ROAD
BUILDING
W e marched eight kilos and then nation usually takes place: Stretcher
halted iu front of a French ostumineL hearer— "W ant a fngT Where are you
The captain gave the order to turn hit7" Tommy looks up and answers,
out on each side of the roud and wait “ Yes. In the leg."
his return, Pretty soon he caiue back
A fter dismissal from pnrnde, we re
and told 11 company to occupy bllleta turned to our billets nnd I had to get
117, 118 und lll>. BUlet 117 was au busy Immediately with the dinner Is
old stable which had previously been sue. 1*1 nner consisted of stew mads
occupied by cows. About four feet lu from fresh beef, a couple of spuds,
front o f the entrance wus u huge ma bully beef, Mnronochlo rations and *a -
nure pile, hik I the odor from It was ter— plenty of wuter. There Is great
anything but pleasant. Using my competition among the men to spear
flashlight I stumbled through the door. with their forks the two luuely pots Necessity Emphasized In Giving Qraat-
•st Consideration to All
Just before entering I observed a toes.
Local Conditions.
white sign reading: "Sitting 50, lying
20." but, at the time, Its significance
(Prepared by tho Unltori Htatea t>opar>
did not strike me. Next morning 1
Back on tha front lina, aftar a
m«nt of Agriculture.)
asked the sergeant major what It
stay In rest billets, Empey gate a
Theory le simply the sign poet that
meant, lie nonchalantly unswered:
shock when a German bullet cute
points the way In road building,
‘T h at's some of the work o f the R.
down his first friend of the
wlille Judgment is the vehicle ou which
A. M. O. ( Itoyal Army Medical corps).
tronchas. He telle the story In
the
Journey is dependent, says a pub
It simply menus that In cuse of an nt-
the next Installment.
lication on “ The Design of Public
t it 1*7
« ; BY
taek,
this
billet
will
accommodate
iTfcuni
ta rrtrm
Roads" by the United States depart
fifty wounded who are uble to sit up
ment of agriculture.
I TO UK CONTINUED.)
and take notice, or twenty stretcher
The publication emphasizes the
cases.”
neceulty of glvlug the greatest con
It was not long after this that I was
sideration to all local factors In road
one o f the “ 20 lying.”
I soon hit the hay nnd wns fust Ship’s Rigger, When at Work, Has construction. In order to furnish the
kind of roads that a community wauts
asleep, even my friends the “ cooties"
Realization That Each Moment
and
to furnish them with the least
failed to disturb me.
May Be Hit Last
IMiMsilde drain ou the public treasury,
The next morning at about six
Synopsis.— Fired by the sinking o f the Lusitania, with the loss of
o’clock I was awakened by the lance
American lives. Arthur Guy Empey. an American living in Jersey City,
It Is not tlio trapeze performer, the the person who designs them must ha
corporal of our section, Informing me steeple-jack, or the old-time sailor who thoroughly faiullliir with local condi
goes to England and enlists ns a prlvute in the British army. A fter a
that I had been detailed as mess or faces the greatest peril In his work, tions und must possess the Judgment
short experience ns a recruiting officer In London, he Is sent to train
derly, nnd to report to the cook nnd hut the ship’s rigger, who combines necessary to weigh the importune« of
ing quarters in France, where he first hears the sound o f big guns
Thu publication
give him n hand. I helped him make all three of these callings. During the ull considerations.
and makes the acquaintance o f •'cooties.” A fter a brief period of
the fire, carry water from nn old well, present war, with the renppearuuce o f makes no attempt lo state definite anil
training Empey’8 company is sent into the front-line trenches.
and fry the bacon. I.lds o f dixies nrc sailing vessels In our ports, tho an exact rules for designing roads to
used to cook the bacon In.
After cient profession o f ship's rigger had suit every locality but takes up sep
breakfast
wus
cooked,
I
carried
a
dixie been suddenly revived. Tho seaports arately the liii|Mirtunt features of the
C H APTE R V.
