Arizona republican., 1916-10-30
FRENCH SUPPLY TRAINS MARVEL
 OF GREAT WAR
Republican A. p. Leased Wlre1

Republican A. p. Leased Wlre1
 FRENCH FRONT, Oct. 30-In all | the villages, numbering between thirty 1 and forty, captured during the entente 1 offensive on the Somme, supply | columns mingle in what looks like | confusion, but this is more apparent | than real, for everything works with the utmost precision and order.
 So soon as a position has been taken the supply depots move up and ar engagements for feeding the men com posing the first, second and third l lines are made with extraordinary rapidity In the combatant lines themselves the movements of the troops are naturally hidden from view. Every man is called upon to dig himself in and in a very few hours, even on a field of battle such as that extending north and south of the Somme, over a length of forty miles and a depth of perhaps ten, scarcely human being can be seen.
 Behind the lines distributed over an area probably fifty miles square are parks Of vehicles and provision and ammunition depots. These are all connected by dozens of lines of liz Int narrow gauge railroads. laid with unbelievable rapidity and intersecting the fields in every direction Horses are tethered in thousands awaiting to be attached at any moment to vehicles of every sort used to dispatch sup plies to any part of the line Along the roads. most of which have been specially cut even while the she'll fire was still heavy in order to re- lieve the main national routes usually | reserved for the heavy motorlorries and staff motor cars6 convoys of carts ranging from the small donkey cart to the large supply wagon with team of four horses continually | move to pr from the fighting line i Junior officers, many of whom in priVate life occupy high positions in | business seem to have adapted them selves swiftly to the new life SO differ ent from their regular occupation. At | every intersection one of them is post cd h direct the traffic and they do | 90 with all the efficiency of. the man ners of a city police traffic squad. | Never during his sojourn with the 1 trench armies has the correspondent
 Of The Associated Press observed any serious congestion.
 1 Occasionally a German long-range | gun will tear great holes in the roads
 in the endeavor 10 prevent reinforce
 ments coming up or the approach of l ammunition columns. At once large
 aquads of men supposed 10 be enjoy l .i-S N iNSt iibil tue IlkOIS or me front line are Dut to work to filf the gaps | with fresh macadam and huge steam
 rollers appear from everywhere to | level the surface Then other men
 come on with tar pails and brushes md coat the surface to prevent the | rising of dust as much as possible.
 The houses of the recaptured vil-
 laces. when they are stlll standing
 ore largely In ruin but most of them
 are repaired and utilized as stables
 for horses. Some of the cellars have
 not suffered from bombardment and
 frequently squads of men are blletted
 there. As rule. however, the men
 in the rear Of the fighting lines ara
 compelled 10 build or excavate theiI
 uwn habitations. Generally they pre-.
 Ter tn dig them out of the slopes o
 the hills and often they are so in.
 geniouslv constructed that only or near approach can they be seen Ten
 of thousands thus live in caves. wher,
 they sleep on bundles of straw sprea,
 on the ground. During the two year
 0f war they have learned 10 mak'
 themselves very comfortable unde
 these conditions SO different iron
 those of their ordinary lives. All tn [ men look In splendid condition, an, the army doctors report very smal < percentage of sickness among them s Anyone who has lived with tn French in times of peace at once re = marks that the soldiers seem to hay
 increased both in stature and strengt' n during the war The men of the na [ ton appear to thrive since they hav Q returned almost to primitive condi Q lions and been deprived of the com v forts to which they had become ac s customed