The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-07-05
EvsIsI57g Chat

"a tie Saturday Westminster Gazette
81 London;
we have heard Of war by land ana
81 sea, Of war in the air above ana
iinder the water beneath, OF hand.to-
iiand combats with grenade and bayo-
net and IInobkerrie; Of fighting with
rife and machine.gun for fire superior.
ifW Of duets between artillery OF all
calibres, Yelocities, and ranges; OF
sudden death by the bomb from above
and the mine from below; OF attacks
With gas and fire and other forms Oh
flightfulness; and Of those terrible
i,eriods when all Of these have been
combined to make the hell which is
modern war. But there are other meth
ods Of warfare of which we hear less,
which pass almost unchronicled; and
IT'S Of one Of these that propose now
to write of battle by notice-board, or
war by publicity.
when and where it began do not
know, but 1t essentially belongs to
die ieisurely conditions Of trench war
fare. When either side is moving
there is no time for amuSements such
us this. But when tie opposing arm
les settled down into their burrows
facing one another some form of light
relief from the daily tedium was re-
quired; and 1t was amusing, when you
had been unsuccessfully sniped at as
YOU were building up the parados, to
wave your shovel in the conventional
signal OF the musketry range which
Signifies an outer; or to stand momen
tarily ON the fire-step and shout across
the parapet some insulting remarks
about the Kaiser or news of the latest
mythical victory with which we COM
forted ourselves In those days. And
as the imprompty and somewhat anna
flourish fighting Of the last year devel'
oped into the stern and organized bust
ness which we learn today, so this
practice Of communicating with the
enemy developed until the messages
which before we were content to shout
TO the enemy came to be conveyed to
him on notice-boards, and either side
Wed with the other in their elabora-
ton and decoration.
Repartee is the first essential of this
game, or the most powerful weapon
IN this form of whichever
way you like to look at 1t, If the other
side has announced some victory you
must cap it with success in turn;
or5f you have started off with a gibe
1T his habits he mustreply in the same
3 Kind with one at yours. II no raptrtee
Is available, the only thing to do is to
90 over by night and take the other
SIDES board away-though that is a
part Of the game on which the Ger
man is not over keen.
So when at the time of the Sim
Fefn rising the Germans informed an
Irish regiment which was opposite
them that the English we're shooting
down their fathers and. brothers in
the streets Of Dublin, small patrol of
the lrishmen, led by a very gallant
Officers went across No Mans Land,
removed the Observation-Disclosures very
heavy fire, and brought 1t back in tri-
nn1ph to our trenches. 1t was the only
possible reply to this nessage-at
least, the6n1y reply which would make
the Germans understand what the
Irishmen at the front Thought about
II, So. too, when the Germans, Just
after the battle Of Jutland, displayed
close to their wire a board bearing the
legend, Where's your - Navy?"
we, as then supplied only with the in
complete details, thought the best re.
ply was to remove the board and sub.
stitute in its place one asking where's
your - board ?" Later, when we got
the complete facts, we published them
to the enemy in the usual manner, but
our former procedure seemed to rile
him much more and that is what
counts in this contest for moral eff.
feet
Il was about this time that the willy
but somewhat unsporting German, no.
ticing this propensity of ours for TAX.
Ing his boards, took to setting up of.
stenstge placards which, by an mgeni.
GUS contriVance, on being pulled I'D,
simultaneously exploded two bombs
attached to 1t. But our patrols soon
learned to circumvent this trick.
a few days after the last incident
referred to one of our officers, going
his rounds after the morning stand.
toS deserted in the dim light of the
early summer dawn notice on the
aerman parapet, and when full lay.
Light came read that Kitchener has
gone back to the devil" 1t was not
~ the next afternoon that we learned
OFFICIALLY Of the loss of the Hampshire
It's In things like this that the Ger.
man lack OF any sense of propriety be.
comes apparent. Compare this with
oui comment on the fall Of Tirpitz-
g board with "Wie gents nit" at its
head, and beneath a beautiful be.whis.
kered and acknowledgements of the
old admiral, the work of one of our
many trench artists.
Shortly after, however, the Boche
undoubtedly scored in the same neigh.
borhood. It was before the Somma
battles began, and there was no grea,
activity on the part of the British to
chronicle; but we put out notice tell.
ing Of a French success, and the vast
maui Of prisoners taken by the Rus.
SLAMS. Next morning we found that
the Germans had replied with the re-.
mark Englnad expects that every
renchman and Russian this day viii
do his duty
During +he fierce fighting Of the
summer neither side had either the
lime Or the spirit for these pleasant.
YES put IN the quieter parts of the
iine we used regularly to inform tina
enemy Of, our advances and cantnres