TIli3 SUXDAV OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY. 21, 1915.
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. 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."
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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,
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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