Connecticut western news., 1917-07-26

w front line trenches in Belgium
 we relieved the Twenty sixth Canadian battalion. Scouts from that organization came back to the villages of Dinkiebusch and Renninghelst to tell us how glad they were to see us and to show us the way in. As we proceeded overland, before reaching the communication trenches at the front, these scouts paid us the hospita- bIe attention due strangers-that is, one of them, leading a platoon, would say:
 Next 200 yards in machine gun range. Keep quiet, don't run and be ready to drop quick if you are warned"
 There was one scout to each platoon, and we followed him single file, most of the time along roads or well worn paths, but sometimes through thickets and ragged fields. Every now and then the scout would yell at us to drop, and down we'd go on our stomachs, while away off in the distance we could hear the "put-put" of machine guns, the first sound of hostile firing that had ever reached our ears.
 'It's all right" said the scout. "They haven't seen us or got track of us. They're just firing on suspicion"
 Nevertheless, when our various p1a- toons had all got into the front reserve trenches, at about two hours after mid night, we learned that the first blood of our battalion had been spilled. Two men had been wounded, though neither fatally. Our own stretcher bearers took our wounded back to the field hospital at Dinkiebusch. The men of the Twenty battalion spent the rest of the night instructing us and then left us to hold the position. We were as nervous as lot of cats, and it seemed to me that the Germans must certainly know that they could come over and walk right through us, but outside of few casualties from sniping, such as the one that befell the Fourteenth platoon man, which l have told about, nothing very alarming happened the first day and night, and by that time we had got steady on our job. We held the position for twenty six days, which is the longest period that any Canadian or British organiZa- tion has ever remained in a front line trench
 In none of the stories I've read have l ever seen trench fighting as it was carried on in Belgium adequately de- scribed. You see, you can't get much of an idea about thing like that mak- ing a quick tour of the trenches under official direction and escort as the newspaper and magazine writers do. l couldn't undertake to tell anything worth while about the big issues of the war, but I can describe how soldiers have to learn to fight in the trenches, and I think good many of our young fellows have that to learn now. lover there" they don't talk of peace or even of tomorrow. They sit back and take it.
 We always held the fire trench as lightly as possible, because it Is a demonstrated fact that the front ditch cannot be successfully defended in a determined attack. The thing we did and the thing to do is to be ready to jump on to the enemy as soon as he has got into your front trench and is fighting on ground that you know and he doesn't and knock so many kinds of tar out of him that he'll have to pull bis load for a spot that isn't so warm That system worked first rate with us
 During the day we had only a very few men in the fire trench. If an at tack is coming in daylight there's al ways plenty of time to get ready fol it. At night we kept prepared fol trouble all the time. We had a nigh sentry on each firing step and mar sitting at his feet to watch him to set he wasn't secretly sniped Then wt had a sentry in each "bay" of tho trench to take messages.
 Orders didn't permit the man on tho firing step or the man watching hin to leave post on any excuse whatever