! I was dying for a drink, but my pride
would not allow me to ask my mates o f hot ten and the lid full of bacon to have been scoured to discover old rig problem with a view to showing tho
Mud, Rats and Shells.
for water. I was fast learning the our section, and told the corporal that gers, for their service today Is Invulu- variations la current practice und tho
breakfast was ready. He looked at me able. The skill nnd daring o f Amer Influence of some special conditions
I must have slept for two or three ethics o f the trenches.
in
contempt, nnd then shouted, "Break ican ship’s riggers was once ns fa with regard to ouch feature.
hours, not the refreshing kind that re
That night I was put on gunrd with
In order to select the type o f sur
sults from clean
I M -oft pH- an older man. W e stood on the
__ ____
fire fast up, come and get I t !" I Immedi mous as that o f the Yankee skippers,
lows, but the sleep that comes from , step with our hands over the top. peer- ately got wise to the trench pnrlunce, says Boys’ Life, the boy scouts' maga face best adapted to the need of n
particular road, it Is necessary to con
cold. wet nnd sheer exhaustion.
ing out into No Man's Land. It wus nnd never aguin Informed that "Break zine.
Suddenly, the earth seemed to shake nervous work for me. but the other fel- fast was served."
When a sailing vessel comes Into sider first, the class o f traffic to
It didn’t take long for the Tommies
nnd a thunderclap burst in my ears. I ; low seemed to take It as part o f the
port In need of repairs the ship's rig which the road will lie subjected, and
to answer this call.
H alf dressed,
opened my eyes— I was splashed all night's routine.
ger Is the first nmn aloft. It may be second, to compare the estimated ulti
over with sticky mud. and men were
Then something shot past my face, they lined up with their canteens nnd Impossible to tell If her rigging will mate cost of tlie different surface
picking themselves up from the bottom I My heart stopped heating, and I dueked I dished out the ten. Each Tommy support a man's weight. The ropes types which would be capable of sat
of the trench. The parapet on my left rnv head below the parapet. A soft carried In his hand a thick slice of rimy he covered with Ice. The rigger isfactorily caring for tliut particular
had toppled into the trench, completely chuckle from my mate brought me to bread which had ....... issued with the must Judge the strength of the ropes class of traffic. The number of nmda
blocking it with a wall of tossed-up my senses, nnd I feebly asked. “ For rations the night before. Then I had with his eye and risk Ills life upon for which accurate traffic and effi
the pleasure o f seeing them dig Into
earth. The man on my left lay still. I heaven's’ sake, what was that?"
them.
A trapeze performer In the ciency records have been kept is said
rubbed the mud from my face, and nn
He answered. “ Only a rat taking a the bacon with their dirty fingers. The
clretis must trust Ids weight to ropes to lie insufficient to warrant definite
awful sight met my guze— his head promenade along the sandbags.’’
I nllowunee was one slice per man. The
conclusions ns to the best type for
late ones received very small slices. high In air, but he Is sure that they
was smashed to a pulp, and his steel felt very sheepish,
are strong and will bear his weight. any particular class o f traffic, l*ut the
As
each
Tommy
got
his
share
he
Im
helmet was fnll of brains nnd blood.
About every twenty minutes the sen-
The shlii's rigger must swing himself following summary is said to contain
A German “ Minnie” (trench mortar) try in the next trnverse would fire a mediately disappeared Into the billot.
In quite as perilous positions nnd re- about ns definite information on this
I’retty
soon
about
fifteen
o
f
them
made
had exploded in the next traverse. Men star shell from his flare pistol. The
mnln there for hours, doing tho hard point as can he drawn from available
were digging into the soft mass of mud “plop” would give me a start o f fright. a rush to the cookhouse, each carrying
records.
est klud of work.
a
huge
slice
of
bread.
