The daily progressive-miner., 1916-02-01
WRITES SON STORY
 OF REAL BATTLE
BRITISH ARMY OFFICER SENDS
 LETTER TO HIS BOY

LONDON, Jan. 25.-The following letter was written by a British army officer in answer to query made by his nine year old son:
 My Dear Brian: You would like to know what real battle line is like. In the distance you see a hill and on the right some woods. Some farm houses, one or two in- tact, and others mere heaps of brick, lie dotted about. Near you on the right is battery hidden under bushes and earthworks. Near CT you still are the dugouts in which men live underground.
 "In the distance is German an- chored balloon, watching the coun- try On the right and overhead is an aeroplane.
 Beyond the hill and the woods are the trenches in which the in- fantry face the German infantry, also in trenches. Some where near the trenches, and where he can see them we'll and the country on the Herman side are the military obser- vation officers, who telephone dir- ections to the batteries and direct their fire where they want. All this is done very accurately on a special system called registration, by which, having once hit target you can always go on hitting it or anything near it.
 SHELL TIPS THRU AIR
 For instance, yesterday, when I was directing the battery at one of these places, a German put up a tin on pole and waved it about in the air in his trench. I saw this and told one gun what angle to lay and the range, and the next moment the shell arrived and the tin went up in the air. What hap pened in the trench 1 don't know, but the shell burst init. One burst in ours this morning and kill led one man and wounded two oth- CTS. So they can do damage.
 Hidden all along the trenches are machine guns, which fire flank wise and are very destructive. Then come the artillery, and behind them again the big guns-the very big ones of which drop shell tre- mendous distance and blow blocks of houses to bits.
 4 battle starts with terrific
 rtillery bombardment, some times for days, and when the enemy's trenches are absolutely destroyed and their men dazed with the rain of high explosives and gass and bombs, the infantry charges across.
 Sometimes the machine guns have not been knocked out and they take a big toll of life, and always there are plenty of men whom the bombardment fails to knock out.
 There is never soul to be seen. There is only a terrible roar of guns and explosions, the perpetual snapping of rifles and rattle of machine guns. There is view of broken walls, trees without leaves or branches, and trenches everywhere
 Some men near me the other day put up a dummy on the parapet and before you could say Jack Rob- inscn two shells and heaven knows how many bullets had been fired at it. Men are always being kill led arl yet they will put up their head and look over the parapet instead of using periscope.
 Tt is all very destructive, very costly and very useless, war, but 1t brings out all that is best in men. No doubt it is for good purpose which We do not realize at present, when We only see the ruin and killing and waste.
 Sometimes the world wants cleaning, like the pistons of motor to make 1t run smoothly, and this IS the way it comes about. You boys later on will reap the benefit of it all"