The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1918-08-23

DAl9 ADI eNnllu my uyl Dt long
time AZ that
In the fronf-IlDe trenches Il r. more
comfortable 20 fan asleep IN the parf-
pet nre-sfeD than In the d1eOufs, BE-
cause tie coolies are thicker DOWN
below. and they simply win not give
you minutes rest They certainly
are active little pests We used 70
make back seratcbers out Of certain
weapons that had flexible handles. but
never had time 70 use fheJn when we
needed them L.sst
We were given bottles Of q LIQUID
which sE0eIied like Iysol AMI were sup
posed 20 soak our clothes IN f. II was
thought that the coolies would object
TO the smell and quIt work. Wen,
eoOtie that could stand cur clothes
without the dope % them WOuld not
be bothered By a little thing Ike this
stun Also. or clothes rot - sour
ap1 horrible smelling that fhey hErs
ON noses worse than the coolies. TbeI
certainly were game little devils. and
cane dght back At Is.
So most Of the pOllus brew ths
dope Al Fritz and fought de ooOtiss
hand 70 hand
There was plenty Of food IN the
frenches most cf the time, though once
in while. during heavy bernhard
nlent TIE fatig1e-GEHaiiy q eorpOraTis
guard-wOuld get Killed In TIE com
f1unlcadOn trenches and re would not
haye time 20 get cut 10 the fatigue and
-eepe the grub they were bringing
Sometimes you could not find either
the fatigue or the grub when you got
20 the point where they had been hit
But, as say. We were well fed most
Of the time. and got second and third
helpings until We had 20 open orr
belts But as the Limeys ssy: Cav
b5lmey. the chuck was rough" They
served q thick soup Of meat and yege-
tables In bowls the size Of wash ba-
sins, black coffee with or without
sugar-mOstIy vftbouti-and plenty
% bread.
Also. we had preserves in tins, just
Ike the Llmeys- II you send any par
GELS over. do not put any apple and
plum Jam IN them or the man who gets
Il VIII let Fritz shoot him Ask any
Lfney soldier and be viii ten you the
same. ! never thought there Wss 20
much fam IN the world No Mans
Land looked Ike q city dump. Most
Of rs took Il. after O while, Just 10
get the bread Early in the war they
used the tins % make bombs Of, but
that was before Mills came along with
his hand grenade. Later on they fat
tened out the tins and lined the dug
outs with them
Each man carried an emergency "a
tion in his bag. Tbs eoasisted Of bully
BEEF, biscuits. etc. This fktion was
never nSed t1cept IN q real emergency.
because no one could tell when II
might mean the difference between
life and death 70 him. When daylight
catches q man IN shell hole or az q
listening post ont IN No Mans Land
he does not dare to crawl back 70 his
trench before nightfaII. and then + the
time that his emergency rztiol comes
III handy. Also. the stores failed 70
reach us sometimes. as have said.
and we had TO use the emergency
rati0ns.
Sometimes re received raw meat
and fried IL in our dHgouts- We built
regular clay ovens in the dugOuts. with
iron tops for broIllng This. Of course.
was in the frOnt-iine trenches only.
We worked two hours on the fire.
step and knocked OF for four hours.
in which time We cooked and ste and
slept. This routine was kept up night
and day. seven days q week Some
dimes the program was changed: for
instance. when there was to be an at
tack or when Fritz tried 70 come over
and VISIT. but otherwise nothing dis
turbed our routine unless II was gas
attack
The ambition Of most pri-ates r. TO
become q sniper. Is the official sharp
shooters are called After q private
has been In the trenches for SIX
months or year and has shown his
craftsmanship. he becomes the great
man be has dreamed about We had
two snipers to each company and be-
cause they took more chances with
their lives than the ordinary privates
they were allowed more privileges
When IL was af al possible our shippers
were allowed Dig quarters. the best OF
food. and they did not have to follow
the usual routine. but came and went
IS they pleased
Our Shippers. as q rule, went over
the parapet about dusk. just before
Fritz got his star shells eoIng. They
would crawl out TO shell crnfers or
tree stumps or holes that they had
spotted during the day-in other
words. places where they could see
the enemy parapets but could not be
seen themselves. Once In position.
they would make themselves comfort
able. smear their tin hats with dirt.
get q good rest for their rifles and
<nIpe every German they saw. They
wore extra baDdoIeers Of cartridges.
since there was no telling how many
rounds they might IRE during the
night Sometimes they had direct and
vfefhle targets and c,fher time fhav