The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-07-30

Gus surprise attacks mace OF US Wy
the Germans.
I had previously had considerable
practice with the rifle and when our
officers discovered could lay claim
to a little more tlznn ordinary ability
in shooting I was made a. sn1per at
a. point of vantage overlooking the
enemy's lines.
! Shipping is rather dangerous work
at the best, but we soon discovered
that more than the ordinary risks OF
the job were to be ours. We had
West African niger called Sampa
Toule, and Sanpa evidently thought
shipping should he conducted on orr
ginal lines His fa;worite method was
to lie carefully in wait until he saw
a. prospective victim. Instantly, he
would let out a wild series Of yells,
and blaze away as If her were bonn
harding a town. In a very short time
to have gone near that spot would
have been counting certain death, 50
effectively had Sanpa drawn the at
tention Of the Germans, and we had
to look for another sniping post and
a less excitable sniper than Sampa.
Still, in spite Of his little peculiar
tiles, Sampa wasn't a bad soul. and
/ have very grateful recollection of
him carrying me into safety when I
| had been laid out 10y a shell.
The bugle calls of the Legion are
fine When out of the trenches go
! trumpeters march ahead of the regi-
ment, blowing like tblazes, and they
would make a dead man march.
The well--known sound must have
rfled many of the Germans within
hearing of it, for Germany has al
ways hated the Foreign Legion. Long
before the war broke out numerous
German deserters joixed its ranks
and divulged valuable information to
the French officers about German
military methods.
It was not surprising that in Janu-
airy, 1915, the German High Command
lwirelessed to the French: 1--WE will
no longer consider Legionaries as le-
legitimate com'batants, and will treat
i them as franc-tireurs when they are
lcaptured.' The first word Of the mes
Usage sent back is. I believe, in the
dictionary but is, none the less, more
than impo1ite. The reply went on to
SAY: you have first to take as pfis-
loners. Come and try it, swine-doss.' -
Very boyish but quite in the spirit of
the Legion, which combines on the
lone hand an iron discipline, where
lwork is enforced and no one dare
Islaclken, with a. broad-minded toler-
ance towards the men when they are
loft duty.
We got our first real taste of hard
lighting at the edge Of the Somme
lMarshes, and I sometimes wonder
how we managed to come through It.
The ground was treacherous, quak-
ling bog. When any of our men slip
Iped in they had to tbe pulled out, or
they would have been quickly swal-
Flowed up in the greedy NAV of the
norass In addition, the advance
guards Of the enemy were extra ac-
tive at this point, and our patrols
were continually running unexpect-
edly into them owing to the puzzling
nature of the ground
To make matters worse a weird
uncanny feeling seized us as we dis
lowered that our sentries were being
lmysteriously stabbed at night When
the man. was to he relieved he would
Ibe found dead-stabbed in the back
land not a trace left Of the assassin
LAS a precautionary measure our
guards were doubled, but again the
mysterious aSsailant managed to
elude their vigilance and one of them
went down with the gasping death
sob in his throat as the deadly dag
ger got home
just as the fatal stroke was being
delivered the unfortunate mans com
pan1on looked his way-they had
separated by a few yards-and saw
the murderer's- arm and the dull
gleam of the blade in his hand as
Idt descended. Quick as a flash he
threw his rifle to his shoulder and
fired, but Tn the half darkness the
, shot went wide and the murderer
slipped into the marshes and vanish
ed. The alarm was raised, and pur-
suit began.
Unfortunately darkness and the
: forbfdding nature of the marshes IA
yored the fugitive and he escaped.
But from what the murdered mans
companion had seen there was little
doubt that the crimes had been COM
united by a sham priest who had
come to the district from no one knew
where four years before, and who,
I needless to say, now disappeared 1t
was supposed that he was a German
spy sent there to survey the marshes
I and get all the information possible
about the ground for the benefit OF
the German army.
At FNrfse we were treated to numer-
Gus surprise attacks from the enemy
lOne in particular stands ont prom
> dnently in my mind for the grim ma
ture of the fighting and the uncouth
}1Weapons we were compelled to use
Our lads were busy trench 4dfggine
on this occasion when the wave ol
2 lGermans surged over on us, and there
Y was no time to seize our rifles. We
. had only our picks and shovels, but
: We fought with the fury of despai,
until the Germans turned and fled
8 Life in the trenches is a curious
mixture of grave and gay. One Incl.
: dent I remember almost achieved this
sudden change in manner botI
y startling and 1udicrous.
De Hoick was a Dane, a blonde
g giant of a man and possessed of i'm.
: mense strength, who during an ear
y lier part of his life had been a mem
9 Der of the Danish Royal Guard There
are not many places in this old plan
: ct of our that De Tloiok hadn't Wis
lifted. One country that ne had thor
3 oughly overrun in various capacitie.
: was Germany, and he had also
: though he didn't place much valu,
d on this-met the Kaiser.
: De Hoick was a strange mixture O
n fads, but one thing he thoroughly be
lieved was that in him an actor O
e the first water had been lost. Now
y something De Hoick had also acquir
1t ed in Germany besides a violent Ia
y tired for the people of that countr,
y was an expert knowledge of the Ger
a To