Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-02-13
W|P,NC OUT ALL
TRACES OF WAR
Thrifty French Already Cleaning
Up Battle Ground to
Plant Grain.
TASK MOST DIFFICULT One
Removing of Barbed Wire Entangle-
nnents Is No Easy Matter-Nar-
row Gauge Railways Being
Torn Up and Trenches
Filled In.

Paris.-Eradication of all traces or
the 81 months war has already begun
everywhere along the old stationary
front which marked the line of the op-
posing armies since the inception of a
war of position.
Barbed wire entanglements are be-
ing torn up, trenches are being filled
in, camouilage is being taken down,
narrow gauge railways removed, and
shell dumps and other depots for ma
terial being transported away.
This is the first time that any field
Notifications have been permitted to
be touched by the civilian population.
Even after the Germans had been
driven from the Chateau Thierry re-
gion south of the Marine to north of
the Vrsle. the military authorities re-
fused to permit barbed wire to be
taken up or earthworkS filled in.
In most cases this work is being
done by civilians, but everywhere with
the release of the older classes of
French soldiers and the numerous re-
formeS--wounded discharged from the
army-there are enough men familiar
with field works to supervise the re-
moval of them.
Difficult Work.
1t is no easy matter for the novice
to pull up barbed wire, and in places
particularly in the Juvigny region
north of the AiSne, where the Thirty
second division fought with General
Mangin's superb Tenth army and won
for themselves the Sobriquet of "The
Tigers the entanglements c0yer hun.
dreds of acres; the belts being hun
dreds OF yards in depth. This wire
dates back from September, 1914, and
is rusty and dangerous to handle,
owing to the presence of tetanuS mi
crobes. The newer "giant German
wire,' the strands of which are Il
quarter of an inch thick and which
bristle with barbs, is equally bard to
remove.
The old wide trenches which were
in vogue earlier in the war before the
development of the minenWerfcr as an
accurate piece of ordnance, are hard
to fill in, as their parapets have been
washed away by rains and blasted to
bits Of Shcllhre. They are like great
bitches, furroWing the earth in every
direction. The newer, narrower
trenches. shored with timber and pro-
vided with blackboard floors are easier
TO fill in. The thrifty French first pull
out the snoring and let the rain act
on the trenches for couple Of weeks
in which time they invariably fall in,
then they shovel over the top, smooth
ing it off
No attempts are made to fill in the
dugoutS. the entrances merely being
boarded up and covered over. In
many of these German dugouts there
are Internal machines and man traps
likely to explode when the first per-
son enters. Loose boards on the stairs
or bits of string stretched across the
entrance set off explosives. In many
osher dugouts there are cOrpScS of
friends or foes, killed underground by
bombs hurled down the exits
All roads in the zone whore the OBJ
posing armies have sWaycd back and
forth are lined with fox holes, as the
American doughEoyS call the tiny
shelter caves they are taught TO dig
with bayOnotS and mess kits and
which provide such wonderful shelter
against shrapnel. Everywhere in the
belt CT terrain marking the extreme
limits of the passage of the fighting
troops there are endless rows of these
fox holes dug into the bitches beside
the roads. They tell the silent tales
of bodies of troops on the march spipd
out by enemy airplancs or captive bal
looms and caught under concentrated
fire by many batteries. Then the men
are ordered to take cover, and since
there is none to take they must i'm
proviSe their own shelter.
Dig in Quickly.
1t is a remarkable sight to see how
fast a soldier can dig a cave that will
shelter his body with no Implements
but II bayonet and mess kit They
loosen the earth with the bayonet and
scoop it out with the big, long handled
tin cup, sometimes working with the
skillet in the other hand.
Only light, Decauville railways are
being taken up, all standard gauge
lines which have been laid since the
war remaining in position until such
time as the administration determines
what shall be done with them
Few pieces of artillery remain in
their emplacements, nearly all of those
which were overlooked in capture dur
ing attacks having been dragged out
of their pits and placed in the public
square of the nearest French town or
village. But there are still hundreds
Of thousands of live shells, hand
grenadcs and millions of rounds of
small arms ammunition lying about
everywhere. The earth is pitted with
holes made by 'duds" which may ex-
Dlode the first time the farmers plow
strikes against them.
Despite that, however, the thrifty
French are cleaning up their country,
for the sowing of crops next q
'pring.