LIFE IN THE TRENCHES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13601, 5 February 1915, Page 4

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES.

"NERVES" AND FROST BITE

LETTER FROM A SURGEON

Dr Martin, of Palmerston Nortli. whose record at the front has avoviseil admiration, sent another letter, m which he throws some interesting side-lights upon the manner m which the great conflict is being waged." "When I last wrote you," says JJr Martin, "I was m Belgium, a few miles across the frontier. ' 'To-day, I am again m France, just a" few miles from thi 1 frontier. Our division is resting, equipping, receiving reinforcements, and allowing the men a much-needed rest. and baths, and good sleep. Well they deserve it. The nerve efteots of living m an atmosphere of German bullet's arc very 1 trying, even to the hardiest of men. /The trenches are as comfortable as one cau make thfem, but they are not very comfortable, for all that. Two nighcs and two days m a front-line trench leaves ojje frozen and numbed, physically and intellectually. On one occasion I could hardly bend my fingers suft'ciently to handle the hypodermic syringe m order to inject < some m'6rptn# .into a wounded man '«pjm v me. Rut *here you are. We are resting for a weik,)iud we ha,ve had baths and gooql and 'good beds. . ' '

"We are still holding the road to Calais. Nothing can get past us now. Our : army — I speak of the French, tpo- Iwas never so nt arid was never such a vterrible and effective fighting machine. Tlje German attacks, at l'pres and i)ixmude have recoiled again and again before the pitiless sleet of lead and the deadly bayonet work of the "".'."British regiments. GALLANT FRENCH COLLEAGUES.

"Uiie cannot speak too warmly of our gallant trench L-olleagues. The French .are splendid. It- is a sight'^and ait experience never to be forgotten to be behind a French battery m action..' The din is frightful, but the calm insouciance of tiie French gunners fills one .with joy at .being their allies. I saw, some weeHs ,ago, a French 'brigade charging, and the reckless daring of those bold, fellows as. they, s^ep-y.^cross a neck "of land* "full of barbed-wire entanglement^ and_ swept, ,byi shrapnel made pn<j r . realise 'i\iiat; a gallant and heroic nation we are , with. , I .have no.fi seen .their, cavalry. -Tj'his is np war for the jjorseine^u ' ,The 'iJuii'aiß.- (- --siers go down' to the -trenches and use the rule and bayonet lite,: the infantry. Later we shall hear more of the French

and British, qavalry . Their hour has .hot y,et comey; bbust s jspon th o; haughty Prus,sian .wtUknp\v^tba^ Ins Uhlan is not m ; itr Wjith ihe.jßiitish dragoon or the French cuitassier .."j „. ...........

A FRENCH BOl^HERO: "I met 1 m a Belgian .".village recently a very gallant French' boy. Aiiotlier medical officer and myself had entered a restaurant, ai^4'.i had, ; Qi<jej,e4 a^gjasa of the red wine of the country. Then m came Alpi^onse, a..._ypu.th /Ir of i .tejader years, t but,: with,. a pi;oud militaiy mien and a ferocious T Swagg ? er. i>l ,^Ho J ordered his glass of winean^ polished it off' like a Falstaff. I asked Mm Kow old he was.

'Trelie ans, mon officer,' he said.! 'How majiy Germans have you killed?' 'Oh. peutetro quatorze ou quinze.' 'Admjrabte, mon peti-fc soldat. ! And how did you kill them V 'Avec mon carabine' Trrthia with a smack. pn his carbine, .and a salute to us ended the interview. He, as a matter of fact, had killed ,14 uorraans. He is a dead shot and a splendid scout. He crawls out. of Jhis trenches at night and scouts? .tvell intp tho enemy's lines. ,;. "An officer of his regiment told me his story. He \vas a Parisian newspaper boy, a gamin, and attached himself to this. % ,regimeift»^a : t, the beginning of the war. I*9 is only 13 years old, and ; small for,' his age, but he is old m knowledge and m sin. The regiment, could not shake him off, and so at last, like a French; regiment, it adopted him and gave him a uniform and a carbine.

DANGERS OF FROSTBITE

"In the trenches we have not been getting many wounded lately > as the lighting has not been of such a sanguinary character. All the armies are living m holes, m the ground, and when the 'coal-boxes', are hurtling o^ver, ■ the landscape a hole m, the. ground w.a very good place indeed. Frostbite. as, somewhat pare Vjalent .with our men, and it is an important factor, for a, .bad frostbite can incapacitate a soldier many months. Charcoal braziers made out of perforated ■ buckets , and ; petrol cans are .used m. the trenches. „..;• '. . .

"The position of the men is very cramped, and; the . only muscular .exertion they get is that produced by shivering. You will agree. ;syithjaie that t £he muscular fibrillation prpqL^ed by sHivering is not a very good fprni of exercise. It is obviously unsafe to.jJßtand up,\ so crouch Iney must and they must still sjiiver. '■, . „ , . .".'". RUMORS. AND MOBJfc RUMOIRS.

"We.ljve on rumors !; and more rumors up here. , Daily we get af resh rumor. ; The favorite one , is the.Kaiser, is dead. He has been drowned, assassinated, suicided, shot, ,^ayonMed, . ; blown ; tip, died with convulsion^., D&Uy* pr v £lmost daily, some h#s| . befallen Wilhelm, but * r Q m .^lwM ac 9? u^'Si *l?, e 'war lorn' isstlU apd^til} assert-, ing that the Almighty ,i« oiv his skle. When y?e dp not, kilLjthe. Aou'ec , we.jkill j the Crown Prince. He has been buried, m all parts of France and. Poland, but he always gets, put of his. crave, and turns up elsewhere.. He, I believe, is still alive and weil. On 'dog days' we kill and bury Vpn. Kluck, or Bulow, or Hindenberg. < p"'

DR MARTIN'S NEW WORK

"Directly this. letter sets pu> for, <yon I also set , out ; from ;, the . front, to Bou en , where I have,^Jeen. posted ,tq take charge of the surgery, m a . large t b.as.e, ; ho§j»i|al . It is , only, temporary,, >thiJ6.,Tye.are.fitting by m this war of trenches. .When we advance I again join my ambulance.. There is a lot of work to do m the base hospitals at Rouen. . The c,ifcy is, a wonderfully beautiful one, situated on the Seine.' r ,--. -■ >