The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, June 25, 1915, Page 2, Image 2
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LETTER FROM
TELLS OF
'Columbia Record. .
The magnificent work of the Cana
utan and Scotch soldiers in resisting
the German drive on Ypres receives
glowing tributes from Dr. George
Benet, a member of the corps of the
American ambulance hospital in
Paris, in a letter to his brother.
Christie Benet, in Columbia.
Dr. Benet attributes the German
gain, of about one mile, as being
due to tlie use of asphyxiating gas,
which he says is a mixture of chlorine
and bromule gases. The French
know how to "stick," writes Dr.
Benet.
The writer of the following letter,
Dr. Benet, was graduated from the
medical school at Harvard University.
l'rior to pursuing medical
studies. Dr. Benet attended the University
of South Carolina and the
Uo ll'Atl f
France two months ago.
The latest letter from Dr. Benet
was written from Paris under date
of May ;t. Vie writes to his brother
Paris, May !>, Sunday.
For the past ten days the work
bore has been very heavy, following
the German drive on Ypres and Dunkerque,
to the north of Paris. They
made a desperate attempt to break
through the line there, and but for I
the magnificent work of the Cattail- 1
ians and Scotch, would have succeed
oil. As it was. they gained one mile. ' <
due chiefly to use of asphyxiating j
bombs (chlorine and bromide gases' i i
against which the Canadians were i
helpless. While unconscious the i t
Germans rushed forward and brained I 1
them with the butts of guns, but
were checked finally, so with no ulti- j '
mate gain. The losses on each side j t
were heavy, and the Canadians were <
practically wiped out. One of our . I
blesses told me "they do not run. the
Canadians." From all 1 can hear ,
that sums them up. They do not >
run. But for that matter, the >
French can show any of them how to t
stick. The trains bringing wounded s
into Paris were so crowded toward I
the middle of the week that our am- 1
balance went direct to Dunkerque j *
nver the ronil. hriucirnr ?ln> u?iuw1ail . t
hack in relays. Young Laurence He- J ;
men way, George Denny's brother-in- >
law, was in the thick of it, with his
big Pierce-Arrow ambulance. He tolil
nie the sight at Dunkerque was terrl- g
ble. He is not a doctor, or even i i
medical student, but he had to give r
first aid to dozens he found in the j
streets. He said he was "scared v
stiff" of the shells at first, but after j
arming up to the work, soon forgot s
about them, and hardly heard the a
hanging and smashing. He told of a |
wild Indian front the "states" who is ,
one of our drivers, and who got there t
first, whom Hentenway found in the |
square with his Ford, cheering the 0
shells as they crumpled a house, and ,j
estimating which house would get it (]
next. This chap is a curious mixture (j
?hv. will go anywhere, and do any- t
thing, hut I don't think he is the type f
for th* work. Hentenway said ho (|
too j." it like some flreworRs gotten up ,
for his benefit. t|
Dr Greenough and I commandeer- "
ed one of the hospital roadsters, and H
with * driver went to La Chapelle t
towa.nl the middle of the week, to t
meet one of the hospital trains. There p
we found our Fords. We were very |<
ourteouslv received by t'aptain >
fturier. tlie artillery officer detailed li
that w? ek to manage tin station, ,'e n
was o'.i furlough following two p
months' active service, and I noticed li
the Legion of Honor mod *stly pinned <
inside his breast pocket. This meant
!/v had run right into hell somewhere, ;
and got out. 1 later learned he pull- ii
cd his sergeant out of a hot spot, c
,i i.t r lie- latter was down. The can
lain spoke excellent English, so I got
unite a bit of information from him. c
< Meeting him on the street, you c
covldnt have told him from Skipper p
i?an Crawford, so 1 constantly ex- )
pected him to call me "George.") r
The station is composed of a train i
abed. separated from the receiving i
rooms by a long black curtain, which \
adds a very dramatic element. Al- f
though handling 700 to 1,000 men J
a day (at that time) there was abso- I
lwtely no confusion?no shouting I
and withal the entire behavior of the 1
place was "dignified," if that de- <
scribes what J mean. Captain Durier <
and a French surgeon were in charge, 1 I
tod that means everything. What , s
they said was done, with no back . (
talk, and no suggestions from any- , I
one. The result was, the entire train ( 1
of 600 badly wounded men were i
"commissioned" in some four or five ' i
hoars. Such as were able to walk I
stepped from the train, passed I
through the black curtain, and enter-ed
the receiving room. His knapsack,
etc., were taken and checked.
