corps officer said.
Frostbite Overcome.
F7rostbite, which was most plentiful