The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, April 02, 1918, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2
PAGE TWO .
"Over the Top"
By An American Soldier j
Who Went
; ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
I Machine Gunner Serving In France
4A>>pyri|tbU 4*17. by Arthur tiuj Hiuucr)
(Continued From Last Issue.)
CHAPTER X.
"The Day's Work "
I was fast learning that there is a
regular routine about the work of the
xrenoncs, amiiin^n It is badly upset at
times l?y the (lermans.
The real work in the fire trench
commences at sundown. Tommy Is
like a burglar, he works at night.
.lust as it begins to get dark the
word "stand to" Is passed from traverse
to traverse, and the men get busy.
The first relief, consisting of two men
to a traverse, mount the fire step, one
man looking over the top, while the
other sits at his feet, ready to carry
messages or to inform the platoon officer
of any report made by the sentry
us to his observations in No Man's
Land. The sentry Is not allowed to
Taking Provision
relax his watch for a second. Tf he Is
questioned from the trench or asked
his orders, he reiilies without tnrninir
around or taking his eyes from the expanse
of dirt in front of him. The remainder
of the occupant's of his traverse
either sit on the tire step, with
bayonets fixed, ready for any emergency.
or if lucky, and a dugout happens
to he in the near vicinity of the
traverse, and if the night is quiet, they
are permitted to go to same and try
and snatch a few winks of sleep. Little
Sleeping is done; generally the men sit
around, smoking fags and seeing who
can tell the higgest lie. Some of them,
perhaps with their feet in water, would
write home sympathizing with the
"governor" because he was laid up
with a cold, contracted by getting his
feet wet on his way to work in Woolwich
arsenal. If a man should manage
to doze off, likely as not he would wake
with a start as the clammy, cold feet
of a rat passed over his face, or the
next relief stepped on his stomach
while stumbling on their way to relieve
tne s< ntries in the trench.
Just try to sleep with a belt full of
ammunition around you, your ritle bolt
biting into your ribs. Intrenching tool
handle sticking Into the small of your
back, with a tin hat for a pillow and
feeling very damp and cold, with
"cooties" boring for oil in your arm- |
pits, the air foul from the stench of |
grimy human bodies and smoke from u
juicy pipe being whiffed Into your nostrils,
then you will not wonder why
Tommy occasionally takes a turn In
the trench for a rest.
While in a front-line trench orders
forbid Tommy from removing his
boots, puttees, clothing or equipment.
The "cooties" take advantage of this
order and mobilize their forces, and
Tommy swears vengeance on them and
mutters to himself, "Just wait until I
hit rest billets and am able to get my
?wd back."
Just before daylight the men "turn
to" and tumble out of the dugouts, mnn
the fire step until It gets light, or the
welcome order "stand down" Is given.
Sometimes before "stand down" Is ordered,
the commund "five rounds rapid"
Is passed along the trench. This
means that each man must rest his
rifle on the top and Are as rapidly as
possible Ave shots uimed toward the
German trenches, and then duck (with
m? kiiipiianin on ine "uuok"). There in
i? great rivalry between the opposing
forces to get their rapid Are all off
first, hecatise the early bird, In this Instance,
catches the worm?sort of gets
the Jump on the other fellow, catching
him unawares.
We had a sergeant In our battalion
named Warren. He was on duty with
his platoon In the fire trench one afternoon
when orders cams hp from the
rear that he had been granted seven
days' leave for Blighty, and would he
relieved at five o'clock to proceed to
England.. __ _ ,
i
\
in- wns tickled to death at these K'v?"
welcome tidings and regaled his more
or less envious mates beside him on to <1
the tire step with the good times in Kins
store for him. He figured It out that tfy
in two days' time he would arrive at ft?**1
"Waterloo station, London, and then? K'nf
seven days' bliss I out
At about five minutes to five he Uttl
started to fidget with his rifle, and hag
then suddenly springing up on the tire
step with a muttered, "1*11 send over
a couple of souvenirs to Fritz so that
iiv ip miss nie wnen i leave," ne stuca
his rlfie (iver the top ami flred two shots O
when "crack" went a bullet and he our
tumbled ofT the step, fell into the mud 'nsr
at the bottom of the trench, and lay
still in a huddled heap with li bullet we
hole in his forehead.
