The evening world. Newspaper, November 16, 1918, Page 9

‘stirring charge. WR Cher RA | {Silent Duels in the Dark ~ Fought Far Underground By “Miners and Sappers”’|7 the North Pole by Airplane in Six Hours; These Dauntless Engineers Went “Under the Bot- tom” of “‘No Man’s Land’”’ Working a Hand’s Breadth From Death; Often Meetthg It, but Never Deviating From Their Purpose, as Told in Capt. Trounce’s Book “Fighting the Boche Underground.” By Marguerite Mooers Marshall DUEL in the dark, a never-ending struggle against unseen forces, with all the dangers and witho mut the wild exhilaration of a charge over the top—that is the difficult, immensely important and little engineers, it is well im the Royal British Engineers during the autumn of 1915. outbreak of the war. France almost immediately and eaw discussed part which the miners and sappers, the ander- ground fighters, of the Allies have played in the winning of the war. And that the people at home may not forget to award some of the palms of victory to the embattled that Capt. H. D. Trounce has written of them in his comprehensive and unquestionably tnter- esting book, “Fighting the Boche Underground.” Of British parentage, Capt. Trounce had become an American cftizen and was living in California at the » Naturally enough, he felt the call of the blood and applied for and received a commission He went to plenty of active service under—as well as tn—the Flanders trenches, around Vimy Ridge, at the Ancre and at Arras. Certatn of his operations resulted in the capture of a part of the Hindenburg line. After the arrival of Gen. Pershing in France he resigned from the British forces and is now a Captain of Engineers, U. 8. A. A lady once said to Capt. Trounce, “Why, the engineers are in no with, or one who is both unrespon- danger, they don’t go into the trench- sive and invisible until ‘the final in- es, do they?” After reading “Fight- stant.’” ing the Boche Underground,” neither she nor anyone else could cherish ach an Mlusion. In the author's own werds: “The training of the ma- jority of engineers inctudes the same methods of offense and defense as the tnfantry, and well it is that it does eo, Almost every day on the western front they are called on to acoompany the infantry over the top, oF on @ raid on enemy trenches; to destrey enemy defenses; or toe con- sotidate captured trenches; or again to ‘man the parapet’ in holding off enemy attacks until infantry rein- forements can come through the ugual ‘barrage.’ “The engineer soldier would be at a serious disadvantage tf he had not been trained tm the use of rifle, bomb, and bayonet, No one has a stronger admiration for the infantry than I have, and every one must take off hip hat to these ‘pucca’ (real) fight- ing men, but the fact remains that the sappers who have continual trench duty are subject to the same constant <rench fire as the infantry are every day—the only real differ- ence is that they seldom get a chance to hit back, except in self-defense.” The quality of valor demanded by the sapping and mining of the great war is vividly described by Capt. ‘Prounce. “The men engaged in this work,” he writes, “do not receive that in- ‘piration and access of courage which comes from above-ground ac- tivity and which enkindles and stiraulates enthusiasm, as in a blood- This trench tunnel- ling and mine-laying requires a dif- ferent form of bravery: that unemo- tional courage which results from strong self-control, determination, and perseverance of purpose, The personnel of these engineer-mining regiments usually work in twos and threes, or in small groups, cramped in narrow galleries, sometimes twen- ty, sometimes 200, feet below the sur- face; and often, immediately under or beypnd the enemy’s front trenches. “On numerous occasions they si- lently force their way underground, despite great difficulties and risk, to within a few feet of the enemy sappers,.hardly daring to breathe. A e or a clumsy touch to alarm the them to fire their cause charge, and thus send another party of opposing soldier miners to the *Valhalla’ of modern fighting men, “In this war enormous charges of the highest and deadliest explosives known to man are,used. Instant an- nihilation follows the slightest mis- take or c ss in handling such | frightful compounds. Always 1s! there excitement in abundance, but its outward manifestation is of ne- cessity determinedly suppressed, No| struggle with a living and resource- | ful enemy to stimulate the soldier mining engineer; only a ghostly adversary ‘has he to contend less comes One of Capt. Trounce’s most haz- ardous and thrilling personal experi- ences in underground fighting’ oo- curred in Flanders, Miners of his unit, working twenty feet below the surface of the trenches, broke into the German gallery. According to orders, they quickly and ailently put out their candles, plugged up the hole and reported to their éfficer, He hurrfed to the spot with @ portable charge of guncotton, to be set off by a detonator attached to a two-min- ute