nm

By An'American oldier Who Went

THE TOP” Arthur Guy Empey Machine Gunner, Serving in France

Coprrtfftl WT. bj Afftar Guj tmprj

REDUCING MOUSE AND RAT DAMAGE — Where Food Is Abundant It Is Impossible to Clear Premises of All Rodents.

GUILLOTINE TRAP IN FAVOR

XXVD—Coiitlnuad. ure of tb« H- A. M. C. tDMJ diftnrb the raldm, b^- ■ cany a mad* In «n nnder- . imNK^l alone the windlns a, to who would be flrat to r i.> on one of U-» atretcbeT*. - ri ixrally followed by a wl*h y ,.u were to be t^ one. the nouM be a "cuahy Bllcbty

•trends of the cut barbed wire o

cround. wal the loeettabl Ins tappene who cut th« wa* the on«

per had Clrr sonntly I bel Oertnan tret way. we sot

-•nirhet. bearer*, no doubt. : !f they did hare to carry . t.. th.' rear, he would be small ,ht Perhaps they looked nt me •l.lnr. becaoae I could feel an Lf Ttalde. t'orlng sensation be^boulder blade*. They got

LrUh all rtsht.

,s up this trench, about eve.y

3 rds or so we would pn*a a lent- ( t» U nn« un I'rr. who in a whisper would | shells we cat

. "the l>e»t o' luck, mates." We UlndVt him under onr breaths; phrase to US tended very ut any casualties the minstrel arrived at Suicide ditch, the

-line trench. Prertonsly, n srlrtnc 1 of the Uoyal Engineers had cut ,■ •hroujrh our barbed wire to en-

• to cet out Into No Man's Land.

<'hng t broach tnls lane, our

of tsenty took up an extendrdf. rmntlon about one yard apart,

id a tap code iarwneed for our

while In No Man’s Land, fur various reasons It la not > . arry on a heated conversation ■ uni* In front of Ftltt’ line*.

.ifiieer was on the rich! of the while I was on the extreme left.

from the rtcht would be

. down the line until I received rh-n I would send back one tap. ..tVer, in receiving this one tap. •1 know that his order had sonc i the whole lire, had been under1. and that the party was ready

the two-tap Stjrnal. Two taps

it that we were to crawl forward It —and Iielleve me. very slowly— I'- yards, aud then halt to await ,-i in-lructlona. .Three taps meant. > '"U arrived within slrikin( d!»- • " f the Oertnan trench, rnsli It laflict as many caaualtlet as pos"^ire a couple of prisoners, and tra-'fc tn your own lines with the I dutch open. Four taps meant. 'vc rotten yon Into a position from b it I* liupoaolblc for me to extri-

'••u. mi you are on your own."

r c<-ttlns Tommy Into a me*s on i •'tern front he Is fenerally told I pe Is “on his own." This means. • vmr skin In any wsy possible."

- loves to be "on his own” behind bnl not dcrinc n trench raid. Mar slirlls from the German

"•tv fulling In front of us. tberv- - • were safe. After about tweni.ulrs i\e entered the star shell

A Mar shell from the German

Wi alHiut live yards In the re-.r n •!■*• rich! of me; we hugged the I and held our breath until It 1 <>ut. The smoke from the star

.'nveled along the ground ami i over the mlddlu of our line.

Tommy sneeaed. The smoke had a up Ids nose. We crouched on '•’umt. cursing the offender under •'•u’li. and nailed the volley Uiat

;I J ensue* when the Germans

li-wrd a noise In No Man s Land. "S lisiiiened. We received two :mil crnwled forward slowly for ' 'd*: no doubt the officer be- ! v bat Old Pepper had aald. “Per-

I lieUeva that that part of the a tri-oeli |* unoccupied." By be-

•'•ful and remaining mothmlfw* Mu- Mar shells fell In-blnd us. ws

'he Gentian tairbed wire wlth-

‘odiap. liieu the fnn began. I

1 -I *tlff as It Is ticklish work

- .'our way through wire when ,! ‘ l, t) fi-et In .runt of you there

■ of Hi trite* looking out Into No i-und with their rifles lying hr (tsrapet. straining every or hear what 1» going on

at night.

challenge and rifle Are. Noth*osc the fellow lire Improperly snrexed about

half an hour previously. What we wished him would never make his new

year a happy one.

