Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1915)
TIli3 SUXDAV OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY. 21, 1915. J IIP I . i - - -- O- f-'l) J 4.. V 4 J ft V . LAN"PER3. The preterit wr has abolished ell that which until now lent to the rat2taoce. to the re taliation and the obdurance of men kind of srandioee cplendor haa thrust to one aide the fine array of troops that one aeea In the an cient battle iplcturea; the variegated lines, the croups of staff officers tolne to the height of a plateau, the move ments of the armies, the galloping- of the cavaliers clothed In brilliant coa tamei, the beating- of the drums all that which created the order, excite ment and courtery of the combat. War fare was gallant because It waa made between adversaries who were In view of each other. What wculd such men as Napoleon, Murat, Lasalle. Welling ton and many others think about this clandestine war? Formerly a campaign consisted of one or two great combats of half a day. sometimes a whole day; then a Joyous entry into the towns conquered. Good fortune and intrigue held In these wars as much a place as did the enoounters of the enemy. "It Is as impossible to recount a battle," afflrmod Wellington, "as to describe a ball." r V v '"V- f 4f -JSCS ' 1 sr ; FRENCH CHAJ3EUfcS-A-"PID tr i 1 IM Tnt r 1K.ST UNI NEAR f 5 despite our fusillading, patiently tried to cut it aown. al iengi.n vnu uirvn was on the ground. The man wanted to drag away hit booty as far as his entrenchment; this time a ball struck him. Two of his comrades boldly tried to replace him: they arrived at the tree and dragged it some, yards. They wore killed. There came stil two others and after those two more. This fighting for a birch . tree lasted several hours. The tree was at length taken away. It had cost the Oermansi 21 men. Thore are some trenches that have even a cattle pen, where grass several oows. Lately was celebrated the birth of a oalf, and each day at dawn and twilight some men leave their 9 ever, the hostilities continue. For In stance, the Germans are set upon de stroying a work of defense every even ing that we have patiently labored at all day, according to orders given. On our side we no less systematically pull down a redoubt that the Germans were untiringly reconstructing. One day, at an hour when by tacit aocord the troops made a truce, two German officers came out from their trenches without weapons and their hands raised. They advanced toward our trenches, from where we In our turn came out. The officers explained that it was absurd to demolish every day the two pieces of work that both sides had been given orders to con struct. He offered to abstain from touching ours if we on our part would leave theirs alone. The agreement was concluded, some newspapers were exchanged, then at the moment of leaving us one of them announced that their period of sojourn at the front was drawing to an end, 6 V. T. Z J . IK lent use if the surrounding land is woody, where trees can be procured, and when they are lucking tangled barbed wire constitutes an accessory But without wishing in the least to defense. The effect of the artillery diminish the valor of the ancients, we is null on this enclosure of network; must recognise that one of -their bat- It cannot be passed through except by ties would be merely a pleasure excur- the menelite or the shears. Also we ion for our soldiers of today. If have Inaugurated the war of strong Napoleon exacted from his "Grongards" holds in. the open country. Everybody (Growlers) such discipline of Iron, such Invisible or nearly so, tho lesst move Impersonallty, so contrary to the tera- ment possible. It is observed. Word perament of our race, and which the of order. To hold the front that one modern tactics force; if he had at- occupies. It Is manifestly the same on tempted what is indispensable at the each side. The service Is also regu present time to transform their nat- latell; three days in the trenches of "ROOM IN THE. FRZ.NCH TRENCHES corvwaHT Y UNDr4WUOD S i WJI'l8fr Invisible. From here one does rot dis tinguish It even by Its thin line of trenches. The Infantry la burlrd la deep holes. The plain In frightfully deserted. KUll. some lliouaancla of ryi wstch It. some tlioupsmtii of gunv fixed on the ground, slt threatrnins silent. e Night is come. The Winter nights are long, silence and obscurity fall on the plain. We eat cupper late, at T o'clock. In order to retard the moment when we must be alone. Fires burn actively under ground. Invisible fmrn the outside, and we throw ourselves to try to sleep and forget. The cannon cesse not their rosrlng. that seems to be stronger etill In the calm, dark night. Tle moon pierces the gray