The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1917-02-21
BIRDS OFTEN SING OVER
TRENCHES ON BATTLEFIEI,D


sociated Press )-One of the distinct
surprises to the newcomer at the wa,
Is to find larks singing over the front.
line trenches. One would think that
birds of every sort had long since
been driven far from the war zone
but instead, they lurk in and about
it in great numbers. Very often the
sudden flight of covey from a Sc
cluded. thicket or remnant of wood
has given the first signal of a shrap-
mel attack.
The drumming of big guns, the
"patter-patter-patter-p patter" of ma
chine guns, the whirr and "bang" of
plum puddings" and "rum lars"
sent over by the enemy trench NOR
tars, seem to have lost all terror to
the feathered songsters. They chirp
as gaily and loudly over the muddy
Zine" as if there was no such thing
in all the world as war.
The British Tommy is very fond of
pets. When he can safely do so he
throws crumbs over the parapet for
the larks and if he had his way would
fill up every nook and corner of the
trench with some sort Of animal mas
cot. AS it is, there is strange mix
ture of pets and pests in these deep
cuttings in the earth-the outposts of
battle-where the men themselves
live sort of animal life. 1t is a life
no human being was ever intended to
live, and yet the health of the troops
is positively amazing.
Of all the trench pests, the rat, of
course, by reason of his size, takes
precedence. He is everywhere. No
amount of cleaning up has tended to
wipe him out. In fact, he wakes fat
ter and fatter as the war goes on.
Of the pets the dog is by far the
more numerous and popular. There
are goats and cats and canaries and
various species of mascots, but the
dog becomes more a part of the life
than any of the others.
Many subaltern or company COM
mander has gone "over the top" into
battle with his dog leaping and bark
ing happily beside him. Scores of
dogs have been killed beside their
masters and hundreds wounded. In
the fighting about Mametz, during the
great "push" on the Somme, Red
Cross searching party came upon a
pathetic little group composed of a
subaltern, his dog, and four private
soldiers, just as they had sprawled
to their death in a burst of machine
gun fire.
The dogs in the trenches have great
fun chasing the rats. They will even
leap over the parapet after them into
"No Mans Land" And sometimes old
"Fritz" from the enemy trenches will
snipe them. There is one old terrier
now in the front line who has been
wounded four times. If he survives
the war, this old veteran is going to
have a collar with four gold stripes
on it.
The Red Cross dogs of the French
hardly come under the head of pets.
They are lasting tribute to the part
dumb animals have played, and are
playing in the great world conflict.
The dogs, however, render a service
scarcely more notable than the little
French donkcys that carry ammuni-
ton to the front line trenches. These
| little burros are as wise as they are
gray. Their long, straight ears, al
ways poking forward are attuncd to
the sounds of battle, and when the
firing gets too heavy they dart 70,
the shelter Of shell holes and lie there
with the drivers until danger tempo.
raril is past.
Some Of the strangest animals OF
the war are the wild cats of Yprcs
The old mother and father cats OF
4pres were once domesticatcd But
when the frightened population fec
at the first bombardment, the cats
true to all cat traditions, REMAINED
behind. Now Ypres is wilderness:
of ruins unl all the cats born ant
living there have become ike wilc
animals.
Canadian sergeant-major came
marching out Of the cline" a few day.
ago with a magpie sitting on hi!
shoulder. A private in the same com
pany had a kitten curlcd up on the
top of his knapsack. All the over
seas troops bring mascots with them
The South Africar started out with
great collection of spring-boks
babboons, duikers and variety OF
queer animals, but the climate o.