The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-09-21
MODERN WARFARE
SUFFERS CHANGES!
Style and Architecture OF Trenches
Touches Painfully. But Silently. a.
the Aesthetic Taste.
CAVES HAVE CHARMS.
Democratic Soldier Grows Fond oR
the Rodent and Takes Time -
Teach Him Tricks-No Complaints,
But Smiles Everywhere.

+ At the British Front, Sept. 20.--14
relatives could see the war HON e.
! of their Toms. Dicks and Harrys they
would he at once amused and SAD.
! Every time / see them they remind
me of Cavemen or Indians.
The fact that civilization has COM
PEELED such a reversion TO the ancient
methods of settling disputes and that
intelligent Christian ] are forced
to burrow like animals into ths
ground in order to wage war. fur 4
nshes a blunt appraisal Of ths
ferocity of this conflict
Modern machinery reduces lighting
10 the stone~aEe status. Whatever
high principles may be involved. IL Il
is necessary TO win them by force OF
arms the methods automatically b.
come barbarous. 1t is such a traits
formation OF conditions that resulted
in the readoption of 'cavemen's shell
ters" improved upon by modern
science and called dugouts, trenches
and observation pits.
Live Like Cavemen. So
Hence your sons and brothers and
husbands and sweethearts are forced
to live like cavemeg while defending
the active front against the enemy OF
| democracy 49,
trench warfare has been revolu-
! tiontzed but even In the so-called
/ open fighting which is in vogue at
( present. old Mother Earth provides
I the main protection against shells,
/ bombs. gas and bullets.
AS the British French and Amerf-
t cans are pressing on VIGOROUSLY the
/ trenches. owing to the speed of the
advance, are more hastily scratched
/ than in the old days, and often pa
! thetically shallow Some OF them are
! little more than drAins.
! have seen men of great wealth
and titles. accustomed to luxurious
/ mansions or castles and liveried SER
wants. living forty feet under the
! earth. or protected from the elements
| wrath and enemy projectles by a
rusty sheet of corrugated iron covered
by sandbags-
/ have seen men with college de-
> grees grateful for A shelter in some
I tumble-down musty stable too ex-
posed and dangerous for domestic
animals that were long ago removed
to the zone Of safety.
! To Save Democracy.
There is something about the resi-
dence OF allied troops In such tumble
down barns akin to Christ in the
troops save democracy.
/ have visited generals busy in sub
terranean passages that resem bled
sewer pipes their faces and figures
/ appearing as phantoms in the dim
candle light. And in such primitive
caves some of the most modern de-
vices of the twentieth century were
+ installed. Typewriters were clicking,
and telephone switchboards were
- cd ia Nv
| have seen soldiers to their knees
in mud and water in the front-line
trenches eutpests or shallow holes
carpeted with iil-smeliing straw.
screened from the enemy sharp
shooters by a margin of inches
Far out in No Mans Land. where
a cough or a whisper meant death.
II have seen American, British and
French fighting men live in such war
homes with smiling faces, not a COM
plant on their lips or minds. animated
1 by only one -yaish---to get at. the
enemy
Rats swarm around the trenches
/ and billets hungry for scraps of food.
Thousands of rodents driven from
ruined cities and villages. migrate in
search of fodder to the front lines.
/ have seen trails OF rats killed by gas
III front of tumhling buildings
The other day we saw a great
swarm OF dead rats in the front en-
trance of an ancient prison wrecked
by shells. They had almost reached
the street. but were killed by mustard
gas.
To the soldiers the greatest menace
from the rats lies in the fact. that
the rodents are such dangerous dis
ease carriers. The troops. however.
are Indifferent to them. Some claim
the rats can be trained like soI1irrAia
/ They add uncanny touches to the
war homes" though.
Every bot of the natural topography
is utilized in making dugouts and
shelters.