The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-02-07

gun flashes sent their brllllan
relief the weird surroundings.
The odor of the gas was still per-
ceptible, even though the stencil of
decayed flesh was very strong. All
the muddy pools were dank and smell
ly. Everything along the road was
colored a sickly greenish yellow by
the new mustard gas.
At the cross roads two shrapnel
shells burst in the air and the bull
let's sharply whistled down and spat-
tered in the mud. An aeroplane rose
| above the jagged outlines of the hill
behind the forts; it lodged and Giro
led in and out of the enemy shrapnel
smoke puffs.
The attack was over. 1t was a sue
| cess! So now make way for the
stream of dead and wounded-for the
attack was a success!
When orders were received by our
commandant for the immediate NOV
ing of Section 1 from the Army of
| Verdun to the Champagne army, we
were allowed four hours to pack our
equipment, oils, gasoline, and repair
ing apparatus, to get out cars in full
order and get on the road.
| A new section, only forty-eight
hours from Paris, with all untried
men, never under fire, rolled in to re-
lieve US. Volunteers were called for
to show the roads to the new corners.
I got the job of showing a chap OF
the new section the rathole dressing
station at the foot of Hill 304. Up at
the bend in the road called by us
Hell's corner (the place was heavily
shelled nearly always; one of our boys
was killed on the spot and another
worse than killed), fresh dirt was
strewn over the dirty snow and ice
Seeing this, I told the driver to "SteI
on 'er." Just at the moment came the
great whistling scream of a Bocht
IshelI, which exploded at the side OF
the road, showering the car with
rocks and dirt.
One of the chaps in my section haG
given me a small kodak to take q
few final snaps of the road before
we should leave the district. AS the
scream of the next shell grew louder
and the shell exploded twenty feet di
rectly in front of US, had the camera
trained exactly on the bursting shell
but I'm quite sure I forgot to pres:
the snap; nor did try to take any
pictures on the rest of the ride.
should worry about cameras on the
road of Dead Mans Hill.
Puntured with Shell Holes
Another shell fell directly at thu
side of the car, after just clearing thu
radiator. The car was punctured will
more than twelve or fifteen hole
large enough to put ones head in
and one shell fragment ripped
through the back rest of the seat
tearing off the coat and belt of tn
chap with me, and going clea
through my coat.
The new chap with me was visibl.
nervous, and, after killing the engin
by throwing it into reverse, final,
got started down the road. He aske'
me in a hesitating voice eff it was al
? ways like that?" and I've often won
dered if he knew I was kidding hin
when I told him that this trip wa
an unusually quiet one. He probabl
| wondered where all the coats an
belts were to come from if this thin
happened every trip.
Q
tor on the afternoon of the secon
= day. I shall never forget the seen
d of confusion behind the lines befor
that luckLess attack of April 16 wa
launched by the French. There wer
troops of evtrH color and race on tn
} roads; conveys of wagons, truck!
= motors, gun carriages pushing fror
one village to another. The artiller
preparation started at 8 o'clock in tn
j afternoon. After the attack, in ana
n lying the cause of their defeat, tn
:. French generals agreed that the al
/ tilIery preparation had not lasted Ion
4 enough-only eight hours.
But what that artillery lombard
c ment lacked in duration it surel
made up for in noise. I have neve
in all my life heard any noise, or con
t bination of noises, that could at a
O. hope to equal that sound.
The ground shook continuously jul
like an earthquake, and even te
Z miles, behind the lines, automobile
lined up on the roadside, rocked L
and down on their creaking sprins
on account of the shaking of tt
earth. Dark clouds blew across tt
u heavens, driven on by a heavy win
O Above the battlefield the sky was asl
en-, and even in the afternoon flas
Ii after flash of the rolling guns
n across the sky. Toward the Westel
horizon a long white stripe across IL
sky marked the setting sun, and Il
- staring, empty windows in the deser
ed villages reflected the light in
HOPELESS sort of way.
n The light threw into relief tn
white frightened faces of the civilia,
& who still remained as they anxious
gazed in a dull way at the confusiC
about them, every little while loolkil
y up into the gathering darkness, whe
e. For COUGHS AND COLDS
s-take a PROMPT and effective remedy an,