The officer. In my opinion, at the oolse of the wire should have given the four-tap signal, which meant. "Un your own. get back to your trenches as jatckly a* possible." but again he must have relied on the spiel that Old Pep-

e dugout. "Perhat port of the coupled.” Anymt not so careriotlc songs or

made any unnecessary noise. During the Intervals of falling star

th onr wire cut-

ting until at last we 'succeeded in getting through the German barbed wire. At this point we were only ten feet frvm the German trenches. If we were dlsovered, we were like rsts Id s trap. Our way was cut off unless we ran along the wire to the narrow lane we had cm through. With our hearts In our mouths we waited for the threetap signal to rush the German trench. Three tap* had gotten about halfway down the line when suddenly about ten to twenty German War shells were fired all along the trench nod landed In the barbed wire In rear of us. turning night Into day and silhouetting us against the wall of light made by the flares, la the glaring light we were confronted by the following unpleasant All along the German trench, at about three-foot Intervals, stood a big Prussian guardsman with his rifle at the aim. and then we found out why we had not been challenged when the man sneered and the barbed wire had been Improperly cut. About three feet in front of the trench they had constructed a single fence of barbed wire and we knew onr chances were one thousand to one of returning alive. We could not rush their trench ou account of this second defense. Then

u.ghty."

In front of me the rhsllrnge. "Halt." given In Kngilsh rang out. and one of Ihe finest thing* I have ever heard on

the western front look place. Pram the middle of our line some

Tommy answered the challenge with. "Aw. go to h—I" It must have breo the man who had sneezed or who had Improperly rut the Imrbed wire; he wanted to sliow Frit* that he could die game. Then came the volley. Machine guns were turned loose and several bombs were thrown In oar rear. The Roche In front of me was looking down his sight- This fellow might have, under ordinary circumstances. Iweti handsome, but whoa I viewed him

’whrtTtHunb^lih i from the frort .if his rifle be bad the d number on It will come | r*Wlu. of childhood Imagination rele-

xigU the air aimed In the gated to the shade.

IWri , The man on th- I Then came a flash In front of me. tne «n the^.M and my- of hi. rifle-and », head seemed V.r. me left «e* equipped to bund A bullet had hit m- on the Iter*. These are Insulated left side of my face sb-at^sl. an d-r not because ihe Her | Inch from my eye. smash ng the chees -c - hsrrod with electricity. ! t-mes I put my hand t < my fare and nt the ruttor* rubbing fell forwa.d. biting th- g-md and .arbed wire a,ake^ whirl, klck.ug my feet. I thought 1 -«• dr net making a mdse ; tng. but. do you know, tgy paM life did

t unfold before me the way II does

i my

full of blood and bralua, then I went crmxy with fear and horror and rushed along the wire until I came to our lane. I had Just turned down this lane when something Inside of me seemed to say. “Look around." I did so; a bullet caught me on the left ahoulder. It did not hurt much, just felt as If aomeone had punched me In the back, and then my left aide went numb. My arm was dangling like a rag. I fj-ll forward In a sitting position. But nil the fear had left me and I was consumed with rage and cursed the German trmrhea. With my right hand I felt In my tunic for my first-aid or shell dressing. In feeling over my tunic my hand came In contact with one of the bomb* which I carried. Gripping It I pulled the pin out with ttiy teeth and blindly threw it towards the German trench. I must have been out of my head, because I was only ten feet from the trench and took a chance of being mangled If the bomb had failed to go into the trench I would have been blown to bits by the explosion of my own bomb. By the flare of the explosion of the bomb, which locklly landed In their trench. I saw one big Boche throw up h!s arms and fall backwards, while his rifle flew Into the air. Another one wilted and fell forward »cross the sandbags—then blackness. Realizing what a foolhardy and risky thing I had done. I was again seized with a horrible fear. I dragged myself to my feet and ran madly down the lane through the barbed wire stumbling over cut wires, tearing my uniform. and lacerating my hands and legs. Just as I was about to reach No Men's Land again, that same voice seemed to say. “Turn around." I did so. when, “crick." another bullet caught me. this time in the left shoulder about one-half Inch away from the other wound. Then It was taps for me. The lights went out. When I came *o I was (Touching In a hole In No Man's Land. This shell hole wa* about three feet deep, so that It brought my head a few Inches below the level of the ground. How I reached this hole I will never know. German “typewriter*" were traversing back and forth In No Man's Land, the bullets hiring the edge of my shell hole and throwing dirt all over me. Overhead shr-pnel was bursting. I could hear Ihe fragments slap tba ground. Then I went out once more. When I came to everything was siteand darkness In No Man's Land. I was soaked with blood and a big lisp from the wound In my cheek wa* hanging over my mouth. The blood running from this flap choked me. Out of the corner of my month I would try and blow It back, but It would not move. 1 reached for my shell dressing and tried, with one hand, to band.ige my face to prevent the flow. I had nn awful horror of bleeding to death and was getting very faint. Ton wonld have laughed If you had seen my ludicrous attempts at bandaging with one hand. The pains In my wounded shoulder were awful and I was getting ■lek at th* stomach. I gave up the bandaging stunt oa . bad job. and thru fainted. When I came to. bell was let loose, in Intense bombardment was on. sad on the whole my position was decidedly unpleasant. Then, suddenly, our barrage ceased. The silence almost taort. but not for long, been use Frits turned !oo»e with shrapnel, ranchih--gana. and rifle Are. Then all along our line came a cheer and onr boys came over the top tn a charge. The flr>! wave was composed of “Jocks.” They were a tnugtilflcent sight, kilts, flapping In the wind, bare knees showing, and their bayonets glistening. In Ihe first wave that passed my shell hole, one of the "Jocks." an Immense fellow, about six feet two Inches In height Jumped right over me. On the right sod left of me several soldiers In colored kilts wet* huddled ca the ground, then over came the second wave, also “Jocks." One young Scottle. when he came abreast of my shell bole, leaped Into the air, hi* rifle shooting out of bis hands, landing about six feet In front af him. bayonet first, and stuck In Hie ground, the butt trembling. This Impressed me greatly. (TO BE CONTSNVBH »

