The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-04-04

Not long after the1ifsi dTgging pnrry.
,ur general decided. after q cnrefui
tour of inspection Of the communica-
dion trenches. upon ian ideal spot as
he termed 1t. for a machiue-gun en-
,lacetnent |: took his map. made a dot
on 1t. and us he WAS wont. wrote dig
acre." and the next night we dug.
There were twenty in tse party. my
,elf included. Armed with picks.
.sheveis and empty sandbags we ar
rived at the ideal spot. and started
digging. The moon was very bright,
but we did not care as we were well
out OF sight OF the German lines.
We had gotten about three feet
down. when the fellow next to me. aft
er a mighty stroke with his pick. let go
&c the handle. and pinched his nose
with his thumb and forefinger. ut the
same time letting out the explosion
"Gctt strafe me pink. I'm bloody well
gassed. not 'aif ain'r" I quickly
turned In his direction with an inquir-
ing look. at the same instant reaching
for my gns bag. I soon found out what
WAS aiIing him. One Whit was enough
and lost no time in also pinching my
nose. The stencil was awful. The rest
of the digging party dropped their
picks and shoveIs and beat II for the
weather side Of that solitary pick. The
officer came over and inquired why the
work. had suddenly ceased. holding our
noses. We SIMPLY pointed IN the uirec-
tion of the smell. He went over to the
pick. Immediately ciapped hts hand
over his nose. made an about turn
and cume back. Just then our cap
tain came along and Investigated. but
after about minute said VIC had bet
ter carry on with the digging, that he
did not see why we should have
stopped as the cdor was very faint.
but II necessary he would allow us our
gas helmets while digging. He would
stay md see the thing through. but ne
hnd TO report back to brigade head
quarters Immediately. We wished that
we were captains and also had date
at brigade headquarters. With our gas
helmets on we again attacked thnt hole
and uncovered the decomposed body Of
German: the pick wns sticking in his
chest. One of the men tainted was
that one. Upon this our lieutenant
halted proceedings and sent word back
TO headquarters and word came back
that nfter we filed In the hole we could
knock OF for the night. This was well
come tidings to us. because
Next day the general changed the
dot on his mnp and another emplace-
nent was completed the following
night.
The odor from the dug-up. decom-
posed human body has an effect which
Is hard to describe. II first produces
a nausenting feeling. which. especially
after eating cnuses vomiting. This re-
weakening sensation follows. which
leaves you limp as a dishrng. Your
spirits are at their lowest ebb and you
feel a sort Of hopeiessness and mad
desire to escape 1t all. to get to the
open fields and the perfume of the flow.
ers in iClighty. There Is n sharp.
pricklins sensation In the nostrils.
which reminds one Of breathing coal
gas through radiator In the floor, and
you want to snecze. but cannot. This
wns the effcct on me. surmountcd by n
vngue horror Of the awfnlness of the
thing and IN eyer-recurring reflection
that, perhaps !. sooner or later, would
be in such a state and be brought to
light by the blow Of pick in the hands
Of some Tommy on digging party.
Severol times / have .experienced this
odor, but never could get used to II !:
the enervatine sensation was always
present. 1t made me hate war and
wonder why such things were counte-
nanced by civilization. and all the spice
and glory OF the conflict would disnp-
pear, leaving the grim reality. But
after leaving the spot and filling your
lungs with deep breaths OF pure. fresh
afr, you forget and once again want to
be ''up and ut them"