At about the time he expected to nr- turr
rive at Waterloo station he was laid rlcd
to rest in a little cemetery behind the hest
lines. He hud gone to Blighty.
In the trenches one can never tell? P? i
It Is not safe to plan very far ahead. onr
After "stand down" the men sit on tron
the fire step or repair to their respec- our
tlve dugouts and wait for the "rum is- *ens
sue" to materialize. Immediately fol- '
lowiug the rum comes breakfast, rftKt
brought up from the rear. Sleeping Is P? (
then in order unless some special work ^on
turns up. ",e
Around 12:30 dinner show's up. ?uul
When this Is eaten the men try to ,<on
mauler iiirin.M n^ *111111 U*H JinilfHTS ' '
' If tl
It w
-kill)
T
8 to the Front, <!rn|
nasi
, sore
vfiSP'" ?
AmjBbI1 |,up'
|^ nn ?
ino
y _ . HF'nwl nppi
Lewis Gun in Action. nnd
.?a. ..i. > ..... _ frnr
m niMun iour o ciocK, tnen "stand to" """
and they carry on as before.
While In rest billets Tommy nets up rnK<
about six In the morning, washes up, s
answers roll rail, Is Inspected by his '
platoon officer, ami has breakfast. At ''
8:4.r> be parndes (drills) with his corn- y
pany or goes on fntlgue according to ,e
the orders which have been rend out [ v
by the orderly sergeant the night pre- en
vlous. ^
I Between 11:30 and noon he Is dls- w^'
missed, has his dinner nnd is "on his Pet
own" for the remainder of the day,
nnless he has clicked for a digging or <V'n
working party, and so It goes on from
day to day, always "looping the loop" ?
and leoking forward to peace nnd
j Blighty. | In*
Sometimes, while engaged In a ,n(*(
i "cootie" hunt, you think. Strange to
say, hut It Is a fact, while Tommy Is | *? I
n?nrrning nis anirt serious thoughts WB>
, come to him. Mnny a time, when per- ] Th?
(forming this operation, I have tried to |
I to figure out the outcome of the war ?nd
and what will happen to me, the
My thoughts generally ran In thla i ,he:
channel: , the
Will I emerge safely from the next j
attack? If I do will I akin through the
following one, and ao on? While your j "ac
mind la wandering Into the future It
la likely to be rudely brought to earth ^es
by a Tommy Interrupting with, "What'a r,ai
good for rheumatism?" r^?I
Then you have aomethlng elae to
think of. Will you come out of thla ?
war crippled and tied Into knota with '
rheumatism, cauaed by the wet and
ffuid of trenches and dugouts? You ' c?'
THE LANCASTER I
1 It lip as a bad 3?b nnd generally
iter over to the nearest estmnlnet
Irown your moody forebodings In a
s of sickening French beer or to
your luck at the always present
le of "house." You can hear the
;-song voice of a Tommy droning
the numbers as he extracts the
e squares of cardboard from the
between his feet.
CHAPTER XI.
Over the Top.
n my second trip to the trenches
officer was milking his rounds of
lection, and we received the cheernews
that at four in the morning
were to go over the top and take
German front-line trench. My heart
led to lead. Then the officer earon
with his Instructions. To the
of my memory I recall them irs
nvs: "At eleven a wiring party will
)Ut in front and cut lanes through
barbed wire for the passage of
ps in the morning. At two o'clock
artillery will open up with an ine
bombardment, which will last un'our.
