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< fct -- - - r w jtii wrtAPTE;R XW. I Picks and Shovels, I had not slept long before tlie swe&t voice of the sergeant informed that "No. 1 section had ciicked for anoiher blinking digging party." I smiled to myself with deep satisfaction. I had been promoted from a mere digger to a member of the Suicide club, and was exempt from all fatigues. Then came an awful shock. The sergeant looked * over in my direction and said: ; "Don't you bomb throwers think you xv in i are wearing top nats ouu nere. i^oruin' to orders you've been taken up on the strength of this section, and will have to do your bit with the pick and >4 shovel, same as the rest of us." I I put up a howl on my way to get; my shovel, but the only thing that resulted was a loss of good humor on my part { We fell in at eight o'clock, outside of our billets, a sort of masquerade party. I was disguised as a common J ? i J-*!-" nr\/l ell ATTiil on ^ ? laUU1 f I, XiUU ?V pita auu uuu , abont one hundred empty sandbags, j The rest, about two hundred in all, were equipped likewise: picks, shovels, sandbags, rifles and ammunition. The party moved out in column of \ fours, taking the road leading to the j trenches. Several times we had to string out in the ditch to let long columns of limbers, artillery and supplies lit*" K get * m The marching, under these condiHons, was necessarily slow. Upon ar rrhral at the entrance to the communication trench, I looked at ray illuminated wrist 'watch?it was eleven o'dock. Before entering this trench, word ! was passed down the line, "no talking ' or smoking, lead OjI In single file, cov. ering party first." This covering party consisted of 30 men, armed with rifles, bayonets, bombs, and two Lewis machine guns, j, They were to protect us and guard | against a surprise attack while dig- i ging in No Man's Land* The communication trench was j ( about half a mile long, a zigzagging j l ditch, eight feet deep and three feet hfe wide. |?fm and again, German shrapnel WUU1U w iH&UC uvciiicuu anu >u itlMOur vicinity. We would crouch against earthen walls while the shell fragments "sTappecr'' the ground above us. Once Fritz turned loose with a ma- | chine gun, the bullets from which ; **cracked" through the air and. kicked j f up the dirt on the top, scattering sand j and pebbles, which, hitting our steel , helmets, sounded like hailstones. ! Upont arrival in the fire trench aa , officer of the Hoyal Engineers gave us our instructions and acted as guide. We were to dig an advanced trench f two hundred yards from the Germans (the trenches at this point were six , hundred yards apart). Two winding lanes, five feet wide, had been cut through our barbed wire, ! " *1 - J! T-? I tor me passage 01 uie luggers. r iuuj | these lines white tape had been laid i?8lMB|MjBjM^0^^ij?wraw^MM^BB^BP^^M^^BRvv>>vv|,..!?^^'> 3 Jill v . -? ' . Trench Digging. ?n the ground to the point where we "were to commence work. This in order that we would not get lost in the darkness. The proposed trencli was i also laid out with tape. The covering party went out first, f a short wait two scouts came TT^IS'V TT4 ten ifm\' SOLDIER 0 WENT * * IlIIDfillYFMDfY AiVIV JL 1,1 XI X Z W,ER,5E*IH fRABCE?^ _____ ! ?1917 BY | 4 ARrHUR C/Y EfJPEYi ;j back with information that the working party was to follow and "carry on" with their work. In extended order, two yards apart, we noiselessly crept across No Man's Land. It was nervous work; every minute we expected a machine gun to open lire on us. Stray bullets "cracked" around us, or a ricochet sang overhead. Arriving at the taped diagram of the trench, rifles slung around our shoulders, we lost no time In getting to work. We dug as quietly as possible bur every now and then the noise of a pick or shovel striking a stone would send the cold shivers down our backs. Under our breaths we heartily cursed the offending Tommy. At intervals a star shell would go up from the German lines and we wouid remain motionless until the glare of its white light died out. When the trench had reached a depth of two feet we felt safer, because? i* tvnnld afford us cover in cast we were discovered and tired on. The digging had been in prw--about two hours, when suddenly lie'r seemed to break loose in the form of machine-gun and rifle fire. We dropped down on our bellies in the shallow trench, bullets knocking up the ground and snapping iii the air. Then shrapnel butted