Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-06-20

front line, where they stiek to the end Of their
wires under terrific shell fire until ordered to re-
Join their commands If they cam get through alive
AN experience Of this kind happened 10 me Il
short time ago in 4 lonely chateau al the ifrNS'
Menin road. nm English officer wrote home. "lhe
chateau was the center of a perfect hell OF ter
man s%lrapnel for nenrly Il week, until 1t became
almost untcnablc and was abandoned by the head
quarters staff.
THE general gave instructions that n telegraph
ist was to remain behind TO TRANSMIT important
messages from the ~hrigadrs, and | was left IN
charge of the instruments in this shell-sWept
chateau for n day and q night.
'On the second day the Germans broke through
our trenches and the wires were cut by the sheli
fire. was given orders TO eVnclate the hh''a'hs
and smash up my instruments, These saved ny
hurging in Il shellproof trench. and then / hao TO
escape between our own fire ana thar or the
enem's across Il field under a terrible tornado OF
shrapncl.
ION the early morning Of the same dNy one OF
our cable ,ietacilnents was cit up anu announcer
captured by the Germans, only to be retaken by
our sappprs and drivers after Il desperate ana
glorious fight
The lincmen also have regular patrols. stretches
If line which have to be constantly examined not
only for breaks but also to make sure that they
have not been tapped by enemy spies in such q
way that every bit of information sent over them
finds it's way to the Germans. In the Aisne once,
where the hill country offered good cover to spies,
the wires were constantly being tapped.
One day a lineman passing along the road no
ticed a lot Of cable lying at one side. He started
to coil it up and found that II piece of wire had
been tied to the main line. When he traced 1t he
found that 1t ran to a haystack. He went on,
tanned the line and sent in word to headquarters
., ,.,o1 ncrcrt fnrni a Snv hidden In the hNv
with several days supply Of food.
They ure a%utocrats In their way, these wire re-
nn,rmen. and no one is permitted to interfere with
the swift execution Of their work. Word coming
over tho line that the wire to n battery was re-
naired is often the sweetest sound In the world 10
nn observation officer up front, even If 1t comes Ia
n rough brogue which French weather has not ;m'
proved.
So when anybody else breaks In on the line and
,~nterferes with the repairman he gets rolled. es'
noc,nlly II he has been sitting for several hours II
: shell hole with an icy rain dripping down hi
hack. An English officer told OF what happened
to . general who broke In once.
"A general came in the hut and told me I rant
IN the telephone Just now and said. give me tn
- brigade, please but some one with q lout
voice repiied deliberately and distinctly: Get OF
tho blinking line" I got of reInarklng that n
soo, "a convenient 1 should like to speak.
.no,orized and explained that the line had beef
dawn and was being repaired. He went OF will
a merry twinkle in his eye"
A the number Of men IN the American arm
ohro.d grows with the weeks, the number OF line
men. those who make possible oil TINT the artil
iSry md infantry together accomplish. will stead
~. ,ncrease until they are a small army IN them
caves. And probably It will not be long before an
rouncctnent will be made that o plain Bl
smith. wire repalrman, has been given . rneial 10
hrhyery under fire, which attracted attention eve
among tho hundreds Of brave actS wn'cn tnss
men 2srfosu every day,