Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-28
How Our Sammies
Live Trench Life
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

endured But q soldier spends only nan
of his time in the trenches, and II he mas
something TO look forward to in the other
half, he can endure his stint OF trench duty
with unrnpaired morale. That rs why
recreation for soldiers is 50 important.
Raymond Eosdick, head Of the COmmls-
sion on Training Camp Activities, who
has Just returned from the front in France,
where he made a detailed study of the
life of the American soldier abroad, Is now
making all arrangements for a great drive
to obtain funds for the Y. NJ Z. A., the
Y. W G. A., the War Camp Community
Service, and the American I4lbrafy Asso-
citation The drive is TO begin November
II. The American people are TO be asked
for Sl35, ,OOO, 600 OF this the Y. NJ. =. a.
is to receive 800, 600, 600; the Y. w {. A..
$4,000 600; the War Camp Community
Service, SIS 100000 and the American
Library Association, s3,500,0OO. The
other organizations working on the sol
dier recreation problem will replemsh
their funds by drive IN January.
If the great American pocket, already
tapped by such host of. taxes and charl-
ties, is 20 bring forth promptly these mil
lions for recreation, the appeal will have
to be backed by strong argument Mr..
Fosdick's description of the life OF the
American soldier in France is that argu-
mcnt.
OUR BOY s DAILY LiFE
Little seems To have been written about
the daily personal life Of the soldier, ex-
cept when he is in action, and that IS a
small part of the time. Ills first glimpse OF
| France is o seaport town, and IT ~ agreed
by all observers that a seaport town IN
| France is now one Of the most dismal
places in the world n place Of rundown
houses cluttered wharves and streets,
where dirty children play, and where
there are women In black, decreplt old
men Indeed, this description will apply
TO most French cities. Paris alone remains
place Of gayety and spectacular wee, and
Paris is forbidden territory to the American
soldier Even officers can go there only by
special permission.
Arrived at the front, the soldier enters
upon a regular routine. tie spends a
period. usually Of Is DAYS, IN the trenches,
and then period Of like length IN Diiiet
One week In every four months he -
gwen as leave, and sent TO one Of the leave
areas in the Savoy.
While in the trenches. he lives IN a dug
out This is a hole in the ground, perhaps
20 feet square with an IRON roof, and
wooden hunks built all the way around
II has no ventilation, but the doorway,
and no light except that afforded by lew
candles and lanterns The men are not
allowed to congregate in the trenches out
side these dugouts lest they attract the
attention of German observers Neither
are they allowed outside the trenches, al
though the officers have great difficulty IN
enforcing this regulation. After beng
cooped up in the trench for few DAYS, the
new American recruits have strong
tendency to climb out and start game ot
baseball or quoIts. feeling that the recrea-
tion is worth the risk
CRAP AND POKER REAL JOYS.
For the most part, however, the men
spend their time playing the great Ameri-
can games of crap and poker, reading,
and writing letters They cannot get
enough letters and reading matter the
mail is the great center OF interest AInerl-
can newspapers are literally read TO pieces
Both the \ NJ G.. 4. and the Salvation
Army are represented IN the trenches, but
they can do little The Y NJ. {. A. dis
! penses hot chocolate and cigarettes, under
difficulties. and the Salvation Army
serves pie and doughnuts. The Salvation
| Army girls are especially popular. Two Of
| them, in the Nosges mountains, establish
ed themselves in d cave within the zone VI
+ UTt. anu kicft3 t4ulpk-O WIN = oeAA.AN4S
steel helmets, dispensed real American
| doughnuts and smiles TO thousands Of
American soldiers When an order came
/ for them TO move, because women are not
allowed within the zone of ire, howl OF
/ portest went up from the trenches.
The NJ {. 4. men usually go along
| the trenches and from one OF them 10 an
! other, with their hot chocolate and cigar
! cites One OF these men, attempting 10
/ wriggle across the space between the front
i trenches and the second line, with lve-
/ gallon can OF chocolate. was spled by
! German sharpshooter At least, the i've
! gallon can was. for the Hun proceeded
! neatly to put five bullets through the up
per part of the vessel, without touching
| the man, and without causing any heavy
7 leakage of the chocolate, which was duly
/ delivered and consumed.
YERMIN IN MYRIADs.
The great pests OF trench HE are the
vermin 1t seems impossible 10 quarter
large numbers of men on the bare earth
for any considerable length OF time with
out producing a pest of lice of several
diffrent varieties. The trench dugouts
are SPRAYED at regular intervals, and the
men are put through "delouSing hospitals.
These consist of series of chemical shower
baths through which the man is chased,
while his clothes are put through a similar
process In spite of all these measures, the
''cooties' and 'graybacks' manage to
plague the boys good deal more than the
Germans do.
There Is always mud IN the trenches,
and man remains fairly covered with 1t
from time soon after he enters them un-
til he leaves for billet or vacation.
ba SVirsf II ba mon n the irpnP
under all of these dlscomforts and hard
ships is reported TO be remarkably fine.
There Is not much protest or blaming OF
ANYONE for ANYTHING. The usual attitude
IS Well go home when the Job Is done, SO
the sooner 1t $ done the better Many of
the men have quietly fatalistic attitude,
they do not expect 10 get back alive and
regard it as a pleasant surprise every
time they come out of an action unhlt
Others spend all of their time planning
what they will do when they get home
again.
The point Of all this Is that life in the
trenches IS an unnatural life Of mental,
physical and nervous strain, which man
endures by calling upon the reserve
strength Of his manhood, and which is
endurable at all, only because it is soon to
end
THE REST BILLETS
When hls two week do cone to an end,
the soldier goes INTO billet Billet IS
village perhaps twenty mules bemnd the
lines, where the soldiers are quartered
IN houses. and fed at the regular army