Show G E REPAIR BRITISH WIRES when their task was done smiling tommies commies took them all prisoners WAS MIX MI UP IN THE DARK night NIA work of sappers anthe somme results in mystifying scene berlin Report Silent on I 1 the episode london barbell wire wits once looked ns nn nil invention of the ilia devil by attackers out at lio ilia firing line infranco in franco france that ehno ling line passed pass c d germanas germanys Gernin Germ nys anys great preparations for wire defenses have proved more troublesome to themselves than to the british forces in ili many cases and in one instance provided a little party that Is one of the lie great jokes of the somme fighting tile story was told to the lie new york sun still correspondent by oin cers home oil leave it might be explained that lint germany before the ho war had not boon satisfied with tile tho usual wooden stakes for stringing wires in front of ments german ingenuity had invented tin nn iron stake with three loops for stringing tile wire tind and at a corkscrew end which allowed of oc its being drilled into the ground noiselessly sooner or later england adopted the same device but for many months the troops that repaired tho the wares out in ili no mans land were wont to find their way about in the ilia dark by feeling the ho posts and acting accordingly hailed as a blessing when tho ilia new stakes made their appearance they were heralded ns as a blessing by tho the four hundred and twentieth field company of royal engineers under command of lacut beille R lie ile led ills section up through the communication trenches and after reporting to the infantry officer in clin charge rge groped ills way out through a sap to no mans land where lie ho wits was to repair whatever damaged damage entangle ments lie ho found its mighty dark t will 0 to 9 sergeant ergeant armstrong 1 I wonder why they dont put up tip some lights both sides wiring sir armstrong answered and both got out covering patrols of course it come niong along out there in the dark and mist you can never bo be of what happens but later events proved that tho the two hostile patrols must have met unexpectedly and actually become intermingled before the situation was realized it wasa gasn fine little melee mon men feeling each other for identification tind tabbing stabbing with willi the bayonet baronet at tile the first shadow of certainty Attacks HIs comrade A german wiring party blundering along attracted os attention and lie he turned to see it a wounded british private bump into armstrong anil and attempt to still slab tile sergeant taking him for it germon german that made the tit situation clear the british patrol was going ang north while the german patrol fol lowed by it a wiring party was creeping south and the two had become mixed bring the section up here ordered WRIGHT IS READY ol 01 0 0 I 1 TO SERVE COUNTRY 0 now new york orville wright 0 0 inventor of the airplane announced 0 0 that in case of war with 0 0 germany lie would abandon his 0 I 1 0 0 private affairs and offer ills fits I 1 0 services to the government to 0 0 0 help organize nn an ii erfal army 0 I 1 I 1 1 I cannot cannot offer to manufacture 0 i i 0 war machines because I 1 have 0 0 disposed of my interests in the 0 0 manufacturing end of the bust 0 0 0 ness wright sold but I 1 cor 0 0 will do everything I 1 can call 0 0 0 for the he counti country y 11 0 0 0 0 I 1 life tillo and detail someone soll olia to I 1 0 get go t tills this inan home ionic A few later inter no 4 section of 0 title lie four hundred and twentieth field company cattle stealing up lip tile tho wire alro llo ilia with willi fixed bayonets nid led hem north through gli tile ho mist until lie was suro sure lie ho had thein in ili atilid the of the lie enemy patrol then cast they went until lie know lie was flir far into no mans land then south until it ho bi bumped milled into some ono one whom lie promptly bayo netted its no uso use going further fal aber ahn pored armstrong Ann strong wo we tire a wiring party and there n goinn in the section ills hns a compass it if they get sepa they afo O ns no likely to go oust ns no west at all right said billie lots ien pull out mid get hack back to work armstrong blow blew two very low notes on oil ills whistle ati out of tile mist inist in ones and twos ilia slippers gathered around nil and the section wormed its way back to work woric A few yards nil and overy every mail halted in ili ills crawl for came ilia unmistakable sounds af of men working wires sapper belits unnoticed crawled oll out t to investigate while billie wormed back to armstrong what do 10 you make of ita it lio lie asked the sergeant 1 I dont know sir better wait and see sec what happens after a few moments armstrong arni trong jerked ills rifle forward willi chos that arid and supper sapper beiles with a chuckle in ili his lils voice said 11 me 11 uns ung sir and re rc haidn our wires lie he explained to lieutenant billie and a giggle ran down tho ilia line back of tho ilia officer as ilia tilen men squirmed in suppressed glde gide its our line till ill right solid bellis for the communication trench wo we came caina through thirty yarda ore off show me commanded creeping forward with tile sti supper they were acro soon close to n pile allo of pickets thrown on ilia ground till timid with ills his fingers frit felt ilia unmistakable german construction of ilia corkscrew end tile tho whispered demilte lint chilt took ploce place whon when billie got bada to ills big men HIM ta belll it of much talk lit in tile yest rest lints the question of whitt what floia to adopt in tile ho emergency wits debated there in fix tile mist ot of tile ho early morning suppers sappers disagreeing with willi sor geant or criticizing the ilia theories of at their officers tile ur nr clia ij with it decision that it as ans tin nn infantry job so sent bent armstrong to report in tile first alno trench alia lie ho led ills men around tic lie german party which ws wits still la in borl cisly repairing tile tho british entail 0 berlin report silent the notH noiseless eless arid bloodless clip turo of over CO 00 germans Genni insi wits never mentioned in fit ilia official roi ports front froin berlin wilen it party of at met inon ta Is delit out aal Is never seen it slightly unnerves its successors it had find boon been expected that tile repair of tile would bo be n 48 hour jol joh but bill us as tile tho sun still came up lieutenant wits tit tir formed that owing to certain circumstances tile alio fourth section of ilia four hundred tind hold field company it II 11 will regard choins elves ns as olt off duty tor for 21 hours daylight showed tile tho wires neatly repaired new stakes driven and everything ery cry thing in shipshape willie several miles back of lie british lines a tired party of bewildered Gerni tins questioned each other na its to how flow it all halt penca boned |