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Show : SEES COMRADE FALL : WHEN SHELL BURSTS i Cousin of Salt Laker De-I De-I scribes Day's Work "Some- where in France." c TRENCH WALKS RISKY I Destruction and Desolation 1 Mark Ravages of Big Gun Firing. Descrlhinff a. day's work on the west i front In Franco, a letter was yesterday - received by Charles A. Smurthwaito of this city from his cousin, W. M. Ptone-S Ptone-S house, who Is a trained Royal engineer, 1, but at the time of writing was "doing Ills bit" with a pioneer battalion. The n loiter Is dated "Somewhere In France," January ::, I PI S, and tells of the. death of C a comrade from a shell which struck lm-f, lm-f, mediately In front of Mr. Rtonehousc and - Ids companions while they were returning S along a trench which was under fire of the German artillery. Mr. Smurthwalte ban two sons serving with the American forces, one of I hem C wlib the linked States expeditionary second regiment, of engineers of the regu- lar army. The other son is in the navy, bis present , whereabouts being unknown ; to tils parents here. v Mr. Sloiiehouse. In his letter, says that the men are kept so busy in the fighting t trenches that they have little time to write letters, Indicating that absence of f news from sons at the front should be 1 borne by parents with patience. : Walk Trench Boards. Prefacing the experience portion of his , letter with a description ot the oddities of his "dugout" companions, Mr. Stone-house Stone-house writes in part as follows: T was usually awakened at about 4 a. in. with the cry, "Now, Us get i ready." Up out of bed and awake lny chums, who number three. After having our breakfast, off we ttlart along the well-known track of trench boards, each bide of which are shell holes, some old, some new. i All at once a shell comes from tho Germans and bars our way for a while. On we go until more shells : come over and at times blow up our pathway. Nothing remains hut a , slender piece of timber across a quag- mire, and, believe me, by now I am quite a Blondln at this game of 1 crossing the shell hole. At last our work is reached, which at that time : was a case of doing a bit and every now and again dodging- shells, whiz 1 ; I angs and so on. Our daily toil com pleted, we start on tho return journey, jour-ney, which was more perilous than ( going. ! Comrade Is Killed. One day. I remember well, we had , .iust started our return Journey and Fritz got right upon our track with , shells. A shell dropped practically at my feel, hut did not explode (or, 1 as they are called In army parlance, was a "dud"). 1 took a deep brea.th, and almost Immediately another shell . camo whizzing over and dropped very riear my chum and J. One piece of t shrapnel struck my chum's steel hel met and flew past my shoulder. How- ' t ever, we pressed on until I saw two men drop In front of me; one rose, but the other, I am sorry to say, did not. As 1 glanced at Mm, I uttered ut-tered a silent prayer and thought of the breach In some poor sweetheart's or maybe parents' life. I am sorry 4 1 to say Fritz took rather a heavy toil of our men on that front in' this ! manner. As we drew near our dugout, which at that time measured 6xt, we passed our heavy guns roaring away at the Germans, and I assure you one feels like shouting and urging the ; gunners on after seeing his comrades drop near him. After dinner one comes out of the dugout for a rest, ' and as far as the eye can see is desolation and destruction. Thus wa carry on. Christmas Disappointment. It is fine to feel that one is doing something for the dear old countrv, but very hard and strenuous work. We all got our dugouts nicely arranged ar-ranged for Christmas and expected to have a decent time. Imagine our disappointment when at the last moment mo-ment we were ordered to move. Christmas day being spent trudging along the road full pack (almost a camel's load), and, to crown all, I wa3 wearing a new pair of boots, armv issue, which take some time to get comfortable. At our Journey's end we were placed in a barn, where while yon sleep cows blare, fowls crow., cats an d r a t s bat 1 1 e an d so on. Snow-flakes Snow-flakes fall on the bed, which is rather 1 unpleasant. The last place I was billeted in was a cellar under a hous quite near the line; in fact, almost too near to be seen about much in daylight. Tills was in what at one time was a beautiful village, and to see it now in rains makes one's heart ache. Many Discomforts. Tt is times when I see these sights that make me think of the gallant British lads who came out In tho never-to-be-forgotten 1914-1 What a debt is owing to these brave, noble men, who stood in the -face of the enemy en-emy scarce knowing where supports or reinforcements were coming from. I hear the corporal is calling for let- ters. so I must draw in. You must excuse me if I have failed to Interest you, as ! have nowhere in which to find a comfortable spot to write on at present. When we get more settled I shall be better able to write. Also. I am rather cold, having no fire In the barn. A baton of straw is hardly a suitable desk. |