Upon the lifting of the bar'
the first of the three waves will
iver." Then he left. Some of the
no'os first getting permission from
sergeant, went into the machine
tiers' dugout and wrote letters
le. saying that In the morning they
e going over the top. and also thnt
be letters reached their destination
ould mean that the writer had been
pd.
hose letters were turned over to
captain with instructions to mail
e in the event of the writer's being
d. Some of the men made out
r wills in their pay books, under
caption, "Will and Last Testait."
hen the nerve-racking wait corniced.
Every now and then I would
ice at the dial of rnv wrist watch
was surprised to see how fust the
ntes passed by. About five minutes
wo I cot nervous waiting for our
s to open up. I could not take my
! from my watch. I crouched
nst the parapet and strained my
eles in a deathlike grip upon my
As the hands on my watch
ved two o'clock a blinding red flare
ted up the sky in our roar, then
ider, intermixed with a sharp, whis- I
I sound in the nir over our heads. I
shells from our guns were speedon
their way toward the Herman
s. With one accord the men
ng up on the fire step and looked
the top in the direction of the
man trenches. A line of bursting
Is lighted up No Man's Land. The
was terrific and the ground treinTl?/.?1
*- *
ni-ii, iii^ii mmvr our neuus we
d h"nr a sighing moan. Our hlg
j behind the line had opened up
0.'J's and 1.r?-lneh shells commenced
iping into the German lines. The
1 of the guns behind the lines, the
am of the shells through the air.
the flare of them, bursting, was a
tacle that put Pain's greatest disinto
the shade. The constant
pup, of German machine guns and
K-casional rattle of rifle firing gave
the Impression of n huge audience
lauding the work of the batteries,
ur 18-pounders were destroying the
man barbed wire, while the heavier
f was demolishing their trenches
hashing In dugouts or funk holes,
lieu Fritz got busy,
heir shells went screaming ovor1,
alined in the direction of the
s from our batteries. Trench mori
started dropping "Minnies" in
rront line, we clicked sevwal onsies.
Then they suddenly censed,
nrtlllery hud taped or silenced
n.
urlng the homhnrdment yon could
r>st read n newspaper in our trench,
ictlmes In the flare of a shell-hurst
inn's body would be silhouetted
nst the parados of the trench and
ppenred like n huge monster. You
d hardly hear yourself think. When
order was to be passed down the
eh you had to yell It. using your
ds as a funnel Into the ear of the
i sitting next to you on the fire st?g>.
fihout twenty minutes a generous
Issue was doled out. After drlnkthe
rum. which tasted like varnish
sent a shudder through your
ae. you wondered why they made
wait until the lifting of the har?
before going over. At ten mlni
to four word wlla passed down,
n minutes to go!" Ten minutes
ive! We were shivering all over,
legs felt as If they were asleep,
n word was passed down: "First
e get on and near the sealing ladhese
were small wooden ladders
eh we had plaeed against the pnrato
enable us to go over the top on
lifting of the barrage. "Ladders of
th" we railed them, and veritably
f were.
efore a eharge Tommy Is the post
of men. There Is never any pushor
erowding to be flrHt up these
lers. We crouehed around the base
the ladders waiting for the word
to over. I was slek and faint, and
i puffing away at an unllghted fag.
n came the word. "THree minutes
to; upon the lifting of the barrage
I on the blast of tjie whistles, 'Over
ton with the he?t n' Wnr>tr onH
m hell.'" The famous phrase of
western front The Jonuh phrase
the western front. To Tommy It
?ns If you are lucky enough to come
k you will he minus an arm or a
Tommy hates to be wished the
t of luck; so, when peace Is dered,
if It ever Is, and yon meet a
nmy on the street, Just wish him the
t of luck and duck the brick that
own.
glanced again at my wrist watch,
all wore them and you could hHrdly
I us "sissies" for doing so. It wns a
MEWS, LANCASTER, S. C.