clouds a full moon. So lonir as she lights the woods and the plain with her pale rays there Is no dsnger that the enemy will quit the trenches, but as soon as slie sinks on the horizon, or the fog rises, one must expect and be ready for all. One sleeps fir one awakes. It Is no longer unnerving as at first, when nn hearing the flrl shot of a rifle the whole line was instantly on Us feet From time to time someone law; he, someone gets up and lights his ple. Bomeone growls In dresinlng; aimirone whom sleeplessness annoys strolls about In the bark trench. e Suddenly a near rifle shot. Put from where? Alert! . . . Then there is no longer the heavy Intermittent i lance. All the sentinels fire into the gloom. ... A volley of tullnt whistles over our heeds. Alresdy the sleepers are on their feet In a htjlilmii of exclamation and swearing. Tho fu sillade, mcresMn;? from joglilI to sec ond, tears the echoes. The Boches (dormtiiK) hsvo sp proached quite nesr to us without be ing discovered They are scarcely i!0 yards away, and their shots seem to be fired In our very ears. . . . What are they about to 1"T , . Ad vance? . . . Itetroat? Fortunately our barbed wire Is pretfr solid. Now one ran hear the G"mnri officers giving their orders. "Vor waerts! Vorwuerts:" They rush upon ua. A terrible fire meets them, and those who ai-e mo-it In ural impetuosity Into abnegation the formidable grenadiers would have found the task too hard and would have said without dissimulation that it did not please them. the first line, three days in the reserve trenches, three days of repose. Trenches! "W have made them over a distance of hundreds of kilometers (a kilometer Is a fraction more than Today a bole in the ground, ordained three-fifths of a mile), and our lines silence, immobility under the rain that from the front resemble molehills that falls and the shrapnel that descends. re cut out in gcllerlea. One can live under the sounds of the cannon that roar; battles 'of 40 days' length, with out a single Instant free from the deaf ening noise of the artillery, more or less near. On a- front of 400 miles In extension the soldiers of the allies ar range things, and the French soldier accommodates himself with as much cheerfulness, gayety and good humor as our ancestors acquitted themselves In their light and rapid adventures of for mer times. Let us Judge of it. . The trenches are long narrow ditches, on the front border of which la ar ranged an embankment or parapet formed by the earth from the ditch. -The treneh for the flrers (riflemen), seated or lying" has a depth of a little more than a yard and a parapet of there, and some men remain for two or three months in these moist ditches. The courage necessary to resiat day and night the Inclemency and the as saults continues. One sleeps little, one eats badly. How can such a life be described with enough power to make comprehensible the Incalculable gran deur of it meaning? e Night, cold.' Toward the morning a thick white frost falls on us. The sun rises, British. French and German be gin their dally routine. From behind a crest a German captive balloon slowly rises. Opposite It a French balloon ap pears little by little. There! All Is In place; the scenery changes not until the evening. But to pass days and weeks adorning these holes In the earth becomes monotonous. We busy ourselves In organising to render the at least half a yard. The trench "for trenches more comfortable: eaoh day kneeling" has a depth of nearly a yard. If there is the time to make a trench for "standers" it must be a yard and a half deep. That is not all. If one can. one covers the trench with a slight shelter; doors, planks and pieces of wood cover the ground, providing that one lias time to place them. These rudimentary shelters afford a means of protection, the Importance of which one. does not at first imagine. In fact, the shooter, seated more or less brings an Improvement. ' There have been some attempts to heat them. A brick and a foot warmer are tried by turns, for one must not dream of hav- one takes a glacial douche. With vig orous rubbing a healthy reaction Is quickly produced. It must not be thought that this Is either luxury or amusement; this Installment is very precious to all the regiment. And the regiment is clean. This cannot be said of those opposite, for our prisoners captured are in sad plight. Certain trenches are only 36 yards from the enemy, and from each burrow talking can be heard. French and Ger mans look each other in the eyes, with out hatred, but there remains the in evitable necessity of killing each other piously. And the war takes a new character. What a VHy that there are not archers In the armies! An arrow had virtue in its