Other Devices More Simple In Construction Are Preferable—Vienna Sausage or Fried Bacon Makes

Excellent Bait.

{Prepared by th# United Pistes Depart-

ment of Agriculture.)

Owing to their cunning. It la not always easy to dear rats from premises by trapping; If food Is abundant. It Is Impossible. A few adults refuse to enter the most Innocent-looking trap. And yet trapping. If persistently followed. Is one of the most effective ways of destroying the animals.

Guillotine Trap.

For general use the Improved modern flips with a wire fall reltased by a baited trigger and driven by a colled spring have marked advantugas over the old forms and many of them may be used at the same rime. These

The center of agricultural production of the Pnltrd Ktntes. according to the value of crop and animal productr for 1917, Is In west central Illinois as shown by a diagram Just Issued by the department of agriculture. The states of greatest production arc: Iowa. fll^SJjOOOJXM; n-.lt. $1 “”..000.000; Texas. SLOT'.000.000; Mi-dsouri, MM7.000.000; Ohio, 1.000.000; Nebraska. *774,000.000: Indiana. $700,000,000; Kansas. $733,000,000: New York. $700,000,000; Mlnn.--aota. $040,000,000: Pennsylvania. $630,000.000; Georgia. $003.000.000; Wisconsin. $30S,000.000; California. $373.000.000; Michigan. $3.14.000.000. and Kentucky. $329,030,000.

Ling ■

otse 1 tuBlr. and

awful. Whci elf. “limp, old

>n belong In Jersey City, and etter get back there as quirk!}

I a few f:-el bsrl aiding myself by an the line I—>1 had cut throe

PUN OUTLINED FOR HAYING OPERATIONS Keep the Crew Busy and Save Maximum Amount of Crop. Fair Day's Work for Leading, Hauling and Putting Into Barn With Horse Fork Is About Five Tons

per Man—Haul All Day.

fPrepsrad by th* United States Depart-

ment of Agrtrul.-ora.)

The haying season for tame hay lasts about ten days. Sometimes when the weather Is unfavorable or the acreage Is large It take* longer to get the hay made. The hay grower should plan to get his hay made within two weeks nt most. If (msslble. If the amount of hay each machine srtli handle per hour or per day and the amount of labor required per too Is known, plans can he made to make a i certain amount of hay per day. ! It has been found that, under average conditions, mowers, tedders and sulky rakes will cover two acre* per foot In width of the machine per ten-hoar day. That 1*. a five-foot mower will cut ten acres per day. a | ten-foot sulky rake will rake 20 acres per day. etc. One man can cock i about fire or six acres per day. A traps, fometlme* colled "guillotine" f"lr day's work for loading, hauling traps, are of many designs, but the and putting Into the bam with n hors* more simply constructed are prefer-1 fork Is about five tons per man. able. Probably those made entirely ' When the baying season comes an of metal are tie best, ns they are effort should be made to make as more durable. Traps with tlr or sheet- °uch bay per day as possible. On Iron metal base* are not rocom- many farms In the East the best remended. salts are not obtained, because hay Is Guillotine trap* of the type *hown battled only In the afternoon. This should be baited with small pieces of practice lengthens the haying season Vicuna sausage (WleLerwursi) or ) ‘bus Incresse* the chances of fried bacon. A small section of an damage to the hay from rain and ear of corn Is an excellent halt If ' muses hay to lose Its natural “t -a other grain Is not present The trig- pren" color. The hauling crew gcr wire should he bent Inward to bring the bolt Into proper position for the fall to strike the rat In the

