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45
AN AMMAN 5QLWER
WHO WENT * *
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MACHINE CONNER,jEP.VINC IN FRANCE"
life.
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19(7 or
ARTHUR (1/Y EMPTY
SYN0PSI8.
CHAPTER I—Fired by the ne*« of the
sinking of the Eusltanla by a German
submarine, Arthur Quy Empey, an Ameri
can, leaves his office In Jersey City and
goes to England where he enlists in the
rltlsh army.
"CHaPTeII II—After a period of train
ing, Empey volunteers for immediate serv
ice and soon finds himself In rest billets
“somewhere In France.’’ where he first
makes the acquaintance of the ever-pres
ent "cooties."
CHAPTER HI—Empey attends his first
church services at the front while a Ger
man Fokker circles over the congregation.
CHAPTER IV—Empey’s command goes
into the front-line trenches and Is under
fire for the first time.
CHAPTER V—Empey learns to adopt
the motto of the Brtlsh Tommy, "If you
are going to get It, you’ll get It, so never
worrv.”
"CHAPTER VI—Back In rest billets, Em
pey gets his first experience as a mesa
orderry.
CHAPTER VII—Empey learns how the
British soldiers are fed.
CHAPTER VIII—Back In the front-line
trench, Empey sees his first friend of the
trenches "go West,"
CHAPTER IX.
|
Suicide Annex.
I was In ray first dugout and looked
around curiously. Over the door of
same was a little sign reading "Sui
cide Annex." One of the boys told
me (hat this particular front trench j
was called “Suicide Ditch.” Later on
I learned that machine gunners and
bombers are known as the "Suicide
Club."
That dugout was muddy. The men
slept In mud. washed In mud, ate mud,
and dreamed mud. I had never before
realized that so much discomfort and
misery could be contained In those
three little letters, MOD. The floor
of the dugout was an Inch deep In
water. Outside It was raining cuts and
dogs, and thin rivulets were trickling
down the steps. From the air shaft
Immediately above me came a drip,
drip, drip. Suicide Annex was a hole
eight feet wide, ten feet long and six
feet high. It was about twenty feet
below the fire trench; at least there
were twenty steps leading down to It.
Thebe steps were cut Into the earth,
but at that time were muddy and slip
pery. A man had to be very careful
or else he would "shoot the chutes.”^
The air was foul, and you could cut
the smoke from Tommy’s fags with a
knife. It was cold. The walls and
roof were supported with heavy square
cut timbers, while the entrance was
strengthened with sandbags. Nalls had
been driven Into these timbers. On
each nail hung a miscellaneous assort
ment of equipment. The lighting ar
rangements were superb—one candle
In u reflector made from an ammuni
tion tin. My teeth were chutterlng
from the cold, and the drip from the
slrshnft did not help mutters much.
While I was sitting bemoaning my
fate and wishing for the fireside at
dome, the fellow next to me, who was
writing a letter, looked up and Inno
cently asked, "Say, Yunk, how do you
spell ‘conflagration’?”
I looked at him In contempt and an-!
iwered that I did not know.
From the darkness In one of the cor-! i
qers come a thin, piping voice singing i
-.fie of the popular trench ditties en-;
litlnd;
"Pack up your Troublos m your Old Kit
Bag. and Smite, Smile. Stull#,"
Cvery now and then the singet ]
would stop to cough, cough, cough, but
It was a good Illustration of Tommy’s
cheerfulness under such conditions,
A machine-gun officer entered the
dugout and gave me a hard look. I
sneaked past him, sliding and slipping,
and reached my section of the front
line trench, where I was greeted by
the sergeant, who usked me, “Where
In - ’ave you been?”
I made no answer, hut sat on the
muddy flea step, shivering with the
cold und with Um rulo beating in my
face. About half an hour iatar J
teamed up with another fellow and
went on guard with my head sttcklihf
over the top. At ten o'clock I was
relieved nnd resumed my sitting posi
tion on the fire step. The rain sud
denly stopped und we all breathed a
sigh of relief. We prayed for the morn
ing and the rum Issue.
