Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1917-01-16

ern warfare. There was no studied
display to the spectacle. no full dress,
no glinting steel, nor FURNISHED brass.
\ The day was cold and gray and wet
and everywhere was q grim realiza-
ton of the business, the machinery of
war-war just over the horizon.
When the two columns were fully
abreast the military picture had at
tanned its fullest expression. From a
point Of eminence on9 could look
down upon the undulAting road and
see for miles the two-colored ribbon
formed by the marching men-the
blue to the left The columns were
made up. of infantry and field artil-
lery-horse artillery, the British call
it. There were the famous French
treme of gun simplicity and effective
ness. Some were painted blue and
others had a mottled coat to make
them fade all the more vaguely into
ing eyes of hostile airmen- Their
smoke-stained muzzles and mud
splashed barrels were eloquent Of the
fact that these were no novices at the
line now for a brief respite, only to
go in again later.
Opposite the s75s' were the Brit
ish 1S-pounders-not SO slim and
graceful perhaps as their French pro-
totypes, but just about all that a gun
should be. British gunners are will
ing to admit that the French gun is
rather some weapon" but they have
real affection for their own field
piece which is absolutely unsuitable.
Penetrating the blue and khaki
ribbons now and then were little
patches Of smoke and steam rising
from the field Kitchens, for dinner
was being cooked ION the co. 1t was
little after noon that the two col
umns halted and there, mingled in a
roadway lined with the gaunt remains
of shell-torn trees, Tommy and Poilu
sat down and ate side by side.
1t was the good fortune of The cor
respondent of The Associated Press in
the field with the British armies to
motor through the entire length of the
blue and brown columns. 1t was easy
to see that the passing spectacle of
the opposite army was of intense per-
sorlal and professional interest to
Frenchman and Briton alike. The
French never cease to marvel at the
Scotchmen in their khaki TUNES, plaid
kilties and bare knees. The Scots who
were in the long brown line on this
particular day had a small but Wig
orous pipe band with them and the
Highland music delighted the passing
Poilus.
And to the British eyes the French
soldier is magnificent. Tall and stall
wart men rode and marched in the
blue line that passed the brown. Many
of them had been in the fighting since
the first days of the German invasion,
but the more than two years of the
hardships Of war apparently had made
mo inroads upon their magnificent
physique Strong and clean of limb
they were. some of them fiercely
bearded despite the serio comic ukase
of a few months ago that the beard of
the Poilu must go. But without a
beard a Poilu would cease to be a
PoiIu. All were splashed with the in
evitable mud of the broken battle
fields The horses, looking warm and
happy in their long winter coats, were
fairly covered with mud as well.
Something about the spectacle re-
minded one of Civil war days in Amer
lea Perhaps it was the old Timber
wagons in the line. They tried other
sorts Of more modern wagons at the
beginning of hostilities in Europe, but
soon the old limbefs came back into
their own.