New Britain herald., 1917-12-15

NEW hhlAkN 0A11' aud ap {Ssps that tho. eosld ssAnd on the bottom and not be seen from the 1lagface. Although the average per- son hQ&eveA that the front line tHNAChe9 are the most dangerous. MT. R0nAson says that it is the second and third line trenches that are the
 meat dangerous in fact. And for this Foa1an: Th0 Germans, when about to attack, open up a continual artil- le1y Ire directed entirely on the sec- ond ana third line trenches, form tNR A ha11a4o of fire which is intend
 ed to prevent endorsements from earninr up to the defenao of the first line. The fighting on the first line is lmost entirely with machine gun, rifle and bayonet. In many places the German and French trenches are within 90 yards of each other and
 here the fighting is entirely with hand 9FenAdes and by shArpshooters.
 These trenches are so close to- gether that the enemy can he heard
 talking at times. In other places the
 trenches are about 100 yards apart. While in France MT. Humason saw
 hut very little of tho British, Austra- liAn or Canadian troops and only
 comparatively few Americans. Ho
 saw many of the Sengalese troops and sayA they are nerce lighters.
 They are sent from the French pro- vinees in Africa and arc black men.
 Tlaey are what ni1ht be termed "too good" fighters for when the French start an objective they plan to go
 only a certain distance and direct their harrage of Ire to this point.
 During the charge the Sengaiese, in
 their-- fiarce enthusiasm of battle.
 ofttimes forget to stop at the propeA time and pursue the retreating Ger
 mans too far. sometimes running into their own artillery fire and be-
 coming annihilated. ... Tn France the universal term ap-
 piled to tho German is Boche, while the Trench are known as Poilus: De-
 spite their objections to the nickname, Mr. Humason says that the Americans arc invariably referred to as The
 SamnRies'' and that Is the nickname
 that will stick to them throughout the
 war.
 Poilu Gets 5 Gents Per.
 The pay given a French soldier is
 five cents per day and it was this
 nuniRoent salary that MT. Humason
 received during his service abroad.
 The food given the French soldiers is
 the best possible. he says. and behind
 the lines all sacrifices are being made
 for the fighting men. This Is notice
 able to the extent that it Is now, inn
 possible for civilian to buy any to- bacco in France as. it is all being sent to the, soldiers and even then they cannot be supplied. There appears to he sufficient supply of all foodstuffs in France, but they are expensive The only shortage of any account is butter and sugar. There Is veryNi of the former used and sugar is ob- tainable only by card which limits tho amount used by each person. Memhors enlisted in the French For
 e19n Legion receive even less pay than the French national army man, their
 pay being but one cent per day.
 Mail communication between the United States and France is rushed and hardly any second class mail is coming through. There is also a de- lay in forwarding certain things and while abroad Mr. Humason learned that the American Red Cross had sent $1,0O0,000 worth of cigar cites to the American soldiers. These had landed at Bordeaux, but no one
 had seeQ anything of them after that. American tobacco is almost price
 less in Paris and can be sold at al- most any price. En route to France MT. Humason says there was a ben-
 eft auction on shipboard and all the passengers contributed something. He gave q package of 100 Pall Mall ciga- rcttee which were sold for $40.
 When he left France Mr. Huma- son. accompanied by William Lamb, wont to England. leaving Harrison Bristol. another New Britain boy in Paris whore he was starting out for the camp of the 1o1st Machine Gun company to visit his brother. Roy Bristol. formerly of Walnut street Mr. Humason sailed from Liverpool At a. m. on December 5 and made the trip across in nine days. He says that probably Lamb and Bristol are now somewhere on the Atlantic en route for home.
 On the night before he left Paris for England Mir. Humason met Rob- ert C. Vance, of Maple street, an ann bulance driver, in the French cap ital. They had dinner together and the other New Britain boy sent back ! hts greetings to all the friends "in l the old home town" MT. Humason | says MT. Vance is enjoying excellent health and now tips the beam at 1894 pounds.