The Washington times., 1918-01-28
At
NIGHT IS FULL
/ OF EXCITEMENT
Nv w, s. FORREST


Poilus say night trenches are mo-
notonous, but all poilus have seen
1iveIIer things than trench life.
To an American correspondent.
spending a first night on the fringe of
No-Man's Land precisely as no doubt
hundreds OF thousands OF Americans
will before the end OF the war. a noe
turnal trench has all the melodra-
matte elements to keep up interest
and drive monotony away.
Darkness seems to settle down
quickly over the frowsy. weeded, gray
strip in front which nobody owns
and nobody treads in daylight. The
low dirt ridge just behind a tangle
Of wooden stakes and barbed wire
over across melts quickly into the
failing light and nothing is visible
except your own sand baEged parapet
and the ragged maze of your own
barbed wire.
B1tteFy II Heard.
a battery Of French guns bark
sharply in the rear. Firehy flashes
wink a mile behind the enemy's wire.
The French gunners are saying Good
night" to a Boche battery and the dull
Boom" Boom" "Boomr-then the
soueal OF enemy steel above tells
you the Boche is answering. Unless
unforeseen things happen tonight the
Eunuers will "rest on their arms" I'M
iii daybreak. On quiet" sectors like
this 1t often happens.
With darkness down the night SHIFT
are eating supper in their dugOuts
and rigging out in sheepskin Jackets
TO begin the silent night watch over
the parapets. The dugouts-corru-
gated steel and sandbaE construction
ct intervals a few yards back OF the
first line-sre smelly and dark but
flIed with life. Its human life and in
sect Iife,s the latter making little diff
ference so long as steel and sandbags
shod vagrant shells. Men say they
can get accustomed to insects, but the
bite of shell is different.
Names In DuEOuts.
The United Press found the newt
able American sign in these dugouts
tonight. Pencfied names on the
wooden hunks suggested New NOrk's
East Side. st. Louis, Cincinnati. Mil
waukee. and other purer American
names suggested early settlers on the
prairies OF the middle West. In fact,
Il was in the trench just outside that
. small body OF American "Sammtes
on November fought desperately
against overwhelming German odds
in Americas first little battle OF the
big European war.
Tonight the pOilus OF France are
again eating their evening soup. meat
stew, bread. cheese. and drinking
their rations OF Pinard on the hunks
where names like Janovicy. Meyers,
and Meadows are penciIed. Probably
soon, khakied figures will again oc-
rupy these dugouts carrying on the
"stch over the wire ahead and over
a historic little American graveyard,
two miles in the rear, where eleven
silent earthmounds lie under as many
rough-hewn crosses. each bearing a
name and the inteTtwined haGs OF
America and France.
The night poilus have taken their
places a few yards. apart along the
parapet. The day poilus have filed
into the dugouts for food and rest.
Machine Gun on.
A machine gun is "rat-tat-tat-ins" its
evening tryout. An machine guns are
frequently tested at night. a fainter
-rat-tat-tat-tst" shows that the Boche
is doing IL. too. A bright. fiery streak
roars up nearby. and a small white
rarachute floats gently down with an
Incandescent fare lighting up no man
land for hundred yards around. Some
body saw a suspicious move beyond the
wire, an officer explained. The officer
orders a few rife Erenades fired a
warning to prowling Boche. perhaps
trying tollearn something or TO cut the
wire. The poilu heads. silhouettinG
over the parapet at intervals against
the blacknesE beyond. duck down for
an instant while the Erenades explode
with cavernous ryars. These missiles fly
into a hundred pieces each and wipe out
life for roads around.
More machine guns are tapping their
warnings or having their "tryouts" here
end there along the line. The Boche
again. as II nervous. is doing it. too.
A half hour follows without a single
spark of fireworks. But il breaks out
Fgain-both sides watching. haring.
bombing. machine cunning suspicious
things in that uncanny black stretch OF
no mans land. frineed on each side
with night watchers who trust nobody
but themselves.
More silence.
Another period OF silence except low
voices OF men talking in trench whis
pers." They've learned 10 trench uhis-
Urr" by constant practice. 4 poiIu apnI
oEeticaIly explained. as he rearranged
his nest Of black egElike hand Errnades
on the trench shelf before him. that
American soldiers talked too loud At
FIRST But they finally learned 10 'paTlcT
doucement" he added.
The Boche is active again. 4 flock Of
hand Rrenades roar themselves into -
lence on the other side as hery light
streaks perform arUs like Roman can
dies and then float gracefully down I'M
der their parachutes into the German
wire. A rife grenade eNplUdes half
way across no mans land. and BOche
machine guns take up the tune The
3Oche having told the French 10y tine
display that 40 German soldiers are
providing In this part OF no mans land
there is silence again until time Iulkes
things uncertain.
The Boche has no reason TO he merry
aus yet" whispered an ofhrcr. our
= liISt patrol goes out at O'Clock. Would
lou like 10 so along"
Pstrolling il one Of the mildcr game
Cf hide and seek Ia no mans land ~
right. and it's something most all Amer
Jean trench soldiers will learn before the
war IL over.
an HIITA n nT A HEWT TnY NJ ~