The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-05-09


took over the sector In front of c.
wood.
At this point the German trenches
ran around the base OF a hill. on the
top OF which was dense wood. This
wood was infested with machine guns.
which used to traverse our lines ut
win. and sweep the streets of little
village. where we were bfIIeted while
In reserve.
~here was one gun In particular
which used to get our goats. II he'd the \
sxnct range Of our elephant duSout
entrance. and every morning. about the
time rntions were being brought up. IT'S
bullets would knock up the dust ON the
road; more than one Tommy went
West or 10 Biishty by running into
them.
This gun got our nerves on edge.
and Fritz seemed TO know II. because
ne never gave US m hours rest. Our
reputation as machine gunners was at
stake: we tried various ruses TO locate
and put this gun out OF action. but
eacn one proved to be a failure. ana
Fritz became n worse nuisance than
ever. He was getting fresher and more
careless every day. took all kinds Of
liberties with us--fhought he was In
vincihie.
Then one Of our crew got . brilliant
idea and We were all enthusiastic to
put II to the test.
Here was his scheme:
When frng my gun. I was 70 play
my tune. and fritz, no doubt. would
fall for II. try to imitnte me as m
added insult This gunner and two
others would try. By the sound. to To-
cate Fritz and his gun. After having
got the location. they. would mount
two machine guns In trees. In a little
ciump OF woods to the left Of our ceme-
tery. and while Fritz was In the middle
II his Lesson. would open up and trust
to iuck. BY our calculations. tt would
take at least = week to pull on the
stunt. /,
n Fritz refused to swallow our bait.
II would be impossible to locate his
special gun. and that's the one we were
after. because they all sound alike. =
slow pup-pup-pup.
Qnr prestige wns hanging By =
thread. In the battalion we had to en-
dure all kinds OF insults nud fresh re-
marks n to our ability In diepcins
Fritz Even to the battalion that Ger
man gun was . sore spot.
Next day. Fritz opened up as usual.
1 let him fire away for n while and
then buttcd In with my ''pup-pup-pup-
pup-pup-pup.- I kept this up quite a
while. used two belts OF ammunition.
Fritz had stopped firing to listen Then
~. 49, - a., ~. h.A
fallen for our game. hts gun was trying
to initiate mine. but. Mt first he made a
horrible mes OF that tune. Again I
butted In with q few bars and stopped.
Then he tried to copy what I had
played. He was a good sport all right.
because his bullets were going AWAY
over cur heads. must have been firing
into the air. I commenced to feel
friendly towardshlm. =
THIS duet went on for fve days.
Fritz was good pupil and learned
rapidly. In fact. got better than his
teacher. ! commenced to feel jealous.
When he had completely mastered the
tune. he started sweeping the road
again and VIC clicked It worse thnn
ever. But he signed his death warrant
turned to hate. Every time he fired he
played That tune aud We danced
The boys in the battalion give MS
the "Hai Hal" They weren't In on
our little frnmcup.
TIE originator Of the ruse and the
other two gunners had Fritx's location
,nped to the minute: they mounted
skeir two guns. and also gave me the
range. The next afternoon was set for
the grand finale.
Our three guns. with different eicva-
tions, had their Ore no urrunged. that.
opening up together. their bullets
would suddenly drop ON Frits nke a
hniistorm.
Apout three the next day. Fritz start
cd ''pup-pupping" that tune. blew .
sharp blest on a whistle. II was the sig
nal agreed upon: We turned loose and
Fritx's gun suddenly stopped In the
middle Of q bar. We had cooked his
goose. and our ruse had worked. After
frinR two belts each. to make sure OF
our job. We hurricdly dismounted our
guns and took cover In the dugout. We
knew what to expect SOON We didn't
have to wait long, three salvos Of
''whixx-bangs" came over from Fritz's
artillery, further confirmation TINT
we had sent that musical machine-gun.
sner on his westward.bound journey.
That gun never bothered us dgnin.
We were the heroes Of the battalion,
our cnptnin congratulated uA said II
WINS neat piece Of work, and. ccnse-
uurutly. we were MI puffed nm uver tho