Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-03-29
Second Winter in Trenches .
Finds Slaughter a Science
Special Associated Press CORRESPONDENCE.

Special Associated
The second winter campaign along the
Franco-Belgian front has thus far dlf-
fered little from the first, excepting IN
the greater efficiency that experience mas
given to tactics between the trenches.
The two armies at close quarters are as
last year, like two wrestlers gathering
their forces, each seeking a solid foothoid
and on the lookout for the chance 10 grip
the other by the neck.
Most of the activity between the artll-
lery positions is with flying machines
overhead or with the sappers and miners
underground; in the trenches themselves
it is largely a matter of vigilance, mud
and water, with a frequent variation IN
repairs of defense works after a heavy
commandment The mud is a more serious
problem than at the same season last
year on account of heavy rains.
Ditching has been done on a large scale
all along the front, excepting in the dunes
of Flanders, where the trenches are most
ly above ground-composed OF millions OF
sacks of sand; and water there is too
near the surface to make drainage pos
sible. Elsewhere drainage has been effec-
tive in dry weather, but the rain toys with
the genius of the engineer and turns the
bitches into canals.
Men Are Warmly Clad In Trenches.
Inc men are wen olIlSu against SOAN
with SheepSkin coats, muffers, sweaters,
boots, and are quite comfortable in the
Vosges, where the water runs off read
lily. In the plains of the Woevre, though,
where an entire brigade worked four lays
to execute of drainage admirably con-
ceived and theoretically perfect that was
found insufficient during the first storm,
there is no protection possible against
mud and water.
Tho hotfnvnS of branches ara covered
with fagots, but in vain; they disappear
In the mud after a storm. A week OF
rain causes as much damages as a violent
bombardment, according to an officer who
has seen nearly every sector of the front
this winter.
In certain parts of the Woevre, Artois
and Flanders the ground all around the
lines, belabored by shells of all calibers,
covered with excavations that rain has
transformed into miniature lakes, resem-
hles a marsh of interminable length and
a mile or so wide; the communicating
trenches themselves, sometimes several
miles long, are like cesspools. The men
obliged to tramp through them to get to
the front line are tired out when they
arrive. One relief detachment was a whole
night making the four miles from their
quarters to the trenches; during the pass
age many left their shoes in the heavy,
sticky mud.
Men often prefer to risk the enemy's
shells and make their way to their post
on the surface, but even this route Is
scarcely better in many places OF account
Of the pitfalls dug by artillery fire. 1t is
over such ground that the soldiers must
plod with backs bent under loads Of ma
terials required to maintain the inviola-
bility of the first line: no other means Of
transportation is possible.
Rations Cure Exhaustion.
''They reach their posts as a rule ready
to drop from exhaustion an officer said,
but the smoking rata as the trench
slang has named the r~ations, and the hot
cup of coffee, restore them quickly: in
different to swollen and blistered feet,
they set to work under the heavy rains,
throwing up earth that has caved in from
the %parapets, repairing the fagot supports,
raising the %parapets. with never a finch
and never q sign that their courage may
have suffered from those trying tramps
through the mud"
possible for the men to carry to the frigid
trench a primitive foot warmer in the
shape Of a stone heated by a brasier at
the quarters in the rear; the heat endures
long enough to afford a real comfort, but.
of course, the trench must be dry. For
other comforts the men must wait for
their turn to go to the rear.
A read ventures above a parapet and
is greeted with a volley of bullets; the
adversary replies and the fire intensifies
from both Sides. AS the men at work
drop their picks and shovels for the rifle
and the fusillade becomes general. The
bomb singers join in and generally the
six-inch guns follow. covering the lines