I minute to four. I could see the ha
* move to the twelve, then a dead
I lence. It hurt. Everyone looked
to see what had happened, but not 1
long. Sharp whistle blasts rang c
along the trench, and with a cheer t
men scrambled up the ladders. T
bullets ^ere cracking overhead, a
occasionally a machine gun would i
and tear the top of the sandbag pai
pet. How I got up that ladder I w
never know. The first ten feet out
front wns agony. Then we pass
through lanes In our barbed wire,
knew I was running, but could feel
motion below the waist. Patches
the ground seemed to float to the rt
hk If I were on n treadmill and se?
ery was rushing past tue. The (5<
mans had put a barrage of shrapt
across No Man's Land, and you cot
hear the pieces slap the ground ahc
you.
After I had passed our harhed wl
and gotten Into No Man's Land
Tommy about fifteen feet to my rij:
front turned around and looking in t
direction, put his hand to his mou
and yelled something which 1 could r
make out on account of the noise fr<
the bursting shells. Then he cough*
stumbled, pitched forward and lay st
Ilis body seemed to float to the re
of me. 1 could hoar sharp cracks
the r.'r :.nout me. These were caus
hy nassing rifle bullets. Frequent
to my right and left, little spurts
dirt would rl?*o into the air and n rlr
chet 1 "Met would whim- ?>n its wn
If a Tommy should vsee one of the
little spurts in front of him. he won
tell the nurse ulicut It later. T1
crossing of No Man's Land remains
blank to me.
Men on m.v right and left wou
stumnip and fall. Some would try
pet up. while others remained huddli
and motionless. Then smashed-!
barbed wire came into view ai
seemed carried on a tide to the re?
Suddenly, in front of me loomed
hashed-in trench about f<rur feet wit]
Queer-looking forms like mud turtl
were s.. ambling up its wall. One
these forms seemed to slip and tin
rolled to the bottom of the trench,
leaped across tills Intervening spat
The man to my left seemed to pause
midair, then pitched head down In
the German trench. 1 lauphed out loi
in my delirium. Upon alighting on t!
other side of the trench I came to w'i
a sudden Jolt. Right in front of n
loomed a plant form with a rille wlih
looked about ten feet long, on the ei
of which seemed seven bayonets. The
flashed in the air In front of me. Tin
through my mind flushed the admot
tion of our bayonet Instructor hack
Blighty. He had snid, "whenever y<
mi in n rim rue and run your Imyon
up to the hilt Intotn Gornuin the Frl
will full. Perhaps your rifle will 1
wrenched from your grasp. Do n
waste time, if the bayonet is fouli
in his equipment, by putting your fo
on his stomach and tugging at the ril
to extricate the bayonet. Simp
press tile trigger and the bullet w
free it." In my present situation tli
was the logic, but for the life of n
I could not remember how he had to
me to get my bayonet into the G<
man. To ine this was the paramou
issue. I closed my eyes and lungi
forward. My rifle was torn from n
hands. I must have gotten the fl<
man because he had disappear!
About twenty feet to my left fro
was a huge Prussian nearly six fo
four inches In height, a fine speclini
of physical manhood. The bayon
from his rifle was missing, bur 1
clutched the barrel in both hands tu
was swinging the butt around his hen
I could almost hear the swish of tl
butt passing Through the air. Thr
little Tommies were engaged with hii
They looked like pigmies alongside
the Prussian. The Tomniv on the w
was gradually circling to the rear
his opponent. It was a funny sight
see them duck the swinging butt ai
try to Jah him at the same time. T
Tommy nearest me received the hi
of the fiermun's rifle in a smash!
blow below the right temple,
smashed his head like an eggshell. 1
pitched forward on his side and a c<
vulslve shudder ran through his bo<
Meanwhile the other Tommy h
gained the rear of the Prussian. St
denly about four Inches of bayor
protruded from the throat of the I'rt
sinn soldier, who staggered forwa
and fell. I will never forget the lo
of blank nstonishment that came o>
his face.