fuse, and slid the charge into the enemy gallery, where three Germans had been observed at work Then it was the turn of Capt. Trounce to go down and investigate the damage, although the hole was filled with stifling gases set free by the explosion, Wearing an oxygen breathing apparatus, he crawled through the ruined enemy gallery, fortunately finding no Germans ex- cept dead ones. A little later two more charges were set off, and Capt. ‘Trounce went below for a second time to investigate. Then he himself set off some charges, squeezing his way to safety through narrow passages Just before the moment of explosion. In half an hour he went down again, although he was by this time too weak to wear the forty-pound oxygen apparatus, and consequently was slightly gassed. But he merely com- ments, with cheerfulness: “This was a busy day for me. I thust have had that ‘rabbit's foot’ around my neck in going down first after, the charges three times and coming out with aj tl whole 'skin,”” Another pleasant task of the miner is digging up his men, or being dug up by them, after the explosion of an enemy charge, “Rescue parties are hastily organized,” Capt. Trounce writes, “and endeavors are made to reach them under a perfect: hail of bulléts, ajl working frantically to dig them out from the thick mud and slimy sandbags. Sometimes we are successful. Many times I have heard the poor fellows calt for help, but de- spite all our efforts we could not al- ways reach them to dig them out be- fore they were fatally injured or completely buried. I have experi- enced the sensation of being buried and partly buried by sicl! explosions as well as mine explosions at differ- ent times, The first few minutes be- fore you are dug out are not pleasant ones,” And during the German retreat through France and Flanders, to the engineers was assigned to the task of picking the bomb-traps and other treacherous contrivances hidden in the evacuated villages and behind ap- parently attractive “souvenirs” in the trenches, After reading what Capt. }Trounce has to say about “Fighting he Boche Underground,” one agrees with the Tommy who told him seri- ously: ‘Blime, I'd rather go over the top any day, Why a V, C, wouldn't tempt me to go down that blooming ‘ole.’ ighting the Boche Underground” is published by Charles Scribner's Sons, This "Plot" Landed Author in Jail T was a dark and stormy night as ] the heroine and her companion approached the inn; but soon, snugly ensconced before a biasing fire, they forgot the ra 74 elements | without and set about their task. It Was the wrill of a book, and the hero, Prince M e, had to die; how, then, could the sharpest punch be put] Into his taking off “What shall we do with the Prince are?" she asked, sit not bet. ter that die by poison than by| the swo. We will despatch him as we please in due course,” came the deep-toned | |nge, and, the record states, we As the words wei e spoken two un- seen listeners started with surprise, “Hist! Plot! Police!” they whis- pered in concert, and at once set off to spread the alarm, Presently the gendarmes came and placed the astonished authors under arrest, ‘Chis incident really happened. The woman was Madeleine de Scuderi, a gifted writer, born in Havre de Grace France, in 1607, She and her brother were arrested on the charge of plot- ting the death of some high person- ® put to much trouble and expense ore they could prove their innocence and reply. secure their release from prison, URN) AY N WN CeluaTl Reh CS 5 U) ee N AZINE” Attempt Now Being Planned by Capt. Bartlett Flight to Be Made This Sum- mer From Etah to the Pole, a Distance of Seven Hun- dred Miles—From the Pole the Explorers Will Then Fly Another Seven Hundred Miles to Cape Cheluskin, Siberia. 8 though wishing to crown its already famous achievements on the battle fronts of Burope, the aeroplane is on the verge of seek- ing other fields to conquer with its drumming motor and whirling pro- peller, This time it will be into the cold of the Northland that its blunt nose will be headed and those tn- trepid, close-lipped birdmen who in a few short years have conquered the eagle's domain and learned to laugh into the face of the high heavens will not look down this time upon the searred and shell-pitted “No Man's Land,” nor will the screaming shells |, of @ deadly barrage whistle about their ears, but they will look ahead ‘into the vast waste of ice and snow of the world. a ‘A little band of adventurers who! make their headquarters up at the) Aero Club on Madison Avenue, a gray) stone building on the corner of 42d| Street, Where romance and deeds of valor seem to permeate the very air, have, after years of scheming and thinking, perfected their plans and eometime during the early part of this coming summer they will make a dash for the North Pole—not ‘a long drawn out struggle of years against the hardships of the Arctic Circle, a seem- ingly endless fight with dogsleds and boats, when men pit their human en- durance against the tce, but a dash of