The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1916-03-17
GERMAN AND FRENCH sAPPERs
Rssy TUNNELING AND En-
FLOODING MINES.
HILLS TRANSFORMED
Awrrjcz,n Pneumatic Drill and Pick
Phay Important Part In Deadly
Work.

fr<y1x al the frencn front Tesempic
xxsx railroad tunneling enterprises.
Az along the slope of hills where
the sssGnmifs alone separate the COM
teis1ss, there are mouths of tunnels
frzrvsa with timbers such as support
shx galleries of coal mines. All day
=Kad an night soldiers wheel earth
out pf those tunnels to platforms
xAer. dump cars on a strategic mar
rus -zauged railroad are waiting to
carry II oil 40 be used in the grading
Of new strategic lines.
a study of the official commun-
S4uex gives only slight indications OF
xhe phsert of all this activity. What
IL MEANS depends upon the lay OF the
lzua- IN some cases it amounts to
nothing aess than the blowing off
uS Err 1ops OF the hills. There are
PLACES where the Germans hold the
summit and the French are dug in
ON tSe slp9e. there are others where
ues1her the French nor Germans
have been able to occupy the summit
szxrepfiHg with small isolated advance
posts that are annihilated at inter-
wis. aEa here it is necessary to blow
the sny off the height before an issue
CAN he rea chea.
7Rss tunneling has been going on
tor rra1re than year in some places,
nux. pnh]ir evidences of the extent
of IL dase only from the beginning
of the year.
RJg mines are exploded every day
TzzI6e those honeycombed hills where
n is not rare for the Frenchman's
tnxsnel 10 run into a German under
xzgEznd gallery. If they meet be-
Hsze the mine is ready, it is "camou-
MA or a small blast, that is set off
hy tine adversary that locates the
other fellow first. 1t is quickly done
with an American pneumatic tool
tfsai kDres a hole in the direction
frurn which comes the tell-tale sound
ox the pick. A charge of dynamite,
Iykl6ife, or melinite is stuffed in and
tzse hole is plugged so that the mine
In safe and the force of the explo-
sicG all turned toward the adverse
y's gallery.
. lRfaafiug lis sometimes done also
10 hasten the excavating work, but
moes of the digging requiring discre-
tion is the work of the American
vsezInatic drill and pneumatic pick
kept working by air compressors
brsaght up to the foot of the hill.
The forests of the Argonne all
.slsng the front have been RACED by
shell and shrapnel; and the aspect of
ma hills is being still further modi-
Sea by fhuse tunneling and mining
SEPARATIONS.
"A practical miner in private life,
specialized at the front In this kind
OF work, describes the conditions I'M
szer which the work is often suddenly
stopped and the enemy's operations
checked at the same time:
The sappers are digging, shovel
fng IN silence, when suddenly one of
tkem stops; he has heard a hollow
ssana in the soil under his pick; two
or more strokes, and his instinct OF
an old miner reveals to him that
there is a hole under the gallery;
he strikes again, the point OF the
pick penetrates; there is no more
sloSbf Int that a German blasting
nnss exists underneath. By small
Strokes slowly with infinite precau-
fion The sapper enlarges the opening,
fAen aided by his comrades, lets him
sell down into the hole with revolt
var in his fist 1t is indeed Ger
man blasting hole that he has dis
cSyerea, with gallery at the end.
The question is whether 1t is occu-
pisli-impossible to tell; the enemy
perhaps will appear and rush upon
6hR sntrnders; no one comes, the
mine is empty.
Leaving a Waterman, the sappers
aud miners ascend into the French
gallery go and report their discovery
an the captain who decides to profit
oy the occasion to play good game
aupon the Germans. While continu-
ing 10 work in the neighboring mines
IN deceive the adversary. sappers and
axxsaliaries of the infantry are put
szs<.nily 10 work stuffing with explo-
sdves the old German blasting hole
which communicates with the gallery
nzzaafng TO the German earthworks,
am, 10 a little occupied post. Every
ssne works increasingly.
.sWhaf a good joke we are going
IN play upon them" everyone says.
me Germans at the other end of the
~zuery are on the watch, and we
Snvv been on the watch for them to
..e that they did not surprise our
Sans, for the slightest slip or awk'