St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-03-25
,sLectllre

|Dr.Ng slectllre
(Continued from last week.
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While visitingsEtance. I had {
splendid opportundty TO zee shell
hre. Shell dre IL diracted entirely
by observation stations. In each
station IL located an omcer who
watches the effect Of the firing, and
who telephones back to the batteries
a. to the effect Of their firing. On
this occasion was travelling with
one Of the admirals. We were driv-
ing In his car. We stopped at one
of these stations and was told not
to move any branches, - we were
apt to be discovered and shot. Tax.
ing up pair Of held glasses, look
ed at the trenches. The ofhcer made
certain calculations. which were
transmitted over the telephone. and
he told me to look toward the enc
my's trenches. In few moments ]!
heard the report OF six shells being
fired, and every one. apparently
landed in the trenches OF the enemy
l have often wondered Il these shells
cost any ones life. The IRE Of these
guns is directed from these observe
ton posts, but observations are also
made from Aeroplanes which keep
constant watch on the front, aud
these guns are fred from q distance
Of perhaps four or five miles back.
Their gunners have never seen a
German In uniform. On the same
day had an opportunity OF seeing
the effect Of aome Of the German
shell fire. We were going In the
car. travelling faster than ever had
in my life. It was the same admiral
OF whom l spoke. in q racing car.
all the racing cars having been mob
silized ct the start of the war. As
we were going along. all Of sud
den I was thrown out Of my seat
by . terrific explosion, and when J
came to. about 200 yards from US
IN Austrian shell. called q scoda.
had fallen and torn up . hole about
twenty feet deep. To show the
force Of the explosion, even at this
distance our wind shield was de-
molished and our radiator smashed
up.
I will now speak of the different
The rife bullets look like
sharpened pencils. covered with
steel. These bullets sometimes
strike with the point and then turn
In the body, which naturally results
In z very explosive effect. The We
locity Il very great, because the light
ing Is very close. When these bull
lets strike Z bone they shatter 1t
to splinters and drive It In every
direction. Shrapnel. which plays
such an important part In the pres
ent war, 10 composed OF Q shell NIL
ed with perhaps 200 or 400 bullets.
1t 10 time fused, and Is ordinarily
thrown from an aeroplane, and Is
to explode over Z trench.
Now next to shrapne1 come the high
explosives which have caused such
damage in this war. They may
weigh any where from 200 pounds
to q ton, or $500 pounds. which il
the size Of scoda. When the shell
explodes the pressure OF gas kills
every living thing within $50 yards.
1t tears man to pieces. have seen
q man SO struck with nothing left
but his boots and the feet In the
boots. The force IL so great that IT
will actually melt . ride barrel with
out striking 1t. The curve of the
shell is about four and one-half
miles high and 1t travels very slow
". It has peculiar whining sound.
You know when they are coming.
There IL q smaller shell which is
also terrific. This shell, on account
Of Its whining sound. has been nick
named by the English the weary
Willie.''
l have had the experience OF be-
Ing under shell IRE. II Is absolutely
to describe It. unless you
have ever heard q sudden crash OF
and lighting right near you,
It is kept up. Il n crash
after crash, and It does not stop.
You cannot hear Z thing, and you
are 80 confused you do not know
what you will do. The ear drums
are ruptured and the ears begin
Two-thirds of the men
coming into the hospital have bleed
ing ears, although they always stuff
heir ears with cotton.
There IL one form Of weapon which
Is king In the present war. and that
Is the hand grenade, which requires
skill In using, for which they have
schools Of instruction to teach the
,oldier its use. Tho thing which
have kept back the Germans are the
hand grenades and tho ability Of thu
French to use the bAyonet ~ we'll
~ their artillery DIRE. The work Of
The French artillery IL something
Among the peculiar things Of the
present war 10 q form Of aerial tor
pedo. At the battle of Champagne
lbout ten thousand Of these we're
lsed. They weigh about 80 pounds
md are equipped with dns. They are
thrown from . specially designed
Mortar and carry about 500 yards.
We are constantly thinking Of the
effect Of all these shells and ammu-
lition. In the trenches, when man
d wounded he falls In mud or wa
,er or dust. His clothes are wet,
muddy or dusty. He is taken to E |
lug-out, where perhaps regimental
>Rnnp 60 lorotnd r. ha Nnnmnf IN