in The music was hot and Tommy danced. The covering party was having a rough time of it; they had no cov*?r; just had to take their medicine. Word was passed down the line to beat it for our trenches. We needed no urging; graDDing our ioois ariu mwiping low, we legged it across No Man's Land. The covering party got away to a poor start but beat us in. They must have had wings because we lowered the record. Panting and out of breath, we tumbled into oar front-line trench. I tore my hands getting through our wire, but, at the time, didnt notice it; my journey was too urgent. When the roll was called we found that we had gotten it in the nose for 63 casualties. Onr nrtiTTorv rmf a barrage on Fritz* front-line and communication trenches and their machine-gun and rifle fire suddenly ceased. Upon tlie cessation of this fire, stretcher bearers went out to look for killed and wounded. Next dhy we learned that 21 of our men had been killed and V>7 wounded. Five men were missing; lost in the darkness, they must have wandered over into the German lines, where they were either killed or captured. Speaking of stretcher bearers and wounded, ft is very hard for the average civilian to comprehend the enormous cost of taking care of wonnded and the war^n general. He or she gets so accustomed to seeing hi il ions of dollars in print that the significance of the amount fc passed over without thought. From an oflklal statement published in one of the London papers, it is stated that it costs between six and seven thousand pounds ($30,000 to $35,000) to kill or wound a soldier. This result was attained by taking the cost of the war to date and dividing it by the killed and wounded. It may sound heartless a?d inhuman, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that from a military standpoint it is better for a man to be killed than wounded. If a man is killed he is buried, and the responsibility of the government ceases, excepting for the fact that his people receive a pension. But if a man is wounded it takes three men from the firing line, the wounded man and two men to carry him to the rear to the advanced first-aid post. Here he is attended by a doctor, perhaps assisted by two B, A. M. 0. men. Then he Is put into a motor ambulance, manned by a crew of two or three. At the field hospital, where be generally goes under an anesthetic, either to have his wounds cleaned or to be operated on, he requires the services of about three to five persons. From this point another ambulance ride impresses more men in his service, and then at the ambulance train, another corps of doctors, R. A. M. C. men, Red Cross nurses and the train's crew. From the train he enters the base hospital or casualty clearing station, where a good-sized corps of (loctora, mcrses, ere., are nepi busy. Amrtber ambuJance journey is next in order?tins time to the hospital ship. He TroKSffi ihe channel, arrives in Blighty?more ambulances and perhaps a rid<> for fire bow? on an English Red CrosF trata with its crew of Red Cross workers, ami at last he reaches tb<? hospital. Onerally he stays from two to six months, or longer, in this hospital. frori here he is sent to a oonratoecent home for six weeks. If by wrnccdK is unfitt^l for further service, !e discharged, giveu a pension, or committed to a soldiers' home for the rwt of his life?ami stili the expense piles u?. When you real ize that all tlie ambulances, trains and ships, not to mention the man power, used in transporting a wounded man, could be used for supplies, ammunition and re-enforcements for the troops at the front, it will not appear strange that from a strictly military standpoint, a dead man is sometimes better than a live one (if wounded). Not long after the first digging party, our general decided, after a careful tour of inspection of the communication trenches, upon "an ideal spot," as he termed it, for a machine-gun emplacement: took his map, made a dot on it, and as he was wont, wrote "dig here," and the next night we dug. There were twenty in tne party, myself included. Armed with piclcs, shovels and empty sandbags we arrived at the "ideal spot" and started digging. The moon v.-as very bright, but wo did not care as we wore well out of sight of the German lines. Wo had gotten about three foet down, when the* fellow n?