Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-21
fALL|NG OF SOLDIER
. SHOWS GAS IS NEAR
0dorIess Kind Is Being Used
by Germans, American
Party Is Told.
LIFE BEHIND THE LINES

BY JUNIUS II. WOOD.
Cnblegrnm to The Evening Star ana
Chicago Daily News. Copyright, 1917.

Cnblegrnm to The Evening star and
Chicago Daily News. Copyright, 1917.
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
FRANCE, December 1s.-'Can we de-
tect gas il the Germans start throwing
it over?" asked Thomas w. Lamont OF
New York of British officer showing
an American party over part of the
territory won from the British.
Very seldom. for they are now using
gas without odor," replied the officer
Then, how do you know when to put
on those gas masks?" inquired young
George Whitney.
when we see somebody fall we know
that he has been gassed and we put on
our own masks" explained the officer
The landscape was reassuring. No
one but husky young soldiers were in
sight, but each wondered whether he
would be the one first to discover that
gas was abroad. When we entered the
ruins of what was once a city the first
sentry ordered everybody to put on
steel helmets. which are as picturesque,
useful and uncomfortable as the cru
saders' headgear. That they were not
needed was probably due to luck, for
the action had just shifted from that
particular spot.
Place to Get Thrills.
THE Germans We're shelling the
north gate when l came in a Few
minutes ago. and you may get some
thrills If you go there, suggested
provost marshal whom we found IN
dark basement of the ruins of a for
mer prison bomproofed by walls bat
tered into shapeless piles of rock above
What had been an imposing city halL
covering an entire square, was bat
tered into a. few fragments of walls.
The tallest fragment was that or the
clock tower. Only one sculptured SAINT
of the hundreds which once sornamented
the front of the adjoining cathedrai
remained. Nature had already started
to cover the scars of war. Green grass
was growing in the dirt covering the
piles of ruins
High overhead were dozens OIL arr
planes. Puffs of smoke bursting IKE
balls were hanging in the neavy ar
white for British and black for Ger
man-showed that the ntl-aircfait
guns were working. and that the
flights were not as harmless as me-
seemed. Two, so high up that tney
were mere specks, were German, sol
der explained.
No One Notices Airplanes.
German airplanes are so common
sfrht that no one except visitors and
eunners on duty to drive them back
seem to notice them. None. however,
flew alone. They were either N pairs
or fleets of several dozen. At lower
intervals. perhaps q mile up. hung
sausage balloons like gigantic cork
floats marking the battle front.
An engine on a little dummy railroad
puffed past pulling cars loaded with
ammunition for the front. Soldiers or
duty were loafing in the streets. search
ing in the ruins for souvenirs like any
sightseers. The sound of the big guns
was like a regular tattoo and OCCASION
ally a nearer report of exploding
shell indicted that the Germans were
replying A surprising feature was
that in the midst of all the ACTIVITY
little attention WAS ssafd 5toFthe danger
Some miles out Of III city on a shell
tered hillside we sat at iuncheon
brought in automobiles. There were
ham sandwiches. a jelly sandwich ana
a bottle Of white wine for each mem
their peaceful nibbling at the grass to
feast on the papers in which the sand
witches were wrapped. Three little Belgian
girls, the oldest under FIVE years, came
bashf,Illy out Of a nearby cottage to
gaze wide-eyed at the strangers eat
ing All around pits In the earth
showed where shells had fallen. but
the humble family chung TO their home
through il all. 1t was weird Thanks
giving day dinner with the children,
the goats and the cottage on the peace
full hillside surrounded by the scenes
and sounds of battle, ruined cities on
all Sides airplanes overheard, shrap-
mel bursting, men dying and big ball
looms hanging like strange constella-
lations in the sky silently watching.
Foot Ball Behind the Lines.
On one wide hill could be heard the
shouts of soldiers encourag ing two RI
val teams in game of Rugby foot ball.
On the other side was the fash of guns
and the smoke of bursting shells. Sup
ply trains were rafting toward the
front a few miles away and ambu-
Iances filed with wounded We're hur-
rying back. Once q bear had his home
on top of the hill and the natives came
on Sundays and holidays to watch the
strange animal. He has gone, like the
The hilltop is bleak and deserted. The
heavy iron bars of the cage in which
the bear once kept up his tireless pac-
ing are twisted and broken from the
explosion of many shells. Where the
bear has gone nobody knows. Like
thousands of humans he was swept
away before the invader
AS we walked along the road toward
the front German balloons hung above
the horizon like black warnings against
too close an advance. Always supplies
were going forward and soldiers be-
grinled with the mud of the trenches
were coming back while others were
marching forward to relieve the men
entitled to 4 rest. Across a gun timber
n Iusty young Tommy was stretched at
full length singing Take Me Back to
Blighty" as the train numbered forward
Others returning had climbed on the
cars of the narrow-gauge and were
laughing and joking al being saved
the long walk back. II was difficult to
realize that these hammering guns
were hourly marking off the toll of
lives and that two great forces were
struggling for every foot of earth
Back of the lines the soldiers are care
free and happy. Fighting is part of
the days work. which is finished and
they are. CHEEKY like any other Young
manhood of the free countries of the
world