The Washington times., 1918-08-18

the lines. French machine gunners
played the role OF Germans They
had their machine guns hidden IN
pits and elsewhere in the feld- Other
soldiers, forming q long line, waved
green branches of trees to represent
the artiller- barrage. French tanks
waddled across the field and took up
positions corresponding to those tney
were to take In the actual night.
French and American officers care
fully instructed the men who were to
make the attack as TO just how they
were to follow the barrage, how ma
chine gun nests were to be cleaned
out and how they were to work in
conjunction with the tanks Then
came the signal, the soldiers "carry-
ing" the barrage began waving the
green branches, the infantry and
tanks moved forward and the Ger
man" machine guns began firing. AS
the barrage moved forward. lines
were reformed, and the advance con-
tinued. The machine gun nests were
cleaned out in good shape, but the
clever French machine gunners "put
over" one on the Americans that they
did not forget when 1t came to the
real battle.
Frenehnen In Tree
In the center OF the mimic battle
ground was q tree. One Of the tanks
waddIed slowly by and a detachment
of infantry dashed forward Then,
from apparently nowhere, q fierce
rattle of machine-gun fire burst on
the Americans The officer in charge
of the detachment knew that he was
theoretically wiped out Every Fnan
dropped to the ground for cover as
he would in q real engagement, and
then looked for the machine gun.
| The Frenchmen had mounted it in
the tree. They had also withheld
their fire until the tank had passed,
and made their play for the men
| and got thela Thu tank was signal
| ed to comeback to put q cannon
shot into the tree. This done, SO
that they were theoretically destroy
ed, the Frsnchmen climbed out OF the
tree In glee.
! When it came to the real fight, the
| Americans were as cool as in the re-
+, hearSAl. They followed the tanks
over, and ran ahead of them in their
1 enthusiasm. The withering artillery
| preparation had demolished the Ger
man trenches, but the Americans
went at the Job OF ''mopping up"
4 and clearing the village OF any re-
| naming Boche in businessllke
fashion. Then came the job Of hold
| ing on.
Counter attack after counter at
tack was hurled against the new
| American line. The artillery fire
was so hot ration parties could not
come up, there being no communi-
| eating trenches. For three days
men and officers had little sleep,
/ food or water. They lived on haru
| tack and raw bacon But they held
on And as the Americans on the
Marne, they are there today.
Confidence BoundIess.
The confidence OF the American
soldier in his officers. in the organl-
zation that is going to keep him fed
and clothed, and in the doctors who
are going to care for him when he
is wounded, is boundless.
A wounded man arriving at . field
hospital or dressing station displays
a child-like confidence in the doctor
who bends over him. II unspoken,
written on the boys face, there is
| always:
Now everything is all right May
be my wound is almost unbearably
painful. Maybe 1 have been with
| out sleep and maybe 1 am tired;
that's all over now. Here's the man
who will take care OF me-"
His wound dressed, his blood again
sent coursing warmly through his
veins, the boy drops off to sleep.
This confidence of the flghting
man in the organization behind him
must not be shaken As the number
| of men in France increases the prob
lem Of food, clothing and medical
attention multiplies. The ground
work of meeting all OF these prob
I lens has been Laid in France in the
shape OF gigantic warehouses, rail-
way lines and vast docks at the sea-
board Upon the war organization at
home falls the burden Of keeping
them supplied
Not An May Fight
In SO far as man power is concerned,
Il should also be remembered that
], 200, 900 men in France does not
mean 1,ooo. 900 lighting men. Taking
a division as a unit, it requires ap-
proximateIy 1900 men and from
5000 to 5000 horses to keep 1900
bayonets and artillery in the line.
Multiply this by the number of times
| 1000 men you believe II will take
to win the war. and you can estimat"
| the total number OF men who must
| be transported Bnd cared for.
Americas infantry and artillery
| that has been in action has made
good. The American flyers now on
the front are using French machines
chiefly. They have taken quickly to
the game. German machines have
been brought down and German
towns have been bombed. But there
are acres aa6 acres covered with
French and British hangers aa1 air
planes in France On a single night
saw moro ihAn 100 French planes
leave one field on q single bombing
expedition. This is q nightly occur
renee, not only from this 1eld, but
from scores of others. We have yet
to show. cur noEsE In the Atr.