Show CORRESPONDENT TELLS H Of EXPERIENCE AT FRONT Men Flooded Out of Their Trenches and Suffer Much From Cold Correspondence Associated Press I IO LONDON Dec The Tho 20 Tho following account of life life ife at tho the front is is from a I correspondent ent who volunteered for service service ice at tho the beginning beginning- of tho the war and has since sinco been promoted to the rank of officer During th the latter part of Novem November ber er the army in the trenches was well n nigh gh perishing with cold cohl since early December D it has been tho the victim of persistent persistent persistent per per- rain and hood flood Night after night whole companies are aro flooded out of their trenches wh while le a rearrangement ement of the forces hns has mado made it impossible to tove give gire ve the thc men their former weekly three days nays days of rest in the villages behind the tho lines All An the a advanced forces will remain remain re reo re- re main in their trenches now for eighteen days then they thoy hope to have havo a brief relief It is difficult to give go g o an i idea ea of ot what hat rain means mean in the trenches The lines Hues under fro frosty t conditions seem such Bich Bichan an orderly permanent and ana series of cubby tubby holes that when they all start to melt molt away and cave in under the tho influence of thaw and rain it is isas isas is isas as if one were trying to travel through h a pitch dark London Loudon I in in ruins Officers who were tero glorying in fine new dugouts outs equipped with with all the trench comforts I suddenly found themselves buried in a amass amass amass mass or of collapsed earth of the consist consist- con consistency enc ency eucy an and qua quality ity of thick paint I Enemies Close Together I The Th latest latest gossip OlP O lP hero is that the Indian division and tho Germans were so o close to each ench other a 11 day dav or two I that they used the tho same samo parapet for forI I their trenches and took turns at ot firing through h their mutual loopholes That I of cour course e is s a little exaggerated but serves to illustrate tho manner in which I the two armies keep keel continually getting closer nn and closer Hand grenades cna es and find home made bombs fa fashioned out of biscuit biscuit bis bis- I tins can be bo used advantageously l at many mare points point Generally however the front trenches aro about yards apart in inthis inthis this section That gives tho the I shooters plenty of chance hance to get Iet in their I lino tino wor work and anil it is it dangerous to push I lone's ones one's head above a trench even to tosi I si sight ht a rifle Many of the sharpshooters ers aro are using periscopes much like lilie- those of the submarines and antI with these theaD the the- can aD tight sight an and shoot accurately without comin coming anywhere near lIcar the top of the trench The opposing in sharpshooters of course delight in ill efforts to hit tho tube of or tho the periscope per and frequently sue suc coed Since the rains and floods came the communication trenches have 6 lar largely ely ooze oozed away Some Som of them are aro like rivers ri others arc knee deep with Tk st pasty mud of exactly the tho came tamo consistency On a as baker bakers baker's s dough A re regiment which passed through h ono one such uch f trench a day dav davor I or two ago alIo left throe o men behind and had to send a a. relief party back to dig tUg thorn them out Transportation Is Problem Under such circumstances the tho l labor or of bringing rin in up ammunition and rations from the tho rear is terrific and the tho men assigned to this labor reach rench their des in o a state of utter fatigue Nevertheless they have to tal take c their turn at sentry duty ditty later in tho ni night ht t The Thc enemy lit is very businesslike and misses misses no eba chance to shoot any tuna man wh wh I 1 exposes himself Today for instance an nn English soldier was as up in a willow tree cutting cuttin switches A shot passe passed him and ho he signaled sig-Dulo A Amiss A Amiss Amiss miss miss left A second shot came and he lie Bl signaled A A miss right Tho The enemy cuemy ene cue enemy my profited by his advice and the third shot passed straight ht through h hi his hia head There aro are tho strictest st t or orders ers ersa a against men opposing exposing them themselves elvo but sonic porno of the careless es ones onet are lr sur ris l disregardful of their safety Yes es tor a a private who was wag dragging a asack asack asack sack of coal walked slowly along the Hie top of or a trench tor a coo considerable distance in full view cw of I tho the enemy merely because O the bottom ottom of tho the trench was n muddy and traveling down there in safety would have ha boon been n nGO so GO much more laborious th than TI on the firm soil il above Q A hail haiJ u bullets r J missed him but he even eyen stopped to light his pi pipe pie po behind an inch eighteen wil wl willow low before he deliberately climbed back down n into tho the trench w with with his th his load Army Tired of ot Trees The whole army is very tired of willow trees and poplars It would be bea a relief rello to know that wo we would never have ha to see them again ag Willow stumps arc aro particularly annoying b because auBe in inthe inthe the dark they look exactly like a crouching soldier with perhaps a n. stray limb resembling n a leveled gun II I I was out scouting two nj nn nights ago ngo ngoan an and went farther ahead than I had in tended I bad had no rifle with me About forty raids ands from the tho en enemy's em J trench I suddenly saw what I thought was a aGerman aGerman aGerman German crouching down clown with leveled gun My I heart beart stopped and I hastily signaled for the rifle of a man moan behind behina me only to find it not loaded Then rheu I looked a again a n an and found the German wits wils only a willow stump On my way back crawlin crawling cautiously can cau through a turnip field one field one must I move cautiously for these turnips crackle most alarmingly ly under foot foot foot- suddenly up went one ono of their star rockets which make malee the neighborhood light as us day for a mile around I dropped down n To my horror I discovered discovered discovered ered that my face fuce was close Cllon alongside side a a. German corpse that had hat lain there since sinco their last unsuccessful infantry attack six t. weeks ago Another and another rocket went up U and it walman was waa man many minutes before I could coul get away from that grisly griel object I brought back his helmet and rifle rille as souvenirs There is a great gleat supply of news in the tho trenches but much of it I re regret regret re- re gret ct to say is unreliable Today for instance wo we heard hear of a a great reat naval na victory iCtor for tho time English a great Ga Ga- Galician lician victory ictor for the Russians and for forthe tho the twentieth timo time that the thc kaiser is sick unto death |