Show hoosier sier sends the first U S shot into germany german south bend man Is hero of initial action by the americans GEORGIAN GIVES THE ORDER indiana sergeant pulls the lanyard which starts ings attack on the kaisers keisers Kai sers armies americans all eager for action american field headquarters in france indiana and georgia divide the honor of having inaugurated americas laud land warfare against the germans A sergeant from south bond ind pulled the lanyard to send the first shell tearing across the valley in the direction of the german positions A georgia lieutenant gave the order brell fi ret the facts were established during the first visit paid by a correspondent to the first american battle front the correspondent ir reached the american position after a long motor ride through shell battered towns leaving the motor in one of the towns he walked the rest of the way the first american battery was almost walked upon before it was discovered it was so well hidden under the trees and with foliage about it on a low hung bung wire netting gun of 75 caliber used through the foliage in every direction the ground was undulating at that moment there was a flash of flame through the mist it was the crack of a 75 gun and following it closely came the noise of the shell rushing through the air becoming fainter and fainter as the projectile went on its way to the german position over the crest of a hill farther away the mud digging artillerists continued their work without even loo kilia up A lieutenant from georgia emerged he was the officer who directed the first shot ne he led the way down the slippery muddy hill to a dugout covered over with sandbags sandbars sand bags and logs there was met a lieutenant from indiana of the same battery who directed the first 18 shots of the war against germany from an observation point on the other side of the hill was found the first gun fired the muddy gunners were hard at work cleaning their gun this was the first gun fired in the war the jaunty lieutenant said tile the sergeant inside the pit there fired it looking into the pit the lieutenant said sergeant where here are you from hes from south bend A husky voice replied im from south bend ind are freyou Ar eyou you irish asked the lieutenant no sir the sergeant laughingly replied at this time orders came for this gun and others of the battery placed in nearby hills bills in sight and sound of each other to commence firing the gun on the farthest hill went off with M a roar and a taint faint stream of smoke was blown backward from the pit inside the pit in which the correspondent spon dent stood a voice shouted out the range figures and the lieutenant repeated them A voice inside the pit a moment later yelled that the gunner was ready to fire the lieutenant gave the command to the gunners w watch atch your bubble the lieutenant who was standing on a pile of mud which had been removed from the pit cautioned those about him to place their fingers in their ears this was done and the lieutenant shouted the word firel fire the gun barked quickly the noise being followed by a metallic clank and the shell ease was ejected and the gur gun made rendy ready tor for the next lond load the told the correspondent the lie story of the first shot of the war punctuating the narrative throughout with the orders ready to fire and fire which each time was followed by the report of the gun and the chizz of the shell we came up the night before the lieutenant 1 1 t said a and got into i n position tIOu elai iraln enrin rig anno goto sto 1 in n n driving v rain no horses r s had bad arrived I 1 was anxious to get off the first gun and so were my men I 1 asked disked them if they were willing to haul the gun by hand to th this Is place so that hat we could get fiet the first crack at the germans they agreed unanimously so we nye set out across the fields until we got over there at the base of that hill bill aou ou can just see in the haze hours to prepare gun we had a hard time getting the gun which we have not named yet over those shell craters but we labored a for many hours and finally reached the spot then I 1 got permission to fire strictly speaking the first shot milea was in the nature of a tryout for the gun simply went into germany the sergeant put a high explosive shell there at in the another officer here took up the narrative 1 I was in an observation point he be said there was a tog fog as the first shot went singing over suddenly the fog lifted and I 1 saw a group of germans I 1 directed my gun at them the shrapnel burst overhead and they took a live dive into the ground like so many rabbits the lieutenant grinned broadly shook the water off his shrapnel helmet and using both clinched fists to punctuate Ms his re said expressively it was great from the artillery lines to the infantry trenches was a considerable distance over more more muddy hills the correspondent found the infantry in side the trenches there also nasu were many wires which ran into switchboards and american rind french operators were sitting side by side directing operations bell for gas attack A guide Is necessary to reach the first line espe especially chally when some of 0 the trenches resemble irrigation ditches the trenches the americans ore are occupying begin from a screened position on the way there shovels and tools were plied piled high below a hill bill on which there was a great bell tor for giving the alarm in rase case of a gas fit attack trick there under cover were the company cooks busy worming warming up food that had been br brought u u up p in wagons following n g t the lie guide the way winds in and out from left to rig right lit tor for many yards between interwoven branches that hat anve been placed on the sides of 0 tile the trenches the american privates in the front splashed through without hesitating sometimes getting a footing on stepping stones in the muddy water and sometimes not the trench turns sharply to the right and a voice warns keep your head bead down and the rea of the way the walking la Is difficult halting near a machine gun the german positions directly opposite on a hill could be seen across the barbed wire ire of no mans land lights appeared in a irule town to the left there Is a sort of a gentie gentler mana ruins agreement in this sector that towns over the line are not to be shelled if one side violates the agreement the other side promptly fires shell for shell into a hostile town general sibert who has just completed a tour of the trenches was asked how the morale of the americans in the trenches was lie he replied morale how could could the morale oi of americans be anything but good |