The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-03-28

OR vtcih3ty. We wouid crouch against
the earthen walls while the shell frag-
ments -slapped" the ground nbove us.
Once Fritz turned loose with a MA
chine gum the bullets from which
.cracked" through the air and Kicked
up the dirt on the top, scattering sand
and pebbles. which. hitting our steel
Fheimets. sounded like haiistones.
Upon arrival in the fire trench an
officer OF the Royal Engineers gave rs
our Instructions and acted us guide.
We were to dig an advanced trench
two hundred yards from the Germans
(fhe trenches at this point were six
hundred yards apart.
Two winding lanes. i've feet wide.
had been cut through our barbed wire,
for the passage OF the diggers. From
tsisss sa.ssss. .=r.....se tape had been laid
on the ground to the point where we
were TO commence work This in or
der that we would not get lost in the
darkness The proposed trench was
also laid out with tape.
The covering party went ont first.
After a short wait. two scouts came
hack with information that the work
ing party WAS TO follow and carry on"
with their work
In extended order. two yards apart,
we noiseIessIy crept across No Mans
Land. II was nervous work. every
minute we expected machine gun to
open fire on us. Stray bullets Cracked
around US. or ricochet sang over
hasd
Arriving Mt the tipped diagram OF
the trench. rifles )sIung around our
shoulders. we lost no time in getting
to work We dug as quietly as pos
sibIe but every now and then the noise
of pick or shovel striking stone
backs Under our breaths we heartily
cursed the offending Tommy.
AT intervals a star shell would go up
from the German lines and we would
remain motionless until the glare OF its
white Hight died ont.
When the trench had reached a
depth of two feet we felt safer. be-
cnuse IT would afford US cover in case
We were discovered and fired on.
The digging had been in progress
about two hours, when suddenly hen
seemed TO break loose in the form of
nachinc-gun and ride FIRE.
We dropped down on our bellies in
the shallow trench. bullets knocking
mp the ground and swapping in the air.
Then shrnpnei butted In. The music
was hot and Tommy danced.
The covering party was having
rough time OF IL: they had no cover:
just had to take their medicine
Word was passed down the line to
heat IL for our trenches. We needed no
urging; grabbing our tools sud stoop-
sing Iow. we legged It across No Mans
Land The covering party got A<vay
To poor stnrt but beat US In. They
must have had wings because we low
cred the record
Painting -and out OF breath. we tum-
bied into nur fron,-line trench 1 tore
my hands getting through our. wire.
hot. af the time. didn't nctsee II /: my
journey was too urrent.
When the roll was called we found
that we had gotten II In the nose for
IS casualties
Our artillery put barTage on Fritz
frontiine and communication trenches
and. their piachine-Su Suu and rife are
suddenly ceased.
Cpon the cessation Of this fire,
/ stretchcr bearers went out to look for
killed and wounded. Next dny We
learned that 21 of our men had been
killed and 81 wounded. Five men were
missing: lost In the darkness. they
must have wandered over into the Ger
man lines. where they were either
killed or captured.
Speaking OF stretcher bearers and
wounded. IL is very hard for the aver
age civilian to comprehend the enor-
g,ous cost OF taking care of wounded
and the war in general He or she gets
SO accustomed to seeing billions OF dol
lars In print that the Significance Of
the amount is passed over without
thought.
From an official statement published
In one Of the London papers. IL Is
stated that II costs between six and
seven thousand pounds (S30.0o0 to s25.-
oOo) to Kill or wound a soldier. This
/; result was attained by tnking the cost
OF the war to date and dividing II by
the killed and wounded.
II may sound hcsrticss and inhuman.
hss Il Is fact. nevertheless. that from
military standpoint II is better for n
HMM to he killed than wounresi
II man In killed he is buried. and
the responsibility Of the government
ceases. excepting for the fact that his
people receive pension. But IL man
Is wounded It takes three men from
the firing line. the wounded man and
two men 10 carry him to the rear to