Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-06-23
The Trenches

HE publisher of recent book upon hospital
service during the European war printed the
statement that much of the best literature OF
the been written by persons who had nao no
previous experience writer's but whose impressions
that the artless recording of them
eclipsed the work of accomplished literatL
a young American who served year In the
trenches; New England barber who CHANGED to be in
Canada when declared, and enlisted for the
published by Louis Post-Dspatch, of his year
the trenches 'in daily dread of bullet shrapnel'
mine deadly and in nightly fear of mine and
gas-and the man-eatng rats" His story illustrates
fairly observation of the publisher of many books
upon the by professional and nonprofesslonal
authors
1 a poor wretch, weary of the trenches,
raise his right full length sent home,
manned and in agony, e wished. And who
that his was cowardy? He had courage
to raise his hand. Perhaps some who chung to the
mud in the bottom of the trench were greater
towards"
What more vivid picture of trench warfare has
been made in a few sentences?
"Lapointe looked the trench, and nobody knows
what he His brother there to lay him down
He buried him."
90 German shell exploded a pile of
brush in field where 1 shooting toward the
German line. And weary of the monotony of fight
ing overoyed to the ground covered far and
wide with potatoes. which farmer had hidden
under hay Potatoes! We blessed periscope for
the toothsome vision And, marvellous to relate, We
noted that the German fire slackened Our officers
could not restrain the French Canadians On our
Bellies death ne we crawled unscathed, and,
fiat the ground, wriggled to the potatoes, Drawing
death for what we deem common In America.
II got my share. The Germans held their fire while
gathered the crop did plant.
Toward night, in the dusk, discovered by
periscope that the German boys, who cold in
their trenches demolishing a for frewood,
old cottage the property, perhaps, of that very
peasant who had hidden potatoes under the hay.
We had their lives in hands. We remembered
Irish feast-and word went down the line to hold
fire. Nor did one German die.
That the Golden Rule of the battlefront.
Il slept in my blanket, my first night under fire,
with cump of cheese at my feet, a bride to the
rats to spare my face. Not that slept much The
night rocked with sound. The night true time
for fighting, and the wire creeping about
dangerous errands between the trenches The
rockets and then Missed skyward throwing their
powerful flares of light the darkened world.
Wounded men groaned rats, like flies in summer
scuttled about, making queer noises which we could
hear in momentary ulls
80 Our engineer mined the place and as
we fed the Germans poured down. gray horde of
So we blew them up
Have you seen a thousand men burIad m
atoms by giant blast? 1 cannot forget that awful
sight The whole earth seemed to leap skyward and
through and through the black mountains of earth
and stones shot heads and and legs, frag-
ments of what were once heroic men.
THE routine Of trench life broken once a
month by our precious days of rest How we
looked forward to those four days, we grum-
bled and If untoward circumstance de-
prived of them. We usually went some nearby
village, about miles the firing line But
some poor wretches preferred to remain in the
trenches-because when they miles away they
had get up between and in the morning shine
their Shoes clean uniforms polish their buttons
long walks and be inspected by august generals
And that is worse than being in the trenches. they
thought
boys and we Canadians They One Hundred
and Fifty-seventh, and friendly. Hi! where do
you come from| voice in French over to us
we are French Canadians replied with pride
There came a pause There no firing. Then
the Germap shouted, Let of your group; let
him stand above the trench and on nv word of honor
shall not fire.
'One of us sprang out of the trench and stood up
There fell deep silence upon the two armies Then
many stood up and finally the Germans too. rs-
ing we talked FOR hours when the were not
looking. When they looked we did a deal of firing
but our aim was much high.
zone day the Germans threw over bit of paper
wrapped around stone. If you don't we
won't fire you some had written. We kept that
strange pact for days. until the officers discovering this
of moved another part the trenches
Wars are decided upon in palaces by rulers.
They fought in trenches and by the people
our New Bedford barber. Romeo Houle, soldier
by the contagion of excitement foreign city, and
fighting under a foreign flag like John Poe, Amer
adventurer and soldier of fortune who death
in a charge member of THE Black Watch"
Scottish Highland regiment, into the trenches of
his own accord He was not conscript torn from his
home and his family at kings command to become
cannon fodder in concerning the which
nothing.
But officers says Houle peace would have
been declared in the trenches We had
wish to kill each other
And but for their superiors the officers would
willingly make peace in the trenches The spirit of
is traced back causes which officers have
control The origin of war narrows down to the am
bilious planning of clique a king. The tragedy
radiates remOtest cottage of the obscure
peasant Its remote from the expe-
ence of those responsible for it as they are from the
newspaper reader who barber warriors
tive of tench life and shoulders momentarily at the
depicton which. in the experience
common soldiers, cover weeks and months.
And of the 500 French Canadians with whom the
American barber left Montreal boys between eighteen
and twenty-eight, clad in uniforms and inspected
nv an English duke, sixteen survived when
cans returned home, having had more than enough of
adventure!-Courier Journal.