The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-01
SOLDIER IN TRENCHES
 TELLS OF BATTLE LINE

London Jan 1-The following ac- count of life at the front is from a correspondent who volunteered Tor service at the beginning of the war, sand has since been promoted to the rank of officer.
 $ S During the latter part of Novem- Der the army in the trenches was we'll nigh perishing with cold, since early December it has been the victim of persistent rain and. flood. Night after night whole companies are flooded out of their trenches, while a. rear rangement of the forces has made it impossible to give the men their form er weekly three days of rest in the villages behind the lines. Ali the ad- va.nced forces will remain in their trenches now for eighteen days; then they hope to have brief relief
 ..M is difficult to give an idea of what rain means in the trenches. The lines under frosty conditions seem Esuch an orderly. permanent, and town like series of cubby-ho1es that when they all start to melt away and cave in under the influence of thaw and rain it is as if one were trying to ! travel through pitchdark London in { ruins Officers who3were glorying in fine new dug-outs equipped with all 5the trench comforts, suddenly found { themselves buried in 8 mass Of col ElaDsed earth of the consistency and quality of thick paint
 .grhe latest gossip here is that the i Indian tfivfsa on and the Germans were ; so close to each other a day or two ago tfaaE they used the same a,rapet for their trenches and took turns at { firing through their mutual loop holes. That Of course is a little ex- 1 agEerated. but serves to illustrate the ] manner in which the two armies keep continually getting closer and closer. { Hand -grenades and home made bombs ] fashioned out Of biscuit tins can be used advanfageously at many points,
 Generally, however, the front trenches are about two hundred yards fapart in this section. That gives the the sharp shooters plenty of chance to get in their fine work. and it is dangerous Ito push one's head above a trench ! even to sight a rifle. Many of the ( Ssha1p-shooters are using periscopes much like those of the submarine. f and with these they can sight and shoot accurately without coming any
 where near the top Of the trench. The
 opposing sharp-shooters of course de [ light in efforts to hit the tube of the periscope. and frequently succeed.
 sance the rains and floods came the communication trenches have tlargely flooded away. Some of them ars like xfverss others are knee-deep witt I pasty mud of exactly the same consis
 tency as bakers dough. A regimen sWEich passed through one such trenc1
 a day or two ago left three men be ! hind and had to send a relief part, back to dig them out
 Under such circumstances, the Ia sbor Of bringing up ammunition anc ratfong from the rear is terrific, anC
 the men assigned to this labor sreacl
 their destination in 8 state of. ute
 fatigue; nevertheless they have t,
 take their turn at sentry duty later il kthe night.
 The enemy is very business fix
 and misses no chances to shoot an,
 man who exposes himself. Today, fo
 instance. an English soldier was l11
 in ., willow tree cutting withes A sho
 passed him. and he sportfveIy signal led 4 miss; left A second shot cam and E1e signaued A miss; right Tn
 enemy proffted by his advice, and tn
 third shot passed traight through hi head.
 There are the strictest order
 asainst men exposing themselves; b1l
 some Of the careless ones are sur
 pr4s4ng4y disregardfu1 of their safety
 Kesterday a private who was dragginl sack of coal walked slowly along tn top of g communicating trench for consid derabIe distance in full view c