New-York tribune., 1918-04-28


but thase days are rare and when
they do occur there is always alleviation.
In every trench, in every section, there is
some one who is a joker; who is true
humorist, and who can carry the spirits of
the troops with him to the place where grim
reality vanishcs and troubles are forgotten.
The nights pass quickly enough because
at night We have plenty to do. But even
while carrying out duties at night many
humorous things happen. Take, for in
stance, the passing of messages up and
down tho line.
To the civilian message-sending might
appear much the same day or night, but not
so. In the day we can speak without fear
of being overheard, but at night no one
knows but that Hans Fritz may be few
feet on the other side of the parapet with
ears cooked for all sounds. So communca-
tions have to be made with care. Some
times the change of syllable might alter
the meaning of a sentence and cause dis
aster.
A message a. night is whispered in lowest
tones from man to man. This is a branch
OF the service for the young recruit to prac-
tisc 1t means much, and thoughtless
error is unpardonable. The first man re-
ceives the communication from the officer
Through the silence will come a soft
"Hs-s-s." The next in line will creep up
and get the words. He in turn calls to
the next man and whispers on the order.
1t was one night carly in the fighting that
Major Kirkpatrick sent the message down
the line 400 yards along: "Major kirkpatrick
says to tell Captain Parkes to send up rein
forcements to the right in a hurry" That
was the message as I got it. That was the
message as l transmitted it to the next
man. To Captain Parkes the message ran
in O. hurried whisper: "Major Kirkpatrick
says to tell Captain Parkes to send up three
ard four-pence' to the right in a hurry
When Major kirkpatrick received three
shillings and fourpence he was almost in a
state of collapse. Luckily, the situation was
not serious, or possibly we might have lost
heavily. This shows how imperative 1t IS
to have absolute accuracy.
Again, at nights there are different kinds
of raids to be carried out. Probably raid
by wire cutters, or possibly an actual trench
raid. Nights in France not meant for
sleep. There is usually one hour on duty
and two hours off, and something doing all
the while.
But the days frequently grow long and
,resome We sleep. VIC tell stories, we read
when there is anything to read, and we
write letters if we have the materials. Or,
sbove all, we work out some device to
spring upon the Boche.
7 CAN never forget the first bomb that
Il was thrown from our trench. Volun
teers were asked for this and risky job.
| will not mention the name Of the boy who
volunteered in our section. but he was big,
hefty. red-hairca chap. lie has since been
killed It is noticeable that rcd-haired fell
lows are inpctuous and frequently ahead OF
others in bravery, for moment or two,
anyway.
In those days of makeshift bombs there
was a nine-second fuse in each. We were
about thirty yards from the Germans
trench Of course it would not take nine
seconds for the bomb to travel thirty yards;
rather II would arrive in three seconds, and
give Hans ard Fritz opportunity to pick it
up comfortably and return it in time for
IT'S explosion to kill us and not them. Thus
the order was to count at least ..veonc,
two, three four f.ve--slowly and carefully,
after the fuse was lighted and before the
bomb left the hand.
Every ono had his eyes glued to the peri
scope, except myself. I watched the fuse in
the hand of that red-haired guy. He started
to couHt-one, two, and his hand began to
shake: at three his hand moving about
violently at four the bomb fell. I wonder
II tNGIc 1S any one iii tHc NOliu WIZ ilihS
that we stopped there to see the bomb ex-
plode. No, we didn't.
There was a chance right there for the
quick thinker for the man Of extraordinary
initiative, to win the V. c. Somehow our
initiative took US in the other direction. 1t
is really wonderful how fast the average
man can beat it when he knows there is
certain death should he linger in one spot
very long. The way travelled round
the traverse ard up the trenches not
'T>HERE are days, when fighting at close
i quarters, that both sides feel pretty
good. The morning will be bright, and we
may open the proceedings by trying to sing
German songs, and they will join in by
singing British airs, but always in sar-
castle manner after putting words to them
that dare not write.
On July /, which is Dominion or Con-
federation Day. the Germans began by sing
ing to certain Eastern Canadian regiment
the first verse OF our national anthem 90,
Canada" When they got through, they
politely asked the young braves of this
regiment to sing the second verse The Ca
madam boys sent over few bombs instead
for they did 5iot know the words Of the sec
ond verse, Not to know the second verse
seems 70 be of the idiosyncrasics of ths
people OF alh nations, bar the Germans
Should we get tired of singing, we would
shout across 10 the enemy trenches. We
would ask pertinent questions about thei,
commanders and impe rtinen. ones about the
affairs Of their nation. One thing can sa,
for Hans~~he is never SLOW in answering
His repartce may be cldmsy, but it !,
prompt and usually effective.
We would inquire after the health Of olf
"Von Woodenburg," old zone O'clock" tn,
"Clown Prince" or zone BumstuF." Hans
would take this in jocular way, slammins
back something about Sir WiIfrid Laurier
Lloyd George, or Sir Sham Shoes, but whcr
We really wanted to get Fritz's goat wt
would tease him about the Kaiser