The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-21

this meeting place of the two great allied armies in France, nor is there a definite , mark to show the dividing line It is just
 a mingling point, not an abrupt iuncture.
 For perhaps 100 yards at the joining sec
 tor the French and British soldiers fra
 ternize and visit
 l There is no break in the line anywhere along the front and from time to time
 the meeting place of the armies is shifted, according to the plans and the agree ments of the French and British staffs. Often the Germans are at a loss to know Who is opposing them-French or British and all sorts of ruses and subterfuges are resorted to in the attempt to gain in- formation. It is considered of great i'm portance on both sides to know just who the fellows are in the opposing trench. 1 and when there is @ relief, or change in 1 the line the world war resolves itself at least locally into a hazardous game of ' hide and seek.
 i Tommy and Poilu have the greatest re-
 spect for each other and if Tommy has
 been over very long he generally knows a
 phrase or two of French, which, coupled
 with war slang that is common to both armies, gives a medium of communica . 1 ton mutually enjoyed. In the front line trenches they share and exchange their l little belongings like so many school chill dren swapping luncheon goodies at recess time. Cigarettes, tobacco and chocolate are traded back and forth and oftentimes \ the midnight meal for Frenchman and Englishman Is heated over the same little | stove carefully concealed from the enemy 1 lest hand grenade should upset the sup per plans.
 This stubborn, dogged, foot by foot warfare, with it's mire and mud, its re- doubts and dugouts and it's intricate ge- ography of trench upon trench, seldom lends itself to pictures of martial splen- dor but without design or arrangement there occurred few days ago a specta cle which will live long in the memory of the few outsiders privileged to witness it. Two great contingents of the French and British armies met upon the road exchanged salutations, and passed One was ''coming out" the other going in.'' Each column must have been at least seven miles long. And with each was all the paraphernalia, the panoply and the impedimenta of modern warfare There was no studied display to the spectacle, no full dress, no glinting steel, nor bur nished brass. The day was cold and gray and wet and everywhere was a grim real ization of the business, the machinery of war-war just over the horizon.
 When the two columns were fully dDIcdSI ll0 IHlliCdTy picture ndQ dItdlnGQ its fullest expression. From a point of eminence one could look down upon the undulating road and see for miles the two-colored ribbon formed by the march ing men-the British khaki on the right, the French blue to the left. The columns were made up of infantry and field artil- lery-horse artillery the British call it. There were the famous French ''75's' or "Soixtantes quinze"-the extreme of fun Jfr1 oPF1 painted blue and others had mottled coat to make them fade all the more vaguely into the landscape and thus cheat the prying eyes of hostile airmen. Their smoke-stained muzzles and mud ud-splashed barrels were eloquent of the fact that these were no novices at the game of war. They were out of the line now for a brief respite, only to go in again later
 Opposite the ''75's" were the British 1S- pounders-not so slim and graceful per- haps as their French prototypes, but just about all that a gun should be. British gunners are willing to admit that the French gun is rather some weapon" but they have real affection for their own field piece which Is absolutely unshak- able
 Punctuating the blue and khaki ribbons TOW and then were little patches of smoke and steam, rising from the field kitchens
  It was a little after noon that the two columns halted and there, mingled in roadway lined with the gaunt remains of shell-torn trees, Tommy and Poilu sat down and ate side by side.
 It was the good fortune of the corre- spondent of the Associated Press in the field with the British armies to motor through the entire length of the blue and brown columns. It was easy to see that the passing spectacle of the opposite army was of intense personal and profes- sional interest to Frenchman and Briton alike. The French never cease to marvel at the Scotchmen in their khaki tunics, plaid kilties and bare knees The Scots who were in the long brown line on this particular day had small but vigorous pipe band with them and the Highland music delighted the passing Poilus
 And to the British eyes the French SOL dier Is magnificent. Tall and stalwart men rode and marched In the blue line that% passed the brown. Many of them had been in the fighting since the first. days of the German invasion, but the more than two years of the hardships of war apparently had made no inroads upon their magnificent physique. Strong and clean of limb they were, some of them fiercely bearded despite the serio-comic ukase of few months ago that the beard of the Poilu must go. But without a beard Poilu would cease to be a Poilu. All were splashed with the inevi- table mud of the broken battlefields The horses, looking warm and happy in their long winter coats, were fairly covered with mud as well.
 Something about the spectacle reminded one of civil war days in America. Per haps it was the old Timber wagons in the line. They tried other sorts of more mod ern wagons at the beginning of hostilities in Europe, but soon the old limbers came back into their own