The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-10-21
BR|CE TOOlE WRITES
Of Underground LIFE
Ambulance Driver Recounts
Incidents Of Days Spent
in War Territory.
PCILUS ENTERTAINED
Bloody Bandage Oh Piano
Playcr-A Concert Safe
From German Shells

Life In the front trenches IN France.
with the ever present danger from
hundred and one things, including sud
dcu gas attacks and air raids. together
with the entertainments given by the
men to make them forget The horrors
of war. Is graphically told by w
Brice Toole in letters received by his
mother. Mrs John Il. Tooo, Of Mis-
Soula,
Mr. Toole LEFT Msaoula several
months ago to 40 into the ambulance
service in Europe and for the past
month and n half he has been at the
VERY front With the French regiments
and has seen Fighting in all its 5tasea.
Extracts from his letters telling OF
the lifc In tho trenches have been Sc
lectcd by The Miss'oulian for ruhlica
ton These follow
AS told YOU before. things are
quiet here. 1t * queer how soon ono
becomes acelimatcd. When a man
comes In off duty the following con-
Ncrsation almost always takes place:
How are things:
ooh. they shelcd ---- for awhile this
mornint; and dropped few on the
road coming down.
Then no one pays any further at
tcntion. 1t has got to he the usual life.
, The thing that is a continual wonder
to mo is how seldom anyone is hit.
But the French here have the most ar
tilory and shoot fifty shells to one
from the Germans. The continual
banging is taken as a matter of course.
....l.t .,t inc (tAl
to "A concert and WAS asked to hrinE
my mandolin. WE left here just before
dark In one of the nmbulances. I have
forgotten whether | have told you
about tho night driving. or course
we don't have any lights and the roads
! are overcrowded with everything from
| n fivo-ton truck to the little cars they
J use In the trenches.
I'VE drove for about five miles and
/ arrived at our destination In total
darkness. It Is queer how one knows
! when one gets into place where hun
dredq OF people are living. Naturally
there were no visible lights and YOU
/ could not tell that you were I'm town
because the houses were knocked
down. When | say knocked down, I
don't mean ruins like yon see In photo !
graphs but that there Is not a wall
standing over the height of a man.
head.
However from all about in the
! darkness came a vague humminE and
we were sure that here men were liv-
ng and that ii was not the noise of the
open road,
"W. were stopped by sentry and
gave him oul. password, which seems
To open the road to every possible
courtesy Ambnlancicr Amerfcaln.
The sentry replied: oh Oui. mon
eamcrado.' and called into the dark
ness.
"A French lieutenant came up and
we left our ear In care OF the sentry
We went down the road for a couple
hundred of Yards and then took a
trench. After what seemed a mile OF
zig tagging back and forth. we came
to Il door, which we entered.
This WIS the entrance to a theate,
lat tn. front. 1t was IL long, low hail
the roof of which was on a level witt
the ground and covered with layer
upon layer of sandbags. The stage
was simply a platform with some bur-
lap curtains at tho sides.
About three hundred piolus were
standing in the back. In the front o.
them were seated the officers OF ths
regiment who were off duty. In from
Of them WAS the band.
''As an added touch was a poilu n
an old battered piano with blood,
bandage around his head
Nv" were given n seat of honor will
the officers. As told you. this oil
vision Is about to move and the thre
regiments were eombed for men VIII
had been on the stage before the wa,
They we're very. very good, and classe'
up with any vaudeville | have seen.
Along about the middle OF the pro
gram I played the Indian Love Song
and. as an encore, La Paloma.' The
seemed to like II very much. | hay
played at good many slee club coii
ccrts while in college but never befor,
and probably never again. to an audi
, cncc like that
! Usually the audience looks from tn
stage like a sea of white faces. Thi
was sea of muddy. jtded faces. a.
with an undercurront Of strain. lit b
! smoky lights.
"A little later Oh we were asked, a
a great favor to sing The Star Span
J, sled Banner Luckily two of the fel
lows had very good voices and aftt
o all the courtesy that had been show
= us we could hardly refuse. So tn
l< two men stepped up on the platforl
Il and sang very well indeed
II ut is not the custom here to star
up for the national song, but. at a sig
Il from the colonel. everyone stood at a
10 tention during. the song.
J. "'The show was all over too sot
he and we came back to camp through Il
ii dark twisting trenches, out on Il
crowded road, through the murmuril
n, city and back in our car along
I'D crowded road again. ! shall never Il
ee get that night.