CHAPTER X.
^ “The Oay's Work,it
1 was fast learning that there ts a
regular routine about the work of the
trenches, although It Is budly upset at
times by the Germans.
The real work In the fire trench
commences at sundown. Tommy la
ilk* ft bmainr. work8 Rt Dl«ht
Just as U htftflws t* fcTf ,tlark the
word “stand 10“ Is passed trap* tfftV-?
erse 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 curry
messages or to Inform the platoon offl
Of any report made by the sentry
£0 fcfq observations In No Muu’s
iuni Wb» mtry l* »?t allowed to
relax his watch for a second. If he Is
questioned from the trench or asked
his orders, he replies without turning
around or taking his eyes from the ex
panse of dirt in front of him. The re
mainder of the occupants of ids trav
erse either sit on the fire step, with
bayonets fixed, ready Tor any emer
gency, or if lucky, and a dugout hap
pens to be in the near vicinity of the
traverse, and if the night is quiet, they
are permitted to go to same and try
and snuteh a few winks of sleep. Little
sleeping is done; generally the men sit
around, smoking fags and seeing who
can tell the biggest 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 Wool
wich «rsenal. If a man should manage
to doze ofT, likely as not he would wake
with a start as the clammy, cold feet
of a rat passed over Ills face, or the
next relief stepped on his stomach
while stumbling on their way to relieve
the sentries in the trench.
Just try to sleep with a belt full of
iiumuultion around you, your ritie bolt
Jltlng luto your ribs, intrenching tool
iundle sticking into the small of your
Jack, with a tin hat for a pillow and
feeling very damp and cold, with
"cooties” boring for oil in your arm
pits, tlie air foul from the stench of
fritny human bodies and smoke from a
Juicy pipe being whiffed into your nos*
trils, then you will not wonder why
Tommy occasionally takes a turn lu
the trench for a rest.
While in a front-line trench orders
forbid Tommy from removing his
‘mots, puttees, clothing or equipment.
The “cooties” take advantage of this
.irder and mobilize their forces, and
Tommy swears vengeance on them and
nutters to himself, “Just wait until I
Pit rest billets and am uble to get my
>wn back.”
Just before daylight the men “turn
o” and tumble out of the dugouts, man
‘he fire step until it gets light, or the
welcome order “stand down” is given.
Sometimes before “stand down" Is or
lered, the command “five rounds rap
d" is passed along the trench. Tills
ueans that each man must rest ills
•lfle on the top and fire as rapidly as
jossible five shots almqd toward the
Termnn trenches, and then duck (with
he emphasis on the "duck”). There is
i great rivalry between the opposing
’orces to get their rapid tire all off
irst, because the early bird, in this in
stance, catches the worm—sort of gets
he jump on the other fellow, catching
dm unawares.
We had a sergeant -in our battalion
lamed Warren. He was on duty witli
ill platoon in the fire trench one after
noon when orders came up from the
rear that he had been granted seven |
days’ leave for Blighty, and would be
relieved «t five o'clock to proceed to '
England.
He was tiekled to death nt these
welcome tidings and regaled bis more
or less envious mates beside him on
| the Are step with the good times In
I store for him. He figured it out that
In two days’ time he would arrive at
•^’gteripo station, London, and then—
seven days' bliss 1
At about five minutes to five he
started to fidget with his rifle, aud
theu suddenly springing up on the fire
step with a muttered, “I’ll send over
a couple of souvenirs to Fritz so that
he’ll miss me when 1 leave,” lie stuck
his rifle over the top aud til ed two shots
when "crack” went a bullet anti liel
Lewis Gun in Action.
tumbled off the step, fell into the mud
at the bottom of the trench, and lay
still In a huddled heap with a bullet
hole In his forehead.
At about the time he expected to ar
rive at Waterloo station he was laid
to rest In a little cemetery behind the
lines. He had gone to Blighty.
In the trenches one can never tell—
It is not safe to plan very far ahead.
After “stand down" the men sit on
the fire step or repair to their respec
tive dugouts and wait for the “rum is
sue" to materialize. Immediately fol
lowing the rum comes breakfast,
brought up from the roar. Sleeping is
then in order unless some Special work
turns up.