\*t to mo, after a mighty stroke with his pick, iet go of the handle, and pinched his tose with his thumb and forefinger, at the same time letting out the explosion. "Gott strafe hip pink, I'm bloody well gassed, not *alf I ain't." I quickly turned in his direction with an inquiring look, at the same instant reaching for my gas bag. I soon found out what was ailing him. One whiff wns enough and I lost rto time in also pinching my nose. Tho stench was awful. The rest of the digging party dropped their picks and shovels and beat itvfor the weather side of that solitary pick. The officer came over and inquired why the work had suddenly ceased, holding our noses, we simply pointed in the direction of the smell. He went over to the 'pick, immediately clapped his hand iover his nose, made an "about turn" and came hacV. Just then our captain came along and investigated, but j after aV,ut a minute said we had bet(ter carry on with the digging, that he ? 1-1 u. (did not see v:ny we snouid ih vh stopped as the odor was ve?*y faint, but if necessary he would allow us our gas helmets while digging. He would stay and see the thing through, but he had to report back to brigade headquarters immediately. We wished that we were captains and also had a date at brigade headquarters. With our gas . helmets on we again attacked that hole and uncovered the decomposed body of a German; the pick was sticking in his chest. One of the men fainted. I* was that one. Upon this our lieutenant halted proceedings and sent word back to headquarters and word came back that after we filled in the hole we could knock off for the night. This was welcome tidings to us, because? Next day the general changed the dot on his map and another emplacement was completed the following The odor from the. dug-up, decomposed human body.has an effect which is hard to describe. It lirst produces a nauseating feeling, which, especially after eating, causes vomiting. This relieves you temporarily, hut scon a weakening sensation follows, \Vhich leaves you limp as a dishrag. Your spirits are at their lowest ebb and you feel a sort of hopelessness and a mad desire to escape it all, to get to the open fields and the perfume of the flowers in Elighty. There is a sharp, prickling sensation in the nostrils, which f reminds one of breathing coal gas through a radiator in the floor, and you want to sneeze, but cannot. This was the .effect on me, surmounted by a vague horror of the awfulness of the thing and an ever-recurring reflection that, perhaps I, sooner or later, would be in such a state and be brought to light by the blow of a pick in the hands of some Tommy on a digging party. ; Several times I have experienced this odor, but never could get used to it; the enervating sensation was always present It made me hate war and wonder why such things were countenanced by civilization, and all the spice and glory of the conflict would disap-! pear, leaving the grim reality* But after leaving the spot and filling your lungs with deep breaths of pure, fresh air, you forget and once again want to be "up and at them." j CHAPTER XV. t I Listening Post. It was six in the morning when we ' arrived at our rest billets, and we were allowed to sleep until noon; that is, ; if we wanted to go without our break- j fast. For sixteen days we remained Entrance to a Dugout. \ ?n rest billets, digging roads, drilling, and other fatigues, and then back into the front-line trench. Nothing happened that night, but the next afternoon I found out that a bomber is general utility man in a section. About five o'clock in the afternoon our lieutenant came down the trench and stopping in front of a bunch of us on the fire step, with a broad grin on his face, asked: "Who is going to volunteer for listening post tonight? I need two men." It is heedless to say no one volunteered, because it is anything but a cu: \y job. I began to feel uncomfortable as I knew it was getting around for my turn. Sure enough, with anotli * grin, he said: "Empey, you and Wheeler ::re due, so come down into my dugout for int-. rue! ions at six o'clock." Just as he left and was going around i r verse, Fritz turned loose with a i.iu? gun und the bullets ripped the :.ll?ags right over his head. It gave ?:: ? great pleasure to see him duck i! iinst the parapet. He was getting a taste of what we would get later out in front. Then, of course, It began to rain. I knew it was the forerunner of a miserable night for us. Every time I had to go out in front, it just naturally rained. Old Jupiter Pluvius must have had it in for me. At six wc reported for