something less than six hours cov- ering the 700 miles which separate Etah, one of the most northern points of Greenland, from the North Pole. ‘The dream of this adventure was first conceived of in the mind of Capt. Robert A. Bartlett, commander of the S. 8. Roosevelt tm the Third Crocker Land Relief Expedition and who was with Peary on two previous expeditions into the Arctic. Work- ing with the co-operation of Mr. Henry Woodhouse, editor of ‘the pub- lication Flying, and one of the Board of Governors of, the Aero Club, the plan has been carried forward toward completion until to-day little remains to be done before those hardy men can wing their way toward the goal of their dreams. For the journey Into the land of the North a specially constructed “ship” will be used, motored with several en- gines, with always one or two of them idle in case of emergency; besides this, there will be the, concentrated ]food equipment which, in the old days, the explorers carried on their sleds, Advance stations and supplies will be thrown out from a central base that there may be no shortage of oil or gasoline; but, looking at the scheme in cold blood, even after all| these precautions, it will be the last, fine! rush for their objective that will try even the nerve and staying pow lers of those seasoned explorer&, Thi hat separate civilization from the top v miles less, from Etah across the track- Practically unknown waste to the Pole itself, where the only land- ing will be made to plant the Amer- fean flag. They will take off again and continue the fight for another 700 miles until—having passed over the axis of the world—they reach Cape Cheluskin, Siberia, If all goes well they will reach the Pole in“six hours, and accomplish feat that took years of unremitting ef- fort on the part of such men as Amundsen, Stefansson, Peary, Mac- Millian and a host of other brave ad- venturers, many of whom have been lured to their death in that mysteri- ous, magic place of the North, But if all does not go well—they are rolling! dice with Fate, for once the Pole is reached and those unforgiving leagues stretch behind them, the will be isolated from their companions, It something happens to the frail thing of wood and steel in which they hope to escape from the solitudes, maybe a crash, a faulty landing, any one of a thousand mishaps, then—what? It may be as Mr, Woodhouse said yesterday at the Aero Club when he talked of the coming trip and ot how he and Capt. Bartlett had planned it from the beginning. >», we're not going to make any slips,” he said with a slow smile, “We're going to make it safe.” Safe! Yes, possibly, for such men as he and Captain Bartlett, but the unknown remains to-day as it did in the beginning, trackless—suve for that faintly drawn line of Peary's discoveries—uncharte vague, and incomprehensible Safe or unsafe, it is all one to them, for Capt, Bartlett is one of those who in 1909, while a part of the Peary expeditio ed across the ice from Cape Columia with Eskimos and dogs to march across the ice on his way north. to be followed later by Peary himself. It was weary cold and gripping, the frozen r nun both men and dogs, but will mean a fight of 1,400 miles; 100 A ( they struggled on, maybe a mile a day, stretching this to five on an- other day, but always work, @ foot at a time, to the top of one ice hummock and down side, dragging the sled after them. What a vast difference this coming trip on the roaring wings of an aero- plane will be in comparison to that other one, when he was turned back by Peary at the elghty-eighth parallel on April 2, and reluctantly turned his face to the south, leaving Peary, Henson and four Eskimos, with pro- visions for forty days, to make a dash for the pole! Forty days! And now they will do it in less than one day! No wonder they are enthusiastic and their eyes gleam when they speak j of the ice and cold and the hard- ships which they have been forced to put from their lives on account | of the great world war. But the time is nearly up, and Capt, Bart- | lett feels confident that he will be the first man ever to cross the circle in an aeroplane, Those who know the Arctic well say that for eix weeks during the middle of the winter it is not cold in the northern regions, Rather it might be considered warm, with the temperature standing at 60 to 65 de- grees above zero. Reports have been returned from there which tell of the warmth of the sun, of flowers grow- ing In pleasant green fields and a gayety of animal life on land and water, It is hard to conceive of any- thing lke this, for the old time ex- pression, “colder than Greenland,” stands foremost in the average per- mind as their conception of what the Arctic is, and it will possibly continue to remain so until they get Into @ fast flying ship and take the journey for themselves, Sixty to sixty-five degrees above zero might give the impression that the Pole was a fairly easy place to get to, and the who had been trying for #0 long, before Peary suc- ceded get here, Ww