The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-07-17
CAPT. JORDAN TELLS
 SOMETHING OF LIFE
 CLOSE UP TO FRONT
(Continued from Page Five)

speedy victims to it. And yet, the men
 always find something to laugh at ev- cry time the alarms sing out up and
 down the lines.
 For instance. they tell of a certain
 cook, who, in his preoccupation with
 h.s "corn willy" and "slum" carelessly laid aside his gas mask. When the alarm was sounded he realized that his
 mask was not at hand Believing that in a few seconds the gas would be
 upon him. he looked about for q sub stitute. Setting a pair of high topped rubber boots close at hand, the quick witted cook grabbed one and pulled the top down over his head. The alarm
 was false one. and when the word
 was passed to take off masks, the cook
 was found calmly waiting. with his head snugly encased in the boot. Tt is remarkable how quickly our men become accustomed to artillery fire. After a few days in the trenches they develop fine unconcern for any but the heaviest shells. But no amount of soldering can accustom a man to the noise of the "big
 guns" when they come across. The roar and the shock is simply more than hu- man nerves can stand. man can en- dure them, but by no stretch of the inn agipation can he be said to enjoy them.
 HALLS IT WITH DELIGHT
 But the ordinary little fellows re- | ceive scant courtesy from our men, un- less they happen to be directed at their own particular neighborhood. Then they skir for shelter mighty quick and stay | there until the storm is over. When our artillery begins to shell the Boche | trenches, the infantry halls it with de- | light, for there is no music so sweet to 1 a doughboy who has been undergoing a shelling as the roar of our guns GO | get him, big boy' they will yell. de- l lightedly, as one big United States shell | follows the other.
 | Our men have developed a feeling for
 the red hat boys quite different from
 that of the old days at home. And they take great pleasure in the knowledge
 that the Boche generally gets great
 deal more of strafing than he gives. l "A frequent source of interest in the trenches is the sight of the airplanes. One seldom goes over either line without
 drawing a burst of fire from the anti
 air craft guns. It is a wonderful sight
 to see the puff balls suddenly appear
 in the air, all around the scurrying
 plane, as the sharpnel bursts. And some ] times the rattle of machine guns high up l in the sky gives the sigma that an air. plane fight is on. Then we all scramble out to watch and root for our plane. The big guns remain silent While the air men fight it out.
 PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT There is plenty of excitement in the front line. and no man finds the time hang heavy on his hands. If so. there are always a few tattered magazines and last months newspapers lying
 around for man to improve his mind
 with Then, of course. there is the never
 ending writing The platoon commanders
 swear that every soldier writes half a
 dozen letters, mostly to girls, each day.
 They ought to know. for it is their task to read and censor these literary eff forts.
 "Yet some of the men are so backward in this matter that we frequently re- ceive agonized appeals from mothers for news of their boys. On Mothers Day, when the entire A. E. F. was expected to write home. one man wrote as fol- lows: Dear Mamma; This is Mothers Day and we have been ordered to write to our mothers, so I will write you a few lines.' We wonder how much that letter was appreciated.
 Well. you must excuse the length of this letter. got started and couldn't stop. Regards to everybody. Love to all Yours devotedly, MORT Capt Mortimer H. Jordan, l67th In fantry. z