Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-29

best seller OF tho year. The rc,nainin E
, articles Will tel! Mr.. Empcys expert
, cnccs during his seventeen months in
the first-line trenches of the British
army in France. the thrilling great
adventures which hundreds Of thou
sands OF young americans arc soon to
pass throush.j
( Copyright. 1917. hy the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate)
/ There were six Of ue.
I Curly" Wallace was called "Curiy"
, because he had the cutcst little Della
! Fox. or spit curl, as the gum cacwers
call it, you ever saw. Wallace was
proud Of that curl! and CAV" 1t the best
! Of attention and care He was Scotch.
Happy" HouEilton earned his nick
name by his cone;ant smile and happy
disposition. lie was English, Lon
donor.
HUNGRY FoXcroft reall" earned his
title. He took special pains that our
,a,ious would not become milde wed by
( lying around too long in tho dampnoss
OF our dugout. lie waa English; Also
from London.
'lhcy" IIonncy. dubbed Ike be-
cause in one of our theatrical attempts
! he took the part OF "Ikey Cohcnstcin."
| and made quite hit. English. via
London
Dick" Turpin. called "Dicl" in
memory OF the notorious highwayman.
He used to help the Quartsrmaster-
sergeant, 50 the name was very ap-
propriatc. lie was Irish. from Dublin.
was tho sixth. The boss pu, the
prefix "Yank" to my name. because
was American. and hailed from the
Big Town" behind the Statue Of
Liberty.
81, In Gun Grew.
The six Of Us composed the grew OF
gun No. . Of the ---,h Brigade Ma
. chine Company. We .rc machine
+, gunners. and our gun was the Vickers
/ light. 1903, wa,orcoolcd
I 1t was a rainy afternoon IN juno.
al d we were sitting in our dugout in
the front-linc trench. about 500 yards
from the German lines.
| II you should ask a Tommy Atkins
What is a Gugout?" he would look a;
you in establishment. and, plying you
/ for, your apparent lack OF education.
/ would answer: Whats "A duEout?
Why, 4 duSou; is a--wcll. dugout's
4 dugout." Only being n Tommy pro
tcm--pro TEN in my case meaning "for
duration OF war; will try TO de-
| scribe TO the best OF my ability this
! particular dugout.
I y duSout is a hole in the ground.
! Gets it's name because it is dug out
, BY the Royal Eng snccrS. or Il. E.'s. d.
! we call them. II is ueed TO shcitc. the
/ men in tho trenches from sh II fire.
/ They also sleep in il. O. try to. From
our point OF view. it's main use is to
drain the trenches OF muddy water and
! give us rheumatism. 1t also makes a
! good hotel for rats. These guests look
/ upon Us as intrudcrs. and complain
that we ovcrcroTd the place Occa-
sionaiiy we give in to them. and take
turn in the trench TO rest ourselves.
Air Shaft Through Ceiling.
Our dugout was about twenty feet
| deep. or at least. there were twenty
wooden steps leading down 10 it. The
CO ling and walls were braccd by heavy,
sGuare-cut timbcrs. Ovc- the timbers
in the ceiling sheets OF corrugated iron
were spread to keep the wet earth from
/ falling in on us. The entrance was
/ heavily sandba ggcd. and very narrow;
there was only room for one person 10
leave or enter at a time The ceiling
/ was six feet high. and the floor space
! was ten feet by six feet. Through the
! ceiling n six-inch square air shaft
was cut. We used to take turns sleep
! ing under this in wet weather
| The timhers bracinG the walls were
driven full of nails to hang our equip
ment on. After our ammunition, belt
| hllinE machine, equipment. rifles. etc,
| had been slowed away. there was no,
| much space for six men to live, not
! forgetting the rats.
1t was very dark in the dugout. and.
as we were only ISSUED candle ana a
| half every twcnty-four hours, we had
to economics on light Woe bctidc the
last man who left the candle burning.
In this hotel OF ours We would sit
around the lonely candle, and. through
thick haze Of tobacco smoke, would
recount our different experiences at
. various points OF the line where we
had been. or spin yarns about home.
| Sometimes We would write letter,
when we were fortunate enough to he
near the candle. AT other times we'd
sit for an hour without saying a word.
listening to Il German over in the
oncmy's front trench playing cornct.
Ny. how that Bochc could play. Just
10 make MS hate the war, he'd play
| 'Suwanec River" "Ilome. Sweet Home"
! or over the Waves" The latter was
my favoritc. During his recital our
trenches were strangely quiet. Never
4 shot from either side.
| Hnte Thnt Harmonica.
Sometimes. when he had finished
| Ikey tIonnoy would go into the trench
and play on his harmonica. AS soon
As we'd see that harmonica come out
1t was a case Of duck down low" for
the Germans would be sure, when the
first strains reached them. to send over
five rounds rapid" We hated that
harmonica. More than once we chucked
Continued on Fifth PaEcO