The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1918-10-25


another.
We could not tell what the rest Of
our line was doing or how we were
standing the awful fire, but we felt
sure they were not having any worse
time than we were. In few minutes
we heard the good old ''T5s' start
pounding. and II was like hearing an
old friends voice over the telephone,
and everybody In our shell hole
cheered. though no one could hear us
and we could barely hear each other,
Still we knew that II the '75s" got
going In their usual style they would
do for nm enemy battery or two, and
that looked good TO us. The "75sn
made the noise worse, but II was al
ready about as bad as 1t could be,
and thousand guns more or less
would not have made It any harder
to stand.
One of our men shouted In the ser
geant's ear that the men In line ahead
OF Us and to the right were trying to
give us message OF some kind. The
sergeant stuck his head above the
parapet and had a look. But stayed
where l was-the sergeant could see
for himself aud me, too. as far as l
was concerned. . ...
He shouted at us that the men in
the other trench were trying to signal
something. but he could not make II
out because the clouds Of smoke would
roll between them and break up the
words. So he laid down again In the
bottom of the hole. But after while
he looked over the parapet and saw
n man just leaving their trench, evil
IDENTITY with message for MS, and he
had not gone Ave steps before he was
blown TO pieces, and the lad who fol-
lowed him got his, too. so they stopped
trying then.
And all the time the "75s' were
sending theirs to the Turks not far
over our heads to 900 yards behind
us, and the howitsers were dropping
their 240-pound bits OF iron in every
vacant space and some that were not
vacant. II was just one big roar and
,screech and growl all at once. like
turning the whole dog pound loose
on a piece Of meat,
The conclusions felt like one long
string of boxes on the ear, and our
throats were so dry that II hurt to
swallow, which always makes your
ears feel better after n strong concus-
sion. One after another OF our boys
was slipping TO the ground and digging
his hsts Into his ears, and the rest OF
them sat on the parapet FIRE step with
their heads between their knees and
their arms wrapped around their
heads,
Our sergeant came to me after q
while and began acting just like
people DO ut a show, only he shouted
instead OF whispered in my ear. When
people ere looking at one show they
always want to tell you how good some
other show is, and that was the way
with the sergeant
You should see what they did to
us at st. Eloi.' he said. "They Just
baptized us with the big fellows. They
aid not know wien to stop. When you
see Smelling that is Smelling. you will
know II, my son."
swell, II this Is not Smelling, what
the devil Is it, Are they trying TO
kid us or are you, mon vieuxf" which
Is French expression that means
something like "old timer"
any son. when you see dugouts
caved in, roads pushed all over the
map, guns wrecked, bodies twisted up
In knots, and forty men killed by one
shell--then you will know you are
seeing shelling"
Then one Of our men sat up straight
against the. parapet and stared at us
and began to shake all over, but we
could not get him to say anything or
move. So we knew he had shell shock.
And another man watched him for
while, and then he began to shake,
too. The sergeant said that II we
stayed thsre much longer we would
not be At TO repel an attack, 80 he
ordered US into the two dugouts we
had made In the hole, and only himself
and another man stayed outside on
watch.
The men In the dugout kept asking
each other when the bombardment
would end, and why we were not rein
forced, and what was happening, and
whether the Turks would attack us. II
was easy to see why we were not rein
forced-no body of men could have
got to us from the reserve trenches.
The communication trenches were
quite distance from us and were
battered up at that. Some of the men
said we had been forgotten and that
the rest of our troops had either re-
tired or advanced and that we and
the men in the trench who had tried
20 signal us were the only detachments
left there.
Pretty soon another man and /
relieved the two men who were out
side on watch, and as he went down
into the dugout the sergeant shouted