instructions. They were simple and easy. All we had to do was to crawl out into No Man's Land, lie 011 our bellies with our a. - . - .1 1 4-1^^ ears u> me pnuiiu unu um iut mc tap, tap of the German engineers or sappers who might be tunneling under No Man's Land to establish a minehead beneath our trench. Of course, in our orders we were told not to be captured by German patrols or r'K'O'noitering parties. Lots 0/ breath is wasted on tne western front giving silly cautions. As soon as it was dark, Wheeler and I crawied to our post which was about halfway between the lines. It was raining bucketfuls, the ground was a sea of sticky mud and clung to us like giue. We took turns in listening with our ears to the ground. I would listen for twenty minutes while Wheeler would be on the qui vive fdr German patrols. We each wore a wristwatch, and believe me, neither one of us did over twenty minutes. The rain soaked us to the skin and our ears were full of mud. Every few minutes a bullet would crack overhead or a machine gun would traverse back and forth. Then all firing suddenly ceased. I whispered to Wheeler, "Keep your eye skinned, mate; most likely Fritz has a patrol out?that's why the Boches have stopped firing." We were each armed with a rifle and bayonet and three Mills bombs to be used for defense only. I had my ear to the ground. All of a sudden I heard faint, dull thuds. In a low but excited voice I whispered to Wheeler, "I think they are mining, listen." He put his ear to the gronnd and in nn unsteady voice spoke into my eur; "Yank, that's a patrol and it's headIns our way. Por God's sake keep still." I was as still as a mouse and was scared stiff. Hardly breathing and with eyes trying to pierce the inky blackness, we waited. I wonld have given a thousand pounds to have been safely in my dugout Then we plainly heard footsteps and our hearts stood still. A dark form suddenly loomed up in front of me; it looked as big as the Woolworth building. I could near the blood rushing through my veins and it sounded as loud as Niagara falls. Forms seemed to emerge from the darkness. There were seven of them in all. I tried to wish them away. I never wished harder in my life. They muttered a few words in German and! melted into the blackness. I didn't stop wishing either. All of a sudden we heard a stumble, a muddy splash, and a muttered "Don-, ner und Blitzen." One of the Boches! had tumbled into a shell hole. Neither of us laughed. At that time?it dkln't Strike us as funny. About twenty minutes after the Germans hi 1 disappeared something from the rear grabbed me by the foot. I nearly fainted with fright Then a welcome whisper in a cockney accent.; "I s'y, myte, we've eome to relieve you." Wheeler and I crawled back to our trench; we looked like wet hens and felt worse. After a swig of rnm we, were soon fast asleep 00 the fire step In onr wet clothes. The next morning I was as stiff as a poker and every Joint ached like a |bad tooth, but I was stfH alive, so it did not matter. i (TO BE CONTINUED.) If jou want cotton mules at the right price, don't fail to see this bunch -* \ that will arrive at our stable on Wednesday. The Parcell Company. 3-4 It. ! m umirci nTicifli\ii,? ! lAiVl 11!.^ cutLUii acfu culled for plantfing purposes, to improve stand and staple, will piease phone 4411. I have also a; No. 1 4-horse power gasoline engine for sale at reasonable price. 0. 5 H. Lane. l-22tf | FITFGIJX 0A?tS?$1.80 per bnshel for sale by Johnson McOraekie Co. 2-8 tf. ; ' "3 UN KgP PLANT Deported Men and Prisoners Are & Driven Into Slavery by German Authorities. MAKE STARTL1KS GiSCLOSUR * * Ft U AlloKtrlan TaIIc? U n Rp!. ivnanuwi i who iutt l^w^wi wwu k#v?gians and French Prisoners of War Are Compelled to Work in Munitions Factory in Essen. FT By W. J. L. KIEHL. a (Correspondent of the Chicago News. wt The Hague, Holland.