Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-06-06
LIFE N THE TRENCHES
BY CORP. BARNES

H AA 8 u -
,ourt House Lawn Corporal Barnes
Eas chosen with - ether men. from
PershinEis army 10 return 10 this
country in order tha. m5re enthusiasm ,
Be- ar0ased in the Red Cross
and Liberty Loan drive Both speech
- were intensely patriotic.
Corporal Barnes b . college gradu-
ate and in the enginsring division He
has G e SIX months service in France
and been on duty IN The first line
trenches
Before the meeting. the Council Of
Defense Band gave several selections.
At the beginning Of the meeting
Colonel Z. Y. Burton made an an
nouncement concerning the posters re-
Gently published to the effect that Il
was reported a vigilance committee
would call = upon persons II
they did not donate 10 the
Red Cross according to their
He then introduced w. P.
Sacks, Of jefferson City, who made a
short address and introduced Corp.
Barnes.
Mr.. Sacks said II the m Of these
people in Mexico who did not give ae-
cording to their means to the Red
Cross were handed to him, he would
guarantee before the week was out to
have their lanes published in three
st. Louis papers, as slackers. Further
more, he asserted he would relieve the
person who handed in the names Of
all responsibility and take it upon
himself. Mr.. Sacks strongly advocated
the branding of those who would not
give as traitors and slackers. He as
serted that If any person became OBJ
noxious to the community he might
be deported and being branded as a
traitor, would be despised by all true
Americans.
Corporal Barnes told Of the life in
the trenches as he had experienced it.
He wore on his left sleeve the gold
braid which was formerly obtained by
six months Of active service in the
trenches. He obtained his braid be-
fore the ruling was changed so that
anyone who has served six months in
France can now wear it.
He gave a demonstration of the use
of the bayonet in the trench warfare
and hand-to-hand fighting. The use of
the gas mask was also very clearly
explained and he showed how they
were used in the gas attacks. He said
that the different shells could be de-
tinguished by their sounds. After one
has been in the trenches for a while
he will instinctively know what kind
of skell is coming and in a short time
he can determine approximately, by
its sound, where it will fall. This, he
said, is Of advantage to a man who is
off duty to study. If you know a gas
shell is coming in your proximity, you
can usually get your mask adjusted
before it bursts, which is often very
advantageous to you.
His work in the trenches was that
of the army engineer, to lay entangle
ments in front Of the trenches. This
work consequently kept him in Nc
Mans Land a good part of the time
He has never been wounded, but hal
participated in several skirmishes be
tween raiding parties.
One of the favorite tricks of the Ger
mans is to come out of their trenches
in large numbers when they see
} small raiding party and cry Kamerad
which means "comrade," and that the!
want to surrender. The Americans
. would call to them to halt, but THU
, they refused to do but kept coming
, with their hands in the air. When the!
got near enough they would overpow
err the smaller American force. Nov
. the Americans take no chances. Whel
they tell a German to stop and h
does not, they shoot, and the Amer
can is not responsible whether tn
German knows the meaning Of hal
q or not.
In regard to the reports that Uncl
q Sam has had whisky rations ordere
for the boys in the front line trenches
these, Corporal Barnes said, are falls
!, In the first place, Uncle Sam know
that whiskey, in the end, would nc
put the boys in a better condition !
4 fight, and in the second place, there
nothing needed to keep the America
Il spirit up. In the trenches, the typici
American pep is very often espresso
" sometimes to the punishment of Il
American. 1t is only natural that 8
American soldier should want to kno
# what is going on around him, Their
10 fore he continually insists on lookir
"over the top" This accounts for
is large number of the easulties amor
the Americans and is one of the thin
the officers have to caution their m
~ about more than any other.
S. The beers and wines of France a
q not made for the American soldit
The beer is flat and the wine SOL
and the American knows that they
ck not agree with him, so he leaves the
alone. The American Expeditions
Forces, as a whole, do not use the
or beverages, but drink water, so Barn
a. says; there is no danger Of the Anne
lean soldier becoming a drunkard,
= disgracing the people who are behi
I HIM and the flag he fights for in a
way.
He said before he went to Fran
he did not believe the reports Of t
German cruelty but now that he b
seen it, he does. Children with thu
ears or noses cut off are not inf
quently seen. One Of the men he KIN
personally was wounded in mo MAJ
Land and while under the bombal
Ill - n 81 C----.. - LII 1