The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-08-23
QUIET SECTOR OF THE FRONT
 FOR AMERICANS
Not Much Doing Except Smelling, Gassing, Patrols,
 and Raids, Says Officer.

With the American Army in LOT raine, Aug. 23-(Correspondence of The Associated Press D---"A quiet sec 1 tor' said ap officer of an American division holding a position so desig- mated, appears to be a part of the front where nothing but scouting, pa trolling, shelling and gassing are go- 1 ing on, with a little bombing and fiame-throwing to vary the monot- ony."
 In "quiet'' sector the American soldier gets his first experience of war Some of the relatively small things in this war look so big to the them for bigger ones," said an Amer ican general, and it is important for both the new soldier and the young officer to get familiar with the little frightfulnesses the Germans send over i so as to get the proper proportion be- tween them and real attacks" Patrols. are large contributors to the war diary of the division In this sec tor, and the American soldier is par ticulary apt at 1t. It is no secret for the Germans that he Is always at it and that he is venturesome enough to push into their lines and into the will lages back of them. The Germans find their wire cut in most unexpect- ed places, even live wire in some cases. A patrol caught at this dan geiDus work found itself in the range of machine guns and had to roll back under the wire and across No Mans Land with bullets whistling over their heads. Another patrol pushing into a German commanding post and find ing it vacant dragged an officers trun back over the shell holes to their own trenches.
 ] The patrol is expected to do noth- ling more than bring in information. The orders are to avoid contact with the enemy but patrols often meet and occasionally are obliged to fight.
 One man of an American patrol, separated from his comrades and cap- tured by the enemy, had gained some interesting information that he deter mined to take back if he could. His rifle had been taken from him but he managed to conceal a couple of gren- ades. Slyly removing the cap from Ione of them as he was being led across No Mans Land he struck it against the other, let it drop, then sprinted back to safety.
 Indian troops are rendering great service in this work, getting over the Iground between the lines without seeming to touch thing that pro- duces noise, and bringing back most useful information.
 Men in observation posts and cap tive balloons furnish detailed infor- nation of everything they see going on back of the enemys lines. From their reports the war diary registers a daily count of the number of trains and the number of cars in each train : seen on the lines of communication.
 A count is also kept of columns of
 smoke with the hours and minutes
 when they are observed.
 Working parties are counted and the direction of their movements not
 ed, sometimes leading to the discov- cry of new supplements for heavy artillery. An aerial photograph showed recently where battery l found in this way had been complete ly destroyed by our fire.
 , The men out scouting or on patrol
 in the listening posts or observation } balloons quickly sharpen their fac ultfes of observation and get a better l grasp of the significance of little , things and their relation to big ones Their senese of proportion develops r and they are no longer to be mislet } as to the scope of the enemy's har. assing operations.