neck.

Other Excellent Baits.

Other excellent halts for rats and

mice are oatmeal, toasted cheese, toasted bread (battered), fish, fish offal, fresh liver, raw meat pine nuts, apple*, carrots and corn, and sunflower. squash or pumpkin seeds. Broken fresh eggs are good halt at all seasons „nd ripe tomatoes, green cucumbers and other fresh vegetables are very tempting to the animals In winter. When seed, grain or meal Is nsed with a guillotine trap. It la put ou the trigger plate or the trigger wire may t>e bent outward and the

halt placed directly under It. Oatmeal (rolled oats) Is recom-

mended as a halt for guillotine traps made with wooden base and trigger plate. These traps are especially convenient to use on ledge* or other nardow rat run* or at the openings of Coring Hay In Bunch—Hay Will Cure rat burrow*. They are often used -Jut Better When Loosely Bunched without bale Than When In Swath c- Windrow, A common mistake In trapping for hut a Heavy Rein Will Wet It Clear rata or mice Is to use only one or two Through, trap* when dozens are needed. For a large establishment hundred* of should work all day. or at least start trap* way be used to advantage and •» •‘•on as the dew Is off. unless there s dozen Is none too many for an la other more ltu|M>riant farm work to ordinary barn or dwelling infested be done. with rata House mice are less so*- Scarcity of Isltor will sometimes prepi clous thsn rets and are much more vent the hauling crew from working easily trapped. 1,1 ‘be morning. If the tpowhig. tedding _________ and raking are done In the forenoon.

When a crew Is kept at fl*e barn for

unloading and putting the hay In the mow. the men should t»e kept busy all of the time. If possible, if a crew rani not stay at the barn without considerable loss of time, the men should all work In the Add. pltehlng. loading or hauling, two or three coming in

USES FOR DIFFERENT FOWLS j Poultry. Other Than Chickens Hav« | Important Place in Increasing Needed Food Supply. ^ (Prepared by the Uan-d States Depart of Agriculture.) The hen. first and !a«!. is the male flependeuiv for lnm-a«in; the supply of white meat and egg*, hut requires the aid of turkeys, guinma. j geeae. and ducks, just ax. on a dairy j farm, the cow require* the aid of pis*. ; sheep, and gnats. The setting of ths ' standard at 1U0 liens Jn-r farm l* safe, but Do Mirh arbitrary standard can be set for the other kind* of poultry. The mall farm, with grain field* of neighboring farms In proximity to thi barn and dooryard. would, perhaps, be Itetter without turkeys. The farm through which no streams run auJ which has no large |»md would perhaps be better without du' Us. But the circumscribed farm on which turkeys would lie a disadvantage lu.iy be well supplied with streams mid pond* so that ducks would be unusually profitable, and the farm that has no streams and ponds may have largo range for turkeys Each farm family will have to determine for Itself what poultry can lx- profitably kept In addition to 100 hcmi. bearing In mind always that an adequate number should be kept of all ibe kinds for which free range can he found. Turkey*, ranging farther afield, prey upon Insect forms that escape tho hens. From the time the young are old enough to begin foraging for themselves. |M*rhnp* rnrly In June, until nen» frost, turkeys take the bulk of their f«xHl from field insects, devouring millions of grasshoppers and other Injurious forms in mend in* and pasture. In ■ region* where wooded areas are still fairly extensive, mast Is an Important ItcOi In the diet ut the turkey. When the lu*e«i stores begin to fall, the mast larders nre beginning to be filled. Feeding on acorns, chestnuts beech nut*, and tho like, turkeys will go a long wr.y toward fattening themselves for the Thanksgiving or Christmas market and will not require much feeding of corn or other grain to finish them. Generally speaking, turkeys will require a larger feeding of grain than chickens to St them for market, but. ns they utlllzn forms of waste that hens and their brooda wonld not reach, the keeping of a fair nunilxT of turkeys U good economy. Guinea fowls utilize still other kinds of waste that would escape both luma and turkeys Taking a wider rungs than cldckeoa and yet not quite so wide as turkeys, keeping largely to thickets aud weed patch-■*. and committing fewer depredations against field and garden than either chickens or turkeys, requiring little f-xsllng at an/ time, being prolific layers, during their season of egg* that nre thought by many to have a richer and finer flavor even than hen ego*, the ruinea fowl la an economic ne«—sslty on any farm where a serious effort I* mad? to convert all waste Into meat and eggs. Geese hold still unolltcr sect r la the line of the poultry army that makes war against waste. They t *:ich flanks with the chicken* In ui Hiring w-aste grain about stable* and feeding I*ens. In a larger tm-asure t'mn chickens or any other kind of poultry, they are grazing stock, taking their living In large part from the ordinary grasses of the pasture*. ' The one kind of poultry cf ; able economic statu* -m farms is tho pigeon. Almost exclusively n grata eater, the pigeon renders no n-tatils I service as a conserver of waste, cx- | cept it might be shattered grain In tha fields, and that In large measure would I lx- taken up by other poultry and by 1 pig*. The pigeon has it* economic | place In the scheme of u^han poultry production, but. except In Irtati -I 1»I stance* where condition* are |xs-tiliar- ! ly favorable. It* production on g' m-ral | farms may not be desirable.

