The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1916-12-07
DUST COVERS EVERYTHING
Aspect OF Newiy-conquered Territory
Described by Correspondent on
British Front-Gone Are Days
OF Ammunition Shortage.

wounds. The white heart of the wood.
barred To the fierce suns glare. is =
palpahlc image of patient suffering.
Along the roads leading south great
dust columns rise In spirals heaven.
ward, hiding the slow-noving horse
transports. Further on broad cddies
of dust ride on the passing heat cur
rents scattering across the fields like
spent smoke.
The landscape Is of II lcudcn gray.
buried under this heavy manure of
dust. Ashcn gray are the %tunics. the
rifle barrels, even the fucps of n col
Inn of men who have just come In
from the iirst-line trenches. Their
eyes stare out of their dccpcncd sock
cts, trimmed around with dust. Their
steel helmets, of darkcncd green. have
taken IN the dull.hucd patina of IL
Greek bronze.
III" water carts, the field kitchens.
the heavy batteries which are being
moved forward. the great lorrics In
long, serpent lines extending mile up
on mile, all wear this pail of dust, As
iil as lll' WV Nill N'' are lbN Iblllll-
hills, bare and t~rcclrSs I'VE for small
patches of woodland here and there.
The fields are lhickly grown with this
ties, n%cttlcS, and luSty weeds which are
waist-high.
Can this be the land of France? Can
these fields he the same which, two
years ago. stood rich with golden
grain? The bad lands of the DakotaS,
the wastes OF the Sahara, the dust
swept desert of Cobb seem fair In com
parison with this region of the Somme.
My throat is parcncd. my eyes seem
TO be bleeding, though | have beer
walking but half IN hour. picking my
way through shell craters and upturned
soil, jumping across abandoned Ger
man trenches, through II terrain lit
tered with UNEMPLOYED shells of all cal
ibcrS and kinds. Here lies an Innocent
looking little mills" bomb not much
larger than n ducks egg. The man
who threw II forgot To pull out the
cottcr pin. 50 that II did not go of.
Her" II lies, apparently harmless, yet
it has the potential strength to blow
half n platoon into Kingdom come"
Next to II lies what looks like II giants
dumb-bcll. The great iron balls at
each end are larger than II mans head.
! squirt forward i~nstinclivcly rs | trip
against the connecting bar of the bomb.
Nothing happens. Yet this mighty en-
CINE of war can wipe out II company.
As | advance the dust grows deep
or underfOot, thicker in the air, TIA"
suns rays more intense, more rclcnt,
less. Overhead, strung out like mon
! Stcr SnubnoScd whales on Il linc-a
mighty catch the captive balloons of
the observation officers hang Imply.
| count 80 such craft within one short
sector. Though the German lines are
in plain view, opposite US, | can only
find three of their balloons.
our airincn shoot them down as
fast rs the 'Roch"s' put them up" my
guide remarks in n matter-of'fuct
voice, as We watch four British air
craft sweeping across the enemy lines.
W" push forward. The brisk cxplo.
sion of departing shells. with II sharp,
bark.likc note, rcnds the air. II Is II
new experience to listen To the biz
howitZerS fire In battery salvos ~
though they We're mere ~ls-poundcrs,
The smaller calihcrS then take up the
melody, aud the forte" of the biz
guns. followed by the piano" of the
smaller ones, an "adngiO' motif, and
then II "SchcrZo,' make II continuous
music which must be pleasant to Brit
iSh ears.
Here To the right IL n great mound
of brass, empty shell cartridge cases
10 feet high and 40 long. 1t Is only
one of many such heaps which | have
seen here, When 1t Is recalled that II
Is only the two smallest caliberS OF
shells, the IS and the ~GO-pounder
which leave any trace of having beer
fired in the hands Of their users, anC
that for every two Of these at leasI
one Of the larger culiber shells Is sen
into "Bochcland," as they call 1t gu
here. something of the work done b.,
the munltion makers In England car
he grasped. Gone are the days wheI
British batteries were on starvation
rntions. when only ten rounds were al
lotted to n gun. and the German how
itzcrs could pound British trenches
with impunity. Now, for every shel
cnsc empty n q n Is waiting t
take It's place.
And yet us n gunner said Ia me
"For every shell In hand we still meet
two new ones, and we know well sc
them" For the Germans have In n
way Slnckencd their fire. On the con
trury, they have brought up new biI
guns and are stlll answering almos
shell for shell to the British fire. Ye
there Is something aggressive In tn
British annon roar which proclaim
Ia all who would hear that the day o
smashing superiority is at hand.