The copper era and Morenci leader., 1919-03-14

ve is der best runners. Nobody can keep up init us ven ve dink of der dear old Rhine, unt my army never did dink of der dear old river like now Let me know right away vot to do by return postoffice. July 20 times FRITZ SMIDT, Boche Life in the Trenches, and Over the Top in the St. MichieI Drive.
 Before relating some of the ex- periences of trench life in the Saint Michiel sector I will tell of how we travelled to the trenches for the most. part we had trucks; in one of these trucks the number of men was 20. We had one months training in France at a little place called Buch- antville. We left there in trucks and went to a place called Menlatour and from there we were packed like sardines on some fiat cars or little French narrow gauge railroad; this narrow gauge railroad terminated at town by the name of Mondroe and we proceeded from there on foot to the trenches. Our first battalion had been gassed and most of their men had to go back to the hospital, so We came up and relieved them. In front of our trenches was Mount Sac. 1 In 1914 the French lost 30,O0O men trying to take it and then only held it for 30 minutes. The Germans from the mountain could look down on the St. Michiel horseshoe and see every move the Americans made and we had some pretty hot artillery fire on us very shortly after we took over the trenches. The trenches weren't so bad until about the mid dle of August when it began to rain
 
 up with water The boys were usu- ally wet tC the skin and covered from head to foot with mud, but when the sun came out we got dry and scraped the mud off with our mess load. The eleventh and twelfth of September are two days I will never forget. A few days before the above dates the front began to get lively and truck load after truck load of ammunition was dumped along the Metz road at about 12:30 p. m. on tho eleventh one big 16 inch gun opent up and from then on until o'clock next morning you couldn't hear your self speak. We received orders to leave our trenches and take the right flank while the Rainbow Division took our places in the trenches. At four o'clock, next morning we receiv- ed orders to go over the top and away we went, on every side YOU could see, wave after wave of infan- try following up the tanks, while high explosives were bursting around us and machine guns pattering away at us. It took us from 4 o'clock un til o'clock, to advance one and 1-2 miles Stretcher bearers were pret- ty thick around, carrying away the wounded, to. the ambulances,.i while here and there you would :, see some poor fellow killed by machine guns or torn up with high explosives and shrapnel. At eight o'clock we had reached the German trenches and they were strewn with Huns that had received some of our tear or sneez- ing gas and couldn't get on their masks. The Huns who had escaped our barrage could be seen going over the crest of hill, some of them took away fast enough. We kept on their trail for four. days and had several raids and took I don't know how many prisoners. Mount Sac was fitted up like a regular palace. The Germans had it covered with dugouts averaging 40 feet in depth and had these dugouts electrically lighted, pianos, and hand carved furniture in them, a big canteen and pool hall. But they seemed very glad to leave those dugouts on September 18th and the American doughboys had plenty of German beer and souveneers. A. G. BITTERLY.