The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1917-11-08
MILITIAMEN GET
SEVERE TRAINING
BOYS AT CAMP PIKE ARE EN-
Gagged IN EXCEEDINGLY
STRENUOUS WORK.

over the top of Flanders may be diff
ferent from taking German trenches
in Arkansas, but dollars to ginger
cakes il can't be more blood curd-
ling. Theoretically the carnage is
greater than on the blood stained
fields of France.
At Camp Pike they have every
thing they encounter in the first
trenches Of Europe--except the
enemy, but oak saplings, bags Of
sand and other equally ferocious OBJ
jets supply an excellent substitute
To make it as realistic as possible,
first, second and third line trenches
have been constructed at the east
ern edge of this camp of ten square
miles, with a road leading directly
in front of the first trench. Com
munication trenches connect the
three, zigzagging about over an acre
or two of ground until a person is
almost dizzy from cbpstant turning,
if not from fright, when the firing
line is reached
All the perfectly good rattan in
the woods adjoining has been wrap
ped about stakes to form the EN-.
bankment corners Of the first trench.
A moat is on the outside to keep the
enemy from coming over in sur
prise attack. In front there are all
kinds of wire entanglements, and they
are wonderfully and fearlessly made.
Across the road lies Germany. The
German trenches are protected by
barbed wire entanglements, traps Of
every kind. and there is even mud
TO be encounted just like we read
about on the Western front.
Behind the trenches OF the Allied
army, for that is what the soldier
boys at Camp Pike represent, hang
the legless and headless trunks of
Fritz, Hans, Heinie, Karl and Emil,
but you would scarcely recognize
them in their mutilated conditions
They hang from long frames, resem-
bling the tackling dummies of q foot
bali squad As massxF of fact, the
offending foreigners are only sacks of
dust. but how those boys do stick
them full Of bayonet holes
The bayonet used by the American
is about the same as the first 10 in
ches of the business end of grand
fathers sword If anything it is more
terrifying, A sack Of saw dust is
a hopeless wreck after Sammie has
lunged three or four times, but any
one of those thrusts would make
short shift of an enemy. After the
recruit has whetted his appetite to a
sufficient degree of blood thirtiness
on the dummy he is led into the
trenches, there to wade through,
crouch along the shallow places, and
finally to face the enemy few yards
away. He looks over through a peri
scope, or from an observation point
well concealed by sacks of sand. He
throws grenades and bombs of vari-
Gus kinds, for he is a genious at max
ing these things.
But when the order comes for 60
ing over the top Sammie is right
there with the temperament to make
il realistic. He goes over as though
he were out for a stroll, and is taking
MT murderous instrument along for
fear there is a squirrel IN the woods
beyond. The soldier boys are well
scattered as they proceed, quiet and
determined looking Then comes the
big command, when the wire en-
tanglements-which have previously
been shot away--are reached, and
such howling mob as charges the
innocent oak saplngs was never en-
countered in the land of the Dervsh,
or the plains when wild Indians
roamed in the war paint.
And those trenches are taken
many, many times a day When ore
squad has done it correctly, and
thoroughly, by closing all gaps and
establishing lines of communication,
it gives way to another, but the same
poor oak saplings must bear the
brunt Of the fighting in each attack,
and will until the land like bayonets
have laid them low.