Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-10-31
oLplERS NAME

AkIlLLERY PIECES
ln Locke. son u Mr. and
A b. o. Locke Who IS in Frnncs
'7a u s. Army writes the fol.
interesting letter Of his ex-
under fire al the front. His
letter f1lIows:
-i.t Field Artillery. A. p. O. rs
A. T. D. Sept %. 1918.
Dear Mother:
W" are stil pounding away At
.'0m Our guns have got so much
Hnln.tiau m the last two weeks
.a'. ynH would think the reflinr in
ar0.7 would be worn out. We
rave s"iu.gd' harassing and inter-
''lon fire delivered on certain
n'rts II their roads, dumps, towns.
'lr then W. will get calls from other
artillery 10 nCutralize some battery
l'f'nr Oh them, the infantry will call
.'' " rcparation fire on something or
Other a bunch Of supply wagons will
nave to be shelIed, and by that time
-'oVo rounds will have been used
curing the day. | don't see how the
guns stand it.
However, all the Smelling isn't from
our side. The Third Battalion is
down IN a ravine with sides $50 feet
nigh. Our guns are howitzers and
the muzzles have to be elevated quite
nigh, so that we can shoot out of al
most any position. They we're entirely
camouflaged by the bushes and trees,
and the only way the Germans must
nave found them was by aeroplanes
seeing the flashes at night. l didn't
think it possible for them to adjust
their fire so accurately as to drop
their shells in that ravine. 1t seemed
to be n long range gun firing. VIZ
haven't been able to discover it yet.
The observers all up and down the
line have been watching for it, and
the flash and sound ranging stations
cannot get more than a general ides
Of its location. But when we do, il
will be goodnight for that gun.
In one Of the batteries the men haC
named their guns. One was "Tgnatz,
another "Peace Talk" another 1.-THE
da Bara." Those gun crews were a
attached to those guns as a railroad
engineer gets to his engine. The,
kept them polished like mirrors
"Theda Bara" had two railroa,
trains, and a German "77" to he
credit actually observed as direct hit
and no telling what the guns do tina
isn't observed, and when they shoe
at night. "Peace Talk" had knocke
two machine gun nests out of tree
and practically levelled a dozen ston
buildings with direct hits. The Who'll
battery had a reputation for bein
able to quickly stop the firing of a
enemy battery when given the ma
I co-ordinates Of the target. Whe
these shells from the long range gu
began sweeping the r%avine, ever.
| body laughed and took cover to wa
4 until the Smelling stopped. The shell
G kept getting closer and closer uni
e finally one fell right under "lgnati
% and turned him right up on end vii
S the muzzle sticking in the groun
and a minute later another fell on Il
r next gun, Peace Talk" and just to
u everything that could be torn off Il
t gun and even denied the Darrell.
e wasn't there, but they say the GREY
: of those two guns came tumbling o
d of their dugouts cursing and swea
ing, and almost started for the fro
n line trenches two miles away to ha
a revenge on the Germans. Luckily t
| next few shells landed far enou
d away to do no harm until the m
II could be Gained down and Undue
to get back in the dugouts. "C'est
Ie guerre."
/ feel like a veteran now. c
i hear a shell coming my way n
,e without trying to outrun it. Eve
e shell that comes within a half m
of you sounds like it is making
70 the spo, you are standing on. | n
Or hit the ,arth every time | hear
II whistle, and flatten out as low a
| can, and hope that it will hit sor
NJ where else than on me There is
il much danger from a shell if you
to living down, unless it hits within
feet Of you, and it isn't such an
4 ful disgrace to hit the dust when Il
a are dropping near, for | have S
~ majors and a colonel do the sa
adj thing. However, it is hard on y
trousers. / have holes in my KIN
to now. Don't worry, though, about
| German shells, for | spend most
ev nv time in a dugout that has a
~ inforced concrete top (thanks to
he Germans) that | would let a Gerr
nv "77" lombard for a year, and Il
los are trenches everywhere to jump
re when things start.
MT You would laugh at the alarms
NV have. There hasn't a night pa
without at least four gas alarms
once eleven were sounded. If a
shell drops about four miles a'
the first guy that discovers it !
w. "gas" Of course, and puts in his m
~ Sentries hear him and start bea
on the gongs and running the k
ons. This spreads like a wave,
adjoining organization starts its