Around 12:30 dinner shows up.
When this is eaten the men try to
amuse themselves until “tea” appears
at about four o'clock, then “stand to”
and they carry on as before.
While In rest billets Tommy gets up
about six In the morning, washes up,
answers roll call, is inspected by his
platoon officer, and has breakfast. At
8:4fi he parades (drills) with his com
pany or goes on fatigue according to
the orders which have been read out
by the orderly sergeant the night pre
vious.
Between 11:30 and noon Jie is dis
missed. has his dinner and is “on his
own” for the remainder of the duy,
unless he has clicked for a digging or
working party, and so it goes on from
day to dny, always “looping the loop”
and looking forward to peace and
Blighty.
Sometimes, while engaged in a
“cootie" hunt, you think. Strange to
say. hut it Is a fact, while Tommy is
searching his shirt serious thoughts
come to him. Many a time, when per
forming this operation, I have tried
to figure out the outcome of the war
and what will happen to me.
My thoughts generally ran In this
channel:
Will I emerge safely from the next
attack? If I do will I skin through the
following one. and so on? While your
mind is wandering into the future It
Is likely to be rudely brought to earth
by a Tommy lnterAiptlng with, “What's
good for rheumatism?”
Then you have something else {p
think of. Will you cp.mji an! or this
unr crippled and tied Into knots with
rheumatism, caused by tile wet and
mud of trenches and dugouts? You
give it up as a had Job and generally
saunter over to the nearest estaminet
to drown your moody forebodings In a
glass of sickening French heer or to
try your luck at the always present
game of “ljoqgg” y<lh v.w;i hear the
thug-song voice of a Tommy droning
out the numbers ns he extracts the
little squares of cardboard from the
bag between his feet.
CHAPTER XI.
Over the Too
On my second 1 Witte trenches
our officer was making his rounds of
Inspection, and we received the cheer
ful news that at four In the morning
we \yere to go over the top and take
the German front-line trench. My heart
turned to lead. Then the officer car
ried on with his Instructions. To the
best of my memory I recall them ns
follows: “At eleven a wiring party will
go out In front and cut lanes through
our barbed wire for the passage of
troops In the morning. At two o’clock
our artillery will open up with an In
tense bombardment, which will last un
til four. Upon the lifting of the bar
rage the first of the three waves will
go over.” Then he left. Some of the
Tommies, first getting permission from
the sergeant, went Into the machine
gunners’ dugout and wrote letters
home, saying that In the morning they
were going over the top, and a iso that
If the letters reached their destination
It would mean that the writer had been
killed.
These letters were turned over to
the cnptntn with Instructions to mnil
same In the event of the writer’s being
killed. Some of the men made out
their wills in their pny books, under
the caption, “Will and Last Testa
ment.”
Then the nerve-racking wait com
menced. Every now and then I would
glance at the dial of my wrist watch
and was surprised to see how fast the
minutes pussed by. About five minutes
to two I got nervous waiting for our
guns to open up. I could not take my
eyes from my watch. I crouched
against the parapet and strained my
muscles in a deathlike grip upon my
rifle. As the hands on my watch
showed two o’clock a blinding red flare
lighted up the sky in our rear, then
thunder, intermixed with a shurp, whis
tling sound in the air over our heads.
The shells from our guns were speed
ing on their way toward the German
lines. With one accord the men
sprnng up on the fire step and looked
over the top in the direction of the
German trenches. A line of bursting
shells lighted up No Man’s Land. The
din was terrific and the ground trem
bled. Then, high above our heads we
could hear a sighing moan. Our big
boys behind the line had opened up
and 9.2’s and 15-Inch shells commenced
dropping into the German lines. The
flash of the guns behind the lines, the
scream of the shells through the nlr.
and the flare of them, bursting, was a
spectacle that put Pain’s greatest dis
play Into the shade. The constant
pup, pup, of German machine guns and
an occasional rattle of rifle firing gave
me the impression of a huge audience
applauding the work of the batteries.
