Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1917-01-05
Fields Torn Up, Village Ruins
Scattered, and Forests Torn
to ShredS.
DUST COVERS EVERYTHING
Aspect OF NewIy-conquered Territory
Described by Correspondent on
British Front--Gone Are Days
Of Ammunition Shortage.

h"ntu uSuihSt the Shyhue, stIlpptu VI
their branches and foliage. The bark
Is gashed, showing many gaping
wounds. The white heart of the wood,
barred to the fierce suns glare, is
palpable Image of patient suffering.
Along the roads leading south great
dust columns rise In spirals heaven
ward, hiding the slow-moving horse
transports. Further on broad eddies
of dust ride on the passing heat cur
rents scattering across the fields like
spent smoke.
The landscape is of leaden gray,
buried under this heavy manure Of
dust. Ashen gray are the tunics, the
rifle barrels, even the faces of col
umn of men who have just come In
from the first-line trenches. Their
eyes stare out of their deepened SOCK
cts, trimmed around with dust. Their
steel helmets, of darkened green. have
taken on the dull-hued patina of
Greek bronze.
The water carts, the field kitchens,
the heavy batteries which are being
moved forward, the great lOrries In
long, serpent lines extending mile up
on mile, all wear this pail of dust. AS
far as the eye can see are low, rolling
hills, bare and treeless save for small
patches of woodland here and there.
The fields are thickly grown with this
ties, nettles, and lusty weeds which are
waist-high.
ha hn In Of tnt
these fields be the same which, two
years ago, stood rich with golden
grain? The bad lands of the Dakotas,
the wastes of the Sahara, the dust
swept desert of Cobb seem fair In COM
parison with this region of the SOmme.
My throat is parched my eyes seem
to be bleeding, though l have been
walking but half an hour, picking my
way through shell craters and upturned
soil, jumping across abandoned Ger
man trenches, through terrain lit
tered with unexploded shells of all cal
ibers and kinds. Here lies an innocent
looking little mills" bomb not much
larger than ducks egg. The man
who threw 1t forgot to pull out the
cotter pin, so that 1t did not 20 off.
Here ii lies, apparently harmless. yet
Ii has the potential strength to blow
half platoon into Kingdom come"
Next to 1t lies what looks like giants
dumb-bell. The great iron balls at
each end are larger than mans head.
| squirt forward instinctively as | trip
against the connecting bar of the bomb.
Nothing happens. Yet this mighty en-
CINE of war can wipe out company.
AS l advance the dust grows deep
er underfoOt, thicker In the air, the
suns rays more intense, more relent-
less. Overhead, strung out like mon
ster snubnosed whales on line-a
mighty catch the captive balloons of
the observation officers hang Imply.
count % such craft within one short
sector. Though the German lines are
in plain view, opposite us, l can only
| find three of their balloons.
"Our airmen shoot them down as
fast as the Boches' put them up" my
guide remarks in matter-of-fact
voice, as we watch four British air
craft sweeping across the enemy lines.
We push forward. The brisk explo-
sion of departing shells, with sharp,
bark-like note, rends the air 1t Is a
new experience to listen to the big
howitzers fire in battery salvos as
though they were mere lS-pounders
The smaller calibers then take up the
melody, and the forte" of the big
guns, followed by the piano of the
smaller ones, an "adagio" motif, and
then a "scherZo," make continuous
music which must be pleasant to Brit
ish ears.
Here to the right Is a great mound
of brass, empty shell cartridge cases
10 feet high and 40 long. Ii is only
one of many such heaps which | have
seen here When II Is recalled that II
Is only the two smallest calibers OF
shells, the Is and the 60-pOunder
which leave any trace Of having beer
fired In the hands of their users, ant
that for every two of these nj leas
one of the larger caliber shells Is sen
into "Bocheland," as they call II on
here. something of the work done b!
the munltion makers In England cai
be grasped. Gone are the days whei
British batteries We're on starvation
rations. when only ten rounds were al
lotted 10 n gun, and the German how
tiers could pound British trenche
with impunity. Now, for every shel
case empty new one is waiting t
take its place.
) And yet as n gunner said to m'
"For every shell In hand we still nee
two new ones, and we know Wen 20
them" For the Germans have In n
way slackened their fire. On the col
trnry. they have brought up new bl
, guns and are still answering nlmoS
shell for shell to the British IRE. \,
there is something aggressive In IN
, British cannon roar which proclaim
, to all who would hear that the day {
smashing superiority is al hand