Evening star., 1918-07-21
Sniper Dan.
By LIEUT.. f. J. SLEATH
Of the British Army.

By LIEUT.. F. J. sLEATH
OF the British Array.
Special Correspondence
FRANCE. July 8. 1918.
TT was old Dan Haggarty. corporal
Of the sniping section, who first
saw the way to rid no mans land Of
German snipers who were troubling
his battalion.
Old Dan was the wiliest OF the very
willy men who formed the regimental
snipers. Therefore his officer listened
to him. as he explained his idea. with
all the consideration which his repu-
tation merited. $50.
You see. sir. It's like this" the cor
poral began. "a man hidin' ahint .
dyke isna hidden frae a man on the
same side o. the dyke as himself. An
though these sniper buddies are hid
trenches, II I crawl oot an lie mp
ahint them, I've got q far better
chance o. findin' them oot"
The ofIicer looked doubtfully at his
aged corporal Old Dams grandson
was helping to carry on his coal con-
he was ont in France fathering his
battalion snipers for sheer love Of the
game. Throughout the three years
which they had been together the or
ficers liking and respect for the vet
eran had steadily grown. and the
thought Of the risks Of the job which
old Dan was so coolly proposing made
him hesitate to grant permission.
But something had to be done to
rid the battalion of the annoyance OF
the snipers opposite, and the corporal
was the best fitted Of all his section
to carry it successfully through. So
with an earnest caution to be careful.
the officer reluctantly gave his con-
sent.
sconced in a ruined barn hundred
yards from the German lines and
nearly 500 from his own The no
mans land was of broad expanse in
this sector.
vanced, and the rival artilleries had
not vet had time to transform the
countryside to the barren waste
which marks the long established
neys and hedge rows still standing.
ideal places for sniping positions, and
in these hiding places were the Ger
man snipers.
1t was in quest Of these riflemen
that the corpora ;nnS,ss Tss peer,ng br,cna Su.
hoping to be able to dispatch one or
two of the most troublesome before
the day was over. To his own periious
situation. 30 near the German lines,
wall of the building rose up foot or
two behind him and screened him
from the enemy, and he trusted TO his
own skill to guard him from the
snipers In front.
he had already reckoned out three
OF these fellows in front OF him by
carefully noting the shooting going
on in the no mans land. He had even
a rough idea Of their position. Two
were certainly in the sunken road Of
nearest the British trenches. He
placed the other among some she'll
hole rubble halfway across on his
right, but the position of this man
other two. and Dan gave all his atten-
tion to studying every frregu1arity
and shade Of color in the sunken road.
For hours he watched as patiently
as an animal waiting for its prey.
wholly unconscious of the passage of
time. knowing eventually that his
search would be rewarded, and at last
he poked his rifle very cautiously out
between the bricks, and two quick
shots stretched the jaegers on the
of debris dislodged from the bank
above.
No more shots were fired in the no
mans land during the day. 1t WAS as
II tne Word nad gone rO0nd the enemy
snipers that greater than them
selves was loose among them. and
they were covering down In their
covers afraid to move for fear of at
tracing his attention.
TIN gang oot agane II they dinna
stop their capers." said old Dan to his
officers after he had crawled in that
evening. And as casually as though
he had just returned from an ordinary
ramble he walked away downs the
Communication trench to turn in for
the night.