Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-12
"OVER THE TOP"
By ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
An American Boy Who Got Into the War Two
Years Before His Country.
,.opyrghr 1917. ly Guy Empy

pended !; from th" foot Oi tn" most
cun,iOrtail" cot therein.
In IN" trenches II is always "iirst
come first served" and this Is lived
up To hy all.
Two il. +. \. Usoyal Field ar
lillrr,p from III" nearby observation
Ius, were allowed the privilcg" oil
StorIlnS in this dueOut when OH uutH.
on. of rh"s" men, BOmbardicr WI
son by milne. who belonged 10 'a'-
ter, ID a3S. seemed to take liking
10 M. and returned this feeling.
In Two dayS' tim" We were pretty
..Ir,inrul. and he told me how his bal
terry ~ Ia" early days OF tn" war hau
ru, over a stunt on old Pepper ana
had gotten away win III.
vilI ,.nd"ivur to give the story hS
Gat ,S .;i"rmury will permit III ms OWN
words
If came. ou with tn" first "Nldi-
iiuuar, ioIr". and. lik" all III" resi-
un,,..it ~. would have tn" enemy
IirErd in ng time. and /" able To cav
Christmas dinner ~ home" Wen, so
!ar | haN" eaten two 'hrlStihaH "ih-
n,rs in tho trenches, and am iihhi" 10
,ai two more. th" WAY things hi"
roInting That is II Fritz d"h dToP Il
!whrIZ hang on me, and send IN" 10
Hli..liy. Sometimes | wish ! would
.rr h,t, because it's no great pirli'
ont here. and twenty-five months "i u
makes you fed mp.
MS fairly rushN now compared I"
what il used To b", although a'ii'H
This trench is Il triil" rouSl. NOW
y,. s,.u,l over five shells To their ON"
~, ar" g.iiin" our own iack' htt i''
the early days il WAS diit"i"h'. h'n
\ou had To take everything WITHOUT
a. 4
r,pIy. In fact. "" would S' 'W'"'H
shells in return for every ON" "" sent
over. Fritz seemed 10 ENJOY IL. bu'
W.. british didn't: Ne were IN" SUI
r,rrrs. lust one casualty after an
other. Sometimes whole platoon:'
vuulL disappear. especially wien Il
lack Johnson plunkcd into th'lr
middle. II got 50 bad that lrlioW'
when writing home, wouldn't ASK Tor
any cigarettes to H." sent ont. h'chhS'
Ia. Nns afraid Il" woiIldnt hr there I"
receive them. .,
"\r,,r The. drive To Paris was turned
back. trench warfare started 'ti
General grabbed a map. drew lmn'"
rcross il. and said. Dag here. li"'h
he went back To his tent ana "i''u'E
warmed himself with pick and Shovti
md started digging. He's been dig
gIng ever since.
or ruurSr we dug those trenches at
u,rht. tut II WAS hot work. what Win
,hr rifle and mtchinc-Cun iir". ne
str,.rchrr bearers Nurked harder IMAM
the diSg"rS.
"'rhoS,. trenches. hlooinin' hich"S. !
,.,lI ,h,n we're Nightmares. They w"r"
only about five feet deep. and you
uSrd tn get the hHCkaChr from i"hh-
mr down. II wasn't exactly Shi' w
stand upright. either, because us So"'
as >uur nappcr showed over IN" l"l'
bullct would bounce OH II, az else come
So close il would make your h"''
stand. ,,.
"Wc used TO till sandbags and stick
tssrSpese7 marx IL
higher. hut no use: they would DC
there about an hour and then frltI
wouII turn loose and blow them 10
hus M\ neck used Ia bc sore from
duckin= shells and bullets.
"Wh,r. my battery WAS stationed Il
h,siy trench had been dug. which
IN, hnyS nicknamed Suicide di"i.
and. believe mo. Iauk. tins Was Inc
original Suicide ditch All tn" others
are limitations.
"Wh,n Il fellow went into mat
trench IL WAS an even Salnbl' liil' Nv
would come out on u Stretrhrr. NJ ono
lime a Scotch battalion held II. ana
money that they'd come out On
s,r,,ch,iS. the, "ralhrd all the bets
I'M sight. Lake Il lot of baiiy idiots. ScN-
cral of the battery men fell Tor 'ntlr
came. and put up real money. Inc
locks suffered L lot of casualties. ANA
thr rrusprCtS looked bright for the
battery men TO collect some easy
money, So when the battalion was re-
li,vri tn, gamblers lined up. ScNriai
Jocks rot their money Tor cmers'ns
safely. hut the ones who clicked
weren't there Ia pay. The artillery
men had never thought II out that
WAY. Those Scottics were bouhu !"
la, sure Winners. no matter how the
wind blew. So take TIP from me.
never bet with u SCottic. cause You u
lose money.
AT one part uf our trench where
a communication trench joined the
FROM line Il Tommy had stuck up
wooden SignpoSt with three hands nr
arms ON II. one OF the hands. point
ing Ia the German lines. read. 10 h'r-
lin the one pointing down the COM
muniratiun trench read. To bhshtE.
while the other said. 'Suirid" Ditch.
Change Here for StrCtchcrS.
Farther down from this guide posi-
the trench ran through IN old orchard.
ON the edge of this orchard our ba'-
ferry had constructed an advanced Oh
scryation post The trees screened
from the enemy airmcn and the ro"i
,v,s turfed IL wasn't cuShy like ours.