The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-01-24

lines, rising above the barrage of
shrapnel which the German anti-air-
craft guns put up in their turn.
There had been lull in the firing
while we had been watching these
maneuvers. Probably the Germans
had hoped to observe the effect of the
morning practice on the Ridge and to
seek out new targets. 1t must have
been an utterly impossible task at that
| height, or at any height it would
seem, for | looked in vain for any
sign of the batteries which were said
to be all around us.
Under Shell Fire.
We walked on through the leveled
walls that had once been Wytschaete
and were a few hundred yards along
the road to Messines when we heard
sound most horrible to the ears, of
q novice in war but one that gives
reinsurance to the experienced sol
der. 1t was a combination of a
siren, a shrek, and the ripping of
calico, and it began somewhere over
beyond the German trenches and
seemed to be endowed with an intel
ligence that was bringing it straight
in our direction. At the very height
and passion of its song it ended wi
an explosion about 300 yards away,
kicking up fountain of earth. Again
the sound started, giving an impress
sion that the shell was in a furious
hurry to follow its leader, and this
time the explosion was a little near
Ell. We stopped to look around us
and see where the next one would
fall.
"You never hear the shell that hits
you," said the Captain. Travels
faster than the sound"
Habitants of Desolation.
Half dozen Others followed and
we heard them all. The complete
Indifference of the Captain would
have made it impossible to take any
notice of the danger if we had been
so inclined. 1t seemed, too, that
being shelled was rare enough in
cident in that part of the line to in
terest the dwellers in the dugouts,
for although the place had seemed to
be utterly deserted when the Smelling
began, we now saw in all directions
little khaki figures popping out of the
ground like rabbits from their holes.
1t was a dull part of the line, one of
them explained to us, and any diver
i-if nI mr.
Of the dugouts that had been the
headquarters of a German army COM
mander, solid building of big con-
crete blocks, ventilated so that the
fire burning in the middle of the room
caused no annoyance.
More startling than the shells was
the sudden firing of one of our own
batteries on the way back to our car.
We had forgotten all about them and
had seen nothing toiihdicate that guns
were anywhere near, so thorough was
the camou1age. You would see the
flash of q gun and still be unable to
make out the location of the battery
even at CIV hundred yards distance.
Camouhage of everything completes
the drcariness of the scene. There
is nothing to relieve the monotony of
muddy shell holes. The men we
spoke to were feeling the effects of
these conditions they seemed almost
too much out Of the, world, too shy,
too unused to human intercourse in
the isolation of their dugouts, to con-
verse with strangers.
You can judge how deep an impress
sion iss made by only a few hours of
it, for after we had reached the car
and driven few miles back, it was
with an extraordinary thrill that l
saw the first civilians, very aged
man walking hand in hand with
child or two or three, so remote they
seemed from the savage age of war.