Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-10
ssOVER I HE, TOP''
BY ARTHUR GUY ENPEY, An American Boy Who Went

After making several bombs. the pro
fessor instructs the platoon in throw
ing them. He takes lam tin" from
the fire step. trembling a little. because
it Is nervous work, especially when
new at H. lights the fuse on his
striker. The fuse begins to "sizz' and
sputter. and a spiral OF smoke, like
that from cinoldering flag. rises from
1t. The platoon splits in two and ducks
around tho traverse nearest to them
They don't like tho looks and sound
OF the burning fuse. When that fuse
begins TO smoke and "slzZ" you want
to say good-by TO 1t as soon as pos
sible. so Tommy with all his might
chucks 1t over the top and crouchcs
against the parapet, waiting for the
explosion.
Lots of times in bombing tho Gam
tin" would be picked up by the Ger
mans before 1t exploded and thrown
back at Tommy with dire results.
After lot Of men went west in this
manner. an order was issued, reading
something like this:
ITO all ranks in the British army
after iEniting tho fuse and before
throwing the jam tin bomb, count
slowly one! two! three"
This in order to give the fuse time
enough to burn down, so that the
bomb would explode before the Ger
mans could throw IL back
Tommy read the order-he reads
them all. but after he ignted the fuse
and 1t began to smoke-orders were
forgotten. and away she went in record
time. and back she came, to the fur
Their discomfort of the throwcr
Then another order was issued to
count "onc hundred! two hundred!
three hundred" but Tommy didn't care
If the order read to count up to a
to get rid OF that lam tin" because
from experience he had learned not
to trust 1t.
When the powers that be realized
That they could not change Tommy.
they decided to change the type of
'hairbrush," the Cricket ball" and
later the Mills bomb.
The standard bomb used in the Brit
ish army is the Mills" 1t is about
the shape and size OF a large lemon.
Although not actually a lemon, Fritz
Insists that it is; perhaps he judges
Il by the havoc caused by it's explo-
sion. The Mills bomb is made of steel,
the outside OF which is corrugated into
forty eight small squares, which. upon
the explosion of the bomb, scatter in
wide area, wounding or killing any
Fritz who is unfortunate enough to be
hit by one of the flying fragments.
Although very destructive and eff
ficient bomb. the Mills" has the con-
hdence OF the thrower. in that he
leased from his grip.
1T is a mechanical device. with a
lever. fitted into a slot at the top,
which extends halfway around the
circumference. and is held in place at
the bottom by a fixing pin. In this
pin there is n small metal ring. for
the purpose of extracting the pin when
ready to throw
You do not throw a bomb the way
baseball is thrown. because. when
in narrow trench, your hand is liable
to strike against the arados, traverse
or parapet. and then down goes the
bomb. and, in couple of seconds or
so, up goes Tommy.
In throwing. the bomb and lever are
grasDed in the right hand, the left foot
is advanced. knee stiff. about once and
half it's length to the front, while
slightly to the right. The left arm
is extended at an angle OF As degrees,
pointing in the direction the bomb Is
to be thrown. This position Is similar
to that OF shotputting. only that the
right arm is extended downward Then
you hurl the bomb from you with an
overhead bowling motion. the Same as
in cricket. throwing 1t fairly high in
the air. this in order to give the fuse
chance to burn down. SO that when
the bomb lands. it Immediately eS-
lodes and gives the Germans no time
to scamper out of its range or to
return it.
As the bomb leaves your hand, the
lever. b. means OF q spring, is pro-
jected into the air and falls harm
lessly to the ground q few feet in
front of the bomber.
When the lever flies off. it releases
strong spring. which forces the
firing pin into a percussion cap. This
ignites the fuse, which burns down
and sets off tho detonator, charged
with illuminate of mercury, which cN-
plodes the main charge OF ammonia.
The average British soldier is not
an expert at throwing; it is new
game to him, therefore, the Canadians
and Americans, who have played base
ball from the kindergarten up, take
in this act. 4 six-foot English
bomber will stand in awed silence
when he sees n little flve-foot- nothing
Canadian outdistance his throw by
several yards. have read few war
stories Of bombing, where baseball
pitchers curved their bombs when
throwing them. but pitcher who can
do this would make "Christy" Mathew
son look like pikcr. and Is losing
valuable time playing i'll the European
War Bush League "acn he would be
able to set the "big lea que" on fire.
We had had cushy time while at
this school. In fact, to us il was a
regular vacation, and we were very
sorry when one morning the adjutant
ordered us 10 report at headquarters
for transportation and ratiOns to re-
turn to our units up the line.
Arriving at our section, the boys
once again rendered us the glad mitt.
but looked askance at us out Of tho
corners of their eyes. They could not
conceive. as they expressed it, how Il
man could he such Il blinking idiot to
join the Suicide Club. 1 was begin
ming to feel sorry that I had become
member OF said club. and my life to
me appeared doubly precious.
Now that l was sure enough
bomber, | was praying for peace and
hoping that my services as such would
not be required.
CHAPTER XIII.
Ny First Official Bath.