-?A Netherlimcer who until four days ago was en. Jf); ployed at Krupp's munition works i: Essen, Germany, makes the startlin; disclosure that some 4,0(H) Hollander, are working at Essen in the munition Jjn ''niirl wflr mntprinl fnr*tr?rins. Most 0. ..... ? ui these men get there through the mach: Se nations of what this "escaped" Ko' ^ lander calls "Seelenerkaufer"?Cchej in & Ossendegner of Rotterdam, win. rjJ seem to act as agents for supnlyin; ' Germany with greatly needed labor. Eighty or ninety men a day generally q, find their way across the border by means of their agents, lured by the prospect of very high wages and good ^ Whnt tl>pv find in rojilitr Jintj s\n iWVV.. v v ^ ? - ? *f\J how next to impossible it is made tor them to return to their own country is thus told in the Hollander's words: )JC No Return Pass Given. ,,r "When this firm of agents secnred m my services they did not mention war ^ work," he said. "I was given to under- , stand that ffeid labor and trade work ^ was required. Also I was promised 7r that I could return any Saturday to fQ Holland to stay through Sunday* rIhe ^ promised wages were high and food was said to be plentiful. I accepted, my pass was ready in a few moments, ^ K?+ T L-nnw thot thp ^icnjltlireS UUL 1 ?iU 11V1. ttiAV ?? v?*uV v*?x/ ~j~c? and vises required for ray return to r* Holland had been omitted, as they always are in the passes given by these ^ agents, no doubt because they know perfectly well that after a week in ^ Germany no single Hollander would w ever think cf returning there after his m week-end in Holland. ^ "Soon after my entrance upon Ger- ^ man soil at El ten, where I found sev- ^ eral compatriots like myself, we were ^ met. bv an aeent from an 'arbeits bu reau,' who secured our services for shellmaking at Krcpp's by telling us ^ that food was good there and wages ^ very high. He said that in other . branches of labor food was but indif- . ferent and the wages nothing like ' Krupp's, so we men went to Essen. . How good the food was there you can judge of by the fact that my weight 'j was reduced by 24 pounds while there. "For breakfast we received two slices of bread without any butter or fat whatever. For dinner potato soup ^ that left us hungry an hour after ;i eating. Then in the evening again (i. two slices of bread like at breakfast. -- - -- -- ? ? Uj If the Hollander leit roo m or xeuuie to work the Germans simply took away {} his bed from under him to make him ,r) get up. Oh, yes, there is a doctor, but fl he always diagnoses the same. 'You p can work?if you don't work you won't eat'?"nicht arbeiten?nieth essen,' as we used to put it. <4The laborers are housed by the 500 toeether in barracks> which are but insufficiently warmed and imperfectly * cleaned. Typhus "claims many victims. ^ In the barracks where I was housed ^ I fonnd four men lying dead of typhus beside my crib one morning. After a few days of this sort of thing it is not to be wondered at that many Holland- P! ers try in evtfry way to get back to their country, although the vises on their passes are lacking. ^ "If they are captured they are ^ thrown into prison tor a fortnight on 1 bread and water. If they snrvive they ; l>< are then drafted back to Krupp's, and set to work again. Production is; rmchpri to thp utmost. Numbers of sol- ! diers are employed as a change from the front, and these men are so afraid j of being again sent to the front that ; . they would rather worfc tbemsefyes to | t death at Krupp's. ^ Where Deported Belgians Work. "Deported Belgians and French pris- ^ oners of war also work at Krupp's. i Discipline is strictty enforced, and any j utterances of anti-German views are i . , , , VI at once pnnisnea. "I got the impression rJbat Germany j flung itself like mad into munition j ? work as its last card. But raw ma-1 terial is getting scarce, especially cop- j r per. In Essen all topper fancets and j n the like had already been replaced by ! ^ iron and tin. The general Wea in Ger- j 1 *? * "> "??? ?nn hrt rtrAlnnffoH I i many jjs> umi wm tau i/c pvivu^vi j at the utmost for another half year, ?<> i I they are employing their last forces I 0 ! for a supreme effort. ! ^ i "Every evening at Krupp's alarms Is i ' made?'Flieger Gemt^def [airplu?e* J ce V reported]. All lights nre then extin- \ guished. This is done so that we j should not know when fivers really ! in harnh:irri thp filOtrtriPS. No OTiO I is allowed to talk of the damage done ! P*2 by allied bombs, and the newspapers ^ are enjoined to keep s'Henee on these j ^ matters. Still, T can say that some j damage has been done, although I can- ; so not say how much nor exactly where. (*e On the other himd, stories likely to stimulate the energy of the people are eagerly promulgated, sach as those of enormous submarines of dreadnaught . type, o* i?uns that can shoot 90 kilo niters tliiil are soon to be used agalns; "r!t the allied armies,* IASTALIELLS IRAG03Y OF WAR lily Eight Trains Bring Soldiers' Ruined Equipment to Le . Mans From Front. 