The citizen., 1918-08-22

would crawl out to shell craters OF
tree stumps or holes that they hac
spotted during the day-in Other
words. places where they could see
the enemy parapets but could not bs
seen themselves. Once In position
they would make themselves comfort
able. smear their tin hats with dirt
get a good rest for their rifles and
snipe every German they saw. They
wore extra bandoleers OF cartridges
since there was no telling how many
rounds they might fire during the
night. Sometimes they had direct and
visible targets and other times they
potted Huns by guesswork. Usually
they crawled back just before day
light, but sometimes they were out "a
hours at a stretch. They took great
pride In the number Of Germans they
knocked over. and II our men did not
get eight or ten they thought they had
not done good nights work. OF
course II was not wholesale killing,
like machine cunning. but 1t was very
ways laying for the German snipers,
and when they got Sniper Fritz they
saved just so many OF our lives.
The Llmeys have a great little ex-
preston that means lot Garry on"
They say II Is a cockney expression.
When captain falls In action. his
words are not a message TO the girl
he left behind him or any dope about
his gray-haired mother, but Garry on,
Lieutenant Whosis." II tire lieutenant
gets his II IL Garry on. Sergeant
Jacks" and so on as far as Il goes.
SO the words used TO mean, Take
over the command and do the lob
right" But now they mean not only
that but Keep up your courage. and
20 TO IT," One man will say II TO
another sometimes when he thinks the
FIRST man is getting downhearted, but
more often, II he Is Limey, he will
start kidding him.
Our men. OF course. did not say
Garry on" and In fact they did not
have any expression In French that
meant exnctly the same thing. But
they used to cheer each other along,
all right, and they passed along the
command when II was necessary, too.
wonder what expression the Ameri-
can troops will use. (You notice
do not call them Sammies y
j took my turn at listening post with
the rest OF them, of course. A listen
ing post is any good position .out in
No Mans Land. and is always held by
two men. Their Job is to keep a live
ear on Fritz and In case they hear any
thing that sounds very much like an
attack one man runs back to his lines
and the other stays to hold back the
Boches as long ss he can. You can
figure for yourself which is the most
healthful Job.
As many times as 7 went on listen
ing-post duty l never did get 70 feel
Ing homelike there exactly. You have
to lie very still. of course, as Fritz Is |
listening. too. and move may mean !
a bullet In the ribs. So. lying on the |
ground with hardly a change Of posi- |
tion, the whole lower part OF my body |
would go 10 sleep before I had been |
at the post very long. used TO brag
lot about how fast I could run. so
! had my turn as the runner, which
suited me all right But every time
got TO listening post and started
TO think about what I would do II
Fritz should come over and wondered
how good a runner he was, I took a
long breath and said, "Feet, do your
iuty." And l was strong on duty.
After I had done my stunt in the
and reserve trenches I went
back with my company to billets, but
lad only been there for q day or two
before was detached and detailed to
he artillery position to the right Of us,
where both the British and French
lad mounted naval guns. There were
'uns Of all calibers there. both naval
md field pieces. and got good look
Il the famous "75's." which are the
'est guns In the world. In my estima-
Ion. and the one thing that saved
'erdun.
iht sbn uTtu oo bnOtS minute, |
There the best the German guns could
% was six. The American three-inch |
eld piece lets 20 six times minute,
90. The French government owns the I
ecret OF the mechanism that made
his rapid fire possible. When the first :
7os" began to roar. the Germans I
new the French had found new Z
'eapon. 30 they We're very anxious TO
ct one OF the guns and learn the :
ecret. !
Shortly afterward they captured
light guns by a mass attack In which. h
he allies claim. there were 1000 Ger =
ian troops killed. The Boches studied I.
10 guns and tried TO turn out pieces h
ke them at the Krupp factory. But 4
'mehow they could not get II. Their !,
nitation "75's" would only fire five
lots very rapidly and then "cough"-
I'M. pun, pun. with nothing coming :
II. The destructive power OF the .
Ib's" is enormous. These guns have :, =