Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-28

upon q summer Qdy.- Oue III
Longer detected single crashes in the
steady roll Of sound.
II had a dickens of time getting
my team down the hill last night. "
said the driver Of one Of the combat
asees road aex wa, say full on sSe1 hos:
that had to weave my fo-ir mules In
between EN-. A dozen timSs ! had to
stop the team and make q right angle
turn. Sometimes I drove in the ditch,
and thrown in the gutter.
1t was big STUFF that the Ohio
! troops came through last night. Here
tofore the Germans have been using
in their destructive fire here. These
are equivalent to four and six inch
pieces. respectively, and carry large
| charge of high explosives. But last
night the Germans used pieces OF ZiO
and 24O caliber There were holes in
the hard macadam of the road in which
four mules and a wagon could be hid
den from sight. After the last Amer
lean doughboy had marched out safely
and the last American combat wagon
had wiggled out between those holes
with four mules and the truck" that
was to be taken away, two lieutenants
of the supply company tried to CLIMB
that hill in a sidecar.
1--WE had to quit" they, reported.
-Four times we carried that sidecar
through holes that we could not go
around. That was before we got to the
top of the hill. There the flares showed
us that the road ahead was worse than
the road behind, and 20 we came back.
No use getting all tired out.
The last mule driver up the hill de-
serves a decoration, If ever man did.
He had made the trip once before last
night. Once big she'll sent jagged
splattered him with mud as he sat on
the drivers seat. He had nursed his
team around those fear-compelling
holes in the darkness that was only
near by, and at last he had reached
place Of comparative safety. Then his
lieutenant came to him:
I'm sorry" said the lieutenant.
up the hill tonight-and 1 guess you're
elected
The drivers answer is something for
Americans to be proud of:
Il hate like hell to go again. said
he, but what it takes to go-rve got"
Route Marked by Shell Bursts.
There was slight lull in the bonn
bardment just as the Americans: be-
gan to trickle out across the half mile
of blackboard on their way from the
trenches to the road. This blackboard
has persisted in this section since the
beginning of the war. 1t merely links
two sections of strong points and
back of 1t is another strong point. But
felt out every day by the Germans in
direct fire. One has an oddly unclothed
feeling on climbing on it after the
comparative protection of the trench.
So the men plodded over that duck
board, slipping on its greasy stats.
swearing when they stepped in the fire.
quent holes where Stats were missing.
sweating under their heavy packs in
the darkness. At this precise moment
the Germans were bombarding the bat
When the men reached the farther crest
of the hill, from which they could catch
glimpses of the battered village. in
which the advance post was located,
and the other battered village, two
miles farther in the valley. where the
regimental command was still in being.
in the person of Col. Hough, they could
see the route ahead of them marked
out by shell bursts.
They trudged in small groups, filthy
from two weeks in a trench. where not
even the most rudimentary cleaning
up was possible, from the duckboar to
the battered little village. where the
major waited for them in the advance
passed through. Baron" 'Troutman. the
''Y. NJ man, stood in the arched door
way of the half-house. half-barn in
which the Y. M. c. A. station had been
located. A shell removed the wall on
either side of him, SO that he stood in
the open, without even an arch over
head. but he was unhurt. Dugouts were
being blown in.
Two New German Tricks.
The Germans offer two new tricks
for their spring show, apparently One
is to fire three high explosives on the
,rr,,,N NJ o,o bio cbro rored she'll
high in the air simultaneously. One
would think that where the four land
ed-for they were so timed as to ex-
plode in a fifty-yard radius at the same
living thing would have
been wiped out. Ohio luck persisted.
Not a man was hurt. Only mule had
ground with his eyes closed for a time
1t got up and went on pulling. trem-
bling with fright in every nerve. The
second German trick is the double det-
onator shell. 1t breaks into halves. ap-
plodes and throws the second half to
some distance before it blows up.
"O-hi-o, Ohio" the men began to
hum. The song began to gather
strength and ran along the line OF
scattered groups in the darkness. They
were singing against orders for pure
happiness. because they were on their
way to bath and to clean clothes and
sound sleep and to food hot from the
company kitchen instead Of cold and
greasy after a two-hour carry In q tin
can. They did not mind the shells ahead
or the shells behind. They know them
solves now. and they know that Jerry
doesn't make anything that can scare
them Tired az they were, there was
= swing and swagger in their walk and
their voices rang with real content.
Well buy a key Of booze.
And we'll drink it till We wabb1e in
our shoes.
Thus they melodiously assured each
other. They came to that dark and
emtpy village at the foot Of the hill
where only the colonel and the French
captain and Red" waited for them.
Shells were breaking there with plod-
ding regularity. 80 that by evening Of
the next day little was left of the
village in which the colonel had lived
with his stan. The bursts of flame
wildly illuminated the desolate streets
of the little town. 1t showed the
marching men a tall figure standing
in front of the headquarters house,
wide campaign hat pulled down over
the eyes, watching them go by. His
relief had not yet come.
ITS q sort O. shame. to leave the
colonel here" one man said. "He looks
so damn lonesome"