The Washington times., 1918-01-21
"HIDE AND SEEK
INNOMAN'SLAND
AGRUESOME GAME
w & FORREST

WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES IN
THE FIELD, Jan. 21.-Night patrol
linE--reeonnaissanc No-Man's
Land is q something thar every hrst
line soldier knows.
The constant surveillance Of the
enemy neceSsltates almost night
Iy examination of the blighted strip
OF ground In front OF the trenches;
wire entanETements on the friendly
aide as well as that OF the snemy.
Men. who sfnd monotonya in night
trenches draw their packet of thrills
from the silent games of "hlde and
SEEK that can be played in Nc-Man's
Land on an54m moonIess night Trench
soldiers :eunee the moon.
Tonight Is mo0nless. The sky is q
speckIed dome y OCCASIONAL bursts OF
enemy machine gun fire and nervous
grenade and rocket. firing have
ceased. Both trenches settle down
tc a period Of quiet which is custom
ary at intervals over routine nights
in trenches where both sides have
been at It for over three years.
Give them a few rounds with the
rniltraiIIeuse and see II they're still
alive" the company captain ordered
A machine-gun lieutenant sent n pan.
oramic sweep OF lead out into the
darkness. A sheepskin coated poilu,
silently occupying his little niche In
the trench next, obeying an order,
dropped a grenade into the cup-lIlEe
end OF his grenade rifle and fired. The
half pound explosive slug left the
cup with a metallic ring and detonat.
ed with a roar and white smoke cloud
q score OF yards in front. The poilu.
laid his steel helmet on the parapet
and deftly heaved a hand grenade
which sents its pieces zinging from
Just in front of the wire as everybody
"ducked." A parachute flare sky
rocketed up from a few yards away
and floated down lighting up nothing
but the frosty tangle OF wire and
the dull gray mass ahead. Then IL
became quiet again. THE Boche is
not very hateful tonight" the captain
suggests.
steaminE Pail.
A soldier comes along the trench
with a steaming pail. 1t is the night
coffee brewed back in the third line
rolling kitchen and carried up. This
kitchen soldier is the nlEht's most
welcome guest With the coffee he
army's ration of grog. A poilu ex.
planned tonight that American SOL
diers. in this trench some time ago,
called II booze" and drank 1t with
gulp and q cough Most p Illus mix 1t
with their coffee though Chis poilu
added that he found 1t handy fuel
when his regiment was on the Chemfn
des Danes to heat field rqtTons in a
stove made Of an uDturncd German
shrapnel helmet.
The night patrol is sta ting. The
trench has been warned no. to fire at
crawling figures In No Mans Lands A
captain and lieutenant crawl "oYer
the top" leading the way, They carry
blunt little automatics In one hand
half dozen poilus follow, two dead
ly pineapple" bombs In each hand,
and the party picks Its way cautious
ly through the wire. -. ..
Traversing ordinary wire entangle-
ments is an impossible task, but here
an almost invisible little patK winds
Its crooked way over the dead grass
carpet where the wire is lowest and
occasionally detours to escape a shell
hole. This path will be wired up
tight again before dRybreak. The
frosty wire rattles and tangs despite
utmost care in stepping high while
STOPPING low and occasionally crawl
ing. oOuuOS lHNcuSlAg anu ScNh uh-
necessarily sharp. But to veteran
ears they are just the ordinary.
EntanEIements Passed.
The first entanglements are passed.
A short open space and then the next
A soldier stumbles a little over an
invisible wire and tho captain stops
TO whisper "doucement." The second
maze is passed more quietly because
It's narrower. 70.
ut always seems a long time the first
time you come through the WIRE" the
captain epolOgetically whispers. But
hes telling a polite little lie and knows
4; because his first sensation in wire
climbing was years ago In this war and
now q faded memory.
You are In No Mans .Land-waste Of
gray grassy ground except for shell holes
here and there-some old and overgrown
with weeds and others now black dirt
craters. In front OF you Is simply black
ness hiding other rows Of hostile enemy
wire ahead Behind is the vivid frosty
stun you've just come through.
A figure huddles in a shell hole ten
yards away. Everybody sees IL and
COUGHING lower. stops. The lieutenant
crawls ahead alone. his automatic pois-
ed. But nothing hapens and he waves
the others ahead. II was OF a po!lu
who came out earlier TO rnend the wire
where a Boche shell mussed II up early
In the day. He had been q little puzzled
by the silent patrol
The party moves ahead, Indian file
and n five minutes the novice sud
denly discovers that every direction
IS dark ness. The tangle of wire IN
the rear has faded from view. Oc-
casionally a white object appears on
the ground. A closeup look and you
try to forget il. The rest of the
patrol have seen things like. this
before and think nothing Of II. But
a grinning white thing in the cen Ell
OF No Mans Land has IT'S food ioT
thought-for the beginner.
Machine Gun BnFka.
''Rat-tat-tat'-a Boche machine gun
breaks the silence. Everybody flat
tens against the ground and walls
until the stiffness becomes depressing.
This ''rat-tat-tat" shows that the
Boche. is still really weary, much alive
and is a warning to be cautious.
Most any minute an unfrfendIy para
chute flare Is likely. The patrols
work is done. 1t has found nothing
unusual in No Mans Land"
As stealthily as any North Ameri.
can Indian ever crOuched or crRwled