The Mena weekly star., 1918-07-18

guns. You have your choice of two weapons-you may carry your per suaders' or your knuckle knives. and each man will arm himself with four Mills bombs. these to be used only in case of emergency"
 A persuader is Tommy's nickname Tor club carried by the bombers. It Is about two feet long, thin at one end and very thick at the other. The thick end is studded with sharp steel spikes, while through the center of the club there Is a ninench lead bar to give 1t weight and balance When you get a prisoner all you have to do is just stick this club up in front of him, and believe me, the prisoners patriotism for Deutschland ueber Alles" fades away and he very willingly obeys the orders of his cuptor. If, however. the prisoner gets hiah-toned and refuses to follow you, simply persuade" him by first removing his tin hat, and then well, the use of the lead weight in the ps1suader is demonstrated, and Tom. my looks for another prisoner.
 The knuckle knife is dagger affair, the blade of which Is about eight inches long with a heavy steel guard over the grip. This guard Is studded with steel projections. At night in trench, which is only about three to four feet wide, 1t makes a very handy weapon. One punch in the face gen. erally shatters a mans jaw and you can get him with the knife as he goes down.
 Then we had what we called our "come-alongs." These are strands of barbed wire about three feet long, made into a moose at one end; at the other end, the barbs are cut of and Tommy slips his wrist through a loop to get good grip on the wire. If the prisoner wants to argue the point, why just place the large loop around his neck and no matter if Tommy wishes to return to his trenches at the walk, trot. or gallop, Fritz Is perfectly agree able to maintain Tommy's rate of speed.
 We were ordered tv black our faces and hands. For this reason; At night, the English and Germans use what they call star shells, sort of rocket affair. They are fired from a large pistol about twenty inches long, which is held over the saEdbag parapet of the trench, and discharged into the air. These star shells attain a height of about sixty feet. and a range of from 1 fifty to seventy-five yards. When they hit the ground they explode, throwing out a strong calcium light which lights up the ground in circle of a radius of between ten to fifteen yards. They 1 also have a parachute star shell which, l after reaching a height of about sixty feet. explodes. A parachute unfolds and slowly floats to the ground. light ing up a large circle in No Mans Land. The official name of the star shell Is a "Very-light." Very-lights are used to prevent night surprise attacks on | the trenches. If star shell falls in front of you, or between you and the German lines, you are safe from detec- tion. as the enemy cannot see you through the bright curtain of light. But if 1t falls behind you and, as Tom my says, you get in the star shell zone," then the fun begins; you have to lie fiat on your stomach and remain absolutely motionless until the light of the shell dies out. This takes any where from forty to seventy seconds If you haven't time to fall to the ground you must remain absolutely still In whatever position you were in | when the light exploded; 1t is advis- able not to breathe, as Fritz has an eye like an eagle when he thinks ycl are knocking at his door. When a star shell is burning In Tommy's rear he can hold his breath for a week. You blacken your face and hands 90 that the light from the star shells will not reflect on your pale face. In a trench raid there is quite sufficient reason for your face to be pale. If you don't believe me, try 1t just once.
 Then another reason for blackening your face and hands Is that, after you have entered the German trench at right. "wllite face" means Germans, black face" English. Coming around fl traverse you see white face In front of you. With a prayer and wish ing Fritz "the best O luck" you intro duce him to your ''persuader" or knucxle knife.
 A little later we arrived at the com munication trench named Whisky street, which led to the fire trench at the point we were to go over the top and out in front.
 In our rear were four stretcher bear CTS and corporal of the k. A. M. c. carrying pouch containing medicines aud .first-aid appliances. Kind of a grim reminder to us that our expedi- 1 ton was not going to be exactly pic. nic. The order of things was reversed. In civilian life the doctors generally come first, with the undertakers tag ging in the rear and then the insur- ance man. but In our case. the under takers were leading. with the doctors trailing behind. minus the insurance !