Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-27

carrying forward all the time to the
depots near the front. and these de-
pots or parcs are innumerable, each
of them holding large quantities Of
ammunition, and the statement that
the Allies are suffering from insult
ficient supplies is certainly belied by
the sight of what they have stored
here in readiness for any emergency.
1t is that which impresseS me, what
a terrific drain 1T is to the nation and
what an awful expensive operation
the war is, and 1 feel at an utter loss
to comprehend the magnitude and
extent of the whole organization.
We had a most interesting trip
the day before yesterday, when we
went to a pare closer to the front
than we had yet been. The road par
alleled lines of batteries back of
which on the side of the hill were
the dug-outs and living quarters of
the men. 1t reminded me of a viii
lage of prairie dogs, all ready to
duck in their holes when the shells
flew.
While we We're unloading at the
pare situated at the end of a ra"
vine which ran straight up to the
firing line about l Il miles aways we
heard low. droning whistle, at
which we instinctively ducked, and
then terrific explosion which rocked
the ground. The Germans were try
ing to locate a French battery near
us on the hill and the arrivee, a lit
tie out of range, fell uncomfortably
near us, about $50 yards away. 1t
was the only shell that fell near u.s.
though we could hear them whistling
over our heads. While waiting for
the other cars to be unloaded we
walked UP over the hill, another boy
and myself, and found a French bat
terry in the middle of a thick clump
of trees. The Frenchmen were all
gathered around a cider press, while
waiting orders to fire, and when they
saw us, asked us in and gave us
some fresh cider. They said they
would fire in about half an hour and
that If we could wait they would let
us fire the gun. 1t was a $50 nm.
and n pretty big gun, but unfortu-
nately we had to get back to the
convoy. We are going back to the
same pare probably in a few days,
and l am going to fire that gun.
Shell Balloons
The Germans fired several shells
at French observation balloon
quite near us, and, though they
came dangerously close, the balloon
was not touched. There were lots
of planes in the air, both French
and Boche, which were being fired
at without success on either side.
Wednesday, Sept. 25. When
stopped writing last Saturday night
I intended fully to finish the next
morning, as we rarely rolf on Sun
day. but this has really been the
first opportunity 1 have had since,
and this afternoon off was uneXpect-
ed, as we left camp this morning at
a. m, presumably for an all-day
trip, but we finished our loading and
unloading in good time and hurried
back to camp. The other half of the
section left att p. m. and will prob
ably get back early in the morning,
as they are going on long trip close
to the front. The trips that direc-
ton now mean seeing some firing,
for there has been marked in
crease in activity and the Boches are
sending them over pretty fast now.
Sunday we had hard day, making
three trips between two ammunition
parcs, carrying $50 nm. shells, sixty
cases of ten shells each, making a
load of about six tons, which made
the old "Fierce Sparrow" groan.
Boches on Raid
Monday and Tuesday were hard
days, but the trip rather uninterest-
ing, as we were merely carrying
trench material from one pare to
another on this side of the river