The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-07-14
gy JAMES N. TUOHY.
,om Ynrk World Correspondentl

Wor takes no account Of the Saopalh' !
They toll and fight seven days Il Week |
ar the front. Not only laws but d'% !
mas are silenced by the guns.
1t happened that we visited ArrhS |
on a Sunday. The Whole couE'F!Slue
from the base up to the froht NuS
alive with movement. Motoring lor
hours along the broad, straight,
switcbbac: French roads you found
them grooming under the heavy tfal-
fc OF war supplies
ponderouS motor lorries dominated
the scene-lOrries in hundreds lol-
ries IN thousands. one stream was
going up, another stream coming
down. The automobile picked us
way as well as it could in between
md at cross roads one found BTU
| ish traffic orderlieS keeping ule
streams moving in regulated process
sion. lust as the 3Ondon policeman
does at the Rank OF England or he-
gent Circus.
otherwise the confusion and delays
would be interminable; and de-
Law in sending up supplies to fight
ing army might be fatal business.
| Tn the course of some days motor
ing up to various points on the Brit
ish fighting line, over roads literally
packed with all sorts of vehicies-ior-
ries. buses full of soldiers, ammun-
ton wagons drawn by teams OF mules
guns with their gun carriages, from
the handy field piece to the mammoth
howitZer, traction engines-and never
once did we see tie-up. Everything
was going forward or coming BACK
with absolute smoOthneSs, the whole
complicated organization working
with clockwork precision.
Vast Camps Behind Line.
At frequent intervals along these
roads you came upon camps or all
sOrts-soldiers' camps. veterinary
camps, vast motor garages. mule cor
rails, supply camps. repair camps
draft horse Enclosures, munition
depots, parks Of artillery, hospital
camps and occasionally cages for
German prisoners. Everything re-
ouIred by the modern army Is to be
seen In the utmost profusion, with
order and system the presiding de-
tiles.
This does not apply merely to the
road to Arras, but to oil the other
highways throughout the whole OF the
army zone. Khaki is the prevailing
hue. The British soldier permeates the
whole region, and save in the towns
and villages the French inhabitants
only the old and the very young-are
rarely to be seen.
; Not only the roads but the railway
lines are working at top pressure In
the business of the war. 1t is curious
to see trains of English cars drawn
by English engines running on the
French tracks. The amalgamation be-
tween the two races in their joint eff
fort to conquer the BOche seems to be
complete.
shopkeepers Coin Money.
Needless to say, the shopkeepers
are colning money out Of this friendly
army Of occupation. On this Sunday
evening, when the men from the re
serve camps had finished their days
work, they were f1ocking into nearest
h towns for q few hours relaxation a.
| q cafe or q cinema. They are perfect
H ly at home among their continental
surroundings, and in nothing ha:
\ their adaptiveness displayed itself Sc
\ quickly as in their assimilation Of th'
\ free-and-easy atmosphere of the
] French.
4 Next to the vaStness and variet
: Of this military concentration, wit
all it's endless qualifications, you ar
impressed by the confident spirit
4 the army. Whether the Tommy
strolling about in his hours of cas-
far from the fighting line, marchin
] with his heavy pack along the dust
l.. road, or under shell fire in his resery
camps up close to the front, wher
a any minute Boche projectile ma
d land in his midst, he is doing his tas
n with bright coultenance, lifting tn
!. last favorite song from the music hall:
:, going on his perilous way with ligf
a heart.
It Among the officers the sporting spi
A II, In which they take their part
y beyond admiration. When you hea
Ia perhaps, a young fellow Of twenty-1v
# talking about the 'strafes' he was
,s IS months ago-when ammunition, I'll
like these times, was dangerousl
M scarce-and you see two or tnre
o. wound stripes on his arm, and tr
o. pursuit of the war seems to be the on
90 absorbing object of his life, you al
W lost In wonder.
" But nothing is more inspiring at tt
q. front than the hourly heroism OF II
- Royal Flying corps. The Sunday "
visited the Arras battlefield 1t VIZ
50 bright sunshine. with some whi
T" clouds far aloft, and, as the cor
a muniques say, there was 'considerab
Oh activity. above and below.
odds Against Them.
30 AS far as the avtators were Co
40 cerned this meant that every few mi
- ntes two or three planes were see
~ soaring away over the German line
some on bombing expeditions, othe
for observation and Photographic pu