The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-08-15
FRENCH SOLDIERS
SLEEP nv SAFETY
As German Shells Fly Over Their Sub.
terranean Domiciles-Thousands
of Lives Saved

French front, Aug. l5-Correspondent
dozens of divisions of the French army
now sleep underground in comparative
comfort, even in the front lines when
the Germans are hurting tens of thous-
ands of shells on the ground above them,
thanks to the work of the companies
of excavators formed since the beginning
of the war. The men chosen to construct
these shelters, which have preserved so
many thousands of lives, are soldiers
whose age varies between forty five and
fifty years and who would have been an
fit to take part in the active operations
of modern battles, where quiekness of
movement and litheness of limb are alb
solute necessities. No matter what the
nature of the soil, whether hard rock.
quicksand, chalk or marshy land, these
veterans have overcome all the Difficult
ties and have succeeded in constructing
formidable bomb proof shelters al along
the line of the front from the North
sea to the Swiss frontier until at the
present moment any fighting unit arriv-
ing at almost any part of the line finds
a habitable dug awaiting it,
The correspondent of the Associated
Press has seen and been inside dozens
of these subterranean cities-for such
they may be termed-at many places,
and, even where all the natural condi-
tions are difficult, has found the shelters
commodious, well drained and well ven
tilated In some cases battalion finds
accommodations i'll a single shelter, and
each man lodged in it is provided with |
simple bed consisting OF wire netting |
foundation supported by wooden up |
rights. On this the soldier lays his reg |
ulation bundle of straw and, covering
himself with his army blanket and great
coat, can sleep with freedom from anxi-
city as to any bombardment in prog
ress outside. The shelters are provided
generally with electric light or acety-
lene lamps, sanitary conveniences, and, in
some cases, with complete shower
baths,
First aid posts and dressing stations
with all modern surgical appliances are
also at hand, so that the surgeon at
tached to the unit may attend imme
datelv to any wounded men brought in
from the nearby battlefield.
So well are the shelters protected
from the view of the enemy that, al
though in many instances the under
ground lodging covers an area of 5000
square yards, not once in the course of
the past year has one of them been
destroyed by the enemy's fire. They ,
have many exits, the plan being to pro-
vide one for each section or quarter
company, so that in case one exit ,
should be hit and blocked, the men in :
side may escape through another open :.
ing.
At the beginning of the war the sol
ders actually in the fighting line made :
their own shelter, which were just holes
dug in the ground and covered with
tree trunks and earth and affording very ?
little protection, besides taking up much {
of the time of the soldiers and costing
very much labor and money for trans
porting the necessary timber.
1t was then decided to utilize the older "
classes of the reserve of the territorial a
army who had been called to the coiors b
and who, despite their previous military d
had been found unable to bear t,