El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-12-13

The "OTarEluH Notebook" contains a
variety OF material gathered by The editor
OF The Herald IN Europe during the war
and after Excerpts viii be published in
this column daily during the next several
months. Tcday's Instaluleut. continuing
the general narrative relates experiences
near the Metz front
Ii IS suggested that readers clip these
. articles each day and paste them On scrap
books; they VIII not Be reprinted and hack
numbers cannot be supplied
4 i THEIR farthest advance In the
n first stage OF the war. the Ger
mans on this front had advanced
to within eight miles of foul. and
within a miie OF Nancy, some of those
/ cafsuces had been captured or at least
E rendered untenabie. The French soon
: pressed the enemy back a ways and
the passing Of the wave of war over
/ this reclaimed strip had left few scars.
I lhe Lines became practically stabilized
Z at a distance Of "A miles north of Toul
and 10 miles east Of Nancy.
/ Repeated efforts to force the line
T farther back were made during the
/ first year Of the war BY the French
& but the loss Of 100000 men in these at
I lacks awaited nothing and before the
l end Of 1915 both armies had settled
down 10 hold fast what they had
Here they stuck for three years, and
every art Of defensive tactics known to
trench warfare was awaited of. Towns
and villages near the front lines were
I pulverized by artillery fire.
% August l9lS-LOng ride through
the division sector today; observe ex-
tent of which the French had de-
YelOped the art Of camOuflage. They
camouflaged stone piles. guns, sheds,
underground construction in progress,
switch yards, piles Of dirt, munitions,
everything. sometimes these camOu-
/ fiags curtains covering large areas.
The oamouflage IS prepared in enor-
nous quantities IN advance and
brought up TO where It Is to be used.
There are many methods, but one Of
the commOnest Is to use chicken wire
as a base and weave all sorts Of ma
terial in to initiate straw stacks, hay,
grain, manure piles, fallen leaves,
burned trees, farm lands, standing
thickets or woods, and even 10 initiate
vegetable gardens, in long broad strips
Of different colored camouflage ma
terial Roofs of large structures are
painted or otherwise camOuflaged in
different colors so as TO initiate las
seen from the air-that is what all
the camOuflage Is for, TO deceive the
aumenl. to initiate fields Of grain
some harvested, some not, or to iHii-
tate gardens or pasture in strips.
The elaborateness Of all these ar
rangements interests and indeed
anuses our troops The Americans use
almost no camOuflage; some Of the
guns are painted in grotesque patterns,
canvas tops are occasionally painted
~ 81
saplings are sometimes piled around a
particularly exposed place, but on the
whole the Americans pay no attention
to camouflage.
In many places In this sector the
French had laboriously erected miles
and miles Of road screens Of tan rllshes
wired closely together OF wire covered
with burlap. IN the effort 20 hinder
the German balloon observers who are
always high in air overlooking every
part of our sector; but much Of this
road screening has been destroyed and
the PUSHES are even torn OH and used
TO kindie the cooks fires.
No French camOuflage Is being re-
stored by the Americans. and no effort
Is made for the most part TO camOu-
flage ammunition or ration dumps,
camps. shops, or any Of the various
agencies Of the division in the sector.
Fact is, the French stayed here year
after year but the Americans don't ex-
-pect to stay here long. The French had
learned how TO minimize unnecessary
losses; perhaps our own troops might
take some Of the lessons 10 heart 70
their own advantage, but they are not
likely to do 1t. IL all looks like
wholly unnecessary waste Of time and
energy to them.
The Americans have not been In this
sector very long but the amount Of
work they have done is tremendous.
The forests and Tickets are full Of
guns Of all caiibers, railroads Of three
different cages, repair shops and ma
terial dumps" 1.-THE common military
term for all storage place. OF supply
centers. whether with the smaller units
in the front lines or elsewhere, OF at
stages toward the rear where regi-
meuts, brigades. divisions, corps, and
armies an have their various dumps,
each forward unit taking its supplies
from the next station in rear. and so
on
Every time I 20 around 7 see a lot
Of things newly installed that were
not there before, vet all this mighty
influx Of guns and ammunition Of all
calibers. this tremendous collection Of
military material, has had 20 take place
at night. for by day the roads are al
most deserted.
Everywhere in the woods where the
airmeen cannot see, our men are hard
at work building roads and railroads, ]
placing big guns. and establishing most /
elaborate lines Of wire communication /
The interior Of any Of the big woodlands /
in this sector is a maze Of military. con- /
struction with men busy everywhere I
in the half-light under the thick trees; I
there seems no end TO It. There is I
even a big brick bakery under con /
struction. Telegraph and telephone
wires are being run in cables and con- I
duits, buried deeply I'm many places, /
carried under an roads, and IN general
protected against interruption from
traffic or shell fire.
Every little ways as I 90 along [
run into troops on station, in huts or
dugouts. command posts, signal corps
posts, observation balloon companies,