Trench and camp., 1919-05-01

nVAS0 anu smoke! PLENTY
~ each and then more of the same.
Action % lively as a machine gun
~ play. Noise, loud, intermittent,
ahrestrained. Smoke 90 thick that
g Times you can almost cut it with q
knife.
an the ring in the centere of the
NAH, under the glare of powerful
ashts. men who hox for the love of
eozang; who train On army rations;
Nhc stand toe 20 tee and give and
sake with no other reward for win
- N sight tAan the cheers Of their
loiiowefs--or o safety rasor.
Aboat the ring. row on row Of
saoatins. vAistiing. lsnslahg soldiers
From the armies ee the world-Amer-
lcans. French, Bfitish. Belgian, Ital-
lans and occasionally Polish and
creek. Mem ell oe them who play no
1aSordtes; who cheer . Lesser uften
more heartily than they applaud q
winner; men who demand fair play
Above everything.
There. if you please, You have a
pacture % vivid ~ can sketch it Of
boxing bsats ~ they are being run
sAese days iM Paris by tho-Amerioan
army for all allied fighters and hav-
ing only soldiers as participants and
oniy soldiers % spectators.
Boxing just now 10 the topline snort
not only OF Paris but also of France
ana or the RAineland. II prevails
Averywhere-at the base ports where
ehousahds OF men are waiting to sail
nome; In the concentration camps on
me way to the ports: In the region
ef Verdun, where labor battalions are
eieaning up the waste of war; in the
Army Of Occupation in Germany.
From the Atlantic to the Rhine,
from the Mediterranean to the Meuse
# holds the spotlight every night in
ne week except Sunday.
NOR Is Sunday altogether sacred. In
var all days looked alike. Since the
signing OF the armistice Sunday has
become Sunday again. And without
anything to do It is dull. There's NO
dengfng that. Not many Sundays ago,
- ruHs the story, . dozen officers
waiting at Brest approached a z. NJ
G. A. secretary to ask if any boxing
gloves were availabie. After q search
two setg were found.
with the secretary leading the way,
eAe Uf1ceW, Including Captains, Lieu
tenants and Chaplain--get that,
eas&ge -disappeared into an unoccu-
pied baiidiAg, peeled OF their Sam
BfDwnes and blouses and went at It In
. perfeetly friendly but strictly pep
Hefy way. AS seen o. principals
crew winded they withdrew IN favor
&C Others. There were no rounds, no
SlmeReepets. Ssconds at one bout
were participants I'm the next. And 20
noAody lelt that he was doing the
sa1batA any harm.
Many chaplaAns, Indeed, have put
sz1e stamp OF hearty approval on the
SPORT. One OF them, who thiaks he
d the best fighting parson In the
army, issued . challenge recently to
meet any preacher Of his weight in
the A. e. r. Another chaplain at once
accepted and arrangements were un-
der way to put on the bout in Paris
when G. n. G., fearful. perhaps, Of
raising . rumpus back home, said
ss1aOthlng doing in public" or words
20 that effect.
No company in the army over here
is without its quota OF boxers. Ne di-
vision Is without its stars. Thousands
Of pairs Of boxing gloves are con-
etantly in use; and the cry Is ever
f0r more. Generals have sent special
enyoys to Paris to get enough gloves
TOR their men. Factories in France
afe turning them out-but never fast
enough 10 come anywhere near catch
lnR up with the demand.
hnow Of one Bfigadier General
who asked for 1900 sets OF gloves for
his brigade. In a truck convoy that
left Paris the ether day for Coblenz