A clerk then took his name, regi'
THE FRONT 1
THE FIGHTING!,
hi
ment, home address, wife's name and vi
address, and he was passed to a lit- tl
tie French surgeon, who hastily ex- hi
atnined him. and if his wound was hi
serious, passed hiru to an excellently ' tc
equipped dressing room, where a < ni
French surgeon and an American w
nurse (recognized the best in the ! tl
world) dressed him. He has a card i 81
made out here, stating nature of ' 51
wound and dressing, and he is then hi
turned over to the ambulance driv- | si
ers of the American hospital, the Jap- 1 si
anese hospital or whatnot. With the 111
seriously wounded men, the stretch- pi
ers are brought in to tho receiving st
room, a hasty examination made, and tli
the man sent at once to a hospital, lit
This in brief is the routine. Captain tli
Durier escorted us over the place, p,
and as I passed one poor devil in a 1 ar
cot he noticed the "American ambu- ' sc
lance" on my uniform sleeve. Rais- j at
ing himself, he said in English: ' sj
nows everytning ai nome, uoc'f at
I in from Kansas, and got In four th
months before the Boshehes got iue. Ki
And say. Doe. for God's sake, have I Cc
you got an American eigarette?" ; w
lie was a Frenchman running a farm ci
in Kansas, and enlisted last fall. His W)
diout upon receiving a real Fatinia al
hat I brought over here did me good, ai
He had a shell wound of the thigh , vi
kvith the bone sticking out. but knew ac
he value of a Fatinia in France. No . p5,
me but the French would have |a
bought to make such a place attrac- ,sn
ive. There were (lowers everywhere |jj
mil in place of trying to partition off jj,
he big shed, they had simply erected
lortalde houses, brightly painted and ,.r
serving admirably. These were ar- [n
anged nroun 1 a little "square," in ,|(
he center of which were braziers of pi
oals, as the day was chilly, and the tr
ioor devils, in their tattered coats, i ^
md bloody faces, drinking hot soup, pi
ind smoking the eternal cigarettes, i?,
vas a great sight. We came back p.,
vith 1- Fords filled, each carrying jei
hree "blesses " it was a very in- jf
piling siglit to see the fortitude and tli
ilacidity of these wonderful French
nen, putting up with anything sug- j rj|
tested by the commanding officers of
he station, and eternally saluting j th
md smiling, and "Bon jour M'nieur- j ai]
ng." They are a great people. i rjc
BY HAIL TO \IKAUX. | it.
The most interesting day I have I av
ipent outside the hospital was at i 1,11
it on v u'lfhlip I. ~ -i th
v? .. II II 1/1 . \ iircnuuf,n aim <1 I uu
tie of \is. We left Paris in the morn- '
ng and went by rail to Meaux. where k'
re were lucky enough to tlml an old ^r'
Jolahaye limousine, and an Knglisb- ' 'v
peaking chauffeur. We covered in rrt
II 65 miles up and down the old '
ines of the battlefield of the Marne. er
he most sensational fight in all his- bl<
orv. It was here the hastily mobi- 8*1
ized and green French army dentnstrated
to the world that the splen- P*1
lid "machine" of V. Kluck was not m<
inly not invincible, but capable of I be
loing the 2.20.in record time?back an
he way they came. The* Germans ur
ought desperately, and for three Kr
lays the losses were frightful, but Pr
he little Frenchmen shoved them er
iack 50 miles, and although the i a
contemptible little army" of General a
'rench <1 id much to turn the tide for ' ba
tie allies, still the French deserve :
he major part of the credit. We to
lassed through Meaux, Chambrey, v'
'trepilly, Ktavign.v, Trocy, Acy-en- 1
lultien, Ptrsseaux, and a dozen j w'
latnlets. following the German line 'e
if retreat. I have written this up 111
uetty well in my notes, so will only 'b
lit in the high places at this time.
