The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-05-12

up few inches to see what was on the other side.
 Better not do that" said the captain, who had turned around for me Its dangerous
 | ''Yes, that is the front line. You were
 looking into No Mans Land. Luckily
 we've disposed Of the snipers hereabouts. l Better come to all O.. r. and have good, l safe look
 1 We had arrived at the front line sud denly, after many puzzling twists and turns. It was no thrill for the cap- | tain. He ard lis men had been in line | four days. For me it was almost un- believable that we had gone from safety 1 to the front line--the back lin that on all our maps has meant for three years and
 more the ta1rier between deoency and plain humaneness and the land of mad ness
 stepped down quickly. The captain then led the way from strong point to strong Icint. We stopped at machine gun station. The, weapon was set for the night, as were it's companions in this sector, each dominating certain small strip before it.. Our boys were ready for the Germans even if they came by foulrs or hundreds.
 Three men were standing ty. The first question they asked is the question men at the front avays ask: Where are you from?" I repeated the question in turn
 I'm from f!tvelsr said ,he first soldier the one whose duty II was to sup ply food for the gun. Lived there all my life until I started my European tour"
 Me? I'm from Philadelphia" said the gunner Thompson street" What business or ps6 fts scE before the war;?
 ">ono. was student"
 "Where?'
 "St Andrews Theological seminary" the gunner replied, after some hesita- tion. q gave up the ministry to come here"
 In these trenches you find lawyers. and business men, students, prize fight CTS, delivery boys, rich sons and poor men actually elbowing each other, for there is barely room for passing. We speak for America as melting pot of the nations but the trenches and dugouts are surely the friendship crucibles of the classes.
 We stopped a moment at a rocket sta ton, similar te that before the captains door. Fritz" he said, has been trying to monkey with out signals. As a result, he sent up one of our kind the other day and our artillery received it and prompt ly began a harraGe. That'll teach him
 Nearby, at a grenade station, a ser geant was playing the trombone" This is an instrument producing more noise | than music. for it is an attachment for a rifle in which grenades are placed and shot out by means of the ordinary rifle bullet, which also sets off the gren- ade's time-fuse over the enemy. The l captain fired one. The rifle tried to leap out of his hand with the shock. The ] grenade itself we saw start it's whistling journey then disappear. It whistled in | r1run chr rfaIrc explode.
 That's that" said the captain.
 Our automatic rifle stations were equipped with excellent French guns, | very sensitive and bit temperamental | but effective. Fire three shots," said | Captain K.
 The young soldier placed his hand on | the trigger and the rifle blazed away | Three evenly spaced. identical, vicious | spurts from the gun.
 That's that" said the captain.
 IN WATCHING POST
 We arrived at the observation post aft- l CT passing various minor stations with | shelves cut in the trench walls for | grenades, bullets and other stores. A hid l den trench led us into and under No 1 Mans Land a certain distance where, | in a slightly wider cave, we were well | comed by men whose business. by day ! and by night, it is to watch for Germans. |
 Through a slit in the earth I looked | into the valley. In front of us was our | wire Rows of it. Nearby the barbs | were visible and the posts. In the grey | ing distance it was black line, and | beyond it more and more black lines.
 To our right and left I could see our own trenches, only a rifle muzzle visible | over the parapet On the left wing our front took long curve and ran into | wood There the captain said, men | from an eastern metropolis were in the | trenches and men from middle western | metropolis were working the artillery be- hind them. East and west, in fact, had | met in France.
 Our right wing fell into valley. There were gaps in the lines, for the front 1 nowhere consists of unbroken trenches. Barbed wire and strong points on the trench Hanks amply protected the gaps.
 looked toward the Germans.
 They were on the crest of the opposite hill, 200 yards away. To the naked eye it was merely a rolling hill with black patches of wire before it. Through the | field glass it was a trench line, parallel to our own. silent deserted, dead. That | was all. Our men in one slit in the earth, the enemy in another. close by | For three years these slits had been the homes of enemies. and so they will re- main until-but the captain stopped such 1 speculation.
 Look at that chateau he said The Boche had a regimental band playing l Deutschland 'uber Alles' there ihe other day. We could hear the music. l here like the little German bands in the saloons at home. We'll