rather stupid, but it is the thousandsa of son's its northern | Peary Provisioned His Dash for the Pole for Forty Days, a Dash Which Bartlett Hopes to Make in Half a Day, and From High Alti- tude He Will Have a Vision of the Polar Area Hitherto Impossible. ' mfles of ce which le between “home” and the Pole that has been the bar- rier, and would have continued to be the barrier had not the gasoline en- gine and the gliders of the Wright brothers come to the aid of explorers and helped them in a way they have never been helped before. Now they can satisfy to their hearts’ content that unquenchable desire to look where never man looked before and be the discoverer of something man has never seen. ‘And to this little band who will turn their faces northward in the spring the privilege will be given, not only to look upon the wonders of a single ne of march, but they will have it in thelr power to gaze, inch by inch, upon the land beyond the magic Circle. “We are not talking of details,” Capt. Bartlett said yesterday when he was asked to speak of the coming trip, “It wouldn't be fair to the men who have put thelr money”—here he hesitated and laughed, then added: “{ don't like to talk about things I'm going to do, I'd rather tell about them after they are done.” And as one looked into his calm eyes and weather-beaten face he felt certain that if any one could wrestle the se- cret of the polar regions from the grip of the cold it would be he. How I Began My Stage Caree CAROLYN TOOK up a stage career with the | full consent of my parents, In fact, many in my home town. Minneapolis, took a personal interest in my new work, including Gov. A. 0. Eberhart, who found time, to pen me a note expressing his best wishes for my success. I first sang in public at @ high school event. My voice attracted at- tention, and ten months later I was pronounced a success in London when I sang the title role in “Adele” at the Galety Theatre, At the age of twenty I had attracted the at- tention of New York managers and received several offers to sing in Broadway productions, The war terminated my engagement in Lon- don and I returned to America, I had not been off the liner more than a day when I received @ note from Lee Shubert asking me if 1 cared to “try out” for a leading fem- inine role in @ projected musical pro duction, 1 took him up, although the piece was to open in a week Mr, Shubert heard me sing and gave me a five-year contract covering my professional services, Five days after 1 first saw the manuscript I was playing the leading feminine role in "Che Star Gazer” with John Charles The When i became an as- sured success at the Shubert Theatre & second company was planned, There were many applicants for the role of Ottilie, but Mr, Shubert put me in it. It was a long, successful | engagement that resulted, Next Mr, Shubert and his brother selected me for the feminine lead in sent Sh ee a Campaign and Also “~ Accomplished by Red By Hazel “H ELP the United!” ‘This is the call that quarters to chapters all “We're just getting warmed up fo roll call,” @ Brooklyn worker said. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1918. Red Cross News Of the Week * Red Cross Workers Are Aiding United War Work ‘HE Bronx County Chapter of the|work. Miss Mary Gross, of the glass Red Cross has just received a/of 1912, who was supervisor of e" letter of appreciation all the)grounds in connection Getting Ready for Their Cross Chapters Here. *, V. Carter has gone out from Red Cross head. over New York and throughout the country. The response has been more than satisfactory, according to an- nouncemnt made from campaign headquarters. And not only have the women at workrooms found time to help in the drive, but they have kept the output of workrooms up to the allotment requirements. |‘ r our own big Christmas membership with «the way from London addressed to Miss| schools of Cincinnati, O., will do mtn. Catherine 8, Leverich, Chatrman. It/tlar work for the Children’ is being read in Bronx workrooms: have been receiving from your chap- ter. ent need and it would be almost im- possible for us to do our extensive work over here without,your valuable assistance. We are constantly re- ceiving letters of thanks and ex- presvions of gratitude from our buys who receive these articles and we al- ways feel as if these letters should go to you who are doing this im- portant work and not to us. “I have asked our department of in- maiting list for regular copies of our weekly bulletin, as I am sure you “The American Red Cross Commis-|Wwas connected with the Federated sion for Great B.itain has asked me|Charities Association of Baltimare, ~ to write you and say how much wé/has been assigned to the Buregy, of” appreciate the various supplies we | Refugees, oni , ‘The supplies fill a great and urg- | Paris three weeks ago to work formation to put your address on it# |. Butetu, and Miss Helen Harrison, 1918, /ho A fourth representative of the €0t lege, Miss Nell 8, Watts, arrt ed in. the Home