ool. As soon as night had set in on
the occasion of a lull in the fighting, the digging of the trenches was
begun. Sometimes, in the darkness, the men of each fighting
nation--less than 500 yards away from their enemy--would hear the noise
of the workers of the foe: the sounds of picks and axes; the officers'
words of encouragement; and tacitly they would agree to an armistice
during which to dig shelters from which, in the morning, they would dash
out, to fight once more.

Commodious, indeed, were some of the trench barracks. One French soldier
wrote:

"In really up-to-date intrenchments you may find kitchens,
dining-rooms, bedrooms, and even stables. One regiment has first
class cow-sheds. One day a whimsical 'piou-piou,' finding a cow
wandering about in the danger zone, had the bright idea of finding
shelter for it in the trenches. The example was quickly followed,
and at this moment the ----th Infantry possess an underground farm,
in which fat kine, well cared for, give such quantities of milk
that regular distributions of butter are being made--and very good
butter, too."

But this is not all. An officer writes home a tale of yet another one
of the comforts of home added to the equipment of the trenches:

"We are clean people here. Thanks to the ingenuity of ----, we are
able to take a warm bath every day from ten to twelve. We call this
teasing the 'boches,' for this bathing-establishment of the latest
type is fitted up--would you believe it?--in the trenches!"

Describing trenches occupied by the British in their protracted
"siege-warfare" in Northern France along and to the north of the Aisne
Valley, a British officer wrote: "In the firing-line the men sleep and
obtain shelter in the dugouts they have hollowed or 'undercut' in the
side of the trenches. These refuges are slightly raised above the
bottom of the trench, so as to remain dry in wet weather. The floor of
the trench is also sloped for purposes of draining. Some trenches
are provided with head-cover, and others with overhead cover, the
latter, of course, giving protection from the weather as well as from
shrapnel balls and splinters of shells.... At all points subject to
shell-fire access to the firing-line from behind is provided by
communication-trenches. These are now so good that it is possible to
cross in safety the fire-swept zone to the advanced trenches from the
billets in villages, the bivouacs in quarries, or the other places where
the