Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-29
WAR IS A BIG WORRY
AND BIG EDUCATION
Machine Gun Lieutenant in the
Trenches Writes What He
Thinks of Battles.

The Observer is privileged to print the
following letter. written to the head OF one
of the chief war dustrics of the country
nv Lieut. Nnant in the machine gun Sc vice
More, perhaps, than anything els that has
been printed recently, this letter reveals
the viewa int of the man in the trenches,
who loves to think that othin than
can speed u the machinery and grease
the wheels is be ng left undone, an who
wis es at pro OF rs of strikes could
he here just for few da $ Just long enougo
TO knos W at 1t means and long c ougA
to see and ap reciate the infinite posi-
bilities t being { rown away Trough
a slip of the cogs at home.
I've wante q drop you line for
long while. Some w time slips by IN
an un elievable way It seems hardly
possible at 1t was over year that YOU
recommended me for the training camp
| confess that things have moved with
startling rapidlty-much qui ker than
anv of us anticipated None Of us forget
peopl and things at home Often we
deliberately don't thin of them.
My brother has tcen more or less OF
clearing house for my friends at home:
It's hard to find time To write all we could
or want to. This / an Inexhaustible
field; so big that it's olng 10 take per-
SpeCtlNc Di several Sestfc W tdh hppit
ciate what it means. Just now It's
tumble of very vivid impressions and sen
sations all different. yet bound up by the
one conviction that it's all collossally
stupid. infinitely wasteful and tremendous
ly serious-more serious than 1t is p sSibie
to appreciate at home. ! often wonder
Just what tl.ere Is that will get 1t across
10 the folks I'm the States. Beyond
depression In business, some inconvenience
and ew personal links here nd there,
what does it mean don't know. And
I'm searching every scrap of information
| an get to find out. All Of us are So
ar the French
This note is written from the trenches,
with the Huns sitting few hundred Yards
in front Of us The details OF It All are
real enough to us by this time The only
unreality is that this sort Of thing can
continue There is too much waste, too
much destruction and suffering, We
lived for long while IN all this. For
some months have really never been out
Of earshot of the guns, and I've been IN
a part of France where one never sees a
smile Nothing exists but war, not ono
smallest detail of lifc is free from the blight
of IT, It's tremendously depressing and
AL very pitiful; crops ripcning and being
burnt up bv shells snd killed hy gas
villages shot to pieces and melting away IN,
pits Of filth and rubbish. old people carry
ing few possessions and wandering from
village to village, without any special |
hope or pianl
'You begin 30 lose the idea that the |
bochc is person. 1t Is impossible not 20 |
It's as though we were all engaged IN |
stemming some strange inhuman kind of |
blight. I've seen him. and the same |
E In q
grav figures coming down 4 trench, or rs |
n bundle of dirty rags lying out beyond |
YOUR wire. II means nothing. Here you |
sit. and a few hundred yards 10 front, !
where the rockets are gong M. SITS the |
hochc, the Hun, SIMPLY = mind force |
You begin to appreciate the French |
wstchword. They shall not pass
''All this, I'm afraid, IS pretty vague
| suppose our feelings arc vague because
this is what we all feel. Just now N
pretty tired. I've been under fire for
tuentv-four days and in that time have
not taken of my clothes. Although | ye
been very lucky there Is STRAIN which
tells after . feW weeks, VIC arc all living
much more on our nerves than we appre-
cate One Is in a continual state OF un-
certainty, continually sitting with one
car cooked 10 the front and one eve open
for strange rockets. In the daytime one
sleeps, and our prowllng about Is done
at night. lou always face the possibility
that your own particular sccteF oi the
front NAV blow up into any sort OF action
on a moments notice.
Il have been IN command of the com
panv during this tour Of the line. IL
a big worry. but bigger education Two
thirds of il comes from tho men and the
from finding out about YOUR
self Ill never be able 10 say enough
about and for our men individually
they are unbeatable with the possible
exception Of the French. ! think they
can outlivc, Outright, outswear and out
laugh any arm extant. They may get
drunk, 20 absent fight and kick UP an
enormous amount Of trouble generally,
out Of the linc i had SIX months OF that,
but In the line ! take my hat of to them,
and believe IN them. Whatever happens
will not be their fsu!t. Il may DC ours
or II may be further back.
Things with Us arc going smoothly
and as we'll AZ possible. Personally We
had luck, but no one knows when II will
break. For some of NV friends il has al
ready broken.
Il like to think that nothing that can
speed up the machinery and grease the |
wheels is being left undone. Occasionally
one reads OF strikes, and I've often wished
that the promoters OF same could be here,
Just for few days, just long enough to
know what it means and long enough TO
see and appreciate the infinite possibilities
Of being thrown away through a slip of the
cogs at home. Utica Observer.