The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-03-29

ish army is the mills" 1t Is about the
shape and size of q large lemon. AL
though not actually q lemon, Fritz in
sists that it is; perhaps he Judges 1t
by the havoc caused by its explosion.
The Mills bomb is made Of steel, the
outside Of which is corrugated into 4S
small squares, which, upon the explo-
sion Of the bomb, scatter in a wide
area, wounding or killing any Fritz
who is unfortunate enough to be hit
by one of the flying fragments.
Although a very destructive and eff
icient bomb the mills" has the con-
fidence Of the throTer, in that he
knows it will not explode until re-
leased from his grip.
It is a mechanical device, with a
lever, fitted into a slot at the top,
which extends half way around the
circumference and is held in place at
the bottom by a fixing pin. In this pin
there is q small metal ring, for the
purpose Of extracting the pin when
ready to throw.
You do not throw q bomb the way a
baseball is thrown, because, when in
a narrow trench, your hand is liable
to strike against the parados, traverse
or parapet, and then down goes the
bomb, and, in a couple Of seconds or
so, up goes Tommy.
In throwing, the bomb and lever are
grasped in the right hand, the left foot
is advanced, knee stiff, about n and
a half its length to the front, while
the right leg, knee bent, is carried
slightly to the right. The left arm is
extended at an angle Of As degrees,
pointing in the direction the bomb is to
be thrown. This position is similar
to that Of shot putting, only that the
right arm is extended downward. Then
you hurl the bomb from you with an
overhead bowling motion, the same as
in cricket, throwing it fairly high in
the air, this in order to give the fuse
q chance to burn down so that when
the bomb lands, it Immediately eX-
plodes and gives the Germans no time
to scamper out Of its range or to re-
turn it.
AS the bomb leaves your hand, the
lever, by means Of a spring, is projected
into the air and falls harmlessly to
the ground a few feet in front Of the
bomber.
When the lever flies off it releases
a strong spring, which forces the firing
pin into q percussion cap. This ignites
the fuse, which burns down and sets
off the detonator, charged with fulmi-
nate Of mercury, which explodes the
main charge of ammonia.
The average British soldier is not an
expert at throwing; it is a new game
to him, therefore the Canadians and
Americans, who have played baseball
from. the kindergarten up, take natu-
rally to bomb throwing and excel in
this act. A six-foot English bomber
will stand in awed silence when he
sees a little five-foot-nothing Canadian
outdistance his throw by several yards.
I have read a few war stories of bomb
ing, where baseball pitchers curved
their bombs when throwing them, but
a pitcher who can do this would make
"Christy" Mathewson look like a piker,
and is losing valuable time playing In
the European War bush league, when
he would be able to set the "big
league" on fire.
We had a cushy time while at this
school. In fact, to US it was a regular
vacation, and we were very sorry when
one morning the adjutant ordered US
to report at headquarters for trans
portation and ratlons to return to our
units up the line.
Arriving at our section, the boys
once again rendered us the glad mitt,
but looked askance at us out Of the
corners Of their eyes. They could not
conceive, as they expressed 1t, how q
man could be such a blinking idiot as
to Join the Suicide club. I vas begin
ming to feel sorry that I had become
q member Of said club, and my life to
me appeared doubly precious.
Now that I vas q ~sure"enough
bomber I was praying for peace and
hoping that my services as such would
not be required.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)