parabola, penetrating more profoundly in the trenches, closer than a rifle shot can be sent. Soon we will come up with eaoh other, knife be tween the teeth. Yet one does not feet the sentiment of a great combat the struggle is too personal, too Isolated. Yes, we who have kept the enemy at bay for several weeks have the Im pression of doing nothing. We are re duced to writing the "Journal of the Trenohes." There one reads the pleas antries of the war. "Yesterday evening Messrs.. the Germans offered us an ex hibition of fireworks from 9 to 10 o'clock," or "Two foreign nobles wear ing anything with smoke, for that 'n officers' caps paid visit to the would be a sign for the enemy. These modern trenches advance ir regularly. In sigsag fashion. They are carrefours (where two or more trenches cross), some places (squares). Impasses (blind alleys). This makes altogether an Improvised town. In order that the west trench; they were received with a volley and honors due to their rank." Our men provide beet roots for the artists of the trenches. The latter carve a caricature of the head of a German, generally a commandant-ln-chlef of one of their army corps. Re- comfortably at tfie bottom of his trench, soldier may refind his trench they have eently I sent you some sketches of laughs at tlH rifle shots that brush the ground In their strident flight above his head. But e must take care not to show his heud higher than tho shelter; not even an arm must be seen. As for the shell. It makes much noise, but does very little damag o the soldier in his trench. A shell of 40 kilos (81 pounds) produces a tunnel-shaped hole of six yards at the points where it falls, but only a lucky stroke can reach a trench. The combatant who Is not exactly at the point where it bursts runs no other danger than that of being covered with earth or mud. It is scarcely necessary to say that the most difficult "trump card" Is for the artillery to reach this thin outline scarcely visible on the ground. The fcoldlers go so far as to even paint the shelters the color of the earth around, and. when time affords, to make some false trenches that constitute an ex- baptised each one. There is the "rue them. Some of the beets are hollowed Poincare," "King i street," "rue de out and filled with bulletins of French Russio," "rue de Bruxelles," "Place de and Russian victories and are projected la Llberte." Next, each "refuge" re- toward the lines of the Germans. Or eel veil a name graven on a brick. There they are sent over with madrigals to la the "Palace Hotel," "Savoy Hotel," gather with .hand grenades. One went, "Royal Hotel," etc., with the ns.me of "How many are you In there?" the proprietor. At the edge of the Fof a distraction shots are ex changed. wood opening on the enemy's line Is an enticing notice En trance to the Cine matograph. Taking the left of the "Passage Al bert L," we arrive at the bathing establishment, Regiment, Third Company. "Salle de douches," says a label. Some dressing gowns and some towels hang on bayonets fixed in the At so short a distance they cause frightful wounds. This evening an officer who knows all the finesse of the German language made a proclama tion to the neighbors. "Soldiers of Ger many, I owe It to the truth to Inform you of some sad news. Your officers know It but they have hidden it .from you" and then the entire official com munique was read to them. He t.er- partitions of earth; these also serve as hat and coat rails. The water falls mlnated by wishing them "Good even from a hose. It was the csptaln who Ing" and promising them "more" the had this idea. A shell had hollowed following day. At this moment a fusil out a large hole at this place. A large lade broke out. "There, that is how we flagstone was placed at the bottom and are thanked," laughingly exclaimed the cellent ruse of war. The organization a roof put on the" top. It is a reservoir French officer. of the battle field comprises also an fed by rain water. A tap is put at the One night in certain German trenches ensemble of defense. Trees cut down end of a hose to conduct the water; was received the order to manifest an and piled up and stockades are excel- this hangs above a tub, and in turn overflowing gayety. One evening we heatd them yelling the "Wacht am F.hcln," accompanied by the growling accents of an accordion. The French began at once to sing "Allons enfants de la Patrie," punctuated by a fusillade that closed the fete. We are so close to one another that the cannon of neither side can fire on. ua for fear of striking their own. The proximity of the adverse trenches Is such that it Is dangerous to remain in observation. Some have placed a mir ror above and behind, so that by Its help