THE "BYNG BOYS"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3150, 31 July 1917, Page 5

THE "BYNG BOYS"

A BATTLE-FRONT SKETCH. ! j HUN LUXURY DOWN-STAIES \ (By F. A. MTvenzie, in the '"Daily : , Mail.") v The German officer oertainly understands tho art of comfort. Our village i proves this. A few weeks ago the enemy '■ owned it. They had held it continuously ! for tiro years. On April 9 the Canadians i turned them out. You approach it from ; a hill through a torn, etretch of -wood, ' where the top and stems of every tree ■ have been shot off. however, ; wild liyacinths and summer flowers are i doing their, best to wipe out trapes of war. , Here is a fine dressing station, seven •! rooms, dug deep into tho hill-eide. Closft J by is a beer gardon with a porch! efill ; left. Its exterior is planned on the j model of a Swiss chalet. ■ i A notice on the wall outside marks the ] change of proprietorship: ; DO-DROP INN. • ! Working Parties a Speciality. j Daylight Parties Preferred. I Picks and Shovele are i NOT Provided HEEE. A Compree. • (Proprietors) The Byng Boys. ■■ '. J A. few hundred yards farther on, across ; tne fop, brings us to the prize set of dug- j ovits. Do not linger on the way, for Fritz 1 shells this good and hard, day after day. j If Ts rather stiff .going, for there are j plenty of fjhell-craters to be skirted. The ; great dug-outs, the former German Head- ,; quarters, are certainly, .the finest I have j over seen. There is a whole terrace ■; around the roof,- partly for service and j partly as a pleasant promenade. There : are several entrances. The centre one .j is marked "Konimandantur. Zollern ! Jiaus." A few steps bring us to a small -j platform and a few more to a fine open ; corridor. The walls and roof are paint- .; ed white, with a neat decorative design. \ in black. The mam staircase to the first .•, floor runs directly from this. It is a , staircase' good enough for any private ; house. ■ , . i We enter a central underground Cham- i ber a fairly large room supported py, " pillars. Two long, well-cushioned eeats. . lneetins in a kind of cosy corner, are on. j one side, aiid facing them is a well- . i made dark wood table polished in Its ; natural grain. There is a vcooden skirt- ; in? to the wall, about 4ft. high, paint- • ed a delicate shade of blue. The whole ; of the upper part of the wall is covered by a series of colonial style panels, dart ; wood edging with , cream-white centres. ■ : It is really very effective. There are \ other tables for work with telephones j (capital telephones) to hand. A stoTe, ; electric light, and good leather seats- .; probably fopnd in. tho ruined houses ; near by—complete tho apartment. On .. ■ i either side run.the offices of the staff, with tho kitchens farther on. i All of the.-e are well underground, with! ; a mighty covering of earth above. But ■; to make" assurance of safety doubly eure, j thoro is still another floor below, equally. ! big, will ventilated, and equally comfort- ; able. ..' ■; "If the German officers had spent » ; littlo less time in their dug-outs and a .-; little more in their trenches things might have gono better with them," said. ! one veteran general to me. On the da?, of the great battle one officer from this : very Kommandantur came out to' see what all the disturbance was about. He . : no moro dreamed of capture than Londoners dream of ineeting Prussian j Guardsmen in Piccadilly. To his surprise some Canadian soldiers just' com- : ing up greeted him and took him off to safety. ■ ! "A German captain hurried up the , Trill, followed \>y two servants carrying his kit. He was calling in English as j he went: "Of course I surrender. Of ; course I surrender. But I can only be • ; taken by mi officer of equal rank." A Canadian corporal took him in hand. "Cut that out, d —• quick. You come right along and help to carry that j stretcher." When the officer's servants saw him nt work they dropped theit ; packs, opened them, and by signs in- i vited our troops to help themselves. I