Our 18-pounders were destroying the
German barbed wire, while the heavier
stuff was demolishing their trenches
and bashing in dugouts or funk* holes.
Then Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screaming over
head, aimed In the direction of the
Hares from our batteries. Trench mor
tars started dropping "Minnies” in
our front line. We clicked several cas
ualties. Then they suddenly censed.
Our artillery had taped or silenced
them.
During the bombardment you could
almost rend a newspaper in our trench.
Sometimes In the flare of a shell-burst
a man’s body would be silhouetted
against the parados of the trench and
It appenred like a huge monster. Yon
could hardly hear yourself think. When
an order was to be passed down the
trench you had to yell it, using your
hands ns n funnel into the ear of the
man sitting next to you on the fire step.
In about twenty minutes a generous
ruin Issue was doled out. After drink
ing the rum, which tasted like varnish
ind sent a shudder through your
frame, you wondered why they made
you wait until the lifting of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min
utes to four word was passed down,
“Ten minutes to go!” Ten minutes
to live! We were shivering all over.
My legs felt as if they were asleep.
Then word was passed down: “Flyst
wave get on and near the scaling lad
ders."
These we ye small wooden ladders
which we had placed against the para
pet to enable us to go over the top on
the lifting of the barrage. “Ladders of
death” we culled them, and veritably
they were.
Before a chnrge Tommy Is the po
litest of men. There Is never any push
ing or crowding to be first up these
ladders. We crouched around the base
of the ladders waiting for the word
to go over. I was sick and faint, gud
was putting away at an unllg'^u'd fag.
Then came the word, “^‘hree minutes
to go; upon th.e Ufupg of the barrage
and at* tlte blast uf the whistles, ‘Over
the top with the best o’ luck and give
them hell.’ ” The famous phrase of
the western front. The Jonah phrase
of the western front. To Tommy It
means If you are lucky enough to come
back you will be minus an arm or a
leg. Tommy hates to be wished the
best of luck; so, when peace Is de
clared, If It ever Is, and you meo^ a
Tommy on the street, just wish fctm ihe
best of luck and ducjfc brick that
follows.
) glanced again at my wrist watch.
We nil wore them ami you could hurdly
call us "sissies” for doing so. It was a
minute to four. I could see the hand
move to the twelve, then a dead si
lence. It hurt. Everyone looked up
to see what had happened, „o( for
long. Sharp whistle rung out
along the tr^y-h, and with a cheer the
,iiv.p mi'anihled up the ladders. The
bullets were cracking overheud, and
occasionally a machine gun would rip
and tear the top of the sandbag para
pet. How I got up that ladder I will
never know. The first tpt\ fWt out In
"rent was agony, we passed
through lac^ji our burbed wire. 1
kumy y wtm'running, but could feel no
motion below the waist. Putch&t on
tile ground seemed \o float \& ite rear
! as If I were on a treadmill and scen
ery was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put a barrage of shrapnel
ucross No Man’s Land, and you could
.'.ear the pieces slap the ground about
I you.
After I had passed our barbed wire
and gotten Into No Man’s Land a
Tommy about fifteen feet to my right
front turned around and looking in my
direction, put his hand to his mouth
and yelled something which I could not
make out on account of the noise from
the bursting shells. Then he coughed,
stumbled, pitched forward and lay still.
His body seemed to float to the rear
of me. I could hear sharp cracks In
the air about me. These were caused
by passing rifle bullets. Frequently,
to my right and left, little spurts of
dirt would rise Into the air and a rleo
ehet hnllet would whine on Its way.
If a Tommy should see one of these
little spurts In front of hlin, he would
tell the nurse about It later. The
crossing of No Man’s Lund remains a
blank to me.
Men on my right nnd left would
stumble nnd fall. Some would try to
get up, while others remained huddled
nnd motionless. Then smnshed-up
barbed wire came Into view and
seemed carried on a tide to the renr.
Suddenly, In front of me loomed a
bushed-ln trench nbout four feet wide.