Then something hit me in the It
shoulder and my left side went nun
It felt as if a hot poker wns bei
driven through me. I felt no pair
just a sort of nervous shock. A bt
onet had pierced me from the rear,
fell backward on the ground, but w
not unconscious, because I could t
dim objects moving around me. Th
a flash of light In front of nay eyes a
unconsciousness. Something had ]
me on the head. I have never fou
out what it was.
I dreamed I was being tossed ab<
in an open boat on a heaving sea a
opened my eyes. The moon was ah
Injr. I war on a stretcher being c
rled down one of our communlcatl
trenches. At the advanced flrst-i
post my wounds were dressed, a
then I was put Into an ambulance a
sent to one of the base hospitals. 1
wounds in my shoulder and head w<
not serious and in six weeks I had
Joined my company for service In 1
front line.
CHAPTER XII.
Bombing.
The boys in the section welcomed
1 back, but there were many strar
| faces. Several of our men had gf
1 West in that charge, and were lyl
"somewhere In France" with a lit
$
n,l [wooden cross ut theTrTicads. We were c
s'~ In rest billets. The next day our cnp- v
Fu,> tain asked for volunteers for bombers' K
school. I pave my name and was accepted.
1 had Joined the Suicide club, .
^ and ny 'roubles commenced. Thirty- .
H> two men of the battalion, including myself,
were sent to L . where we
rip si
ra- went through a course In bombing, fi
.111 linen ? ?? A * *
,,, ,vrre mvirucieu in the uses, w
In methods of throwing and manufacture p
ied of various kinds of hand grenade?, el
I from the old "jam tin," now obsolete, a
no to the present Mills bomb, the standard e
on of the British army,
ar H all depends where you nre as to tl
mi- what you are railed. In France they n
er- call you a "bomber" and give you med- b
lei als, while in neutral countries they
lid call you an anarchist and give you n
>ut "lift." s<
Irom the very start the Germans
Ire were well equipped with effective ^
8 bombs and trained bomb throwers, but
>ht the English army was as little pre?y
pared in this important department of
dh fighting as In tunny others. At bomb- e'
>ot jup school an old sergeant of the Gren- Nv
,,n >ndief guards, whom I bad the good r<
fortune to meet, told me of iti? dlscour111.
ageinents this branch ??f the ?orvii<o ''
,,,r j RiifTcred before they could meet the 11
'n | Germans on on equal foot J up. (Pa el,l<'
I fists and smnll army people in the *'
'? j l\ S. please rend with care.) The first ('
English expeditionary forces had no
>n. honihs at nil, hut had clicked a lot of c<
casualties from those thrown hy the
Kochcs. One bright morning someone n
](j higher up had an idea and Issued an *
(,p order detailing two men from each w
a platoon to go to bombing school to ci
learn the duties of a bomber nnd how , tti
to manufacture honihs. Noncommls- | tl:
stoned officers were generally selected pi
. for this course. After about two r<
IMl
weeks at school they returned to their
units In rest billets or in the fire hi
trench, ns the case might he. and got n
busy teaching their platoons how to to
* mnke "Jain tins." 01
Previously an order hnd been Issued la
for all ranks to save empty Jam tins sc
for the manufacture of bombs. A pro- i
fessor of bombing would sit on the , gt
fire step in the front trench with the j Is
remainder of his section crowding a
n around to see him work. tt,
to <?n his left would he n pile of empty si
" and rusty Jam tins, while beside him ej
1 on the fire sten won I ft ho ? niivcniin. n<
'n neous assortment of mnterlal ?sed in b<
,1'> the manufacture of the "Jam tins." to
Tommy would stoop down, g?* an rl,
11 empty "Jam tin," take a handful of y<
st> clayey mud from the parapet, and line o>
n the Inside of the tin with this sub- In
stance. Then he would reach over, tli
'n pick up his detonator and explosive, ?
