"Over the Top"
By An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EPIPEY
Machine Gunner Sorting In France
; ? (C?prrlg*?u UIJ. by iMil Uuj
CHAPTER XVI.
Battery D 238.
The day after this I received the
glad tiding" that I would occupy the
machine gunners' dugout right near
the advanced artillery observation
post. Thin dugout wan a roomy affair,
dry ns tinder, and real cots In It.
These cots had been made by the
H. E.'s who had previously occupied
the dugout. I was the first to enter
and promptly made a signboard with
my name and number ou It and sus
pended It from the foot of the mogt
comfortable cot therein.
In the trenches It Is always "first
come, first served," and this Is lived
up to by all.
Two It. F. A. men (Itoyal Field ar
tillery) from the nearby observation
post were allowed the privilege of
stopping In this dugout when off duty.
One of these men, Bombardier Wil
son by name, who belonged to Bat
tery D 238, seemed to take a liking
| to me, and I returned this feeling.
In two days' time we were pretty
I chummy, and he told me how his bat
;tery in the early days of the war had
;put over a stunt on Old Pepper, and
had gotten away with It.
I I will endeaver to give the story as
far as memory will permit In his own
i words :
"I came out with the first expedi
tionary force, and, like all the rest,
i thought we would have the enemy
[licked In Jig time, and be able to eat
I Christmas dinner at hotne. Well, so
far, I have eaten two Christmas dln
< ners In the trenches, and am liable to
eat two more, the way things are
I pointing. That Is, If Fritz don't drop
a 'whizz-bang' on me, and send me to
'Blighty. Sometimes I wish I would
,get hit, because It's no great picnic
out here, and twenty-two months of It
i makes you fed up.
"It's fairly cushy now compared to
what It used to be, although I admit
| this trench Is a trifle rough. Now,
we send over five shells to their one.
We are getting our own back, but In
, the early days It was different. Then
! you had to take everything without
reply. In fact, we would get twenty
I shells In return for every one we sent
lover. Fritz seemed to enjoy It, but
i we British didn't; we were the suf
ferers. Just one casualty after an
other. Sometimes whole platoons
would disappear, especially when a
'Jack Johnson' plunked Into their
middle. It got so bad that a fellow,
when writing home, wouldn't ask for
any cigarettes to be seat out, because
he was afraid he wouldn't be there to
receive them.
"After the drive to Paris was turned
bnck, tr?*nch warfare started. Our
general grabbed a map, drew a pencil
across It, ii nd said, 'IMg here.' Then
UNPLEASANT FOR GERMANS.
Tarred and I'eathered nnd Sent to
Jail.
Flint, Mich., April 4. ? Frederick
Wilhclm Gur.tav Ehlen, representa
tive of a Minneapolis merchandise
concern who was given a coat of tar
and feathers near here last night, was
in custody today at the county jail.
It was announced that he was de
tained so that investigation could be
mude of certain documents found in
his possession.
Ehlen was seized by a mob last
night while he was in the custody
of a detective. He was tarred in a
barn outside the city.
Boston, April 4. ? Dr. Karl Oscar
Bertlin.nr, who was sent from Berlin to
this country in 11)14 to uphold the
German cause in public lectures, was
taken to Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., today
to be interned for the duration of
the war as an enemy alien. He was
arrested ?t Lexington last week by
agents of the Department of Jus
tice and was married yesterday to
Miss Helen Goltz, of New York city.
Minneapolis, Minn., April 4? James
A.Peterson, candidate for the Re
publican nomination for United
States senator, and Paul F. Dehnel,
publisher of the Minneapolis and St.
Paul American, a weekly newspaper,
were arraigned here today nn indict
ments charging them with obstruction
of recruiting .-nd enlistment.
Both pleaded not sruilty. The in
dictments are based on articles al
leged to have been written by Peter
son and published by Daniels in the
American, which was recently barred
from the mails.
Athens, 111., April 4. ? John W. Ryp
ders, grocer, accused of uttering pro
German senti mints, today wore about
his neck an American flag, tied there
last night by loyalists who forced
him to kiss the emblem and to sweaV
allegiance to the American cause. He
was told that to remove the flag
from his nuck would meet with se
rious consequences.
Rynders was informed that he
would be expected to lead a Liberty
Day parade Saturday. He promised
to do SO.
?
h? went back to hla tea. and Tommy
armed himself with a pick and shovel
and started digging. He's been dig
ging ever since.
