The Dolores star., 1915-08-20
4 SHELL THAT H|T|
Graphic Description Penned by
Frederick Palmer.
One oueesssfui Shell Out Of q Thou
sand; the One supposed to Make
Waste Of Other go Worth
While.
D. FREDERICK PALMER.
International News service.'

British HeadQuarters, France
There are points along the British
front which see nothing but desultory
shell nre and sniping for weeks and
months on end: points where neither
side has made an attack through the
winter and spring. These are known
~ quiet corners. A practical stale
mate exists. Neither Briton nor Ger
man finds any object in trying for .
gain. Troops who have been in the
thick Of It elsewhere are sometimes
ssnt to these regions for rest and
change.
Other points-points which stick
out ~ It were-are known a. hot
corners" where the guns and rifles
seem always busy. Such has been
the La Bassee region.
A visitor may see about a. much Of
what 10 going on in La Bassee a. an
ant can see Of the surrounding land
scape when promenading in the grass.
The guns OF both sides seem en-
gagged In . kind Of savage. vindictive,
blind mans bun sparring OF course,
the gunners have,A point on the map
ct which they arc aiming. They have
Information In one way or another
that there 10 something at this point
worth Smelling. II may be q house;
and Of course. every house II down
on . large scale map. Troops may be
In the house; or II they are not. and
you destroy the house, you have de-
stroyed shelter for troops and made
the enemy nervous. At least, theo-
retically. you have made him 30:
nothing seems to be able to make the
British soldier actually. 80. or the
French peasant either.
We had left our car to go forward
ON foot. We were coming into the
zone where the Inhabitants had been
ordered to vacate their homes. This
b an unfailing sign that whatever the
condition OF your health you are be-
coming poorer risk every minute
for q life insurance company. A
she'll may get a group Of soldiers In
. house or In dugout Houses are
not safe shelter In hot corners where
the visitor. instead Of looking for
houses which have been damaged by
she'll fire. looks for the anomalous one
that has not
There Was one such on an adjoining
road-an estaminet, which is q pub.
lie drinking place or cafe.
A stretcher was being borne into
the door Of this estaminet and above
the doorway OF the estaminet was
chalked some lettering which indicat-
ed that it was a first clearing station
N,v he uyn, Ixir xnh
on the floor were some wounded men.
They looked little stunned. which
was only natural when you have been
a. close as they had to burst Of
shell-a shell that made hit The
conclusion was bound to have this
effect
A third man was the best illustra.
ton OF shell destructiveness Bullets
make only holes. Shells make gouges.
fractures and pulp He too had band.
aged head. and had been hit in sew.
eral places: but the worst wound was
IN the leg, where an artery had been
cut. causing a loss OF blood. He was
weak with sort Of Where am II"
look in his eyes. II that fragment
which had hit his leg had hit his head
or his neck or his abdomen he would
have been killed instantly. He was
an illustration OF how hard It is to
kill man with several shell frag-
ments unless some Of them strike in
the right place. For he was going to
live: the surgeon had whispered that
fact in his ear. that one important
fact
And It was the one successful shell
out Of the thousand; that one which
was supposed to make the waste of
the other nine hundred and ninety
nine worth while.
Returning BY the same road BY
which we came. an automobile passed
swiftly by. We had glimpse OF the
big. painted red cross on an am
bulance side and. At the rear 7here
~ curtains were rolled up fof ven