The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-11-12
WONDERFUL SYSTEM 0F SUPPLY TRAINS IN REAR OF ARMY To Outsider All May Seem Confusion, But Neverthe- less, Everything Works
 Effectively

French Front, October 10.-(Corres- pondent of the Associated Press).-ln all the villages, numbering between 30 and 40, captured during the entente of fensive on the Somme, supply columns mingle in what looks like confusion, but this is more apparent than real, for everything works with the utmost precision and order.
 So soon as a position has been taken the supply depots move up and ar arrangements for feeding the men com posing the first, second and third lines |are made with extraordinary rapidity In the combatant lines themselves the movements of the troops are naturally hidden from view. Every man is called upon to dig himself in and in very few hours even on a field Of battle such as that extending north and south of the Somme over length Of 40 miles and a depth of perhaps 10, scarcely human being can be seen.
 Behind the lines distributed over an area probably 50 miles square are parks of vehicles and provision and ammuni- tion depots. These are all connected by dozens of light narrow gauge railroads, laid with unbelievable rapidity and in- |tersecting the fields in every direction. Horses are tethered in thousands wait ing to be attached at any moment to vehicles of every sort used to despatch supplies to any part Of the line. Along the roads, most of which have been specially cut even while the shell fire was still heavy, in order to relieve the main national routes usually reserved for the heavy motor lorries and staff motor cars, conveys of carts ranging from the small donkey cart to the large supply wagon with team of four horses, continually move to or from the fighting line. Junior officers, many of whom in private life occupy high positions in business, seem to have adapted themselves swiftly to the new life so different from their regu- lar occupation At every intersection one of them is posted to direct the traffic and they do so with all the eff ciency of the members of city police traffic squad Never during his so- jourp with the French armies has the correspondent of the Associated Press observed any serious congestion.
 Occasionally German long range gun will tear great holes in the roads m the endeavor to prevent reinforce ments coming up or the approach of ammunition columns. At once large squads of men supposed to be enjoying a rest from the rigors of the front line
 are put to work to fill the gaps with fresh macadam and huge steam rollers appear from everywhere to level
 the surface. Then other men come on
 with tar pails and brushes and coat the surface to prevent the rising of dust as much as possible.
 The houses of the recaptured villages, hewn they are still standing, are large fly in ruin, but most of them are re- paired and utilized as stables for horses. Some of the cellars have not suffered from bombardment and fre-
 quently squads of men are billeted there. AS a rule, however, the men in the rear of the fighting lines are com pelled to build or excavate their own lhabitations Generally they prefer to dig them out of the slopes of the hills and often they are so ingeniously con structed that only on near approach can they be seen. Tens of thousands
 thus live in caves, where they sleep on
 bundles of straw spread on the ground.