Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-09-11
ExCAvAT0RS PART
OF FRENCH ARMY
Soldiers Of Middle Age Build
Underground Shelters.
REAL SUBTERRANEAN CITIES

Dusouts For Fighting Units Provided
With Electric Lights or Acetylene
Lamps, Wash Rooms and In Some
Places With Complete Shower Baths.
Safe From Bursting Shells Overhead.
Dozens of divisions of the French
army now sleep underground In com
parative comfort, even in the front
lines when the Germans are hurting
tens Of thousands aof shells on the
ground above them, thanks to the
work Of the companies Of excayators
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
ages vary between forty-fye and fifty
and who would have been unfit to take
part in the active operations Of modern
battles, where quickness Of movement
and litheness of limb are absolute ne
cessities. No matter what the nature
Of the soil, whether hard rock, quick
sand, chalk Or marshy land, these vet
Grams have overcome all the difficulties
and have succeeded in constructing for-.
midable bombproof 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 ut almost any part OF the line
finds a habitable dugout awaiting 1t.
A correspondent has seen and been
inside dozens of these subtcrranean
cities-for such they may he termed
at many places and, even where all
the natural conditions are difficult, has
found the shelters commodious. well
drained and well ventilated. In some
cases battalion finds accommodation!
in q single shelter, and each man lodg.
ed in it is provided with simple bed.
consisting Of a wire netting fOunda.
ton supported by wooden uprights.
On this 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 acety-
lene lamps, sanitary conveniences and
in some cases with complete shower
baths.
Modern Surgical Appliances.
First aid posts and dressing stations
with all modern surgical appliances
are also at hand, SO that the surgeon
attached to the unit may attend inIi,e-
diately to anytwounded 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 de-
stroyed by the enemys fire. They
have many exits, the plan being to
provide 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
diers actually in the fighting line made
their own shelters, which were just
holes dug in the ground and covered
with tree trunks and earth and afford
ing very little protection, besides TAX
ing up much Of the time Of tile soldiers
and costing much labor and money for
transporting the necessary timber.
It was then decided to utilize the old
err classes of the reserve of the terrific
rial army who had been called to the
colors and who, despite their previous
military training, had been found un-
able to bear the strain of campaigning.
Several companies of them were formed,
and they were first given the task OF
constructing shelters in the Somme dis
trict and around Verdun. Their Off
GERS were chosen from the engineer
corps and from men who in civil life
were engaged in similar undertakings.
such as builders and miners. Most OF
the men were peasants used to digging
in the fields, and their work was very
satisfactory, but this kind Of eXcavat-
ing work was different, and they suffer-
ed considerably from the unusual mo-
tion of having to throw the earth up
ward or wheeling it in barrows up steep
inclines.
Special Army Sawmills.
One of the officers Overcame this try
ing difficulty by inventing an apparatus
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 in.O barrows and is wheeled away
along the level and distributed about in
such a manner as not to attract the
attention OF the enemy's airmen al
ways flying about the lines TO observe
what is going on in the opposing posi-.
tiOn.
Special army sawmills have been
started to provide the props and plank
ing for the shelters and everything Is
done at minimum cost.
The veterans so employed have sus.
tained losses when working in exposed