The Huttig news., 1918-04-13

neous assortment of material Hsed in the manufacture of the liam tins"
 Tommy would stoop down, get an empty jam tin," take q handful of clayey mud from the parapet, and line the inside of the tin with this sub stance. Then he would reach over. pick up his detonator and explosive. and insert them in the tin, fuse pro- truding. On the fire step would be a pile of fragments of shell, shrapneI balls, bits of iron, nails, etc--anything that was hard enough to send over to Fritz; he would scoop up handful of this junk and put 1t in the bomb. Per hapS one of the platoon would ask him what he did this for, and he would explain that when the bomb exploded these bits would fly about and kill or wound any German hit by same: the questioner would immediately pull button off his tunic and hand it to the bomb maker with, "Well. blame me, send this over as souvenir" or another Tommy would volunteer an old rusty and broken jackknife both would be accepted and inserted.
 Then the professor would take an other handful of.mud and fill the tin. after which he would punch a hole in the lid of the tin and put it over the top of the bomb, the fuse sticking out. Then perhaps be would tightly wrap wire around the outside of the tin. and the bomb was ready to send over to Fritz with Tommy's compliments.
 A piece of wood about four inches wide had been issued. This was to be strapped on the left forearm by means of two leather straps and was like the side of match box; it was called striker" There was a tip like the head of a match on the fuse of the bomb. To ignite the fuse. you had to rub it on the striker" just the same as striking a match. The fuse was timed to five seconds or longer. Some of the fuses issued in those days would burn down in q second or two, while others would "sizz" for week before exploding. Back in Blighty the muni- ton workers weren't quite up to snuff. the way they are now. If the fuse took a notion to burn too quickly they gen. erally buried the bomb maker next day. So making bombs could not be called "cushy" or safe job.
 After making several bombs the pro- lessor instructs the platoon in throw ing them. He takes jam tin" from the fire. step, trembling a little, be- cause it is nervous work, especially when new at It, lights the fuse on his striker. The fuse begins to "sizz" and Sputter and spiral of smoke, like that from a smoldering flag, rises from it. The platoon splits in two and ducks around the traverse nearest to them. They don't like the looks and sound of the burning fuse. When that fuse begins to smoke and "sizz'' you want to say good-by to it as soon as possible so Tommy with all his might chucks it over the top and croucheS against the parapet, waiting for the explosion.
 Lots of times in bombing the liam tin would be picked up by the Ger mans, before it exploded, and thrown back at Tommy with dire results.
 After a lot of men went West in this manner an order was issued, reading something like this:
 "To all ranks in the British army: After igniting the 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 Germans could throw it back.
 Tommy read the order-he reads them all, but after he ignited the fuse and 1t began to smoke-orders were forgotten, and away she went in record t!ne and back she came to the further discomfort of the thrower.
 Then another order was issued 10 count, lone hundred! two hundred three hundred I" But Tommy didn't . thousand by quarters, he was going to get rid of that jam tin," because i 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 bomb and did so-substituting the "hair brush" the "cricket ball." and later the Mills bomb.
 The standard bomb used in the Brit ish army is the Mills" It is about the shape and size of a large lemon. Al though not actually a lemon, Fritz in sists that it is; perhaps he judges it by the havoc caused by its explosion The Mills bomb is made of steel, the outside of which is corrugated into 4s small squares, which. upon the explo- sion 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 a very destructive and eff ficient bomb the Mills" has the con fidence of the thrower, in that he knows 1t will not explode until re leased from his grip.
 It Is mechanical device, with a