Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1917-10-11
MEN IN "DUGOuTS"
SAFE AS AT HOME
Subterranean Cities Built by
Older Men, Unfit for Ac-
tive Fighting.

! French Front, (by mail.)-Dozens OF
divisions of the French army now sleep
underground in comparative comfort,
even in the front lines when the Ger
mans are hurting tens OF thousands OF
shells on the ground above them.
thanks to the work of the companies OF
~excavators formed since the beginning
of the war. The men chosen to CON
struct these shelters, which nave pre-
served so many thousands Of lives, are
soldiers whose age varies between 40
and so and who would have been unit
to q part in the active operations of
modern battles. where Q~uickncss OF
movement and litheness OF limb are alb
solute necessities. No matter what the
nature of the soil, whether hard rock.
quicksand, chalk or marshy land, these
Veterans have overdone all the diff
cultles and have succeeded in construc-
ting formidable bomb proof shelters all
along the line OF the front from the
North sea to the Swiss frontier until at
the present any fighting unit
rrlNing at almost any part of the line
finds a habitable dug out awaiting it.
n correspondent of the Associated
Press has seen and been inside dozens
OF these subterranean cities--for such
they may be termed-at many places.
and, even where all the natural CON
ditions are difficult, has found the
shelters commodious, well raine and
well ventilated. In some cases a battal-
ion finds accommodation in a single
shelter, and each man lodged in it is
provided with a simple bed, consisting
of a wire netting foundation supported
by wooden uprights. On this the SOL
dler lays his regulation bundle Of straw
and, covering himself with his army
blanket and great coat, can Sleep with
freedom from anxiety as 10 any bonn
bardment in progress outside. Tho
shelters are provided generally with
electric light or acetylene lamps, sani-
tary conveniences, and in some cases,
with complete shower baths.
First aid posts and dressing stations
with all modern surgical appliances are
also to hand, SO that the surgeon at
cached to the unit may attend innei-
lately to any wounded men brought in
from the nearby battlefield.
So we'll are the shelters protected
from the view OF the enemy that, al
though in many instances the under
ground LODGING covers an area OF 2,00O
square yards, not once in the course OF
the past year has one of them been &c.
stroyed by the enemy's fire. They have
many exits, the plan being 10 provide
one for each section or quarter COM
pany, 50 that in case n exit should
De hit and blocked. the men inside may
escape through another opening.
AT the beginning Of the war the sol
1iers actually in the fighting line made
their own shelters. which were just
holes dug in the ground and covered
Eith tree trunks and earth and afford
ing very little protection, besides taking
up much of the time of the soldiers and
costing very much labor and money for
transporting the necessary timber
1t was then decided to utilize the old
II classes of the reserves of the terri
torial army who had been called TO the
solors and who, despite their previous
military training, had been found I'M
able to bear the strain of campaigning.
Several companies of them were formed
and they We're first given the task OF
constructing shelters in the Somrne dis
trict and around Nerdun. Their officers
we're chosen from the engineers corps
md from men who in civil life were
engaged in similar undertakings, such
rs builders n miners. Most OF the men
we're peasants used to digging ia the
fields II their work was very salts
factory, but this kind of eX%cavating
work was different and they suffered
considerably from the unusual motion
Of having to throw the earth upward,
Or wheeling it in barrows up steep in
clines.
One of the officers overcome this
trying difficulty by i~nventing an ap-
paratus for carrying loosened earth or
rock to the surface by use Of electric
power. BY this arrangement two men
can do the work formerly done by 10.
When the earth has reached the sur
face it falls into barrows and is wheeled
away along the level and distributed
about in such a manner as not to at
tract the attention of the enemy's air
men always flying about the lines to OBJ
serve what is going on in the opposing
position.
Special army saw mills nave been
started to provide the props and plank
ing for the shelters and everything Is
done at minimum cost.
The veterans SO employed have sus-
tanned losses when working in exposed
positions. but nc danger appears to
daunt them and they continue their
job as though they were working in
the fields at home. They have adapted
themselves to the use of the most mod
ern tools, and although the great ma
iority Of them had no previous ex-
perience of electric drills and borers
they now use them as well as practiced
miners.
Nj C,,1on C~ee,Io&;1r