Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-04-10

master department. we call 1t the
Army Service Corps. The duties, of
course, are similar They consist in
supplying food, clothing, ammunition
to the men who do the fighting on the
line
Supply officer? Oh, he's safe. Not
chance he'll reach the trenches
SO heard one man console a father
whose son had just left for France.
And, as [ listened, / saw the manscat-
tering from the ammunition park as a
py-directed bomb pitched neatly near
them
Safe? Wen, judge for yourself
An ammunition train had arrived at
rail-head in France. Close at hand
are three fiye-ton trucks waiting to
remove part of the cargo to spot
somewhat nearer the scene of action.
The motors are loaded. They move
off, preceded by a cyclist whose bust
ness is to clear the road for their
coming.
1t is bad road, narrow and rough.
The going is dangerous, so their speed
Is not great-no more than ten miles
an hour. So far, so safe. They are
nearing their goal, divisional dump"
some five miles behind the line, when
suddenly there appears a speck against
the sky
1t comes swiftly toward them, seems
20 pause a moment, then swoops, drops
something, and shoots rapidly away
There is a plop! a loud roar, and q
great scattering of fragments
The smoke clears. A little debris
cumbers the road where once the COL
umn of trucks moved. For the rest,
you may search the fields on either
side. And the drivers, supply officers,
and cyclist? Gone where the good
men go!
| have said three trucks. There
might easily have been fifteen, depend
ing on the needs of the moment. Their
fate would of course have been the
same. There is no escape when car
rying explosives
But let US suppose they arrived safe
Iy. What is their destination? Just
big open field we'll out of range OF
shell-fire, and exposed only TO the
visits or "Taubes" II is known as the
4 divisional dump. And here, for a ra-
7 dius of several miles, are collected all
army stores, rations, engineering sup
lies, as well as ordnance, awaiting
transport to their various places on the
line.
Y Here comes the bri~ade supply Off
Ger, seeking food and small arms for
his men. He comes in a wagon drawn
. by horses. Usually he comes by night,
7 the Thousand eyes" and each one look
, ing for a target The road he travels
too, is usually we'll within their range
Of yision--it leads to the regimentaI
dump So he goes furtively Yet he
does not always escape.
! 1t was during the retreat from Mons
that the following accident" took
place. / relate it not merely to illus
) trate the safety" of the supply Off
a.-Fc ole tn, wit, CO
/ to his heart and his pluck.
The transport was engaged in carry
/ ing food to village that had been a
bon eof contention for some "a hours.
Th German artillery, not daring to fire
too close to the scene Of action lest
they inadvertently kill their own men,
were busily peppering the roads behind
the town. Up these numbered our
wagon, drawn by four horses On the
near leader sat a rider. There was q
driver on the box, and beside him sat
the supply officer in command.
:. You've heard, perhaps, of freak"
1Ghell bursts?? Wen, this was one OF
{ them When the Bertha" got busy, it
1 blew the rider to Gtoms. killed one
horse, wounded three others, shot the
j Griv T dead into a ditch, and landed
the officer twenty yards from him, with
+. no more injury to his person than is
understood by that useful word
shock"
The Bochas, unconscious Of their
gesuccess, kept on wasting their ammu-
S milton. Had that supply officer stayed
where he was, he would have escaped
unhurt. But out there on the road he
3pcould see the horse squirming and
2 plunging in their pain.
, 1t was too much for him. He was a
sportsman and he loved animals. SO
out he crawIed from his safe landing
place, and with his revolver put the
three beasts out of their agony. Then
just as he was beating it back to cover
another shell hit. This time he was
not so fortunate, for he lost a leg from
above the knee.
The shells, however, are not the only
danger faced by these : en-. Brighten
ed animals can do quite lot of dam
age, too. They tell of one team that,
Il panic stricken by an explosion some
Il fifty yards away, bolted into the near
s est field There was a river running