These
slices
in a frenzy of haste. Stretcher-bear I never got used to this noise during
(a ) Earth roads, when properly
The
sailing
o
f
t
lie
ship
usually
they dipped Into the bacon grease
ers came up the trench on the double. my service in the trenches.
maintained, are satisfactory lu dry
waits
ti|sin
the
repairs
he
makes,
nnd
I would watch the arc described by whlch was stewing over the fire. The
A fter a few minutes o f digging, three
weather for a light volume o f all
still, muddy forms on stretchers were the star shell, nnd then stare Into No lnst mnn invariably lost out. I was the expense o f maintaining the crew kinds of highway trnffic.
nnd
delaying
the
ship
makes
It
necea-
carried
down
the
communication Man’ s Land waiting for It to burst. In ,he ,n,lt mnn-
(b ) Nnnd-cluy roads are the sain«
A fter breakfast our section carried sary for him to work with feverish
trench to the rear. Soon they would its lurid light the barbed wire and
ns earth roads, except that the sur
haste
(lay
and
night.
be resting “ somewhere in France,” with stakes would be silhouetted against its their equipment into u field udjolnlng
facing material has been selected enre-
a little wooden cross over their heads. light like a latticed window. Then i the billet nnd got busy removing the
full.v with n view to increasing the
New
Type
of
“
Vampire.”
1 trench mud therefrom, because at 8:45
They had done their bit for king nnd darkness.
stability o f the surface in both wet
Arrest
at
the
instance
of
an
nrmy
Once, out In front o f our wire, I a. m., they had to fall in for inspection
country, had died without firing a shot,
officer of a young woinnn who had and dry weather. They are satisfac
but their services were appreciated, heard a noise and saw dark forms
committed
bigamy In order to secure tory for a moderate traffic o f horse-
moving. My rifle was lying across the
nevertheless.
the
allowance
granted to soldiers' do- drawn vehicles nnd n light traffic of
sandbagged
pnrnpet.
I
reached
for
It,
Later on, I found out their names.
pendents
gives
color to tho »vnrnlng automobiles. They seldom nru satis
nnd was taking aim to Are, when my
They belonged to our d ra ft
Issued
against
this
new type of “ vniu- factory for even u light traffic o f
mate
grasped
my
arm,
and
whispered,
I was dazed nnd motionless. Sud- |
pire,”
notes
tlie
Omaha
Bee. Young heavy trucks unless the rondbed ma
denly a shovel was pushed Into my “Don’t fire." He challenged In a low
soldiers ore picked out by those wom terial Is very stable.
hands, and a rough but kindly voice voice. The reply came back instantly
(c ) Gravel roads, when well built,
en und deliberately led Into marriage,
from the dark forms:
■kid:
the one purpose being to secure money nre satisfactory for a heavy trnffic of
“ Shut your blinkin' mouth, you
“ Ilere, ray lad, lend a hand clearing
from the government. Tho game Is
the trench, but keep your head down, hloomin’ Idiot; do you want us to click
not a new one, nor does It exhibit
and look out for snipers. One of the | ^ Jrnm l*16 Boches?”
much modification In Its details. It Is
Fritz’s is a daisy, and he'll get you if i Liner we iearne<1 that the worfj u y 0
reported from some of tho Southern
you’re not careful.”
challenging or firing, wiring party out
army camps that ns many ns tlireo
Lying on my belly on the bottom of
fr,,nt' i’ ?'1 . ba<7* *r*v®n
,he soniry
nnd four soldiers have been wedded
the trench, I filled sandbags with the . , ur r'F 1 ’ jUt he had failed to pass
to
the same woman. The young men
sticky mud, they were dragged to rav . ' ^ '"n c r ^ n r • An officer had over
who are nwny from home for the first
rear by the other men, and the work of . ‘ '
enire and the reply, and
time, wearing their country's uniform,
rebuilding the parapet was on. The
le n d in g sentry
arrest.
should he warned that marriage Is not
| under
'•uu'ri ou
rm . The sentry clicked
harder I worked, the better I felt.
merely nn enlistment for the war, and
though the weather was cold, I was : i''* nt-V-f" ie dnjs on the wheel, that Is.
therefore to be approached very serl*
soaked with sweat.
