Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-11-16
Ground in Front of Trenches
Churned by Shells and
Germans Forced to Hasty
Retreat.
Patrol Encounters Becom-
ing Every Night Occur
rences-Guns on Both
Sides Booming Through
out the Day.
BY ]. w. PEGLER.

American Field Fl q Il ar e s,
France. Nov. 16.-American artillery
men planted roaring barrage of shells
over the front of trenches held by
American infantrymen early Thursday
and defeated German plans for a raid.
FIGHTING ACTIVITY ALONG THE
"AMERICAN FRONT" is NOW
REACHING A HOT STAGE. EVERY
SORT OF WAR ACTIVITY SHORT
OF GENERAL ASSAULT IS BEING
EXPERIENCED BY THE SAMMIES
IN THE FRONT LINE TRENCHES.
On Tuesday and "Wednesday night,
American patrol parties, scouting over
no mans land, encountered German
reconnaissance units. There were
brief hurried exchanges of shots in the
dark and the enemy scurried away.
ENEMY FIRE INCREASES.
Meanwhile the enemy artillery fire
had been increasing steadily. Wednes-
day night it reached a crescent. Then
early in the morning the boches sud
denly loosed a spray of machine gun
fire at communication trenches-the
lines by which reinforcements and
supplies are sent to the fighting lines.
Alive to the fact that this might
forecast a raiding attempt, the Amer
leans sent up flares. THEY FLOOD
ED THE IRREGULAR GROUND IN
FRONT OF THE FIGHTING LINES
WITH LIGHT AND DISCLOSED A
GROUP OF GERMANS APPROACH
ING THE AMERICAN TRENCHES.
BARRAGE FIRE OPENED.
Word hurriedly went back from the
American commander of the menaced
trench section for a barrage. The
American artillerymen got the word by
telephone and bent to their guns with
top speed activity. Their battery
roared in a tattoo of fury. over in
front of the American lines the ground
was churned UP by the shells as they
| fell thick and fast near the would be
raiders. Then the boches gave it up
and scurried back to the safety Of
their trenches and dugouts.
The rest of the night was marked
lby increased German gunfire.
| The Americans kept on the alert
throughout the dark hours.
PATROL ENCOUNTERS.
Patrol encounters are now becoming
a regular ery-night occurrence. IN
the clashes of the last few days, there
have been no American casualties.
Whether the Germans have been equal
! ly lucky against the American rifle
men Is not known. Dawns light over
no mans land fails to reveal any
! bodies.
Lively gunfire. increasing and dimin :
ishing by turns occupies the daylight
hours. Today the guns on both sides
were booming away in rapid succession
of roars.
KILLED BY GERMAN SHELL.
The American soldiers killed and
wounded in a recent German bonn
bardment were in shack near Ameri-
can support lines when single boche
shell struck their position.
A Georgetown, Pa, boy, wounded In
the arm, body and head by pieces Of
this missile, gave the United Press
correspondent today this brief story OF
his experience, as ne lay on portable
table in certain base hospital:
our platoon had been in a shack
near the support lines" he explained
"All of a sudden the boches began
shelling us. Our platoon commander
said: Down in the dugouts., men!'
SHELL cAvED IN ROOF.
1--WE hadn't any more than started
to do that very thing when shell
caved in our roof. Some of us in the
party were killed and some of US were
wounded"
4 Close by the Georgetown boy was
another table and on 1t lay an Ameri-
can soldier from Eckmann, w. Va. The
United Press correspondent walked
over to talk to him. Then in bustiet
surgeon who didn't want his pa
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