Queer-looking forms like mud turtles
were s,, ambling up Its wall. One of
these fowis seemed to slip nnd then
rolled to the bottom of the trench. 1
leaped across this Intervening space.
The man to my left seemed to pause In
midair, then pitched head down Into
the German trench. I laughed out loud
In my delirium. Upon alighting on the
other side of the trench I came to with
a sudden Jolt. Right In front of me
loomed a giant form with a ride which
looked about ten feet long, on the end
of which seemed seven bayonets. These
flashed In the air in front of me. Then
through my mind flashed the admonl
tlon of oar bayonet Instructor back lit
Blighty. He had said, “whenever you
get In a charge and run your bayonet
up to the hilt Intota German the Frits
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will be
wrenched from your grnsp. Do not
waste time. If the bayonet Is fouled
In his equipment, by putting your foot
on hls stomach nnd tugging at the rifle
to extricate the bayonet Simply
press the trigger and the bullet will
free It.” In my present situation this
wras the logic, but for the life of me
I could not remember how he hud told
me to get my bayonet into the Ger
man. To me this was the paramount
Issue. I closed my eyes and lunged
focwmrd. My rifle was torn from my
harms. I must have gotten the Ger
man because he had disappeared.
About twenty feet to my left front
[ was a huge Prussian nearly six feet
four Inches In height, a fine specimen
of physical manhood. The bayonet
from his rifle was missing, but he
clutched the barrel In both hands and
was swinging the butt around his head.
I could almost hear the swish of the
butt passing through the air. Three
little Tommies were engaged with him.
They looked like pigmies alongside of
the Prussian. The Tommy on the left
was gradually circling to the rear of
his opponent. It "wus a funny sight to
see them duck the swinging butt and
try to Jab him at the same time. The
Tommy nearest me received the butt
of the German’s rifle In a smashing
blow below the right teihple. It
smashed his head like an eggshell. He
pitched forward on his side and a con
vulsive shudder ran through his body.
Meanwhile the other Tommy had
gained the rear of the Prussian. Sud
denly about four inches of bayonet
protruded from the throat of the Prtyt
slnn soldier, who staggered forward
and fell. I will never forget tbfe look
of blank astonishment that came over
bis face.
Then something hit me In the left
^boulder and my left side went numb.
It felt as If a hot poker was being
driven through me. I felt no pain—
Just a sort of nervous shock. A bay
onet hud pierced me from the rear. 1
fell backward on the ground, but was
mu unconscious, because I could see
dim objects moving around me. Then
a flash of light In front of my eyes and
unconsciousness. Something had hit
me on the head. I ha.ve never found
out what It was.
1 dreamed I was being tossed about
in an open bout, hit a heaving sea and
opened n»y eyes. The moon was shin
ing. 1 was on a stretcher being car
ried down one of our communication
trenches. At the advanced flrst-uld
post my wounds were dressed, and
then I was put into an ambulance and
sent to one of the base hospitals. Tb^
wounds In my shoulder and head wer'e
not serious and In six weeks I hat^Ve
jolned m.v company for service l/i the
front line.
(Continued Next Week.).
-
•"y 8EEg 4W BRITAIN.
Since tbb war began beef has risen
in price 112 per cent, eggs 78 per
cent, fish 138 per cent 8nd milk only
6‘J per cent, according to a report
just published by the special war
committee on the production and
distribution of milk of (Jreat Brit
ain, of which -Maj. Waldorf Astor,
M. P., is chairman.
The committee says it is bound to
take cognizance of the fact that, be
fore the war, the imports of milk
products, including butter, cheese,
margarine., condensed milk, etc., into
the United Kingdom had been in
creasing year by year, rising to a
total value in 1914 of some £38,
000,000.
MERICIIIDOLLUR
IS BEST MIPBI
KiKnEHun
UNCLE SAM FIQHTINQ TO WIN
WAR FOR WORLD S LIBERTY
AND FREEDOM.
—
FARMERS OWE DUTY TO U. S.
Liberty Loan Bond* Are Safeet Invest
ment and Are a Guarantee for
Continued Prosperity for
the Entire Country.