"Of course we dug those trenches at
night, hut 1* was hot work, what with
the rifle and machine-gun tire. The
stretcher bearers worked harder than
the diggers.
'Those trenches, bloomln' ditches, I
call them, were nightmares. They were
only about five f??et deep, and you used
f
I
fire minutes with the old boy, and
when tie returned the flow of language
from his lips would make a navvy i
blush for shame.
"What I am going to tell you la how
two of us put It over ou the old scamp,
and got away with It. It wan a risky
thing, too, because Old Pepper wouldn't
have been exuctly rulld with us If he
had got next to the game.
"Me and my mate, a lad named Har
ry Cassell, a bombardier lu D li38 bat
*
One of the Big Guns Barking.
I
to get the backache from bending
down. It wasn't exactly safe to stand
upright, either, because us noon us
your napper showed over the top a
bullet would bounce off It, or else come
so close It would muke your hair stand.
"We used to fill Handbag* and stick
them on top of the parapet to make It
higher, but no use; they would be
there about an hour und then Frit/
would turn loose and blow them to
bits. My neck used to be sore from
ducking shells and bullets.
"Where my battery was stationed a
hssty trench had been dug, which
the boys nicknamed 'Suicide ditch,'
and, helleve^me, Yank, this wus the
original 'Suicide ditch." All the others
are Imitations.
"When ti fellow went Into that
trench It was an even gamble that he
would come out on a stretcher. At one
time a Scotch battalion held It, and
when they heard the betting was even
money that they'd come out on
stretchers, they grabbed all the bets
In sight. Like a lot of bally Idiots, sev
eral of the battery men fell for their
game, ami put up real money. The
'Jocks' suffered a lot of casualties, and
the prospects looked bright for the
battery men to collect some easy
money. So when the battalion was re
lieved the gamblers lined up. Several
'Jocks' got their mouey for emerging
safely, but the ones who clicked It
weren't the*e to pay. The artillery
men had never thought It out that
way. Those Scottles were bound to
be sure winners, no matter how the
wind blew. So take a tip from me,
never bet with a Scottle, 'cause you'll
lose money.
"At one part of our trench where
a communication trench Joined the
front Hne n Tommy hud stuck up a
wooden signpost with three hands or
arms on It. One of the hands, point
ing to the German lines, read, 'To lter
lln the one pointing down the coin
munlcntlon trench read, 'To Blighty,'
while the other said, 'Suicide Ditch,
Change Here for Stretchers.'
"Farther down from this guide posi
the trench ran through an old orchard.
On the edge of this orchard our bat
tery had constructed an advanced ob
servation post. The trees screened It
from the enemy airmen and the roof
was turfed. It wasn't cushy like ours,
no timber or concrete re-enforcements.
Just walls of sandbags. From It a
splendid view of the German lines
could be obtained. This post wasn't
exactly safe. It was a hot cbrner,
shells plunking all around, and the
bullets cutting leaves off the trees.
Many a time when relieving the sig
naler at the 'phone, I had to crawl on
my belly like a worm to keep from
l>elng hit.
"It was an observation post sure
enough. That's all the use It was. Just
observe all day, but never a message
tack for our battery to open up. You
Bee, at this point of the line there
were strict orders not to tire a shell,
unless specially ordered to do so from
brigade headquarters, ftllme me. If
anyone disobeyed that command, our
general ? yes, it was Old Pepper ?
would have court-martialed the whole
expeditionary force. Nobody went out
of their way to disobey Old Pepper In
those days, because he couldn't be
called a parson; he was more like a
pirate. If at any time the devil should
feel lonely apd sigh for a proper mate.
Old Pepper would get the first call.
Facing the Germans wasn't half bad
compared with an Interview with that
old firebrand.
"If a company or battalion should
give way a few yards against a su
perior force of Boches, Old Pepper
would send for the commanding offi
cer. In al?out half an hour the officer
would come back with his face the
?*olor of a brick, and In a few hours
what was left of his command would
he holding their original position.
"I have seen an officer who wouldn't
d n for a thousand quid spend
tery, or lance corporal, as you call It
In the Infantry, used to relieve the
telephonists. We would do two hours
on and four off. I would be on duty
In the advanced observation post,
while he would be at the other end of
the wire In the battery dugout signal
ing station. We were supposed to send
through orders for the battery to fire
when ordered to do so by the observa
tion officer in the advanced post. But
very few messages were sent. It was
only In case of an actual attack that
we would get a chance to earn our
'two and six' a day. You see, Old Pep
per had Issued orders not to fire ex
cept when the orders came from him.
