Arizona sentinel., 1917-08-16
SUBTERRANEAN CITIES
 ON THE FIRING LINE
(By Associated Press.)

FRENCH FRONT. Aug. 16.-Cor respondence.)- .)-Dozens of divisions o the French army now sleep under ground in comparative comfort, ever in the front lines, when the Germans are hurling tens of thousands of shells on the ground above them, thanks tC the work of the companies of exca vators formed since the beginning ot the war.
 The men chosen to construct these shelters, which have preserved sc many thousands of lives, are soldiers whose age varies between 45 and 50 and who would have been unfit to take part in the active operations of modern battles, where quickness ot movement and litheness of limb are absolute necessities.
 No matter what the nature of the soil, whether hard rock, quicksand, chalk or marshy land, these veterans have overcome all the difficulties and have succeeded Tn constructing for midable bomb-proof shelters all along the line of the front from the North sea to the Swiss frontier until at the present moment any fighting unit ar irving at almost any part of the line finds habitable dug-out awaiting it. | The correspondent of the Associ- ated Press has seen and been inside dozens of these subterranean cities for such they may be termed-at many places. In some cases battal- 1 ion finds accommodation in a single shelter, and each man lodged in it is provided with a simple bed consist ing of wire netting foundation support ed by wooden uprights. On this par ! the soldier lays his regulation bundle of straw, and, covering himself with his army blanket and greatcoat, can sleep with freedom from anxiety as to any bombardment in progress outside. The shelters are provided generally with electric light or acetylene lamps, sanitary conyeniences, and, in some cases, with complete shower baths.
 First aid posts and dressing stations with all modern surgical appliances are also on hand, so that the surgeon attached to the unit may attend i'm wediately to any wounded men who may be brought in from the nearby battle field.
 So we'll are the shelters protected from the view of the enemy that al tho 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 inside may escape thru another open ing.
 | At the beginning of the war the soldiers actually in the fighting line made their own shelters, which were just holes dug in the ground and cov- cred 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 transporting the nee essary timber.
 | It was then decided to utilize the older classes of the reserve of the ter ritorial army who had bee ncalled to the colors and who, despite their pre- vious military training had been found unable to bear the strain of campaign ing
 Several companies of them were formed and they were first given the task of constructing shelters in the Somme district and around Verdun. Their officers were chosen from the engineer corps and from men who in civil life were engaged in similar un- dertakings, such as builders and mi ners. Most of the men were peasants used to digging in the fields and their work was very satisfactory, but this kind of excavating worf was different and they suffered considerably from the unusual motion of having to throw the earth upward, or wheeling it in barrows up steep inclines.
 One of the officers overcame this trying difficulty by inventing an ap- paratus for carrying loosened earth or rock to the surface by use of electric power. By this arrangement two men can do the work formerly done by ten. When the earth has reached the surface 1t falls into barrows and is wheeled away along the level and dis