)wing to the tremendous number of b?
mpressions received, and the miscel- n<
uncoils information I picked up, it ca
s hard to write it concisely, but here i ,a
;oes for a try.
KtEEN EOK "THE TOMMIKS." ar
Due to the English having practi- t ' ?
ally saved Meaux, on the second day J ht
?f tlie fight, the inhabitants of this
iretty little place are naturally pretty
;een for the "Tommies." Unfortu- , nt
lately, our uniform, the regulation ! Jt
Tench Ited Cross uniform, is almost | I
dentlcal with the Knglish officers'? ! w
vhich, adde<i to our talking Knglish. i w
>roduced considerable excitement, fc
>mall hoys yelled after us, "Vive fc
/Anglais," etc. I was somewhat em- pi
tarrassed. as it seemed unfair some- tr
tow, but as Dr. Greonough said "you w1
an't be in the English army every B
lay. and we didn't design the uni- s?
'orras." Hence I tried to give what t e:
jupposed was a Lord Kitchener re- g
urn to the salutes. All of these 01
.owns are garrisoned, so we were w
kept busy saluting. Dr. Greenough v<
is a very striking looking man, and w
makes a fine appearance in his uni- ti
form, so naturally the soldiers si
hHmiirHt Ho was a Kl or ??tn ah# I r* orvAot A
"v " i? > ? vif) rtuti vuv iuo|/ri.v u
ing the lines with his staff. (I ti
wasn't such a bad figure of a subal- a
fern myself.) But I could never get t!
used to those splendid big cuirasseurs t!
THE LANCASTER NEWS.
Jffentng up and saluting; while I d
alk by, wondering it I saluted with 'r!
iy oft hand or not. They are the v
ig chaps with the steel helmets, and n
arse hair tails hanging down. 11
FIRST LINE OF TRENCHES. o
Just out of Cliambrey, we found (
le first line of French trenches, ft
astily built to check the German ad- a
uvc. t uric nnc iiwv mure mail n
iree feet to height, but seemed to v\
ave served their purpose. Just be- n
Ind and across the road was a ceuie- G
fry wall, pierced with holes for the a
iuzzles of the French mitrailleuse, b
hich did such terrific slaughter in d
le German lines. They each tire j ei
10 per minute, and they must have tl
it of them. I took some pictures 7
?re of a gutter pipe on the wall, y<
lowing the te. rifle tire this spot was V
lbjected to. Each of the above
entioned towns presented the same n
eture?houses tumbled into the j la
reet. churches smashed, and always in
ie swarms of polite and charming ui
Itle French children climbing about d
ie ruins. These particularly im- di
eased me. They were so friendly, e<
id not the least shy or self-con- tl
ious. They tried hard not to laugh m
my French. The most impressive si
ght of the day was the hundreds, ol
id I might say thousands, of graves ' st
tat we passed for miles and miles. !
ach French grave with its little tri>lor
and flowers, and each German (j
Itli its little wooden cross and sten-1 sj
led "Allenn.ande" and flowers?al
ttvis iin* iiuncrs, I uese lieidS WITH , (1)
1 under cultivation and very green 0.
ul fresh looking. One could hardly
sualize the scene of c. few months (jj
;o. About 1 5 miles from Meaux we |,.
issed along the historic mile of pop- t-(
r lined road (my idea of France.") vv
well described by R. H. Davis in ,.j
s "With the Allies" (page 106, l ,.j
ink.) Here the trees two and three ,(1
et ;n diameter at the base were lit- S(l
ally shot off. and still lie sprawled ,.j
the ditches. The limbs hanging 1 ;i|
iwn looked very much like the m
axes we made as kids in Cashiers.
mark a trial, only these twigs were |a
i inches in diameter. Many unexoded
shells still appear high up. im tided
in tlie trunks, and others j m
sseil through two feet of live wood. jn
living holes smooth and round as
made with an augur. For a mile 8i
e trunks at the height of a man's h?