And with Old Pepper orders Is orders,
and made to obey.
"The Germans must have known
about these orders, for even In the day
their transports and troops used to
expose themselves as if they were on
parade. This sure got up our nose,
sitting there day after day, with fine
targets In front of us but unable to
send over a shell. We heartily cussed
Old Pepper, his orders, the govern
ment, the people at home, and every
thing Iti general. But the Boches
didn't mind cussing, and got very care
less. Bllme me, they were bally in
sulting. Used to, when using a certain
road, throw their caps into the air as
a taunt at our helplessness.
"Cassell had been u telegrapher In
civil life and Joined up when war was
declared. As for me, I knew Morse,
learned It at the signalers' school back
In 1910. With an officer In the obser
vation post, we could not carry on the
kind of conversation that's usual be
tween two mates, so we used the
Morse code. To send, one of us would
tap the transmitter with his finger
nails, and the one on the other end
would get It through the receiver.
Many an hour was whlled away In this
manner passing compliments back and
forth.
"In the observation post the officer
'used to sit for hours with a powerful
pair of field glasses to his eyes.
Through a cleverly concealed loophole
he would scan the ground behind the
German trenches, looking for targets
nnd finding many. This officer, Cap
tain A by name, had a hnblt of
talking out loud to himself. Some
times he would vent his opinion, same
as a eommon private does when he's
wrought up. Once upon a time the
captain had been on Old Pepper's staff,
so he could cuss and blind In the most
approved style. Got to be sort of a
habit with him.
"About six thousand ynrds from us.
behind the German lines, was a rond
In plain view of our post. For the last
three days Fritz had brought compa
nies of troops down this road in broad
daylight. They were never shelled.
Whenever this happened the captain
would froth at the mouth and let out
a volume of Old Pepper's religion
which used to make me love him.
"Every battery has a range chart ou
which distinctive landmarks are noted,
with the range for each. These land
marks are called targets, and are num
bered. On our battery's chart, thnt
road was called 'Target 17, Range
fiOOO, 3 degrees 30 minutes left.' P 238
battery consisted of four *4.5* howit
zers, and fired n 85-pound H. E. shell.
As you know, H. E. means 'high ex
plosive.' I don't like bumming up my
own battery, but we had a record In
the division for direct hits, and our
boys were Just pining away for a
chance to exhibit their skill In the
eyes of Frltx.
"On the afternoon of the fourth day
of Frltt' contemptuous use of the road
mentioned the captain and I were at
our posts as usual. Frltt was strafe
lng us pretty rough. Just like he's doing
now. The shells were playing leap
frog all through that orchard.
"I was carrying on a conversation
In *ur 'tap' code with Cassell at tha
other end. It ran something like this:
" 'Say, Cassell. how woaid you Ilk*
to be In the saloon bar of the King'a
Arms down Rye lan? ?with a bottle of j
Bass In front of you, and that blonde
barmaid waiting to till 'em up again?*
"Cassell had a fancy for that par- j
tlcular blonde. The answer came back
In the shape of a volley of cusses. 1
changed the subject.
"After a while our talk veered |
round to the way the Bochea had been
exposing themselves on the road down 1
on the chart as Target 17. What he
said about those Boches would never
have passed the relchstag, though I
believe It would have gone through
our censor easily enough.
"The bursting shells were making
such a din that I packed up talking
and took to watching the captain. lie
was fidgeting around on an old sand
bag with the glass to his eye. Occa
sionally he would let out a grunt, and j
make some remark I couldn't hear on !
account of the noise, but I guessed
what It was all right. Fritz was get
ting fresh again on that road.
"Cassell had been sending in the 'tap
code' to me, but I was fed up and
didn't bother with It. Then he sent
O. S., and I was all attention, for this
was a call used between us which |
meant that something Important was j
on. I was all ears In an Instant. Then
Cassell turned loose.
"'You blankety blank dud, I have!
been trying to raise you for fifteen
minutes. What's the matter, are you
asleep?' (Just as If anyone could
have slept In that Infernal racket!)
'Never mind framing a nasty answer.
Just listen.'
" 'Are you game for putting some
thing over on the Boches and Old Pep
per all In one?'
