distribution of gifts from home. For a considerable while Germany's
women-folk, especially, collected gifts for fathers and brothers at the
front; and it is certain that their efforts were much appreciated.




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34--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, DEC. 30, 1914.--[Part 21]


[Illustration: UNDERGROUND, WITH GRAMOPHONE, WHITE TABLE-COVER, AND
FLOWERS: FRENCH SOLDIERS IN A "HOME-LIKE" BOMB-PROOF TRENCH.]

Our photograph reproduces a snapshot, by a French artillery officer, in
the trenches to the east of the Aisne. It shows how some of the French are
making the best of things, regardless of weather and the enemy. They
hollowed out the trench at one point (describes the officer), and roofed
it over with planks and earth, forming a bomb-proof. A seat was cut at the
sides and a table got from a village near. A roll of sheet-iron found in
the village was made a chimney for a fire with a cosy chimney-corner
beside it. With some wire, also, a sort of candelabra was constructed. The
flowers on the table are in a German shell for vase, and the gramophone
was another village "find." It is evident that the war may develop a race
of military troglodytes.




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