New Britain herald., 1918-03-08
WAR TIME LEXICON
 USED IN TRENCHES
Soldiers Vocabulary Has Many Words Unknown to Civilians

l dian Recruiting Mission which main l tains depots in all large cities where ; men except Americans,' may yolun- ! teer).
 1 SALIENT: An unevenness, bulge 1 or angle in the line projecting toward [ the enemy, trenches. A salient is a
 particularly dangerous part of the 1 line between liahle to attack on both
 sides and to cyoss-f fire over every inch i of it.
 SAPS: The mouth of the tunnel
 or mine shaft. One of the defensive
 and offensive methods employed in this war is mining. One side has it's engineers mine across No Mans Land to a point under the enemy trenches Where a heavy charge of dynamite
 Or other high explosive is placed The
 cHpIoslon not only destroys the trenches but is timed to catch a large mum per of soldier occupying the trenches at the time. The British blew up a whole hill at Messines
 kidge; killing two hattalions of Ger
 man soldiers and making a crater in ! the earth two acres across. FIRE TRENCH: The front line of the trenches: the firing line.
 COMMUNICATIONS TRE-sC
 Known by the soldiers as e. r" This is a trench leading back from ! the front or firing line to the rear. ; as protection 10 those bringing up supplies, etc.
 i PILL BOX: A square box-like protection in which number of men ; take refuge to hold a position against attack. It is made of iron and con- crete.
 TERR.ATN: A word taken over from the French. meaning the Hay of the land" or the conformation of the ground.
 1 DUG-OUTS: Are tho under ground, shelters or caves in the :! trenches in Which soldiers on duty ] may rest, relatively sale from the ] danger Of exploding shells or bullets. They constitute also a definite part of the front-line Notifications. as sol
 dicrs can only be dislodged from such cave-lke strongh olds, by throw ing bombs down into them or employ ing suffocating gas.
 TR.ATERSE: The earth wall left in building trenches. dividing the sec | tions Of trench from each other, so as to local;ze the effect of shells If the trenches were perfectly straight a bursting shell would shower death up and down the trench for many yards: but by bnilding the trenches with irregularities like a square-toothcd saw. the effect of. shell is felt only in the particular small portion in which it lands.
 Entiladine Fire--F'ire from 2 flank: that is, not from a, point directly in front of the target, but at wide angles OF each side. so as 10 strike the olo- iect ololiauely. Enfilatlins fire direct cG against salient: makes such a rart of the line q particularly deadly rTtce to defend.
 Gas Shells--Are shells which liber ate 9 poisonous gas when they ex- rloGe. The chief method of gas at tack now is to bombard with gas shells
 Tear Shell-One form of gas shell is called the tear shelr' because on explosion it gives off an irritating gas that causes temporary blindness. The eyes smart and tears flow strongly.
 Grenade-Or bomb. was not con sidered since the Crimean war, a r0 odern weapon of warfare, but with the development of trench warfare, il was revived and perfected as one Of the most efficient modern weapons. It is a small iron container about the size of a. lemon. marked off in squares, and fitted with q time fuse. 1t is thrown with a, stiff over-arm
 n ovement, different from baseball throwing. On exploding, the shell bursts into fragments along the square marking of the container, car rying destruction in their path
 Trench Flare-Also called Star of Very Shells, are similar to the rock cts familiar to Americans. These rockets are used to illurine No Mans Land and thus prevent a surprise at tack. Those fired from a. pistol are called pistol flares.
 Trench Mortar--A light trench gun with a range of between four hun dred and fifteen hundred yards. It throws a bomb weighing from 13 pounds to two hundred ninety-eight pounds, containing high explosive and no bullets. The shells are dead- lS because of the fragments into " hich the steel jacket bursts.
 Whiz- Bang-The. hghtest shra pnel shells used hy both sides.
 Silent Susie-A German high ex- rIosve shell not heard until it bursts Az most of the large shells eau be both seen and heard, the Silent Susie" is more to be feared than some of the others.
 Mechanical ransports-The trains of motor trucks used to carry forward supplies from the railroads.
 Refilling Point--The station or sup ply depot where the mechanical trans port trains turn over their supplies to the quarterma sters of the differ ent units in the front trenches
 Hangars-Shcds or huts where aeroplanes are housed when not fly ing. They are built of wood, tin, or canvas as most convenient.
 Camouf7a ge-The fusion or blend