"I answered that I was game enough
when It came to putting It over the
Boches, but confessed that I had a
weakening of the spine, even at the
mention of Old Pepper's name.
"He came back with, 'It's so absurd
ly easy and simple that there Is no
chance of the old heathen rumbling it.
Anyway, If we're caught, I'll take the
blame.'
'Tinier those condition I told him to ;
spit out his scheme. It was so daring
and simple that It took my breath
away. This is what he proposed ;
"If the Roches should use that road
again, to send by the tap system the
taruet and range. I had previously
told him about our captain talking out
loud as if he were sending through
orders. Well, If this happened, I was
to send the dope to Cassell and he
would transmit it to the battery com
mander as officially coming through
the observation post. Then the bat
tery would open up. Afterwards, dur
ing the Investigation, Cassell would
swear he received It direct. They
would have to relieve him, because It
was impossible from his post in the
battery dugout to know that the road
was being used at that time by the
Germans. And also It was Impossible
for him to give the target, range and
degrees. You know a battery chart is
not passed around among the men like
a newspaper from Blighty. From him
the investigation would go to the ob
servation post, and the observing offi
cer could truthfully swear that I had
not sent the message by 'phone, and
that no orders to fire had been Issued
by him. The investigators would then
be up in the air, we would be safe, the
Bodies would receive a good bashing,
and we would get our own back on Old
Pepper. It was too good to be true.
I gleefully fell in with the scheme,
and told Cassell I was his meat.
"Then I waited with beating heart
and watched the captain like a hawk.
"He was beginning to fidget again
and was drumming on the sandbags
with his feet. At last, turning to me,
he said :
" 'Wilson, this army Is a blankety
blank washout. What's the use of hav
ing artillery if It is not allowed to fire?
The government at home ought to be
hanged with some of their red tape.
It's through them that we have no
shells.'
"I answered, "Yes, sir,' and started
sending this opinion over the wire to
Cassell, but the captain interrupted
me with :
" 'Keep those infernal finders still.
What's the matter, getting the nerves?
When I'm talking to you, pay atten
tion.'
"My heart sank. Supposing he had
rumbled that tapping, then all would
be up with our plan. I stopped drum
ming with my finK^rs and said :
? ?Beg your pardon, sir, just a habit
with me.'
" 'And a d d silly one, too,' he an
swered, turning to his glasses again,
and I knew I was safe, lie had not
tunjbled to the meaning of that tap
ping.
"All at once, without turning round,
he exclaimed :
" 'Well, of all the nerve I've ever run
across, this tnkes the cake. Those
Boches are using that road
again. Blind my eyes, this time It is a
whole brigade of them, transports and
all. What a pretty target for our
'4.5's.' The beggars know that we
won't fire. A d d shame, I call It.
Oh, Just for a chance to turn D 238
loose on them.'
"I was trembling with excitement.
From repeated stoh-n pktnces at the I
captain's range chart, that road with ;
Its range was burautl into my mind.
"Over the wire I tapped, T> 23S bat- :
tery. Target 17, Range 3 degrees
30 minutes, left, salvo, fire.' Cassell ,
O. K.'d my messape, and with the re
ceiver pressed against my ear, I wait
ed and llstenad. In a couple of min
utes very faintly over the wire came
the voice of our battery commander
issuing the order: 'D '?BS battery.
Salvo ! Fire !*
"Then a roar through the receiver
as the four guns belched forth, a
screaming and whistling overhead, and |
the sbel'... were on their way.
"The captain jninped as if he were
snot, aid let out a great big expreulvu
<1 n, and eagerly turned his glasses
in the direction of the German road.
I also strained my ejres watching that
target. Four black clouds of dust rose
up right in the middle of the German
column. Four direct hits ? another
record for D 238.
"The shells kept on whistling over
head. and I had counted twenty-four
of them when the firing suddenly
ceased. When the smoke and dust
clouds lifted the destruction on that
road was awful. Overturned limbers
and guns, wagons smashed up, troops
fleeing In all directions. The road and
roadside were spotted all over with
little field gray dots, the toll of our
guns.
"The captain, In his excitement, had
slipped off the sandbag, and was on
his knees In the mud, the glass still at
his eye. Fie was muttering to himself
and slapping his thigh with bis disen
gaged hand. At every slap a big
round juicy cuss word would escape
from his lips followed by :
" 'Good ! Fine ! Marvelous ! Pretty
Work ! Direct hits all.'
