El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-06-23

D
scope.
Five second Bombs.
Next come loaded bombs. which the
new grenadier must light and throw
with all speed. for the fuse only
takes five seconds TO burn. an
accurate aim is above all essential
There are 4 dozen different bombs,
and they vary with the conditions OF
war. Our men get incredibly skillful
and reckless at this game A nervous
Hun. in the real war. viii often light
his fuse and throw the bomb too soon.
when q Tommie of keen eye viii
catch the deadly sphere and swing il
back with one sweep of the arm amid
a roar of reclamation from his watch
ing mates The penalty for a dropped
catch with a percussion bomb is, Of
course. sheer extinction
The bomb workshop is specially in
teresting. Here all grades. British
and German, are shown 10 the
learner; he tries his own hand at
manufacture. and gets inside knowl-
edge of this terrible weapon. Here
also q studious sergeant examines
ping. dissecting. unscrewing and spy
ing. with a glass at his eye like the
watch-repairins mechanic And then
there are lectures for students with
a new bomb about the size Of an
orange. It contains stuff warranted
TO kill all life within so yards
French Trimming Near Real
Yet after all. probably no home
schooling adequately prepares the
neOphyte for all the ter~Ors Of this
machine-made war. So there are in
France. behind the fighting lines, still
more realistic schools within sight Of
the horrible litter and havoc, within
sound of the ear-splitting. heart
shaking thunderstorm Of death. with
its multi-colored clouds Of smoke and
lambent flashes.
1t is astonishing how accustomed
the pupils become to all this The
men practice climbing trees for OBJ
servation work in those French wood
lands which the German converts into
dreadful mantraps- Here are ad-
vanced classes in the machine gun
and the Lewis automatic. which is
something between a Maxim and n
rifle. capable Of being fired from the
shoulder in q solid stream Here I
young officers scurry through the /
gas clouds with strange engines OF
their own Here the fighting airman Z
gets tips undreamt OF in his Hendon
or Upayon philosophy
There are sniping classes for aspir- Z
ing officers and men. international /
matches between Canadians and New
Zealanders. Britains and Gurkhas and 1
Australians. The vast war-front is /
dramatic scene, with constant prac- /
LlGt OF All arms uEnlllr AIA new d
players for ever coming forward IN /
the Parabasis Of a tragedy that
knows no end The unsuspecting on 4
locker may walk into a realistic I
smoke attack Every gun-pit has its
pupil apprentices. there is much /
going over the top with no Ger
mans ct all in front yet. with all
other conditions severely present in a .
crashing field
Center Il General Headquarters
And the center of all this tuition F.
is general headquarters, the chief uni
versity of war, with all its professors ,
and decorated dons primed with fear
some knowledge which would stagger
Napoleon or the captains OF old .
There is no more appropriate badge ;
than that of the Artists rifles
Minerva and Mars, twin symbols of
wisdom and warrior might This is
the corps which has turned out Off
GERS BY the thousands Architects,
students doctors, painters-the cadets
tour the real trenches for two days
and nights. and then retire to write
a report upon all they have seen and I
learned They also visit the Observa-
ton posts of a group Of batteries and
study the science Of long distance
killing which optics, mathematics,
make a thing of frigid certainty and
wholesale degree. So does the British
army of millions teach whilst it
fights. There is really no end to the
lessons. whether it be the erection of
the new Nissen hut-a Wau-lesS abode
OF corrugatet. iron arches-the use Of
the Vesey rocket-thrOwing pistol, OF
the handling of mechanical and chem
icaI aids which are best not specified
at all
Is War Of Wits and Weapons
And this war changes with kaleidO-
well as weapons, so the novice does
v ell to hear the old hand and profit
hy counsel which has been dearly !
bought.
Listen to Gen. Anderson ,lecturingI
the Canadians we are about to
occupy and maintain line Of
trenches; they are intact, and the
parapets are good. Do not expose
your heads. and do not look round
corners unnecessarily. Young and
brave men enjoy taking risks. but a
soldier who does this lightly is not
playing the game. Troops new to
the trenches always shoot at nothing
the first night You will not do this.
It wastes ammunition and hurts no
one. Moreover, the enemy says:
These are new and nervous troops
When you are shelled in the trenches
sit low and sit tight. If you get .
out. il will be worse, for the Ger 7
mans will go in, and we shall have I
10 counter attack. with a loss of hun Z
1reds OF men instead OF only the few
whom shells might injure"
And then the bayonet and the {