what passes in front can be seen while remaining In the trench. e In each hole there la an inventor who always looks for some means whereby to play a trick on his adversary. The Germans have a mania for wire. They hemstitch their works with a metallic embroidery, of debatable taste, and it is one of our nightly sports to cut these with shears. Exasperated to find each morning their wire lace work in shreds they decided to hang there a cartillon (chimes) of empty bottles, accompanied by empty conserve tins. The first time that we used the shears musio and firing. We did not continue that night, but the following night a corporal glided as far as the network, adjusting three ropes, and regained his trench, from where he began to ring up the Gar mans. The latter responded with pre cision and riddled their bottles and tins. A little later our corporal pulled the ropes; from the Germans another volley, nearer than the first. Silence; then again the dance of the bottles. We could hear the nervous orders; evi dently the enemy did not comprehend this sudden invulnerability of the wire cutters. During half an hour they at tacked each Jingling with an Intense fusillade. Cleverly the corporal dimin ished the effects and decrescendo grad uated into silence. One guessed the triumphant relief opposite they had killed all or put them to flight Then furiously broke forth our fusillade. In stantly followed by a rush with bayo nets, and in ten minutes the German trench was ours. Another night, profiting by the fog. to get a knowledge of what waa In front, our men found at a little distanoa a trench where' were the tools and weapons of its occupants. They pos- -sessed the'mselves of the weapons of the Germans, filled up the trench and re turned with a smile on their lips, quite gay at the Joke they had played on the Germans. ' Between the enemy's trenches and ours rose a birch tree. ' The Germans coveted this birch. One of them dur ing two nights went to this tree and. r30LDItfS IN THE TRENCHES CAVEWEL COFVRJGHTBV . - l T i) P If vT-rv,'- "iP sf - i .T v .i(Cil - . -v " . ' ?&K; n& . '-v - -r-t'-1 v.v.-,v; vv,'"' e44--M Vear-- THMFOTSArcr TRENCHE5 A"EfRJTI5H SEHTRY I N THE T0T5EO30UNl CCFYWGrVT T3V UNC-EJeVAXTO Br V N DtRWOOO hole to milk the cows. "Never should I have believed that there were such good milkmaids In all Flanders," said a soldier to me, admiringly. And then I asked why it was that the Germans did not fire on the cows. He replied, scandalised: "Fire on our cows) They that he did not know what troops would advance, caught by thclnt replace them, but perhaps they would the twisted wire, fall heiA '.l intricacies of replace them, but perhaps they would the twisted wire, fall heiA '.ly. We Mioot be Prussians. "Be on your guard with ,nto th hunch with a Joyous exultation. them." he said. "When we know we ;rf' "!!", '.nd, ,he P'V p' t t..n ,,, ... . . . , pours from our temples. A furiuno Is will notify you by hanging, some pieces hurninw , e.t.n breuat. of blue paper from the wires that de- All that ms imfore ua, rreeph.ir. fend our trenches." So It goes without springing, falls rUldled with hot. Tim had better not In the first placet It saying that the Bavarians, at least, do screaming and groaning of the wounded would not be long before we repaid them. They have their cows, too. and we let them alone." Thus politeness is rendered in the midst of slaying. a Our soldiers and the Bavarian sol diers procure water from the same well situated In the neighborhood. At first they went separately, but by degrees they accustomed themselves to go at the same time, exchanging a few words, giving packets of tobacco or other ob jects in exchange for those of a differ ent color or nature. Sometimes they even take their coffee in common. How- not love the Prussians. Night Attack- P' 'BY XAVIER 8AGER. LAIN9 OF FLANDERS. Jan. IS. The evening closes in. The sky Is agi tated.' First one aeroplane, then another passes at a great height. They art ours spies which describe a very large orbit and go down yonder, far behind ub, toward their nest. The troop that confronts us is completely dominate the battle. Their spirit I surely spent, their firing ia leaa aid ion and we hear their offtrera ewearit.i;. A Joyous exultation enfevera ui. Just at tills moment the lonria are broken by a great gnat of u Ind f nri, dispersing, uncover the moon In Hie I-ms obscure sky. In a few Kei onds all Ik revealed. It lias been carnage, a hutclniv. Not a pluce where there ly not aevernl bodies entangled In the wire, covered wtih Mood, with faces convulsed trlyhtfnlly. From this slaughter proceed lugubrious plaints and mo.minu. 8onm hundred! of them lie there tit ad or wounded la trout of our ttuuclu