"Then he turned to me and shouted :
"'Wilson, what do you think of It?
Did you ever see the like of it in your
life? D n fine work, I call It.'
"Pretty soon a look of wonder stole
over his face and he exclaimed:
" 'But who in h ? 1 gave them the
order to fire. Range and everything
correct, too. I know I didn't. Wilson,
did I give you any order for the bat
tery to open up? Of course I didn't,
did I?'
"I answered very emphatically, 'No,
sir, you gave no command. Nothing
went through this post. I am abso
lutely certfcin on that point, sir.'
" 'Of course nothing went through,'
he replied. Then his face fell, and he
muttered out loud :
" 'But, by Jove, wait till Old Pep
per gets wind of this. There'll be fur
flying.'
.lust then Bombardier Cassell cut In
on the wire:
" 'General's compliments to Captain
A . He directs that officer and sig
naler report at the double to brigade
headquarters as soon as relieved. Re
lief now on the way.'
"In an undertone to me, 'Keep a
brass front, Wilson, and for God's
sake, stick.' I answered with, 'Rely on
me, mate,' but I was trembling all over.
"I gave the general's message to the
captain, and started packing up.
"The relief arrived, and as we left
the post the captain said:
" 'Now for the fireworks, and I know
they'll be good and plenty.' They were.
"When we arrived at the gun pits
the battery commander, the sergeant
major and Cassell were waiting for us.
We fell in line and the funeral march
to brigade headquarters started.
"Arriving at headquarters the bat
tery commander was the first to be
interviewed. This was behind closed
doors. From the roaring and explo
sions of Old Pepper it sounded as if
raw meat was being thrown to the
lions. Cassell, later, described it as
sounding like a bombing raid. In about
two minutes the officer reappeared.
The sweat was pouring from his fore
head, and his face was the color of a
beet. He was speechless. As he
passed the captain he Jerked his thumb
in the direction of the lion's den and
went out. Then the captain went in,
and the lions were once again fed.
The captain stayed about twenty min
utes and came out. I couldn't see his
face, but the droop in his shoulders
was enough. He looked like a wet hen.
"The door of the general's room
opened and Old Pepper stood in the
doorway. With a roar he shouted :
'"Which one of you is Cassell?
D n me, get your heels together
when I speak ! Come in here !'
"Cassell started to say, 'Yes sir.'
"But Old Pepper roared, 'Shut up !'
"Cassell came out in five minutes.
He said nothing, but as he passed me
he put his tongue into his cheek and
winked, then, turning to the closed
door, he stuck his thumb to his nose
and left.
"Then the sergeant major's turn
came. He didn't come out our way.
Judging by the roaring, Old Pepper
must have eaten him.
"When the door opened and the gen
eral beckoned to me, my knees started
to play "Home, Sweet Home' against
each other.
"My Interview was very short.
"Old Fepper glared nt me when I
entered, and then let loose.
" 'Of course you don't know anything
about It. You're just like the rest
Ought to have a nursing bottle around
your neck and a nipple In your teeth.
Soldiers ? by gad, you turn my stom
ach to look at you. Win this war,
when England sends out such samples
as I have In my brigade 1 Not likely !
Now, sir, tell me what you don't know
about this affair. Speak up, out with
It. Don't be gaping at me like a fish.
Spit it out.'
"I stammered, 'Sir, I know absolute
ly nothing.'
"That's easy to see,' he roared;
?that stupid face tells me that. Shut
up. Get out; but I think you are a
d <1 liar just the same. Back to
your battery.'
"I sainted and made my exit.
"That night the captain sent for us.
With fear ond trembling we went to
his dugout. He was alone. After sa
luting we stood at attention In front
of him and waited. His say was short.
" ?Don't you two ever get it into your
heads that Morse Is a dead language.
I've known it for year^. The two of
you had letter get rid of that nervous
hahlt of tapping transmitters; It's dan
gerous. That's all.'
"We saluted, and were Just gMnf out
the door of the dugout when the cap
tain called up back ond said:
" 'Snc:.ke Goldflakos? Yes? Well,
there are two tins of them on my table.
Cio back to the battery, and keep your
tongae* between yoar teeth. Under
stand?"
"We understood.
"For five weeks afterwards our bat
tery did nothing but extra fatigues.
We were satisfied and so were the
men. It was worth It to put one over
on Old Pepper, to say nothing of the
Injury caused to Fritz* feelings."