Ever; dollar invested In a Liberty
Bond is a blow at the greatest inter
national criminal in bistory. Every
dollar that goes to purchase a Liberty
Bond is a protest against tbe greedy,
unscrupulous, soulless power beut
upon enslaving tbe world. One hun
dred dollars invested in , Liberty
Bonds brings victory nearer to Amer
ica and the Allies and saves the lives
of Americau soldiers battling for
home and country.
Farmers especially should realize
that Uncle 8am is fighting not only 'o
win tbe war for tbe Allies but for
America. No American citizen ehould
imagine that tbe United States ia in
this war for tbe Allies alone. A vic
tory for Germany would mean slavery
for Americans aa well as the remain
der of tbe world.
Wake up. freemen of America, and
help your government to destroy the
ruthless power that bas plunged more
than half of tbe world into the blood
iest, roost borriblet war In history.
Farmers now obtafA high prices for
their products, but if tbe Kaiser wins
the war there will be no t2 wheat or
corn, and bog and cattle raising will
become unprofitable, because tbe mar
bets of the world twill be closed to
America.
Unci* S»m has been good to lb#
farmers. They have lived In peace
and their homes have been secure and
the Federal Loan Bureau has provided
cheap money with which they couiu
pursue the arts of peace.
Farmers in the last lew years have
been bo well paid for their produce
that they now are "cm their leet,” or
! more nearly so than ever before.
Any economy they, can practice now
will give them jkdMSonal money with
which to lead financial aid t« the gov
ernment In Its (net battle for right
and fair dealing.
Unde Sam la not flaking you to do
nate one cent, hut heiis pleading that
' you lend him your money to help
make the world safe for democracy.
Me offers you a Liberty Bond.with a
high rat* of Interest. A Liberty Bond
Is ths safest Investment In the world.
Whoa a farmer buys a Liberty Bond
ha not only helps to finance the war.
hut he becomes a ltfaeavar for Amer
ican hope fighting dbe moet heartless,
•real, relentless foe that civilization
aver ban been called upon to face.
Last year the great cry waa con
servation. This year It is thrift. The
nation last year waa urged to con
serve the natural resources Mid the
products ef the farms and flejds and
factories. Greater crops were plead
ed for, and cannhig clubs agd city
gardens were urged.
This year the country is being
tau|ht the leemut of spending Its
money wisely. Tim government la
showing ths fearner'as wsll is every
other elgUen the Importance of put
ting entry dollar d*eo* U #IB do tho
most .•good.
Th* fact that ftho farmer Is being
told (his year to ha thrifty does not
mean he Is not to pint every acre
available and till Ms crops carefully
and harvest 'them when they are
ready for th^ reaper.
But it mys he Is to Invest wisely
the moneyj he gets for ths splendid
crops he Mss demonstrated he is able
to raise.
Congumratlon and thrift go hand in
hand, Th* farmer, as a rule, can find
something for which to spend almost
r*W dollar he receives. There ai
v(iy» te something to buy. Machinery
)M needed, notes must be met, far
ther purchased, harases, clothing,
oil and groceries pnld for.
With th# high prices he will receive
for his products he will have money
left after he has met his expense*.
The patriotic citizen will Invest this
surplus in Liberty Bonds, the safest
investment In the world, and oh* that
will not only bring In a fair return buc
will help to make America a'safe
place to live in year# to come.
Every dollar loaned to the gbvsrn
ment serves to shorten th* w4r and
bring peace to the world.
Farmer*' Warfc Cut Out.
Uncle 8am hai never calledf.Bpon
the American farmer in vain. The
Third Liberty Loan will start April *.
This spring and summer the suppoit
of the war la up to the farmers.. \V#
must lick Oermany. Unless w* do our
place in the world is loat. \V* are giv
ing our sons, we are giving our food
supplies, and now let's not fail to back
up the treasury with our dollars. Buy
a Liberty Bond and help to keep the
Kaiser out of the United States.
Remsmbsr ths Tuscania. Buy a Lib
arty Bond and halp build warships to
protect American aeldiers upon the
sea.
Taking Provisions to the Front.