Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-08-21
NTBBLES BUTTERED
BREAD, SIPS TEA,
WHILE IN BATTLE
William Philip Sims Gives In
tereSting Story of British
Officer Directing Gunfire
During MONDAY Luncheon
BY WILLIAM PHILIP s1D6ms.

WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
THE FIELD, July 30-(By mail. )-Peo-
pie can get used to anything. even to
this business of war Were it not so,
those who have to keep on killing Ger
mans month in and month out, would
go mad, and bite somebody.
Today i was out among the guns pound
ing the Germans to pieces in the neigh
borhood of Lens. 1t was tea time. Over
head seven British planes were winging
past on their way to a wrestling match
with the enemy in the clouds Now and
then a siX-inch shell exploded in the vi
entity of the British batteries.
Under scrap of canvas serving as
shelter from the midsummer sun, sat
Canadian major, commander of a bat
terry of howitZers. lie was bareheaded.
was a cup of tea. BY it lay slice of
buttered bread. The major was in his
ShirtsleeVes. In his hands was a book
and a copying leadpencil.
Jotting something down in the book
the major laid it face down on the case
and took up the slice of buttered bread,
bit off a mouthful and chewed away for
some thirty seconds, then called out to
one of his gun crews near by:
Number Two! FOUR seven five nine"
No. crew lifted a huge shell into
the howitzer breech, closed and locked
the breechlock: sighted and stood by,
one of the men holding the laniard taut
in his right hand. In his left hand he
held a piece of bread.
Swallowing a gulp of tea the major
picked up the gunnery book and casual
~ ordered:
. Number One. Fire.
The howitzer next to No. beloved so
the country round about echoed and
rocked to it's thunder. The major set
down some figures and refeshed him.
self with more tea and bread.
Hey, Bill" sang out the gunner OF
No. 1 crew.
Whatever want now?" an ammunition
tender growled. He was busy chewing
and opening a can of some sort of tim
ned food.
where's that JAM" said the laniard
JAM" queried Bill as he worked
away What jam? You mean the rhu-
barb JAM"
Nav" replied the laniarder. mot the
rhubarb jam: the strawberry jam. m
fed up on that stringy rhuparb Jam;
Number one" bawled out the major.
six o five three" Then after swal-
low from the enameled cup: Number
two, fire.
No. blazed away and a huge shell
through the air screaming in terrifying
fashion and likely enough 1t found It's
mark and tore to shreds dozen dupes
of the kaiser.
Yes" said the Canadian gunner who
had pulled the trigger, that was GER
tainly some game! Two men out, man
on third score tied and the ninth in
ming. Old Ty Cobb was at the bat
with two strikes on him. Ty whaled
away at it and
Number two" shouted the officer
-Four seven FIVE eight" Then: by
Godfrey he murmured to himself,
wonder wherein the devil they got this
butter" Number one! Fire"
Again the howitzer shivered and leapt
and, as the recoil threw it back into po-
sition Bill came up with tin plate in
his hand.
Here souse face" he said to the lam
lard puller, heres bloomin' jam. SHAH
| fetch YOU a fnger-bowl?'
And so the manslaughter went on.
Dispassionately and as coolly these men
feed and fire their howitzers. When
lunch time comes they may knock OFF
work for a time and eat it comfortably,
sitting on a pile of shells any one of
which contains enough explosive to
blow up the Woolworth building. If
for any reason it is necessary to keep