Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-04
WITH AN AMERICAN REGIMENT
ON HIKE TO FRONT IN FRANCE
Boys Tramp 20 Miles Through Mpd-Songs,
Jokes, French People, and Finally
the Boom of Big Guns.

ment. with all their Transportation"
the term the army uses for everything
of the little one--vheeied bakers trench
carts built to take the bread to the sol
dlerS through no matter what turninSs
and twistinss of the trenches.
There are the companies, oblong
h ocl<S of yellow brown against the
sodden dark green Of the Acids. tiny
dots of distance files. then the wagons
ana trucks, and right below Us the
regiment : ma chine guns and one
pounders-the little French "canons de
trente-sept" (thirty- seven miIiimeter
Euns) that are the deadly foe of the
herman machine gun. drawn by Mis-
Slowly but steadily the line moves
along below. Perhaps it is trite to
compare column on the march to a
weighing serpent, but it looks like that.
Just as they are blocked from view by
a wood we are entering the sun breaks
through the clouds over the valley and
throws a bar of gold across the head of
| the column. The light shines on rifle
of the coloners horse. 1t reminds one
of some half-forgotten picture of civil
war days.
WAY down in sunny Alabam'."
| chants n voice in the next squad with
an accent that shows the singer is
/ singing of home, and further back 4
, man Is whistiins Give My Regards to
Broadway.
able. sound of cannon. For a moment
every one listens.
! Cannon at Front" Are Heard.
'Them's the cannon up at the front,
| Kid. says old Pop to the recruit ahead
or him. They'll git you il you don't
| watch out"
The recruit says never word. Per
maps he gueSses what is the truth, that
the front rs long way or yet that the
cannon are being fired by American ar
tiAerymen at practice and that Pop is
just trying him out little. He may
not have been with the regiment long,
but he isn't letting things worry him.
A whistle shrilis down the line, and
then comes the shouted order to fall
out along the road for ten minutes rest
With ShouteS of delight the men junp
for the bitches and sit down, scorning
nud and water. In thirty seconds they
have extracted smokes from inner dry
pockets and lighted than by some
and wind. In another thirty seconds
little trails of blue smoke are going up
all along the road. a lieutenant and a
corporal, d man evidently about thIrty
talking together.
Therell be plenty of work for you,
corporal" the lieutenant is saying.
Wen patrol no mans land here a lot
more than we did before. First few
nights we won't go beyond our own
wire until the men get used to the lay
OF the land. Then wen go out every
night
suppose I'll have protection on the
fankS-bomb ers-don't l, SIR the cor
poral asks quietly, and when the lieu
tenant replies in the affirmative. Very
good, sir"
Hes hend on night patrol" ex-
planned the lieutenant a moment later
He crawl up to the German wire
and throw bombs into their front line
trench all alone if we'd let him"
Then this lieutenant, who was also
battalion gas officer. bethought him
self of other duties and went from one
TO another of his squad leaders to re-
mind them that their men must take
especial care of their gas masks.