The Cordova daily times., 1917-01-24
DE ESCR|PT|0N OF TROOPS AT THE
 FRONT
WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN

WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN THE FIELD, France, Jan. 23. - There is a point on the western battle line where the British Tommy and the French Polu meet - where the alli- ance between Great Britain and France become reality.
 There they are dug in, the man In khaki and the man in pale blue. There in the long watches of wintry nights in the front trenches they sit about charcoal fire and think and smoke together, and make understandable signs and sounds, though it is sel- dom that either can speak the others tongue. It is not a show spot this meeting place of the two great allied armies in France, nor is there de- finite mark to show the dividing line. It is just q mingling point, not an ab- rupt juncture. For perhaps hundred yards at the joining sector the French and British soldiers fraternize any visit
 There is no break In the line any where along the front, and from time to time the meeting place of the arm ies is shifted, according to the plans and the agreements of the French and British staffs. Often the Germans are at a loss to know who is opposing them French or British and all sorts of ruses and subterfuges are resorted to in the attempt to gain information. It is considered of great importance on both sides to know just who the fellows are in the Op- posing trench. and when there is relief or change in the line, the world war resolves itself at least locally into a hazardous game of hide and seek.
 Tommy and Polu have the greatest respect for each other and If Tommy has been over very long he generally knows a phrase or two of French, which, coupled with war slang that is common to both armies, gives a me dium of communication mutually en- joyed In the front line trenches they share and exchange their little belong ings like so many school children swapping luncheon goodies at recess time. Cigarettes, tobacco and choco- late are traded back and forth and oftentimes the midnight meal for Frenchmen and Englishmen is heated over the same little stove carefully concealed from the enemy lest hand grenade should upset the supper plans.
 This stubborn, dogged, foot by foot warfare, with it's mire and mud, it's .edoubts and dugouts and its intricate geography of trench upon trench sell dom lends itself to pictures of martial splendor, but without design or ar rangement there occurred few days ago a spectacle which will live long in the memory of the few outsiders privileged to witness it.
 Two great contingents of the French and British armies met upon the road, exchanged salutations and passed One was coming out" the other go ing in" Each column must have been at least seven miles long. And with each was all the paraphernalia. the panoply and the impedimenta of modern warfare. There was no stu died display to the spectacle, no full dress, no glinting steel, nor furnished brass. The day was cold and gray and wet and everywhere was a grim realization of the business. the ma chinery of war-war just over the horizon.
 When the two columns were fully abreast the military picture had at tained it's fullest expression. From a point of eminence one could look down upon the undulating road and see for miles the two colored ribbon formed by the marching men syAs3he British khaki onsAha
 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 "75s" or "Soixantes quinze" - the extreme of gun simplicity and effec- tiveness. Some were painted blue and others had mottled coat to make them fade all the more vaguely into the landscape and thus cheat the pry- 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 game of war. They were out or the line now for brief respite, only to go in again later.
 Opposite the "75s" were the British 1S-pounders - not so slim and grace full as their French prototypes, but just about all that a gun should be. British gunners are willing to admit that the French gun is rather some weapon" but they have a real af- lection for their own field piece, which is absolutely unchakable.
 Punctuating the blue and khaki rib bons now and then were little patches of smoke and steam, rising from the field kitchens, for dinner was being cooked "on the go." It was little after noon that the two columns halt ed and there, mingled in roadway