32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



November 25, 1918 



If you want to know where we are located, first glance at the papers 

 and whenever you see a big tight featured you can feel assured we are In 

 it ; for we are now what is known as first corps artillery, that is, we are 

 for use within the corps wherever the demand is greatest. 



When we first landed in France we were with the 32 division (Michi- 

 gan-Wisconsin) until the oryanl/.alion of the first army when we were 

 made army artillery ami now are for use anywhere within the organiza- 

 tion either for offeiisive or defensive purposes. 



We went through the second battle of the Marne as corps artillery and 

 are certainly proud and much pleased with what you might call our latest 

 promotion. 



All we need now is a few hours notice and plenty of gasoline and we 

 are ready for the skirmish. What do you think of our latest, not so bad 

 was it, considering the strength of t-he defenses we were up against? I 

 wish I could describe to you this elaborate system of emplacements, con- 

 crete dugouts, tunnels and mine shafts, with everything you could possibly 

 want even to electric lights. 



I would like to send you some of the souvenirs we found in one of the 

 dugouts, that had evidently been occupied by a high commander. We 

 have found any number of camoullaged helmets, war posters ; in fact we do 

 not now have to look for trophies, they are everywhere. 



We went over one of the old liattle fields of 1914 where a very famous 

 scrap took place ; and such rippeil up ground, such masses of barbed wire 

 and devastated forests you could hardly conceive of. 



I am sending two copies of the Stars and Stripes and if you look on 

 the last page you will see a picture of the big German gun emplacement 

 that I told you about. I got a good look at it, and I tell you it was an 

 enormous piece of work, fully 30 feet iu diameter with a turntable resting 

 on ball bearings about 10 inches iu diameter. There was a spur running 

 off the main line of the railroad for feeding ammunition to it and bring- 

 ing in supplies. This was camoutiaged with fresh brush that was thrown 

 over the tracks, and where these crossed a road there were detachable 

 rails. 



The tube was not captured near this position, but further on, where 

 it was in the process of being taken away some distance up the railroad. 

 ^\'hen an army is traveling fast enough to take a gun like this you can 

 imagine that something similar to a rout is taking place. 



Well, last night it rained again and as luck would have it I had not 

 taken time to put up my little tent, but just pitched my cot by the road- 

 side. Did I get up'; Well I should say not, just pulled up the canvas 

 fly over my head and let her rain. It has, however, taken all my in- 

 genuity and very diligent sewing to protect myself otherwise ; for, ever 

 since the battle of the Marne, I have had a big hole in my trousers ; and 

 as things up here are very scarce I began to think my situation rather 

 serious. However, a kind friend has just come to tell me where I can 

 possibly secure a pair ; so will have to close and take advantage of the 

 opportunity. 

 Dear Family : 



As you seem to be anxious to know the details of our maneuvers, will 

 tell you about our march to the front, as the facts in this connection are 

 now of no military value. 



On the Fourth of July, after our parade through the streets of Clar- 

 mont, and return to St. Amant, we were told to be ready on a moment's 

 notice for a move to the front. We began loading our trucks, so when 

 the order came we were ready and eager for the start to Issoir, where we 

 boarded our side door Pullman that headed the train load of trucks and 

 tractors. Two men were assigned to a compartment and by one's sleep- 

 ing on the seat and the other on the floor, managed to freeze to death 

 amid the tooting of whistles that announced our departure. 



At six we pulled into the outskirts of Paris, passing hospital trains, 

 a bunch of Howitzers and 75's and a load of small tanks; all bound for 

 the same port, and from the hearty reception that greeted the arrival. 

 we began to think we must be sorely needed on the fighting line, while 

 Paris was packing up for a move on account of the progress Germanv 

 was making at that time. 



About midnight we arrived at our point and by four in the morning 

 were unloading and our convoy was on its way to a farm near by, which 

 had served as a General's headquarters when the Germans were so close 

 to Paris In 1914. 



We then went immediately to a nearby town to draw our equipment, 

 and, as one of our guns had broken down on the flat car and another had 

 to be secured, there was just an hour left for sleep before our march 

 began. 



At eight A. M. the word came to proceed to ■ , and I was put In 



charge of the battery and also the battalion heavy convoy, with orders to 

 proceed fifty kilometers and await further instruction. At nine everything 

 was rolling and the 1000 pound trail spades were resting comfortably in 

 their places after having been issued to the guns just one hour Ijefore. 



The column when in motion was about a kilometer in length and all 

 I had to keep things well closed up with was a Renault tractor with a 

 thirteen-ton gun on behind, and when we came to a big hill, would have 

 to walk about six kilometers to see that all got up safely. 



Orders were to be at at 3 :30 P. M., so we did not stop for dinner, 



but went straight through, making only one stop to fill up with gasoline, 

 and on our arrival parked up a side road until eight P. M. when further 

 orders were to move to our position at the front, which was reached about 

 midnight. 



Two of the tractors ran out of gas, and as there was none to be had, 

 this side of Paris, it was morning before we were * • • on our plat- 

 forms, and then no camouflage did we have except some chicken wire and 

 a few branches. We spent the day digging a recoil pit and bv night were 

 ready to fire. We were operating at that time with the 81st French Regi- 

 ment, 0th Army, and the French Lieutenant was most pessimistic over 

 our situation, declaring the Germans had 40 divisions to our 3 and he 

 had information they were to attack us at midnight July 14th. 



