Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1917-06-07
JolnS.HlS SONG
10 MHIRR OF SHELLS

with the Britain Armies in France.
(by mail.)-One Of the distinct SUR
eprises to the newcomer at the war 10
to find larks singing over the front limo
trenches. One would think that birds
Df every sort had long since been driven
Tar From the war zone. but Instead.
they Turk in and about it In good num-ss
bers. Very often the sudden flight of
= covey from secluded thicketo q
remnan or wood has given the first
signal of q shrapnel attacke
The drumming OF big guns. the pat
pat -patter- patter-patter's Of machine
guns, the whirr and bang OF plum
~puddtngs" and rum jars sent oyer by
h enemy trench mortars. seem to
have lost all terror to the featheredf
sohgsters. They chirp as gaily md
loudly yer the muddy line as If there
was no such thing in all the world "a
war.
The British Tommy is very fond Of
pets. When he can safely do SO he
, throws crumbs over the parapet for h
larks and il h e had his way would fill
up every nook and corner Of the trench
with some sort OF animal mascot. As
1T is. there IS strange mixture OF pets
and pests in these deep cuttings in the
earth-the outposts of battle-wheres
the men themselves live a sort Of ami
V&A6 ~ Op LA w (kA0
health OF the troops is positively amaz-
ing.
OF ff~the-trench-pest the rat, OF
course, by reason OF his size, takes
precedence. He Is everywhere. No
amount of cleaning up has tended to
wipe him out. In fact he wakes fatter
and fatter as the war goes on.
OF the pets the dog is by far the
more numerous and popular. There are
goats and cats and canaries and va
rious species of mascot. but the dog be-
omes more a part OF the life than any
of the others.
Many q subaitern or company COM
mander has gone "over the top into
battle with his dog leaping and bark
Ing happily beside him. Scores of. dogs
nave been killed beside their masters
and hundreds wounded. In the fight
ing o Haimetz, during the great
push" on the Somme. a Red Cross
searching party came upon a pathetic
nttle group composed of a subaltern,
MS dog INC four private soldiers, just
as they had sprawled to their death in
. burstsof4machineAgun fire..
The dogs in the renches have great
run chasing the rats. They will even
leap over h parapet after them into
No Mans Lane" And sometimes old
Fritz from the enemy trenches will
snlpe them. There Is one old terrier
now In the front line who has been
wounded four times. If he survives the
war. this old veteran is going to have
. collar with four gold stripes on it.
The Red Cross dogs of the French
hardly come under h head Of pets.
dumb animals have played. and are
playing in the great world conflict. The
dogs. however, render a service scarce
y more notable, than the little French
donkeysi thai carry ammunition to the
'front.' line OF trenches. These little
hfIHVno a no n~ p4~ - -~..
Their long, straight ears, always polk
ing forward, are attuned to the sounds
OF battle, and when the firing gets too
neaVy they dart for the. shelter Of shell
holes and lie there with the drivers
until danger temporarily is past.
war are the wild cats Of Ypres. The
old mother and father cats Of Ypres
were once domesticated.. But when
the frightened population fed at the
lrst commandment, the cats. true to all
cat traditions. remained behind. Now
1pres Is a wilderness of ruins and all
the cats born n living there have be-
come like wild animals.
a sergeant major am
marching out Of the Tine a. few days
ago with a maybe sitting on his shoul-
der: A private in h same company
knapsack. All the overseas troops
bring mascots with them. The South
Africans started out with a great COL
lection of springboks, balloons, dull
kers and a variety Of queer animals,
U the climate of northern France in
winter mood is far from friendly, and
the warm weather pets have mostly
been done in"
Probably the most amazing of ali
var pets. however, was the lion cub
adopted by the Americans in the
French aviation service. They read in
a poHio no a<hak a rSk~~-R.Ak 40
J cub" was for sale and promptly sent
smissaries in to buy it. They said when
grew up they were going to. drop it
n the German lines, but 1t was spoiled
INTO being q pampered pet instead Of q
nan eater n finally because its play
sul hoWlss at night became a nuisance,
4 was sent to a zoo.
"sroeksn OF eornso."
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.