Evening star., 1917-11-04
GERMAN SHELL JUST MISSED
TWO MESS KITCHENS OF u. S.
Last Artillery Blast From Enemy Guns Be-
fore Nightfall Covered Soldiers and
Cook Equipment With Mud.

pounds of metal, but were obliged to
pack. in addition to the ordinary uni
form clothes. a flannel shirt. a winter
Army overcoat. raincoat, box con-
and a steel helmet. The way the cor
respondents slipped, stumbled and fell
in daylight was only a faint indication
of the difficulties of moving the gun
at night
1T is very good today" the French
captain kept insisting. The only rea-
son we could see for the remarks was
his desire to show his knowledge OF
English. He explained that in this
section it -ained on only 200 days in
the year and showed on ninety others.
but that usually 1t was clear
For the first FIVE minutes the party
tried to pick the high spots. The Army
service shoes of unsized leather
soaked up the water like sponges.
When there were no high spots the
water ran over the tops. Finally the
writer's were satisfied to slosh through
1t knee high II 1t did not reach the
hips. The rain pattering on the steel
helmets, and sounding. like the fall,
to snow, until the party looked like
uhite-rohed. stumbling ghosts. Going
to the front trenches IS a great ex-
perience only. 1t is easy to picture
the hardships of those obliged to live
in them and defend them day and
night. to say nothing of the danger
from shot and shell.
Between the hattWies and the
trenches held by our infantry is more
than a mile of muddy hills. valleys
from q cook wagon in a sheltered dug
out Men. wearing steel helmets and
carrying rifles were standing and eat
ing wherever they could find a little
shelter from the driving snow. AS We
ziezagged through half mile of con-
narfinp trenches met SQUADS -
turning from the front and overlook
others under command of officers go
ing out for the night. The Slated
wooden sidewalks We're afioat in
places. In other places there were
stepping stones. but we waded through
most of the puddles.
Ready to Begin Action.
Along the line were posts Of men
standing through the night In snow
and mud watching and waiting. There
are hundreds Of miles of such trenches
and thousands of such men have been
on duty for more than three years to
hold the Germans back.
In spots the rain soaked heavy earth
had caved in. though the walls Of the
trenches were supported by woven
twigs Gangs of men were at work
ing clothes were returning to the dug
outs after a day of duty exposed to
the 6iscomforts of nature and the vim
dictiveness of man. The one was
grumbling: some were Joking. but all
were impressed with the seriousness of
the task.
I'VE are not kicking This is what
we came over here for" said private.
backing into a muddy corner of the
trench as we edged past. Sleeping in
dugout is not like resting in steam
heated fiat at home. but that is part of
soldiers life"
There are big systems Of dugouts
like galleries in mines in the sheltered
and protected hi1lsides back of the
trenches. Offices. telephone exchanges
first aid stations and hunks for off,
GERS and men are established there
Protected trenches lead from them to
the front. A man need not show his
head above ground to reach the from,
line.