,u and Insert them In the tin, fuse pro- tli
trudlnp. On the fire step would he a I'1
,z pile of fragments of shell, shrapnel to
balls, bits of iron, nails, etc.?anything to
ot that was hard enough to send over to '
Frit?.; he would scoop up a handful of lc
ot this Junk and put It in the bomb. Per- In
baps one of the plntoon would ask him tt
' v what he did this for, and he would hi
explain that when the bomb exploded ,
'?s thest* bits would fly about and kill or a
IM* wound any German hit by same; the pi
l(' questioner would Immediately pull a tl
>r" button olf his tunic and hand it to ol
iiif iMuiiii nuiKcr wnn, -wen, mnme ni
l'd nie. send this over ns n souvenir," or ni
l>' another Tommy would volunteer on
r* old rusty und broken Jnekknlfe; both
''' wou'o he tc?\ipted and Inserted. i p
nt Then 'he professor would take an- A
ft other handful of mud and till the tin, v fr
'*n after which he would punch a hole in ri
t'1 the lid of the tin and put It over the tl
top of the bomb, the fuse sticking out. { w
Then perhaps he would tightly wrap s<
wire around the outside of the tin. nnd 01
the bomb was ready to send over to I
*'e Fritz with Tommy's compliments. in
A piece of wood about four Inches tl
wide had been Issued. This was to be a
ft strapped on the left forearm by means "t
of two leather straps and was like tho ai
to side of a match box; It was called a tl
ri<* "striker." There was a tip like the h<
,,e head of a match on the fuse of the le
llt bomb. To Ignite the fuse, you bad to J
nK rub It on the "striker," Just the same *<
^ ns striking a match. The fuse was vi
,e timed to five seconds or longer. Some ! 01
,n" of the fuses Issued In those days would tr
'y- burn down In a second or two, while p(
,u' others would "size" for a week before u
exploding. Back In Blighty the muni*
le* Hon workers weren't quite up to snuff, 01
,s" the wny they are now. If the fuse took b
n* a notion to burn too quickly they gen- 01
ok erally burled the bomb maker next t,
ypr J? ??- ? ?* * * '
uwy. su musing Domns couia not De ni
called a "cushy" or safe job. I t<
After making several bombs the pro- n
fessor Instructs the platoon In throw- J a
Ing them. lie takes a "Jam tin" from n
1? the fire step, trembling a little, beiy
b
I to get rid of that "Jam tin," because ^
from experience he had learned not
,ee to trust It
en When the powers that be realized
n() that they could not change Tommy
hit ,l,?y decided to change the type of
n(j bomb and did so?substituting the
"hair brush," the "cricket ball," and
)tlt later the Mills bomb.
n(j The standard bomb used In ^he Brltin.
i Ish army Is the "Mills." It la ahnnt tti?
nr_ I shape and size of a large lemon. Alon
though not actually a lemon, Frit* In,j(j
slats that It Is; perhaps he Judges It
n(j by the havoc caused by Its explosion.
n<l j The Mills bomb Is made of steel, the
"he outside of which Is corrugated Into 48
?re small squares, which, upon the explo- |
re. slon of the bomb, scatter In a wide
jje area, wounding or killing any Frit* j
who Is unfortunate enough to be hit j
by one of the flying fragments. J
Although a very destructive and efficient
bomb the "Mills" has the confidence
of the thrower. In that he
m0 knows It wHl not explode until released
from his grip. II
1 It Is a mechanical device, with a a
lnK lever, fitted into a slot at the top, ar
tie ??? a
.? - . " -;-rv . -ivTUESDAY,
APRIL 2, 1918.
uuse ft Is "nervous work, especially
hen new nt It. lights the fuse on his
trlk.er. The fuse begins to "slzz" and
rrnlter and a spiral of smoke, like
hat from a smoldering fag. rises from
!. The plr.toon splits In two and
ucks around the traverse nearest' to
hem. They don't like the looks and
ound of the burning fuse. When that
use begins to smoke and "slzz" you
ant to say good-by to It as soon as
osslble, so Tommy with all his might
hucks It Over the top and crouches
gainst the parapet, waiting for the
xploslon.
