Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-09
PARISH HOUSE ASSOCIATION Meeting Given Over to French Songs and Talk on Life in the Trenches.

Having devoted many of their meet ings this year to war relief work, the Parish House Association of Park church met in the Osgood Memorial Friday afternoon for social after noon. It was very largely attended. Mrs. Frank Bunnell presided and 1af- ter the usual reports. brought up the matter of the association dezvoting some time to Red Cross work at the It was voted that the association work at the Red Cross room the Thurs day following the Parish House Asso- ciation meeting each month.
 The meeting was immediately given over to an afternoon of French songs
 and talk on Life in the Trenches. Mrs. Charles T. Bard had prepared the programme of songs. which were sung by the following chorus. Mrs. Bard, Mrs. A. N. H. Vaughn, Mrs. Cur tis Bernard. Mrs. James Bidwell, Mrs. Frederick W. Cary, Mrs. w. Tyler Browne, Mrs. William H. Allen, Mrs. George IngaIis. Mrs. Bard explained the first song to be given was me $500 prize song won in the Life con- test recently for the best marching
 song. The songs Where Do We Go From Here, and Pack Up Your Trou-
 
 Smile, Smile, were the two most pop ular at Camp Deyens and the solo ] sung by Mrs. Bernard was written by a Camp Devens boy and dedicated to 1 the boys at the camp. These and The i Whole World Is Calling You, conn l prised the first group and were rem dered with much spirit and swing. l Mrs. Bernard gave The Whole World Is Calling You with great sympathy l and charm and impressed it's pathos l upon her hearers.
 Dr. Bunnell's talk on The Soldiers Life in the Trenches followed. He pre-
 faced it by saying that it was an old
 subject. at least four years old, but perhaps he might bring out a few lthings new to his hearers.
 1 There are $50 miles of trenches from the Swiss border to the North Sea and through France Millions of men to- day gre living in holes in the earth never leaving them day Or night And these men become like the men we see digging trenches in our streets coated with mud and dirt. The req. son for these trenches from a military , standpoint came into being when ar.
 tillery became 50 effective that ner . could not stand against it. FornerI, II big guns on firing had such recoi that they had after each shot to b, , brought back into position and re. !, aimed but in 1890 the French invented ' the recoil cylinder for guns, which au, torna tically takes care of the receii 50 that gun can fire twenty aimed
 shots per minute. In addition this tn, 2 guns carry so far; the French 75 be l ing good for two miles, the six-inch fo, six miles and the naval guns for if , teen to twenty miles. Hence tn, trenches.
 T These trenches are narrow affairs : just large enough for the soldiers l which makes them difficult to be fire; , into. Every little way there is tra ! lverse or jog into which the soldier ca, 5 trun if a shot comes into the part Q
 the trench in which he is standing
 The trenches are Esur feet deep wit
 Isand bags piled above 4 firing ste . Hruns along the wall of the trencf ' There are duE-outs where the men oi ' Eduty stay.- Sometimes the men are O : duty here for four days at a; tifnt Isornetimes longer and during that tim ;. they must be always armed and com Ipfetsly equipped. even wearing tnei gas masks and carrying tss-srT foot lrcven when sleeping a' .>s l Back of.these front line .--1,ehes ar 4 those of the second and third nne | connected by Zig-Zag s<trenches, sbai ! Tn this way so that no gun can rak
 1.-the whole tunnel,
 While these soldiers are waiting 1 s inacticn they need all the comforts " ? can send them, books, magazines, c! x garettes anything they can lise 1
 tamuse theasSelyes. Hf''- n The artillery is. something like mile back of the trenches. The mod a ern artilferist doesn't have to see wfs
 he is firing at but is directed by th
 gun captain from some vantage poir e ahead.
 Il The enemy trenches are from twent : feet to a mile away, and betwee stretches no mans land,
 Il Each trench is protected by barbe ' wire entangleInents,- which it Is tf ? constant, aim of each side to c, , through. At night patrols from bot
 sides are out to reconnoitre and de
 stroy the wire. This patrol work
 iextremely dangerous and exposed 1
 all kinds of peril. - T The ordering of an important as l sault is planned weeks or months be fore hand and carefully rehearsed Iall its details. an infinite number times.
 Water in the trenches is one of n worst things to contend with. The, are other things disegreeabie, too. raj and vermin Men from homes of lu, Jury and comfort are bearing thes ithings, but they arc cheerful and ris t6 the acca ssnr Tf ;s rYaJx, r,i,e,. t1,-