Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-26
TROOPS IN FRANCE
ON INTENSIVE DUTY
Trench Building and Harden
ing Marches Daily Program
for American Soldiers. !
READING MATTER WANTED
By the Associated Prrss.


FRANCE. Wednesday. July 25-The
first field casualty among the American
FORCES occurred today. soldier be-
came too inQuisitive In regard to the
construction of live French bomb.
among the supplies brought to camp
Tor training purposes. He extracted
the safety pin in some manner. and
very soon thereafter a loud explosion
occurred. Fortunately for the soldier.
the bomb did not contain a charge of
full battle strength, or he would have
| been blown to pieces. As 1t was he
escaped with the loss OF his right hand
AT every vantage point near the camp
men In khaki and men in blue could
pc seen today drilling. marching and
digging side by side. Field maneuvers
were In progress at several places
while from more secluded spots came
the rattle of machine guns. Musketry
practice was being held. and on every
| hand was activity which was most inn
pressive.
The French and American soldiers
seem to enjoy their association thor
| oughly. The French frankly admire
the aptitude of their enthusiastic
| pupils.
Visits to the French front undoubt.
edIy VIII be quite frequent in the fu-
ture In order that American officers
may acquaint themselves with condi-
tions OF life on the front line in its
various phases. including routine. as
wei as the actual working out of Of
tensive and defensive plans
/ Inere was greater activity in the
training camp today than at any time
| I E tne american troops reached
france. actual intensive work having
neen begun. There is no disposition on
the part OF the American commanders
| to belfttle the amount of work neces-
saIy 70 bring their men up to the high
est european standards, but the spirit
with which the troops have undertaken
tnis work has encouraged the highest
hopes of early efficiency
Irences were being dug today in the
way OF practice with an enthusiasm al
most equal to that with which soldiers
alg themselves in under actual arfiI-
iery nre These trenches were of full
oepsn and were duplicates of certain
sectlohs OF the front line, consisting OF
front. or fire trenches, support trenches
ana reserve trenches, with Intricate
communication trenches Connecting
tnem. The Americans were digging
| ing.
Erect Wire Barriers.
yesterday the marines got under wav
Win their digging. and they were wir.
h ing themselves In today behind great
Darriers OF barbed metal entanglements.
TOT IN every way possible the intensive
training Is intended to approximate on.
| eSra.lons under actual war conditions.
, nUun offensive and defensive tactics
snam battles with grenades, bayonets
ana trench mortars will soon take
place. Already dummies have been
t tp for bayonet practice, and
vital points for attack. o'.
me americans are highly amused
az the stories of how the French dec
crate and paint their dummies to look
,ike the German emperor, Won linden
ourg and other enemy notabIes. and
each company is searching it's ranks
Tor embryo artists in that line.
Hardening Marches Continue.
| Practice in trench lighting will not
| wholly replace the route marches or
| mixes. Tor the hardening process must
| continue all the time. Already the
mems packs weigh in the neighbor-
nooo OF nfty pounds. but. when finally
they are equipped for the trenches
with steel helmets and an extra kit.
these packs may weigh eighty pounds.
or equal to that carried by the British
troops. The men must be fit to bear
this burden without undue fatigue.
The weather is rather warm Just
now. but the nights are deliciousIy
cool and refreshing. Every effort is
being made to do as much of the train
ing as possible during the cooler hours
of the early morning.
The American soldiers are calling at
tention to their lack Of reading mat
ter. and 1t has been suggested that
some such arrangement might be made
In the United States as that in Eng
land, whereby any person. after read
ing a magazine or other periodical,
can merely drop the same unaddressed
in any post office, the government
forwarding it promptly to the troops
in the field through the regular chan
mel of distribution. The men are also
looking forward to the establishment
OF Y. NJ c. A. huts at the camp. and
efforts are being made to hurry the
construction of these.