Lots of times In bombing the "Jam
n" would be picked up by the Gerinns,
before It exploded, and thrown
ack at Tommy with dire results.
After a lot of men went West In this
tanner an order wns Issued, rending
[tmething like this:
"To all ranks In the British army:
ftl?r Itrniflntr thn f "OA o rwl
v.?*r .uov ?...?? "< l"l ^
irowlng the jam-tin bomb, count
lowly one! two! three!"
This In order to give the fuse time
novgh to burn down, so that tbe bomb
ould explode before the Germans
mild throw It hack.
Tommy read the order?he reads
lem all, but after he ignited the fuse
ml It began to smoke?orders were
irgotten. and away she went In record
me and back she came to the further
^comfort of the thrower. ^
Then another order was Issued to
mint, "one hundred! two hundred I
iree htv.dred I" But Tommy didn't
ire If the order read to count up to
lhrtllUfinH hv rill,,pfore ho
V, ..s " "" ?? "?
null extends half wny around the
reuinference and is held In place at
le bottom by a fixing pin. In this pin
lere is a small metal ring, for the
irpose of extracting the pin when
>ady to throw.
You do not throw a bomb the wny a
nsehall is thrown, because, when in
narrow trench, your hand is liable
i strike ngninst the parados, traverse
pnrnpet, and then down goes the
*mb. and, in a couple of seconds or
>. up goes Tommy.
In throwing, the bomb and lever are
asped Ih the right hand, the left foot
advanced, knee stiff, about one and
half its length to the front, while
le right leg. knee hent, is carried
Ightly to the right. The left arm Is
ctended at an angle of 45 degrees,
tinting Ih the direction the bomb is to
> thrown. This position is similar
i that of shot putting, only that the
pht arm Is extended downward. Then
tu hurl the bomb from you with an
rerhead bowling motion, tjie same as
i cricket, throwing it fairly high In
ie iiir, tnis in order to give the fuse
chance to burn down so that when
ie bomb lands. It Immediately exodes
and gives the Germans no time
? scamper out of Its range or to reirn
it.
As the bomb leaves your hand, the
ver, by means of a spring. Is projected
to the air and falls harmlessly to
ie ground a few feet In front of the
nnher.
When the lever (lies off it releases
strong spring, which forces the tiring
n Into a percussion cap. This ignMcs
ie fuse, which hums down and sets
Y the detonator, charged with fulmlite
of mercury, which explodes the
ain chnrge of ammonal.
The average British soldier Is not an
tpert at throwing; it is a yew game
t him, therefore the Canadians and
.... I < mm imvf piayeu nusetmll
om the kindergarten up, take nntuilly
to bomh ttirowing and excel In
lis act. A six-foot English bomber
ill stand In awed silence when he
*es a little flve-foot-nothing Canadian
utdistanee his throw by several yards,
have read a few war stories of boinbig,
where baseball pitchers curved
iclr bombs when throwing them, but
pitcher who can do this would make
"hristy" Mathewson look lfke a piker,
rul Is losing valuable time playing In
le European War bush league, when
e would be able to set ttoe "big
ague" on Are.
We had a cushy time while at this
hool. In fact, to us it was a regular
ucatlon, and we were very sorry when
ne morning the adjutant ordered us
? report at headquarters for transartntlon
and rations to return to our
nits up the line.
Arriving at out section, the boys
nee again tendered us the glad mitt,
ut looked askance at us out of the
irners of their eyes. They could not
mcelve, as they expressed It, how a
ion could he such a blinking Idiot an
> Join the Hulclde club. I was beglnIng
to feel sorry that I had become
member of said club, and my life to
le appeared doubly precious.
Now that I was a sure-enough
omber I was praying for peace and
oping that my services as such would
ot be required.
(To be Continued.)
fwSSI I
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Not for Him.
"Does the evening hoar 'ring with
t a feeling of peace and tranquility?"
sked the poetic person. "No," an- ig
wered the practical man. "I operate m
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