At 11 :30 of that date everything we possessed that had a hole in it 

 began pouring iron into the Germans, beating them to the attack, but at 

 schedule time they came over the top in mass formation. We drove them 

 back, but they came again and crossed the river in 16 places, advancing 

 further. The order came to fire as far as possible and, believe me, we 

 did all that night and at day break the word came that the infantry 

 needed our help badly ; they were going over the top. We could not in- 

 crease our speed, we were working as fast as it was possible, and it was 

 not till later in the day that the order was changed to : "Cease firing. 

 Enemy out of range." This kept up, the infantry advancing so fast it 

 hardly paid us to go into position some days. We followed as closely as 

 possible and at night parked by the roadside. 



One night we got a gas alarm at 12 'o'clock — it was a Gotha dropping 

 gas bombs. We took our masks off after making a test and the Gotha 

 flew over us again, this time dropping a good big one which landed 20 

 meters from Walter Gleason and a piece as large as a plate lodged In a 

 tree under which he was sleeping. That night we learned how to tell a 

 Boche plane from an Allied one. They have an intermittent, galloping 

 buzz that we all know pretty well now. 



We kept up this race after the infantry for quite a while ; one night 

 we were ordered to move at eight P. M. after a two days' rain, with no 

 chains for the tractors, so that they skidded off the road at every turn. 



It fairlv poured down and was so dark you could see better with your 

 eyes clo"sed. The mud was about six inches deep and at one place trees 

 and horses were strewn all over the road, and the bridge we had to cross 

 WIS being shelled with some eight inch stuff which tor some reason or 

 other did not happen to hit any of us. One came pretty close but turned 

 out to be a dub. . ^. ^ . >, »v. 



Finally we pulled into the town ]ust evacuated that morning by the 

 Germans, and we were so close on the heels of the infantry, we had no 

 positions reconnoitered, just put a couple of guns on the roadside and 

 opened up. After about a week of this we changed sectors, but this Is 

 an average of our occupation and I will write the details of our other 

 movements when thev have become ancient history. 



Am sending a poster that I found in a dugout in our last advance. 

 Affectionately, 



TORB, 



146 Field Artillery. 



(?■ 



Pertinent Information 



Lumber Market in Spain 

 Prospective exporters of lumber will do well to keep an eye on the 

 market in Spain. The lumber shortage there is being severely felt. In 

 the enforced failure of supply during the war the scanty forest lands of 

 Spain have been called upon to make up the deficit to such an extent 

 that the government has taken alarm and is now planning extreme con- 

 servation measures, which will pretty well shut off the domestic supply 

 of timber. That will furnish the opportunity of the American timberman. 



Heart-Rot in Hemlock 



The Department of Agriculture has published Bulletin 722 dealing with 

 the form of decay known as heart-rot, and choosing the western hemlock, 

 beyond the Rocky Mountains as the basis of the study. The report was 

 written by James R. Weir and E. E. Hubert. Some western hemlock Is 

 appearing in eastern markets, for which reason the bulletin will possess 

 an interest for lumbermen east of the tree's range. The dealers In this 

 wood in the western country claim for it a high degree of excellence and 

 insist that it ought to be rated much above the eastern hemlock. 



House Building in England 



England will need 300,000 houses to supply its people, now that the war 

 is ended. Plans have been drawn for that number, and land has been 

 bought. Local authorities, in the various regions, will take charge of the 

 work and the government will assist where necessary. Local architects 

 are drawing most of the plans, and designs will vary in accordance with 

 the requirements of each region. Particulars of the materials to be used 

 are not at hand. House building has recently been more nearly at a stand- 

 still In England than in this country, while, of course, in most of the 

 countries on the continent of Europe no building of importance has been 

 possible of late. It may be expected to take on new lite at an early period. 



Changes in Lumber Priorities 



The priorities division of the War Industries Board has cancelled lumber 

 priorities for the war department and given to railroad orders a priority 

 rating higher than that accorded any other class. Lumber orders for the 

 shipping board. Emergency Fleet Corporation, the housing corporation and 

 the labor departments of the bureau of industrial housing and distribution 

 are all accorded equal priority following railroads. These regulations 

 cover orders now unfilled and those that will be placed hereafter. They 

 also apply to all railroads whether under government administration or not. 



Export License Regulations 



The war trade board announces that the regulations heretofore pre- 

 scribed as to the signing of applications for export licenses, as set forth 

 in W. T. B. R. 214, issued September 10, 1918, have been rescinded. The 

 regulations requiring the filing of powers of attorney have also been 

 rescinded. In order to facilitate the work of filing applications for export 

 licenses, the board will now accept applications if it shall appear from the 

 application itself that it bears the personal signature, in ink, of the con- 

 signor or of some person to whom the consignor has delegated the duty 

 of signing applications. 



Arranging for Federal Taxes 



Federal Income and profits taxes for 1919 under the new revenue act 

 will amount to $6,000,000,000. The first third of these taxes will be due 

 and payable March 15, 1919. These taxes must be paid in cash. If no 

 advance preparations were made to provide means of payment, the strain 

 on the banking and business credits of the country might lead to embar- 

 rassing results. To avoid this the United States treasury has provided 

 a method whereby all taxpayers may supply themselves in advance with 

 a medium of meeting the March 15 installment of the federal revenue 

 payment, without resort to credit at that time. 



This is done by offering 4y2 percent tax anticipation certificates, a direct 

 obligation of the United States treasury, dated November 7 and maturing 

 March 15. 



The banks and all private investors having funds in hand at the present 

 moment may employ them with absolute freedom from risk or commercial 

 uncertainty by buying these government tax anticipation series "T." By 

 doing so cash which might otherwise be idle, "waiting for conditions to 

 settle down," may be put to work for the government. Current funds are 

 needed to carry on the demobilization operations following the armistice. 

 There Is no way to obtain this money except by "borrowing against the 



