South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-02-15

| hundred miles. The mere repair and
upkeep of the trenches for the fir
/ ing line, and of dugouts, bomb
! proofs and underground galleries
for the troops in support behind the
third trench, will occupy a third of
the total man power Of the army
A trench is literally nodded upon
and supported by the bodies of men
and perpetually changing and grow
/ ing like a live thing. 1t has to
fit the bodies Of the men who &C
/ cupy it like the cell of the honey
comb does the working bee. Rough
| ~ speaking, il can only be six inches
deeper than the height of the tall
| est man in il, and about six inches
wider than double the depth of his
| body from chest to back.
Most first line trenches are dug
just wide enough for the men 70 be
turning sideways. They must fit
TIE holding troops like a suit Of
clothes II they are too shallow.
obviously the heads of the men will
be exposed to the horizontally fly
ing fragments of shells which strike
on the surface in front or behind
them. If they a-e more than a
foot above the heads of the men.
there is danger when a big shell
brushes in the front wall burying
them so deeply that they will be
unable TO dig their own way out.
Their extraordinary and inconve-
nient narrowness is due to the stern
mathematical fact that. whereas the
only shells that can inflict serious
and extensive damage on the men
are those which fall directly in a
trench, obviously a trench which is
three feet wide is just twice as dan
gerous as one which is only eigh-
teen inches-and greater widths in
proportions.
Front trenches cannot be lined or
strengthened to any considerable ex-
tent with stone or iron plates, or
even wood or cement, for the rea-
son that while men can work their
way out or be dug out from under
a foot or even two feet % loose
earth before they are smothcred, it
is a much more serious an6 dan
gerOus matter if the caVe-in carries
with IL beams or stones or iron
plates to trap and crush bodies and
limbs; while in the case Of stone and
wood. the splinters which will be
sent flying by a she'll burst cave
in may be almost as dangerous as
the fragments Of the shell itself.
If the men are left entirely to
themselves. they have a natural and
pardOnable tendency TO burrow
steadily deeper on "safety-frst"
principles. although this again is
considerably checked by the likeli-
hood of triking ground-water in
most soils when you get below 4
moderate depth.
The champion performance in
this line which was reported TO me
was that of a canny and elderly
French regiment. which had held
trenches in n firm. well drained soil
for many months. and had grad
ually. perhaps almost unconsCiOusly,
lowered them to the luxurious depth
of eleven feet so that they had to
use flights Of steps 10 get up on TO
the fire-shelf But this was an
eccentricity. and the bitter expe-
rience OF years of comfort and
sense Of security, like too deep and
Elaborate dugoUt and underground
chambers. have proved more dan
gerous as traps for the burying and
suffocating of whole bodies Of
troops. or for their capture as
prisoners. than they have helpful
in protecting against shellfire
In short human bodies holding
and moving about in shallow run
ways in the soft surface Of mother
/ earth have proved the only real
[ Notifications in modern war. the
/ only barrier which can defy the
/ terrors and check the advance Of
/ the hugeSt guns and the highest
I explosives: so that the term spent
I in the front line trenches is not
\ just simply a period of vigilance.
\ hardship and passive exposure 10
/ danger. but one Of almost inceSSant
/ repair construction and extension.
/ and unending activity.
No trench left TO itself would
last as hours under modern she'll
/ fire.
The same is true even in a high
/ er degree of the much longer period
spent in reserve and rest camps be-
hind the lines. on account OF the