The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-12-03


about him to place their fingers in
their ears. This was done and the
lieutenant shouted the word "F1re /"
The gun barked quickly, the noise
being followed by q metallic clank and
the shell case was elected and the gun
made ready for the next load. The
lieutenant told the correspondent the
story Of the first shot of the war, pune
tuating the narrative throughout with
the orders ready. to, fire." and fire, -
which each time was followed by the
report Of the gun and the whizz Of
the shell. \
1--WE came up the night before" the
lieutenant said, land got into position
In driving rain. No horses had ar
rived. l was anxious to get off the
first gun and SO were my men.
asked them if they were willing to
haul the gun by hand to this place 50
that we could get the first crack at the
Germans. They agreed unanimously,
so we set out across the fields until we
got over there at the base Of that hill
you can just see in the haze.
Hours to Prepare Gun.
1--WE had hard time getting the
gun, which we have not named yet,
over those shell craters. But we la
bored for many hours and finally
reached the spot. Then l got permis-
sion to fire.
strictly speaking, the first shot,
which was in the nature Of q tryout
for the gun, simply went into Ger
many. The sergeant put high explo-
sive shell there at 6 :15 o'clock in the
morning"
Another officer here took up the mar
rative.
Il was in an observation point" he
said. There was a fog as the first
shot went singing over. Suddenly the
fog lifted and l saw a group of Ger
mans. l directed my gun at them. The
shrapnei burst overhead and they took
a dive into the ground like so many
The lieutenant grinned broadly, ,
shook the water off his shrapnel he'll |
met, and using both clinched fists to
punctuate his remarks, said express |
sively: at was great
From the artillery lines to the in
fantry trenches was considerable
distance over more muddy hills. The
found the infantry in
side the trenches. There also were
many wires which ran into switch !,
boards, and American and French OPP
orators were sitting side by side d.
'ecting operations.
Bell for Gas Attack.
A guide is necessary to reach the
irst line, especially when some of the
renches resemble irrigation bitches.
The trenches the Americans are occu-
'ying begin from a screened position. |
IN the way there shovels and tools
we're piled high below a hill on which
here was great bell for giving the
iarn in case of gas attack There :
nder cover were the company cooks
usy warming up food that had been
rOught up in wagons.
Following the guide. the way winds
l and out from left to right for many
ards between interviewer branches y
lat have been placed on the sides Of I,
he trenches.
The American privates in the front :
FLASHED through without hesitating,
)metimes getting footing on STEP ;
ing stones in the muddy water and r
)metimes not. The trench turns
larply to the right and voice warns,
Keep your head down. and the rest I,
the way the walking is difficult. :.
alting near machine gun, the Ger g
an positions directly opposite on :"
II could be seen across the barbed II
ire of No Mans land. Lights ap-
Jared in little town to the left. =
There is sort of a gentleman's
,reement in this sector that towns
er the line are not to be shelled. IF
e side violates the agreement the
her side promptly fires shell for shell
to hostile town.
General Sibert, who has just COM
ated a tour of the trenches, was
ked how the morale of the Ameri-
MS in the trenches was. He replied:
Iorale? How could the morale Of
nericans be anything but good?"