Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-21


punishment for running away with
out permission, besides crawling into
oed so soft that one sunk in two
ieet and felt it fold right around one.
Twas indeed a relief after these
springless, mattressless and sagging
army beds. In fact, one of these
same army cots collapsed one night
with me. The significant part being
that 1t was the head of the bed, and
I had no idea my head was so
swelled. or perhaps the ivory is
growing thicker. And then to wake
up in the morning, have another
bath and breakfast too, what with
bacon and eggs, "cofe" with milk
and sugar, and toasted bread with
cherry jam. Sounds sort of filling
don't it? Well, it was, and goodness
knows we needed it, for we started
to walk back to our temporary home
right afterwards. Not however, with
any idea of walking the whole way,
it being twenty miles. We had hopes
OF getting a lift on an auto that
came along. and we did not hesitate
to stop anything that passed. We
were in luck too, as American am
balances came along just when we
needed them, so by changing cars
three times we finally reached
home"
Never a Peep
The commandant of the escadrille
never said word about it and hasn't
yet, and l am beginning to wonder
II we were even missed. Anyway, IL
he did know, it didn't break any of
his plans for US, as the next morning
at the ungodly hour of Z a. m. we set
off in a staff car, with a lieutenant
for guide to go in the trenches. To
be on the safe side we were given
steel helmets and gas masks of
which none of the former fitted.
Our heads seemed to be large but
after we had worn them awhile, the
uneven geography of our heads
either smoothed out or the hair was
rubbed off the bumps, for they fitted
fairly well. Nevertheless. felt GER
tain that mighty small top would
dislodge my armored garret, besides
considering how much worry my
head consists of, the helmet was
really only needed for "camou-
flage."
have never ridden much in autos
but even l could mark the difference
between the driver who showed us
Rheims and the one we went to the
trenches with. Whereas the former
would take turn on two wheels and
dodge between two wagons doing it,
the latter wriggled all over the road
and nearly ran us into the gutter
several times on a straight road, In
fact, still think he was learning to
drive. The scenery was very inter-
esting, If not from beauty, certainly
from curiosity, for as we neared the
trenches, the country assumed that
aspect so much spoken of as
"blighted" and "uninhabited." Every
w "a
shells, forests stripped, ruined or
absolutely blotted off the face of the
earth. In fact, our guide showed us
q place which was nothing but white
shell craters. That. said he, was
once a thick forest" The road end
ed several miles from the trenches.
and then we donned steel helmets
placed the gas masks within easy
reach and began walking.
Seeing Things
Our course lay along a very mar
row gauge railroad, used to bring
ammunition up / presume. Then it
was we began to see things we had
heard so much of. No matter which
direction one looked there was barb
wire. Ye gods!! I bet there was
enough wire stretched around that
small portion of the front to fence
in the United States, with enough
left over to go half around Canada.
1t generally ran in four rows, with
every conceivable kind of bob" and
wire" interlaced between rows and
up and down and cross ways, and
every which way. And they followed
no general direction either, seeming
to zigZag like a calf on ramble-
or probably a better comparison
would be a loving couple on
moonlight night. They didn't know
or care where they were going, but
they were on their way. Anyway, /
gave up trying to discover what the
idea was, where it all led to and why
there was so much of it going so
many different directions. 1t may
have been to make the Boches dizzy
trying to figure it out, and truly
there were enough "wiggles" to do
it. The weather was very bad, with
a low hanging fog, which was why
there was no shooting going on, SO
the lieutenant told us anyway, for
we were beginning to wonder where
the war was when we had not heard
a shot since we arrived and we were
rapidly coming to the trenches.
Speaking about barbwire, much of
the ground in this sector had been
retaken from the Germans, so we
came on many patches of wire en-
tanglements which had been blown
fiat by artillery fire.
Shell holes were every where with
many uneploded shells lying around
of all caliber and shapes. From the
size 1 even think I saw some big
Berthas." We also passed lots of
barracks. That may convey to your
mind at least a house, but they were
nothing of the kind, being simply
caves going down to a depth of 80
feet with an opening carefully
''camouflaged," so small, one had to
stoop to get in. In such quarters as
these do the soldiers live, and indeed
after seeing these things 1 person.
ally think every infantry man should
have a "Croi de Guerre," for mere
ly living there.
No Other Way
No other way, however, is pos
Gibly, for even if barracks could be
built they would quickly be discov-
cred by the enemy and destroyed.
Destroying these caves is nearly i'm
possible, as a shell could land right
on top of one and never harm either
the cave or the occupants-see?
Then we came to the third line
trenches and discovered what mud
really is and having no hobnails in
our shoes, walking was rather diff
ficult-two steps forward and one
back. This unusual exercise soon had
us in healthy, albeit "chand," per-
piration; but we continued to follow
our lieutenant, slipping in the mud,
sometimes wading through several
feet of water and our steel helmets
growing heavier and more uncom-
Portable every second; so much so
that Putnam and 1 finally removed
and carried them under our arm,
much to the amusement of the