? v.
days'
I otisly. Romance Is part of a soldier’s
’ Occasionally n bullet would crack T
* °’
’ or crucifixion,
ns
i life, but It may have consequences
overhead, and a machine gun would j
. * ' rn,s ’
that will embarrass him In after
kick up the mud on the bashed-in pnra-
!n<~ ,s s °
sPrr‘a,7-<’nfficd
years. The “ vampire” Is one o f Ids
pet. At each crack I would duck nnd “
° f n I' rnb“ r
bo™ «
,. ,,
,
...
r.
,
day for twenty-one davs, regardless of
I chief cat dangers, and one against
shield my face with my arm. One o f
___ '
__
I whom It Is difficult to guard.
-v.
i i
i t
m
,he weather. During this period, your
men
the older
noticed this action of
___
. . , r ,, . * . 7 7
“
rations consist o f bully beef, biscuits
¿.vt
mine, nnd whispered:
and water,
Hottest Heat.
“ Don’t duck at the crack o f a bul
The
highest
tempernfure
ever
A few months later I met this sentry
Resting Back of the Lines.
let, Yank; the danger has passed— you
i reached by man is 0,400 degrees
and he confided to me that since being
never hear the one that wings you.
Tills was produced by
| "crucified,” he had never failed to pass nnd parade, and woe betide the mnn ' Fahrenheit.
Always remember that if you are going
the word down the trench when so or who was unshaven, or had mud on his two English experimenters, sir Andrew
to get it, you’ll get it, so never worry.”
dered. In view o f the offense, the uniform. Cleanliness is next to godli Noble and Sir F. Abel, asserts n solen-
This made a great impression on me
above punishment was very light, In ness in tiio British army, and Old I ’up tlst. Tills wns done by exploding cor- i
at the time, nnd from then on, I adopt
; that falling to pass the word down a per must have been personally ac dlte in a durable steel cylinder. This Brick or Concrete Roads Are Econom
ed his motto, “ I f you’re going to get it,
ical If There Is Considerable Heavy
was due to the suddenness o f the reac
• trench may mean the loss o f many quainted with St. I’eter.
Traffic.
tion, nnd, although o f momentary dur
Our
drill
consisted
of
close-order
'T t/ h clp ellm e wonderfully. I used I t ! l1™ *’ a" d t,*fe T ‘ " ngv?f
formation, which lasted until noon. ation, It was an Interesting scientific horse-drawn vehicles, n light traffic
so often afterwards that some of my 1 ,aDt entt'rprl8e ln
Land,
During
this time we had two ten-min achievement, nevertheless. With tb> of automobiles, and a light trutile of
mates dubbed me, “ I f you’re going to
C H APTE R VI.
ute breaks for rest, and no sooner the aid of cordite Sir William Crookes wns heavy trucks.
get It, you’ll get It.”
word, “ Fnll out for ten minutes,” was uble to make small diamonds, I ’rofes*
(d ) Water-bound inacndnin roads
After on hour’s hard work, all my
“ Back of the Line.”
given than each Tommy got out n fag sor Molssnn, who has produced dia arc adapted to the same general char
nervousness left me, and I was laugh
m
onds,
ean
heat
Ills
electric
furnucs
Our tour in the front-line trench and lighted it.
acter o f trafile as gravel roads.
ing nnd Joking with the rest.
to B.300 degrees.
Fags nre Issued every Sunday morn
At one o'clock, dinner came up In lasted four days, and then we were
(*■) Surface-treated macadam roads
relieved by t h e ----- brigade.
ing. and you generally get between
the form of a dixie o f hot stew.
arc aduliteli (specially for a heavy
Make
Light
of
Heavy
Loads.
