The sun., 1916-12-10
Big and Little Guns Hurtlc
Shells at Trenches Of Tn
seen Enemy.
TONNES INDIFFERENT
Go About Their Duties OBJ
liviOus Of Shells Both Tn
friendly and Friendly

Sollme front IL contained in the follow
Ing article by an Associated Press cor
respondent:
Copyright. 1918. Iy the Assccisted Press.
WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN
FRANCE. Dec. >. via London. Dec. g.
Winter. cold. IRA and bleak. has held
the western battlefronts in its icy grasp
for more than a week now. and has
temporarily checked any attempt on
either side at operations on a large scale.
There has been the usual daily "s'ra-
fng or exchange OF artillery FIRE. but
the sheliing has been largely done by
what mariners would call dead reckon
Low hanging. damp, leaden skies have
shrouded the land in gloomy darkness,
and observation has been Utmost wholly
Impossible. For the past seven days
there has been a chick mist. while on
two occasions the war zone has been
completely curtatned in by a mantle OF
heavy fog. Blu through this gray murk
the guns KEEP; hammering away--fring
nj the unseen enemy-hairassins post
roads and railroads or any other reg
is;ered" place where he was likely to
he busy with the nultitudlnous AFFAIRS
OF war behind the lines.
A battle in the fog-and nearly every
detached engagement in this struggle on
the Sonme could be classed as a battle
by ordinary Standards a we.rdly
mysterious and uncanny affair. A roar.
a fash OF red flame, and out into the
leaden mist shrieks a shell on is well
intended mission Of death and destrue-
ton.
This is where 1t Should fall" remarks
the gunner as he points to a mar with
other Jus; over here and bang goes the
gun again. In the ~decpness Of the fog
the battery seems 10 shoot into a little
drab world all its own.
The Germans. however. have been
bombsrding one Of their recently lost
positions. II is a f~aNortte occupation OF
the German gunners-this shcllin- a posi-
ton they know 50 well after they have
been driven from IL. And such "Strahuc"
calls for a reply. even IL the cnNcluNtu-
fog permits one 10 see scarcely Beyond
the grim muzzle Of the giant Eun Itself.
Such iiGhting as this makes war seem
intensely imperial. and IN the colorless
language 81 the official communicate may
appear something like this There was
considerable hostile sa.lins to-day
against our front on both sides OF the
hncre. our retaliation was prompt and
effective"
one knew that 1. the British shells
we're truly searching their way through
the Opaque mist TO their charted
destination the reply must be al! tina,
the communicate claimed.
Under the protecting canopy OF fog the
correspondent sought to explore the pul.
T verified ruins Of what was once The
thriving little French village OF Hcau
mon,-ltsmel. Ofccrs and Tommie:
coming from that direction gave ever,
assurance that alf was quiet within. :,
the motor car proceeded hlithe!y ATOMS
until "A ahostly whine In the impenetrsbl.
gloom overhead told its own story. TIL,
daily shel,ing had begun.
Friendly and I~nfriendIy SheIIs.
To one only casually acquainted witt
the noises OF a battlefield there is al
ways bewilderinent at first as II which
are tire friendly shells going owe
It lnt elelll. anu WAlttl are IN
very u~nfriendly visitors coming over. 4
burst in avid destroying fury. In tn
p.ystic erayness OF the dripping fog I'll
he llderment "A accentuated, tho or
dinary whistle and "crump" OF the vari
caifbred shells translated into a verita
BILE witches chorus. SO intense was tn
bcmbardnent at one time, with Ia
y shells rushing in opposite directions over
head. that the mingled sounds becam
Ike the singing Of storm winds.
Each calibre shell a its own par
ticu.ar plant. sometimes sadly melar
choly in the distance II again spite
fully fierce in It's nearness. II is a grea
source OF satisfaction when, under In
, tutelage Of an experienced officer, on
comes to distinguish for ones self tn
difference between the outgoing srreec
o. the friendly shells and the incomin
"whang' OF what the "Tommies' ca
another present from the B6che.,"
Visitors to the British front are a
ways impressed by the absolute indiffel
E ence OF the English, Canadian and .\u'
: ,ralian soldiers to the indiscrimina'
3 Smelling so frequently INDUCED in by III
Germans.
8 Burial Under She'll Fire.
\ striking picture in the fog was tbs
e of a little English burial party AT
: newly made grave. a chaplain in KHAKI
e with a black scarf thrown about h
neck, was reading the service for Il
. dead, while six Tomn,ies stood bar'
! headed beside the bodies OF several
y their comrades who. being bIried whel
9 they fell. found a mi resting place
ground more hallowed to the real so
u der than Westminster itself,
/ Sadly alone n detached the lit
!: party seemed. and all the while thu
reverently toiled cross-currents OF shell
were swishing and whining through Il
overhanging mist in the %strangest
. requiem chants,
- Oddly enough. fogey and misty da.
are generally succeeded by beautif
u starlit. frosty nights and the clearest po
eible atmosphere. n the guns are q
. ways heard grumbling and barkiI
through the crystal darkness. With &
coming OF dawn, however. the mis-
= sweep In again from the sea and lin
the batteries once more to firing
the map
p The British sunners, particularly I
Is 'liea vies," are longing to have the
Sc eyes" ~again-the aIrpiaucs, The 4
A. operation OF the aircraft with the gre
guns has been one triumph of the ne
~ British armies and , factor which Z
~ officers ~ the higher commands say q "A
ID not he ovcrestima,ed The Allies Il
10 they have complet. mastery az the q
lxl on the western front, and that maste
Of the air means mastery Of the
''''e's' :