The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-06-15

means of communication Tor u wen o0'
king and the rest of the world
Rut the tasks that confronted our signal men
in these wars play compared W I1e W.
that is being done every day on the western ~.
Our signal men there have an area to cover "pou'
tho size of PENNSYLVANIA and they have gone at IL
with q yicor and efficiency that spell volumes io'
the srperiority of Americans In this particular le
of work -
The hardy linemen who have strung lines anu
repared breaks on the Western plains or oatueo
with great foods and storms in the ROCKY noun
tains have taken to this new WORK WIN -es'
which is inspiring. On the foundation OF tne
French system they are building slgnal system
that will be model OF Its KIND
In to within four miles Of the front construc-
ton is not different from what 1t Is mere at none'
The wires strung on poles and most u lne
poles have been planted by the French but "nen
one gets inside the shelltorn section that stretches
at least four miles from the front wires nave 10
he protected by being buried from six to eight 1eet
deep so that only direct hit By large shell Will
disturb them.
Within half mile of the front not even this
protection is sufficient, as the shells cnurn anu re-
churn the ground Therefore all wires IN this zone
are duplicated and are strung along Doth Sues u
the trenches. Sometimes a trench wall Is coVereo
with wires.
In the battalion headquarters signal office, where
the hundreds Of wires from the trenches and oo-
servation posts center and where the receivers
hum with the constant tremors OF q world unoeF
FIRE plain Bill Smith lounges In corner rolling
cigarette and occupied In his own particular
thoughts. It Is dugout, this headquarters anu
the air Is vile but Bill got used to that long ago.
1.-THE wire to A battery is down. Smiths su-
perior officer says, turning to him.
"All right, SIR Is the answer. AND Bill cHhps
ont Of the dugout, repair kit over his arm ana un
hat on his head.
In the trench he finds the wire that Is broken
and begins to follow it along. 1t Is hot WORK IN
tho +ronch shells are dropping thickly, but Smith
doesn't mind-nuch. He follows the wire DOWN
a communication trench and then after long tme
out into the open, where he has TO crawl aone
looking for the hole that will mark the place "nere
the line has been broken.
He gets nearly there when shell lanos near
him and Bill Smith, his face toward the oreah'
coes west After time, back in the dugout an
other repairman Is sent out and perhaps he Is
hckier than Bill and finds the break
Then he has to sit down In the shell crater, the
smash Of bursting shells so close that sometimes
no s half buried in dirt, calmly making me con-
nection that will enable the observation olncer W
cont m GET in touch with his battery again II ne
100 hocl, RI tho dugout he will be sent out again
e.d 70, again If the bombardment is heavy ano
often for days and nights at time these men fle
under fire, snatching a nap now ana uen III tiis
dngout between breaks. But they keep the hhes
open. .ho .o,> wifi,
no infantry generally with the second wave II
choroe Of the observing officer. They make for
notnt where they can establish an Observable.
host. and as they pass and through the enemy,
barrage they unroll their line and one OF them car
res field telephone, through which they someho'
manage In the din of battle to make tneinSe'e
heard
That telephone is like battle flag, and many
man ooes down with it. only to have 1t picked u
and carried forward by another Of these noncon
hotant troops Their business is only to serve, nc
to fight, and they do it syith cool daring WHO
Is not surpassed in any branch OF the service
They are in the forefront Of every advance al A.
in the retreat are sometimes the last 10 iea'e -