Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-08-01

trOm pCtO"'
an was a great job, well earned 4
ont continues Hunter, ana "heh
thInk of the miles OF tunneLmg that
bad IN he done and then the aFl'lns
- cross shafts and the charging Oh
tbesa with hizr explosives, Sons-
tsrnes think It IS all a dream bEt II
= nothine OF the sort and the e'l.
denco is apparen. in cur Occupation ~
- much ground which was tcTLeTly
- the hands Of The Germans.
How 81, Was Done ,.,
"For a year % more e"perI iuih1LS
frnn the coal iields OF Aaslra.ld'
wales. New Zealand and Belgium
worked and sweated as they Grove
these long tunnels in direction OF tne
German fortified positions near Mes
etraa The underground shafts we're
driven as straight as possible until
they were directly under TIE case
fS,ents and concrete forts OF the Ien'
tons Then directly under each Ger,
man nosition, vertical SHAFTS about
twenty feet long we're dug ihese
were filled to the brim with nisn e1'
plosiyes and all connections were
made so that at the appointed time
the whole mine could be set OH.
ave knew when the high blast was
"a he let off and you can bet none or
rs slept very soundly that night we
could not help but think Of the ex-
nlosion that was to come and about
the instant charge Of the infantry
that had to be made after the German
positions were wrecked. Il would be
no use 10 simply blow the Teutons to
Hades, II we did not at once advance
and take the positions vacated by
them and also tie land Immediately
ID the rear.
well, when the hour came for the
button to be pressed that would send
the mines off, YOU can bet your boots
We were all on the job watching for
the big fireworks and TO see how
much Of the landscape was changed.
Great Explosion -
-The explosion exceeded all our ex.
pectations, There was roar that
almost deafened all Of Us ana then
into the air scared thousands of tons
Of earth, rock and cement. With that
stuff went German soldiers by the
hundreds and they never came back
not 50 as you could notice 1t much
when We passed over the wreck later
on.
~The instant tie earth had settled
down again, the New Zealanders
moved forward, with the Australians
on their right. The first rush took
them right up to the blown up section.
A few nerve-shattered Germans crawl
"a out Of the ruins and surrendered.
The New zealanders consolidated the
position and awaited the next stage
n the operations. A second body of
Australians, on the left Of the New
Lealanders, had already made almost
Is much progress as the other bunch
Of men from the land Of the Kangaroo.
The German prisoners expressed
themselves as glad to be alive They
begged the Australians and New Zeal.
6nders TO be merciful and seemed to
be very surprised at the kind manner
IN which they were treated. They
evidently had been filled up with sto-
Res that II they ever surrendered
they would be treated as British pris-
oners are treated by the Germans,
and this was enough, evidently, to
scare them stiff.
Locked Like Fiery Pit .-.
One Australian officer with whom
] had q talk, said that It was like
looking down into the pit of hell from
whence many tons of earth were hurl.
I'd upwards with rush Of gas and
flame and amid monstrous uproar.
He said that It was good to be in the
fresh air again and explained that he