The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-26

the Captain shouts. \ second might.
roar. the earth shakes nhaln and H.,
gun IN the other pit rears NY nm
though from the ground. rolls back
II rumb.es forward again.
The ears ring with n consuming
noise. dried tw.gs and parts of foliage
fiutter down rs one stands there duly
trying to collect the senses. 1t 10 but
for IN instant.
Meanwhile the hustle Is renewed.
Another shell slides into the first pit,
Is swung into the breech. from which
comes a thick column Of smoke, the
lock swings back and closes. a SOL
der, face and arms ~blackened and
greasy. rams a long rod into the bar
re, from the mouth and the two On the
left busy at the instruments give &C.
cas!ona! slight turns to q whee, while
the squirting goes n. With incredible
speed born OF long practice the work
IL finished and the men stand by.
The same thing begins TO 60 on in the
other pit.
The order is repeated and again
bursts the terrific volume OF sound. As
It pulses out It seems hardly possible
that steel, even the truest. can with
stand such a strain. II seems that the
gun Is breaking into splinters.
The great guns are fired again and
, again. They explode about half a
minute apart while the Captain stands
there between the pits directing the
fire. Everybody works at capacity
and with perfect system. Stand ag d.
rectly behind the guns with a certain
amount Of luck and quickness OF eye
1t Is possible to see the shell tear into
the air and disappear into the sky.
The pieces are fired a dozen times
or so each. then are silent. The Cap
tain m over with perspiration
running over his face and a smile. at
is over he says. They have just
fired at a town about ten miles on the
other side. 90 the crashes Of the
shells as they exploded were not heard
They'll earn by dropping shells into
our town. he continues. They killed
forty-seven down there yesterday.
Women and children too, Pigs Of
barbarians.'
He gives a vehement shake to his
fist IN the direction Of ia. German
lines Is he puts his orders into his
pocket, Written in the orderS are the
number Of shells. tn. exact time and
the range Of each gun as il was fired,
He had only To follow them out.
Meanwhile the men have wiped
c,ean the breaches. rammed the long
l%'arreiS ana packed away IN. delicate
l,u,lln. 1Iftl. st,,,,,tfs ts.l "a, ,1.,
side for IN" range finding. Now they
lay the ihich branches of .v-rgr-eus
back oyer the pieces. In a m.nut. II
is hard to 81" the guns al all.
We make our way BACK through the
trees over u mach travelled path. II
runS around Numerous shell holes. II
suddenly pulls up amid a group of
strange Looking moundlike things
among the trees. They stick several
feet above The ground and are made
az deep layers OF earth, heavy logs
and rocks. At the sides ar. doors and
sometimes steps cut into the ground
lead down to them. Here are the quar-
tiers of tho men. Some distance on
are scores of these dwellings,. Ii il a
battery village.
"'''t''Ii'h i'iiIE' dbbuls
tussle around in the open good
naturcdly ike 50 many children and
some sit at little roughly made tables
under rustic shelters. They write. and
make little souvenirs. Some are cary
ing out Canes. others with pins or
needles pick away al leaves around
patterns. Finished, they have lnscrip-
tons on them seen through the filmy.
almost invisible but intact emnant OF
the leaf fibre. Others Of the men stand
before mirrors hung on trees. shaving
before going back to town on short
leaves.
'Shells land here occa slonaliy." ex-
plains the Captain. but they are
chance shots. The Germans do not
know our range. So long as this il
the. a = We will stay here. We are
well concealed. Their airmen try hard
to find us, but their pictures show
nothing"
On the other side OF the village he
path forks around the great trunk OF
a tree fallen over. 1t has been
splintered by a shell and hangs by u
shred or so to ar upright section sew
eval feet high. The tangled shTeds Of
wood are still fresh.
Here and there are other batteries
among the trees. They are discernibls
my when one il almost upon them.
The woods seem TO he fun Of guns.
They are Of all sizes, TO the right are
four Of the giant .220 mortars and
along the sides OF the guns ready TO
be shot of AT sN Instant's notice are
piles Of massive shells. These ara the
largest guns In general use BY the
army.
sIhs ossnans do not know how