When Wilson had finished his story
I looked up and the dugout was
Jammed. An artillery captain and two
officers had also entered and stayed
for the finish. Wilson spat out an
enormous quid of tobacco, looked up,
saw the captain, and got as red as a
carnation. The captain smiled and
left. Wilson whispered to me:
"Blime me, Yank, I see where I click
for crucifixion. That captain is the
sarfte one that chucked us Goldfiakes
in his dugout and here I have been
?chucking me weight about In his
hearing.' "
Wilson never clicked tils crucifixion.
Quite a contrast to Wilson was an
other character in our brigade named
Scott ; we called him "Old Seotty" on
account of his age. He was fifty-seven,
although looking forty. "Old Seotty"
had been born in the Northwest and
had served in the Northwest Mounted
police. He was a typical cowpuncher
and Indian fighter and was a dead shot
with the rifle, and took no pains to
disguise this fact from us. He used to
take care of his rifle as if it were a
baby. In his spare moments you could
always see him cleaning It or polish
ing the stock. Woe betide the man
who by mistake happened to get hold
of this rifle; he soon found out his
error. Scott was as deaf as a mule,
and It was amusing at parade to watch
him in the manual of arms, slyly
glancing out of the corner of his eye
at the man next to him to see what
the order was. How he passed the
doctor was a mystery to us; he must
have bluffed his way through, because
he certainly was independent. Beside
him the Fourth of July looked like
Good Friday, ne wore at the time a
large sombrero, had a Mexican stock
saddle over his shoulder, a lariat on
his arm, and a "forty-five" hanging
from his hip. Dumping this parapher
nalia on the floor he went up to the
recruiting officer and shouted : "I'm
from America, west of the Rockies,
and want to join your d d army.
I've got no use for a German and can
shoot some. At Scotland Yard they
turned me down ; said I was deaf and
so I am. I don't hanker to ship in with
a d d mud-crunching outfit, but the
cavalry's full, so I guess this regi
ment's better than none, so trot out
your papers and I'll sign 'em." He told
them he was forty and slipped by. I
was on recruiting service at the time
he applied for enlistment.
It was Old Scotty's great ambition
to be a sniper or "body snatcher," as
Mr. Atkins calls it. The day that he
was detailed as brigade sniper he cele
brated his appointment by blowing the
whole platoon to fags.
Being a Yank, Old Seotty took a lik
ing to me and used to spin some great
yarns about the plains, and the whole
platoon would drink these in and ask
for more. Ananias was a rookie com
pared with him.
The ex-pialnsman and discipline
could not agree, but the officers all
liked him, even If he was hard to man
age, so when he was detailed as a
sniper a sigh of relief went up from
the officers' mess.
Old Seotty had the freedom of the
brigade. He used to draw two or
three days' rations and disappear with
his glass, range finder and rifle, and we
would see or hear no more of him
until suddenly he would reappear
with a couple of notches added to
those already on the butt of his rifle.
Every time he got a German it i&eant
another notch. He was proud of these
notches.
But after a few months Father
Rheumatism pot him and he was sent
to Blighty ; the air in the wake of his
stretcher was blue with curses. Old
Scotty surely could swear ; some of his
outbursts actually burned you.
No doubt, at this writing, he Is
"somewhere in Blighty" pussy footing
It on a bridge or along the wall of
some munition plant with the "G. R."
or Home Defense corps.
(To Be Continued.)
SAVING DAYLIGHT.
Few ptople could have imagined
how easily it was to fall into the n:w
system of keep:ng time.
But whet everybody says is right
is bound ic be right. When it is noor
now we all know that it is only eleven
o'clock. But to all intents and purpos
es it is noon, for so all ihc people
in the country regard it and so the
law has dt creed it.
It is so easy that the wonder is it
was never undertaken before. The
only reason that it wasn't has been
of course because, there has not been
the demand for conservation of li<rht
mkaing material that there is now.
The results show the advantage of
taking the bully by the horns. The
Government might have spent mil
lions in publising appeals to the peo
ple to bejrin work an hour earlie; ar.d
thus conserve light, daylight and ar
tificial light, and have gotten only
a limited resonse. By passing a law
to turn the clocks forward the de
sired result has been acomplished.
Old ohurs must be observed or there
is the ciarge and the justified charge
of lack of patrictism, for observance
of the new time is purely a war meas
ure and should be always regarded
as such. ? News and Observer.
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