St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1918-08-10
Gas Masks, Bombs and 9th
er Reminders of
the Front.
A TOP SEAT
AMONG THE SHELLS
And Chauffer Who Couldn't
Be Bluffed, With
One Eye. :.

<ASOUs oAA uAAo0 Out AIOW V0vl0Hs
ton on the Military Road the pretty
farm home Of Mr.. and Mrs. =. E.
RayEe has been made happy by =
short visit Of their son, Lieut.. stan
ford Rayne, recently commander Of
an artillery battery at the front in
France. The cosy aitting room now
has mingled with the scent Of roses
distinct fumes OF mixed chemicals
and deadly gas bombs used on the
American soldiers-that IL, when you
unfold and examine them. The
French mask is heavy padded,
close fitting affair, with . little piece
Of gauze. saturated with chemicals,
to breathe through. The American
mask resembles q Ku Klux hood with
goggle-like eye openings Of glass.
The breathing tube 10 attached to .
rubber flap that closes when you in
hale but opens freely ON exhAlation.
The English mask IL said to bo the
best and is now being used BY Ameri-
can troops. 1t IL larger and more
complicated. There are also other
reminders Of the deadly work Of war
fare, In hand grenades and helmets
and cannon fuses. The grenades
are about the size and shape Of
pear and are deeply indented In
squares about like chocolate cara
mela, so that when 1t explodes each
square forms 4 separate missel and
takes a different direction. II you
are anywhere in the vicinity you are
apt to get . piece. Mr.. Rayno
weighed one Of the metal helmets.
1t weighed two and . half pounds.
Manned soldiers are being taught
profitable occupations. Lieut.. Rayne
brought home some Of their work.
including metal cigarette lighters,
made Of and In the shape Of shells.
The work Is very accurate and hniah-
ed. There was also fancy bead work
and copper miniature walters. All
metal for this work IL gathered from
the battle fields. He also brought
cutie q number OF coins OF Different
value.
Lieut.. Rayne left, Wednesday. for
Fort Hancok. Ca. whore he will
be training o9cer for troops. He
has had many close calls and thrill
ing experiences, but 10 rather DIM
dent In speaking Of them. Hia sense
Of humor. however. lets slip little
things that trail to more important
events. In speaking Of sigular In
cident in which q horses head was
blown on by . shell while the rider
was dismounted without being In
jured. He told his parents that the
big wonder gun OF the Germans that
had shelled Paris seventy-two miles
away had been put out Of cimmis-
sion by an American battery. whose
commander allowed than to flro
seven shots. The gun had been locat-
ed in q woods concealment through
taken by airplanes. One
of the photographs showed Z dis
tinct dot in the woods. Nothing
more could be made Of 1t. II was
decided this might be the cannon.
The range was secured by the first
shot. The other six shots blew the
to pieces.
In the trenches the soldiers cover
their helmets with the muddy soil
them, 20 that airplane
observers may not see tho distinctly
bright line that would otherwise be
and that would surely
bring bombs down amongst them.
Lieut.. Rayne had charge Of an
train, movement being
made under observation Of airmen
who were constantly giving signals
to the German battery that had them
under constant IRE. Everything was
gotten safely through, with the ex-
ception of the incident related Of
the horses head being blown on.
It was hot work with shells plowing
the road in all directions, and there
were many narrow escapes.
Madisonville road chau6ers may
feel humiliated when they learn Of
"One-Eyed Pete" In France they
have motor busses, with seats on top.
During recent practice Of the arr
tillery, 1t was desired to get Z loca-
tion whore the falling shells could
be witnessed. Well, "One-Eyed
Pete assured them he knew the
ground perfectly and could take them
there In the dark. As . driver, Pete
was known to be perfectly reckless.
yet the party were not prepared to
be taken directly to the point where
the shells were falling. But the
Of shells and frantic signals
from the flring line soon warned
them that this was exactly what Pete
had done. They got move on him
n quick time.
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