Going down the communication twenty and forty. The brand gen
I looked for my canteen. It had
The streets o f Jerusalem within tha traffic o f automobiles. They also nre
fallen off the fire step, and was half trench we were In a merry mood, al erally Issued Is the “ Woodbine." Some wnlis are ns narrow nnd crowded that satisfactory for a light traffic o f
hurled in the mud. The man on my I though we were cold and wet, and times we ore lucky nnd got “ Gold- it is Impossible to drive a wngon horse-drawn
vehicles
and
heavy
left noticed this, nnd told the corporal", every bone in our bodies ached. It flakes,” “ Players” or “ Red Hussars.” through them, and ninny o f them are trucks. In nil cases they require con
dishing out the rations, to put my ] makes u lot o f difference whether you Occasionally an Issue o f "L ife Rays” built of a series of steps upon the hill stant maintenance.
share In his mess tin. Then he whis ure "going in” or “ going out.”
comes along. Then the older Tommies side, so that it Is n task to lend camels
( f ) Bituminous roads arc suitable
pered to me, “ Always take care of your i At the end of the communication immediately get busy on the recruits or donkeys through them after sunrise for a honvy traffic of both automobiles
mess tin. mate.”
trench, Umbers were waiting on the nnd trade these for “ Woodbines” or Therefore most of the carrying nnd and horse-drawn vehicles and a mod
I had learned another maxim o f the | road for us. I thought we were going “ Goldflnkes.” A recruit only has to porterlng Is done by men. They carry erate traffic o f heavy trucks.
trenches.
to ride back to rest billets, but soon be stuck once in this manner, and then 1 the m0st surprising loads. I nm told
(g ) Concrete roads are adapted to
That stew tasted fine. I wns ns ! found out that the only time an in- he censes to be n recruit. There Is a that they will step nlotig briskly with the snine general class o f traffic ns
hungry ns a bear. We had “ seconds," fantryman rides is when he Is renson. Tommy Is a great cigarette (too [>ourids on their backs, with stont
bituminous roads, nnd generally are
or*nnoth«r helping, because thrqe of wounded and is bound for the base or smoker. He smokes under all condl j ropes holding the bundles to their foro-
cnpublo o f withstanding the traffic o f
the men had “ gone West,” killed by I Blighty. These limbers carried our tions, except when unconscious or j heads.— Exchnnge.
somewhat heavier vehicles without In
the explosion o f the Oormnn trench reserve ammunition and rations. Our when ho is rcconnoitering in No Man’s
jury.
mortar, and we ate their share, bnt march to rest billets was thoroughly Land at night. Then, for obvious rea
On L ife’s Pathway.
(h) Brick roads are adapted to the
still I wns hungry, so I filled in with enjoyed by me. It seemed as if I sons, he does not care to have n light
Do today’s duty, fight today’s tempta- same general class o f traffic ns Con
hnlly beef and biscuits. Then I drained , were on furlough, nnd was leaving be ed clgnrette in ills mouth.
tions, anil do not weaken nnd distract or« te roads. Either brick or concrete
my water bottle. I.ater on I learned hind everything that was disagree
Stretcher bearers carry fngs for yourself by looking forward to things
another maxim o f the front line, "Go able and horrible. Every recruit feels wounded Tommies. When a stretcher which you ennnot see, and could not roads, however, may ho economical
sparingly with your water.” The bully this way after being relieved from the hearer arrives alongside o f a Tommy understand If you saw them.—Charles for only moderate traffic whero othaf
road-building materials are senree.
beef made me thirsty, nnd by tea time ! trenches
who has been lilt the following conver- Kingsley.
¿
D
AN AÌ1DKM SOI M R
MIO WENT
FACTORS IN ROAD BUILDING
* *
MíTIlUC GUY mPCY
MACHINE GUNNER,DRYING W fRAWCE------- -
EMPEY TAKES HIS FIRST TURN ON THE FIRING STEP OF
THE TRENCH WHILE BULLETS WHIZ OVERHEAD.
MOST PERILOUS OF TRADES