Communication NE of the most brilliant énter« met Temple last Tuceday eveninyy tor the benefit of the Red Cross, Phe. house was packed to the doors; end included many well-known soditty leaders. The programme was « great. success, and included Mortimer Mup- in his realistic portrayals*ot Dickens characters, Mr. Kaphan‘re- ceived a great reception, Miss Hallie will Hke to read about some of the/ ng youn s, Soprano, and the Kiemet things we are doing with the supplies Temple Band assisted. The v-4n-, which you are sending Us % 80° |iertainment was in ghange of Mrs. GUY A. RBED, “Stores Department.” erously. T HE Art War Relief Auxiliary of the New York County Chapter has just 1 1917, to Sept. 1, 1918, garments, 989 ‘children’ and 153 kid-lined waistcoats. of the Art War Relief Auxiliary. the finish of the fighting, 66 F the Red Cross has been bob- bing up just at the time that we havo needed it most—always Johnny-on- | gnj the-spot,” writes an American dough- boy from Harlem to his folks, “I am glad that you are a member of this organization.” HREE graduates of Goucher Col- lege of Baltimore, Md, ho arrived in France to represent their college in the war work of the Americar, Red Cross overseas, The colloge 1s ® small one, but one of the best known of the women's institu- tions in America, Students and alum. nae, organized In @ war council, de- cided that while they could not send ® large unit abroad, they could at least raise funds to furnish three workers who could be uged wherever they were needed most, Miss Mary Robinson of the clase of 1907, whose home is Brooklyn, N. Y., ued @ report giving | estin; example of the fact that manv some figures on the extensive work|®ux.liaries are now turning out ,as~ they have been doing. From Dec. 15,|™much work as smaller chapters were the auxiliary} able to produce a year ago, shipped 162,170 surgical dressings, auxiliary has an average monthly. ex+ 2,464 knitted garments, 834 hospitel| Penditure of $2,000, and in the last garments |%even months the members have Mrs. Ripley Hitchcock is Chairman | 707 hospital garments, Special mer Maude A. Neale. 23 HE Central Presbyterian Churely of Brooklyn, an auxiliary of the Brooklyn Chapter, is an inter~ ia’ made £1,350 surgical dressings ahd tion should be made of one worker” who though over 80 years of age hos” ROM the time we left home to | ™!tted 166 pairs of socks, 7 PTERS are asked to’ hols temporarily the clothing for Efél+ gians that bas not already bers ipped, a the commission has 2+ celved such a generous response! to the appeal that the storage rooms are running over with contributions, UTHERFORD CHAPTER, New R Jersey, tg the first chapter: to’ 1 complete the linen allotment, | While other chapters have no doubt filled their allotments, Rutherford Chapter has the honor of being the frst in the Atlantic Division to make ® final statement in regard to the linen shower, Red Cross Cablets, . 1 Belgian Commission of the Ameritan Red Cross has eatab~ lished @ fund known as. the ‘Queen's Purse” for war victims. Queen Elizabeth of Belgium has been assigned to do hospital hut r THOMSON. > eee | “Little Simplicity." They said my Voice and acting ability exactly suited the role, I am still in it and we are doing well. Musical comedy has been good to me, but I have a yearning that must some day be satisfied. It is to be an operatic star, I want to be classed with Farrar and Melba,’ It will take long years of work and much patience about to hospitals constantly supply- ing Uttle extra comforts to patlegis.’ She has spent large sums of her owa for this purpose and, in addition, the American Red Cross provides a purse of $5,000, % ——- 4 A timekeeper in an American hed Cross garage in Paris, who does emergency hospital work, said one night recently after he had hélbed move 700 wounded men; ! “The nerve of the American boys under fire and when wounded is sote= thing very fine. One poor fellow that: I saw with an arm off and injuries, remarked that he had dust, done his bit for Uncle Sam, and sows he wanted to go back to the front do something for himself. That's 1 call real fighting spirit.” 1 ‘The American Red Cross at Verwmag. Italy, is helping an existing oi age to meet the urgent problem ing for motherless young childreme It” has agreed to support ten babies "tin der a year old, and twenty betWeem the ages of one and three, ¢ Americans in the American, ded’ Cross ambulance service ea sixty-five decorations for work”) ‘ formed in one month, This a includes seven silver medals, oun bronge and fifty-four War e Es) To provide Belgian children ‘With shoes—and they wear them out Quite! 4s fast ay American youngstere@~the American Red Cross has started shoes: | making activities at Limoges, sands of Belgian children in. Cross colonies in France willy be I presume, but I feel certain that some day I will reach my goal, equipped, The factories will” s employment to a number of jadults, st Own Big Christmas Membership Roll Call—Let-_ ee ters From Abroad Voice Appreciation of Result