The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-04-02
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lARThWR GUY EnpfYl

1t helped me wonderfully. I used II
so often afterwards that some of my
mates dubbed me, eff you're going to
get 1t, you'll get It."
After an hours hard work, all my
nervousness left me, and / was laugh.
Ing and joking with the rest.
At one o'clock, dinner came ND In
h form of a dixie of hot stew.
l looked for my canteen. 1t had
fallen on the fire step, and was half
buried in the mud. The mar on my
left noticed this, and told the corporal,
dishing out the r~ations, to put my
share in his mess tin. Then he wills
pered TO me-, always take care of you
mess tin, mate"
l had learned another maxim Of the
trenches.
That stew tasted fine. / was as
hungry as a bear. We had Seconds"
or another helping, because three of
the men had "gone West" killed by
the explosion of the German trench
mortar, and we ate their share. but
still | was hungry, so / filed in with
bully beef and biscuits. Then / drained
my water bottle. Later on / learned
another maxim of the front line, go
sparingly with your water" The bully
beef made me thirsty, and by tea time
| was dying for a drink, but my pride
would not allow me to ask my mates
for water. / was fast learning the
ethics of the trenches.
That night l was put on guard with
an Older a We stood on the fire
step with our hands over the top, peer
ing out into No Mans Land. 1t was
work for me, but the other fell
low seemed to take 1t as part of the
nights routine.
Then something shot past my face.
My heart stopped beating, and l ducked
my head below the .parapet. A soft
chuckle from my mate brought me to
my senses, and l feebly asked, For
heavens sake, what was that?"
He answered. "Only a rat taking a
promenade along the sandbags." l
felt very sheepish.
About every twenty minutes the sen
try in the mex traverse would fire q
{ shell from his flare pistol. The
''plop" would give me a start of fright.
/ got used to this noise during
my service in the trenches.
/ would watch the arc described by
the star shell, and then stare into No
Mans Land waiting for ii TO burst. In
its lurid light the barbed wire and
stakes would be silhouetted against its
light like a latticed window. Then
darkness.
Once, out in front of our wire, ]
heard a noise and saw dark forms
moving. My rifle was lying across the
sandbagged parapet. l reached for it,
and was taking aim to fire, when my
mate grasped my arm, and whispered,
Don't fire." He challenged in a low
voice. The reply came back instantly
from the dark forms:
"Shut your blinkin' mouth, you
bloomin' idiot do you want US to clicl
it from the Boches?"
Later we learned that the word, "NG
challenging or firing, wiring party gu
in front" had been given TO the sentr,
on our right, but he had failed 10 pas
it down the trench. An officer had Owe
beard our challenge and the reply, an
mmeiiateis - g. 81 ndipg SOM
amt
twenty-one days on the wheel, that is,
he received twenty-one days field pun
ishment No. 1, or "cruciixion." as
Tommy terms it.
This consists of being spread-eagled
on the wheel of a timber two hours a
day for twenty-one days, regardless of
the weather. During this period, your
rations consist of bully beef, biscuits
and water.
A few months later l met this sentry
and he confided 10 me that since being
"crucified," he had never failed TO pass
the word down the trench when so or
dered. In view of the o~ffense, the
above punishment was very light, In
that failing to pass the word down a
trench may mean the loss of many
lives, and the spelling of some impor-
tant enterprise In No Mans Land.
ITO BE Continued