Evening star., 1918-02-18
BY DANA BURNET.
Copyright 191a.l

NORTH OF FRANCE. January IL
This is a war OF moles. The other day
1 met an artineryman who had lived
for moro than two years within $500
yards of the invaders trenches, and he
had never seen German. He had fired
thousands Of shells into tho boche line;
he had helped to capture enemy posi-
tions: he had assisted in tho repulse OF
countless local attacks. trench raids
and massed assaults. but he had yet to
see his foe.
I'VE live in the side of a hill" he said.
"and we shoot into the air. Heaven
observes the result"
This instance is typical Of the sub
terranean existence that the modern
soldier is compelled to undergo. 1t
illustrates also the complete mechan-
the soldiers in the trenches kill and
are killed without beholding their
enemies.
After the battle Of the Marne." said
t the evolution @ I'i Of hidden warfare. % 9or.
rather, after the first phase of the bat
tie of the Aisne. both sides came to the
astonishing conclusion that they had
trained to carry on a war Of such gi-
gantic proportions as this. 1t was OBJ
vious that neither the Germans nor
the allies could maneuver in the
open: the armies were too huge and
too great. Thereupon ~ensued a most
extraordinary lull in the war, a lull of
preparation and reorganization. during
which both commands feverishly
of battle. Trench warfare was the re-
suit. and with trench warfare was
ushered IN comprehensive scheme of
underground defensive and offensive
works. We became an army of bur-
rowers."
Civilians, Too, Live Underground
The subterranean life which apper-
tains to the war zone Is not confined,
however. to the military forces alone.
All through the country back Of the
'front.'" wherever German bombs might
fall or German gas come creeping,
the civilian population. such as it is.
has taken generally to it's cellars. In
Rheims. which is within easy range of
the German guns. / met an old woman
who had sent several sons to the war
and who at present lived in the cellar
Of her little wine shop. with an old
dog for company.
TT is not a bad life she said. "as
lives go today. We are habitue to the
sheils-nny dog and ]. When the boche
bombards US we gosdown into our cell
lar; when he stops bombarding us we
come up again. What would you?
There must be some one to sell the
wine"
Industrial System Below Earth.
In another town. wen up toward the
front. discovered certain merchants
carrying on their businesses in caves
underground With that marvellous
do NJ n
Characteristic of the French, these men
and women, too-had improvised an
entire Industrial system some hundred
feet or SO below the earth's surface.
Moreover. they lived there-largely by
candle light. 1t is to be hoped that
they will not be overlooked by histo-
rians of the great war
| had my first real glimpse of a con-
ceaied battery on recent trip to the
front. We had been wandering about
certain shelled town and had reached
the outskirts of it when suddenly our
conducting officer paused before a door
cut apparently in the side of mud
bank. Presently the door opened and a
soldiers head appeared. Our officer in
CURED if we might come in The SOL
dier saluted and summoned his lieuten-
ant-a handsome young Frenchman.
with black mustache and red cheeks
ana ciear blue eyes Gle had lived for
two years and six months in the mud
bank)
ITO be sure" said he, cordially.
Come in, messieurs."
We went in. 1t was most surprising
experience. A foyer hall, done in earth
yellow, opened before us In one cor
ner of 1t was stove with a rakish
Chimney climbing up into the open air.
Ihey obtained their fuel. said the
Young lieutenant, by burning the ruined
house across the way"
The roof of this entrance chamber was
! covered with a glistening moisture It
drIpped continuous clammy dew.
we trVersed dark, narrow passage
way, paved with trench board. On
either side of it were rooms where SOL
oiers lounsed, or read, or wrote letters
Or slept. There seemed to be a gener-
Gus amount Of people in that particular
mudbank.
Famous '75" Hidden in Mudbank.
Finally, we arrived at a chamber in
which a single gun-one of the famous
75s-stood with it's long muzzle thrust
toward blue patch Of open sky. Later
discovered that there were other guns
how many of them 1t is not essential
to state-each as carefully housed. and
as cunningly concealed as the first.
The young lieutenant made a sign to
one of his men, who gave a swift order,
Somewhere from the interior of the
| mudbank loaded she'll was passed out
breech of the gun.
Stand back a little, messieurs, If
you please" said the Lieutenant
| We stood lack. There was a light and
a noise. a flash and a roar. The gun,
which apparently had been as immobile
as rock. hicked back and forth upon its
carriage like snakes tongue, then
crouched motionless again with its
grim mouth thrust against the sky
Some two miles to the northward a
Shell burst upon the German lines with
such result as only heaven could see
At another time it was my privilege
to go through one of the extraordinary
underground fortresses which French
ingenuity has established upon the
western front. Early in the war it be-
came, apparent that the ordinary fort
could be constructed or strengthened to
Withstand the hammering of heavy
siege ordnance. Therefore the French
military engineers proceeded to build
their forts underground. The fort I
visited was located at q point Of CON-
siderable strategic Importance and had
served to rspulse severA tremendous
German nktaotp Tho er@un6 h 4ren1
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