The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1915-01-23
BY II. ,. PHILLIPS.

Names Is but a step. as distances
go in the United States. But TO
the recruit in Kitchener's army II
Is the trip OF q lifetime.
Between Waterloo Station. the
firing line in the north of France,
there 10 clearly an intricate jour
ney to be performed. And from
Southampton UPWARDS II lisa curl.
onsly anonymous journey. Yet
the khaki-clad passengers who set
out for that vague place. 1.-The
'front.'" have no doubts at all
about the certainty OF their final
arrival.
A line Of cliffs. big break
water with a close-built town be-
hind Il; that Is the French port
which I'm this Land Of No Names
Is known as Coast Base No. -.
II is the funneI through which,
British troops are poured into the
fighting line!
The sensation of novelty that
Ordinarily belongs to first land
ing in a foreign country Is heavily
discounted in France Just now.
There are so many English Off
cials on the quay that it might be
supposed that the Land of No
Names had temporarily become
British colony.
And so, kit on back, rifle In
hand, haversack and bayonet on
left hip. water-bottle on the right
Kitchener's soldier bumps down
the narrow gangway and steps on
to the soil of France. Active SER
vice has begun.
II is not very inspiriting country
that you pass through to reach the
front. The great open spaces OF
a French landscape, unbroken by
hedge or fence, with their eter'
nal lines Of naked willows, have q
bare. bedraggled look on a wei
winters day. but IT is a fine coun'
try to fight in, and that is the
business at hand.
And ms the train draws near the
end Of the line, perhaps during
the silence Of stop, there comes
out Of the distance - faint, deep
sullen "Woof!" You hardly mo-
tice the sound at first. A moment
later IL comes again, "Woof!'
like y short, husky cough, and
then the idea suddenly dawns al
most with surprise, "Guns."
The real thing at last!
From rail terminal you march
up towards the trenches. Long
straight roads, lined with dou
BILE row of. trees. The column
must keep we'll to its own side
for the other Is filled with supply
wagons going up and down, mo.
tor-omnibuses and touring carr
whose coachwork, which foul
months ago you could see your
face in, is now eaked with the ac'
cumulated mud OF thousands Of
miles of road.
Two or three officers have gone
on ahead to arrange billets. A
whitewashed French farm, with
big outbuildings, among them 9
dry, roomy barn. Plenty OF clear
straw 10 sleep on.
Next morning there Is kit and
rifle inspection, and perhaps lee
ture by the commanding officer or
the things to be remembered In
the trenches, to which the battal.
ion is going next night. The men
sleep during most Of the day, foI
only when 1t gets dark can the
work of relieving the men who are
now in the trenches begin.
1t is a weird experience, that
march out from the farmhouse
into the night. Silence and nc
smoking-the only thing to occu.
Ply the attention is the vivid
flashes and loud reports towards
which the battalion il marching.
There are several ways of get.
ting into trench; sometimes q
soldier can use approach trenches
that stretch long way back some
times he can come up to them un-
der the shelter of a wood, or when
there is neither of these means OF
protection he can crawl along the
bitches bordering the fields behind
them.
II 1t is a case of advancing to
the trenches under fire 1t is often
well to do so over the open ground
at wide intervals in short rushes
One man to yard is the rule.
Here and there man Is told off
to keep a lookout towards the
enemy, showing as little of him.
self as possible, for the German