Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-23

tho FritZies." and ever so ofteu somo
London fellow from his bomb.proos
chapel cellar sends admonitions to us
fellows in The trenches that we must
not speak bad OF the "Fritzles"
But what In the name or thunoer do
these "unfit-for-service" crows think
we arc in Franco for? We surely did
not get there 20 make lovo to tho Hun
now. did we? TIE only way TO end
this war is 10 XIII all tie Huns or CAP
turc them.
When there are no more Huns left 20
carry guns. the war surely will end all
by itself.
SO IN the trench-land we soldiers are
learning the art of killing Huns. But
do not forget for a minute that we
are neglectinG the finer art OF rat
catching" What Is .rat-catchirsr"
RAT CATCHING GETS TO
BIZ FINE ART IN TRENCH
Well. it's not case OF blowing our
own horn to assert that we can lick
Fritz hollow a: the gamo of night
hunting.
Rat catching we call It. and IT'S a
fne art will, US.
BY the way. in the trenches we had
many serious arguments about proper
iy naming this art. ! myself do not
like the term rat catching" II had
my say In the matter ] would rather
call it Hun kidnapping" But that
was too mild an EXPRESSION for the
hoys. So you can see why and whence
the name rat catching came.
The fact is that its all matter
OF temperament.
Our lads love IL.
Fritz hates It, or 81 we judged from
the readiness with which he always
threw up tho sponge when he wss
caught IN the act. 30 TO speak
That's funny thing about the Ger
ran.
We've seen II over ard over again.
Put him behind gun. machine-gun
for preference, and he'll stick there till
aNs blue or until you get too near
him TO be comfortable
"A. certain moment however. he'll
Just collapse audden-l!ke and shout
"Kamcrad"
He doesn't like close quarters. Fritz.
OF course. his own night hunting
means close quarters for him. don't
deny. but then he's forced into II to
BEGIN with. Our boys, believe me-
don't need any forcing.
I've seen night raids. and. against
all types. from Prussians to Sa1ons, but
/ never knew any one to hesitate TAX
ing patt in them.
In fact. there used 10 be sort OF
resimental rivalry as 70 who would
excel IN them.
Now, don't think there's anything
o, that sort on the German side My
ioea Is that there's regimental riv-
@iry there TO get cut Of them.
~ any rate. as say. they always
give In pretty readily when they find
themselves up against it, and even
seem glad to be out OF the business
with whole skin. IL they're lucky
enough
This affair. or rather both affairs.
ours ana the Huns. occurred some lit
tie time after we had bitten OF a slab
OF the ridges. and no, long before
We had arranged TO bite oft another
slab.
There was great excitement abou.
our stunt. for We hadn't had one for
long time. and nearly everybody
hoped they would be in for the lob.
u was 10 be TO easy task. You 500
We had rehearsed it all beforehand,
and although we felt letter perfect,
yet the real thing. we knew. would
be tickiish. for we had an unusually
long way to traverse before We got
TO tho enemy lines, and II anything
went wrong! However we were not
banking on failure. rather the oppo-
site.
So after fna! rehearsal, we got
ready. was ono OF the party.
~ was an ideal night for il was
DARK with slight rain, but not dark
enough or drizzly enough 10 allow US
to lose touch with each other on the
way over.
Tho ground. too. favored US. for
there vas slight swell to the left.
under which we could mancuver into
tho vicinity OF the Germans without
their having much chance OF detect
ing US.
Well. out We set with everything
ready TO the last bomb. The journey
itself thanks to the swell" was un-
eventful and nj the prearrangcd place.
when the prearranGed signal was