Evening star., 1918-06-14
SHRAPNEL
Siidelights on the War
OLIVER OWEN KUHN,

vised, are to be found from one end
Of the western front to the other.
Americans already handle their ar
tillery as. expertly as they would
water their gardens with hose. ac-
cording to observers. They quickly
mastered the difficult barrage fire.
! Wemyss Castle on the Firth of
Forth. England, the ancestral home
of the first sea lord. is declared to be
| haunted. 1t was built in 1865 and
was the scene of the meeting between
| is declared that large stone drops
from the castle walls before any mem
Der of the family dies.
Tear gas. one of the Germans dia-
bolfcal implements of war, is made OF
pepper. large quantities Of which are
| imported through neutral countries.
Here is an American boys estimate
| Of war:
"I'll try to give you little idea of
what think war is Sherman said it
was hell. but Gen. Sherman never
fought in this world war. First, you
dig lot of six-foot deep trenches, let
river Of water run through them
until they are very muddy, then get
as they are really called, put them on
you. go out into the bitches you dug,
get real dirty, mud from head to foot,
have some cannons to shoot at you.
SO close that mud and pieces Of steel
hit you, have some one shoot rifles,
pistols and machine guns at you while
you duck and somebody else throw
grenades at you. Some Of these gren-
ades are smoke, or gas, and others
are dynamite, lyddite or sheddite or
even T. N. T.. then you have some one
shoot liquid fire or gas at you. so
you have to put mask on and can't
see. Have all these things done to
you at once and you have a little bit
Of an idea of what war really is. It's
a great big Fourth of July celebration
about million times more danger
ous."
Napoleon's disaster in Russia was
largely due to the fact that his horses
were poorly cared for. Thousands of
them died. leaving his troops in ex-
in the present struggle are not max
ing the mistakes of commanders Of
olden days and the horse is given
every conceivable attention. Last year
alone horses worth more than $780,
900, 900, which were wounded or worn
out by the severe strain of battle,
were rejuvenated and sent back to the
front for service.
Describing how trenches look from
the air an American f1ier writes:
Such a lot Of wriggly lines l never
saw. Reminded me of a mole on a
| rampage or worm with st. Vitus
dance"
oftentimes the wounded in hospitals
are piled with foolish questions. One
day an elderly and very solicitous
| lady entered one of the hospitals and
approached a man whose head was
| swathed in bandages.
Were you wounded in the head7"
! she asked.
| dage has slipped up" replied the
wounded man.
! 1t does not take one long to find out
in the army that there are no more
keen-eyed critics of the officers than
{ the men themselves. Long before the
mess has taken the measure Of an off,
| Ger the men have got 1t, by the way
he holds himself on parade, by his
tone toward them. by his manner
toward his superior officers. And
what a grand standard is theirs! They
make as little account of the dandy
as they do of the military pedant:
all they want Is man, one who will
have the moral courage to impose
his will upon theirs. yet will not
soruple to stake everything to defend
/ their interests If occasion demands.
British lads who are Just beginning
to learn how to fly are called pups.
Theatrical circles of England are
much concerned as to where they are
to find Juvenile leads. This shortage
Of young actors is due to the drain
Of war.
that Napoleon had Teutonic blood
They saw that his mother was German