080Mr "GARMENTS fifl OOH D?ti fir CilV'i iivruws?iti ww,wk/v r umo wi Trench Boots n ./.000 Pieces of Outer Clothing Monthly?German War Prisoners Work. I* Mans. Drrw-lment of the Snrt>.e, ance.?On an average eight tru'.ns day are bringing to Le Mans ihe tstage nt the Icittle front, consisting thousands of tons of damaged var He rial and soldiers' ruined eouip*nt. There have been as many as trains a day heavily loaded with r _ a. . l i is material pic?\eu up uu uuiuem*.u? d around camps. Le Mans would he e paradise of gagmen and dealers in cond-hand goods were it not for e fact that the French array is finder its own use for such of the raateil as it is abk' to recuperate or reir. Establishments located here by the lartermaster's dopartment recap* res monthly 50.000 outer garments, 5,000 undergarments, 3,500 pairs of oes, fiO.OOO pairs of trench boots, 25,0 steel he'mots, 270.000 sheepskin pes and 120,000 pieces of equipment. These articles are made ready for :e again by disinfection, renovation id repairs, 'i icre are in addition. ade each mom i rrom pieces or etomg tbat are not repaired, 100,WX) tirs of slippers. 120.000 cases for Meiers* canteens. 50.000 forage caps, >,000 shoe laces, 20,000 cloth cases >r bread loaves, and 10,000 washigs. 5,000 in Repair Shops. The recuperation and repair of worn id damaged articles began in the >ring of 1916 in vast warehouses and pair shops in which 5,000 persons, eluding 2,000 refugees, mostly wornj, are employed. Hsre and at Les Murlins, northwest ' Orleons, among the quays from hieh the mobilized men of the fifth ilitary region went off to war in ugust, 1914, German prisoners of ar now line up in front of incoming eight trains and unload qualities I great sacks that look like the prodrt of a gigantic ragman's shop. The indescribable mass invokes the mfusion as well as the tragedy of ... ~ % j ie foattieneia. more ar^ pierceu unu tinted Jmets, worn and St. : ieces of uniform, caps, &'< '?t)ats, leggings. .army shoos and trench iX)ts, sorce of them pierced by bailees, oine torn by shrapnel and others iredded by violent contact with irbed wire. All of them are covered with layers E mud of varying thicknesses and 3t infrequently a garment presents stain of an indefinable color, always lsily recognized but got rid of with ifiiculty. These garments receive iccial treatment. They are first irown into a receptacle which they > through a long and thorough cle.-insig l)efore being treated as other garients. Leather, Metal and Cloth. The first operation on the arrival of train ir, the sorting of the loaa into iree piles, leather, metal and cloth, j he cloth and canvas go at once Into mense disinfecting tanks that aroj l operation night and day, and from < lere to the laundry. Then they go to j mother warehouse, where thty ora1 >parated into repairable and unre-i airable; here there is a great deal of j pping to separate trimmings froinj irments and to divide the garments: lemselves into pieces of as nearly tnii- j >rm size as possible to facilitate th^irj ansformation into comfortable slip-a ?rs. 1 The sheep skins are purified by a; Jphur application in the abandoned j ault of an old cemetery near by, ? here 6,000 of them are treated each* iv. after which they are made plia-j !e and ready for wear again by a bent-; ig macliine. Some of them are able> take another turn at the front, but] ie most of them, along with pieces of I liform, are distributed among the a?-; jmbling stations at the rear for thejuipment of auxiliaries and among! le hospitals for the clothing of con-^ iiescents. J Eags are sold here at the rate of, hundred bales per day, weighing In; te aggregate about 12 tons. This rep- ; ?ents the wear and wastage of cloth- f g received at Le Mans alone: an' [on! quantity Is received at Les Mur as. Kettles, braziers, lanterns, drums,} usical instruments and all kinds of; - - ols also pass througn acre on tneir; ay to Rennes to be dealt with by spe- ; iil establishments where the oer-; ntage of recuperation is said to be ry slight. 1 Patriotism Personified t New Rochelle, N. Y.?The greatest. Ltriot in the history of New Rochelle ; s been discovered. He is the man j 30 hung out a service flag with on? j ar in front of his garage because he ; Id hif, sir to the army quartermaster " partment. Woman Is Deputy Marshj*. j Denver, Colo.?To Miss LoIk rson o? Pueblo, Colo., beloags i he j ?tinot!cii of winning the first appoint- { :::f n" ?. \ .* made as a dep-V y United States marshal.