U Boats Havs Mu.-dsred Thousand* There Is a danger lest familiarity, even with sueh a monstrous crime n« unre*trh1ed t'-boat warfare. ahouM breed Indifference to Its enormity, uy* an exchange. Tb'-rcfor*. It I* well to bear If. inltid that, except when the attack t* made on fighting ship* "r trsnaporta carrying fighting men. the torpedoing of ship* and sending nx-n t<. their -Jeaih far out at sea, I* sin-ply

murder, unredeemed by

only c

ing <

Ju*t

FIND VALUE IN SUNFLOWERS In Region* Where Corn Doe* Not Thrive Crap May Be Used as

Substitute for Bilage.

iPrepared br .‘he United B ate* Depart-

meat of Agrlculti r*>

Experiments with sunfl -were to de- with each load to help unload, termine their suitability for silage are ! >‘ •' k™" 1 practice to have . being conducted In the western United <1*T'* mowing ahead of the crew haul stale* by the bureau of plant Indua- ‘'ig or roddnr. Mowers, tedders nud ; try. In co-operation with state expert- «ulkr rake* should either be us-d all | m-nt station*. There are Indication* day or a full half day. whenever the, ; that this crop may be ai-ertally uaeful work. In many meth.xis of making In region* where the growing season hay. one or more of these ma-hlne* la too coot for the production of Urge , will finish In Ihe middle of the for.- ; yield* of silage corn. The experiments ( noon, and there will be place for the • were begun In 1917 at Huntley. Mon- men operating the machines to work ..... and Scottsbluff. Nebraska, and at haying the remainder of the half |

the first year's result* led the Investl- ] day. gator* to extend the work to other

(.lint* thi* year, tn 1917 the yield* of I Turkey* Thrive on Insect*,

sunflower Ming.- exrnded tho—- of j Because of the ruraliiu'.lng dispool*!lag.- In the aamr field* from 50 Hon .-f the turkey some nre led to

yield* of more than N-Ueve that they do a great deal of were ohialn.-d under damage to growing crop*. Thi* la a ■Inary feeding teat- mistaken idea, a* they live very largemt the ■uiiflower *1 ly u:> Hie*, hugs, grasshopper* aud the

MARKING CHICKS MADE EAST Toe Punch Method Enables Pou'tryman to Dleting.-ith Hens From th* Young Pullets.

Toe punm or mark all the chl-kena before they are tranafer.vl to th" brooder or brood coop, so that their ago and breeding can be readily drfer-

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to 100 per 20 tons p i Irrigation.

. I Skim Milk for Pigs. , | A- MOB a- the pic* will eat. they . should have skim milk id a shallow

Sixteen Different Method* of Marking Chick*—If Thia Plan Is Followed Age of Fowls Can Earily Be Told, mined after they are matured. Farmer* frequently k<“-p <>bl b-n* - a tln-ir farms aud kill the young--r hen* anil

i Xb-. l*-o feed*.