ad were "fuzzy" from the frightful '
fie and machine gun tire that raged w.
ire for 4 8 hours. I saw dozens of
e red French caps in the ditches sj
id fields. Here and there a gray ?j
rman overcoat, or what was left of m
showed as a reminder of that Ir
.ful day. It is reported that 2,000 e<;
an were killed in this mile of road io
J?
ose two days, and in one grave ( ca
ere lie over a thousand Germans i s(
lied in a wheat field 300 yards | rc
am the French machine guns
.'hich w ere invented by an Ameri- j 8U
n and refused by our army.) Over ^
is big grave a huge cross had been is
ected by bolting a 20-foot log 1
ow n from a poplar by a German i
ell, to the trunk it came from. At ^
e foot were the inevitable flowers,
aced there by the people the Ger- |
ans came to wipe out. You can't 1
at the French. While I stood there ^
old priest came up the road, head
icovered, and passing the German y
ave, he stopped and mumbled a
ayer. He then saluted us for sev- y
al seconds, and walked off. Over
single grave, someone had spread
gray German overcoat, and there It
ts bee" since the fight. I wanted a j
*rman button, but not bad enough 1
take it here. I wonder how many j
mien and children that big German I
ave means everything to. They j
ill never know where those poor i 1
llows lie, as the day was hot and 1
Hess a menace to choir own health, 1
e Germans ignore their dead,
ence the French buried them, and
dter skelter, as hot weather was
>t over, and they had no time to
talogue the little zinc numbers at- !
ched to each man's wrist. Ftur < <
ter all, that's a small matter. They 11
e "missing," and that word serves t(
keep hope going, and oerhaps it1
dps?I don't know.
A WOIII) AS TO TRENCHKS.
1 (J
I could go on and on. and tell *
uch of inspecting the new trenches I 11
>fTre is digging across FTance, but "
must stop somewhere. However, a w
ord as to the trenches. These are L
onderfully constructed, and built
ir five years. Owing to our uni- ec
irms we got down in them, and tool.
ictureg ad lib. Standing in the
enc.h as it is now hnttt mv ?vo?
fere about 15 inches below the edge j~"
y standing on a shelf, I could just |
?e over?so how these Frenchmen ^
tpect to, I can't say. The walls 1
ive my shoulders about 12 inches 1
n either side, r.nd are covered with
illow osiers "wicker work," to preent
washing. The floors are paved
ith gravel and with corduroy, beaufully
made, so these will be no more
tanding In water. They are well
rained. At intervals of 20 feet the
rench turns {.bout a heavily logged
buttment, which was not present in
be first trenches built, and enabled
be Germane to pour a flanking Are 1 a
JUNE 25, 1915.
own a trench "enfilade" with ter- j
I fie slaughter. This practically oblates
that. Shelters are scattered pa
ere and there and very "comfy." wl
nderground passages connect with ga
ther trenches, and with the "76" thi
"76" Is the name for the French
eld guns?m*ans 7 5 mm. diaime'.er wl
i muzzle) gun stands 200 yards in oil
ie rear. These pass under the road* No
here necessary. All in hope they me
aver have to use them. But the tio
ermans simply can't take them. In ex<
ddttion, there is a 50-yard wide ^
arbed wire entanglement running ^
own the entire length of the trench- J
s, so how man or beast could get W
trough I don't see. Add to this the P)
5's mltrailleause and rifles, and A
ou have a strong team. But enough. A
>'e%returned to Paris about night. a
The work here is going on pretty J
luch the sainj as I wrote of .n my
ist letter, so will save tills up for V
ly next. We still get a preponder- Hi
nee of head cases, and Cushing has A|
one son.e very dramatic and won- A
etrful tnings. For instance, he pull- ^
1 a bit of slieil casing from the brain
irough the use of a big electric ^P
lagnet, after of course opening the PP
cull in the usual manner. I'll write ^
f this later, as it is too much to Hi
art on now.
HOSPITAL VAN. V
You will all be interested to hear
tat a big auto van hospital has been
lipped to us from America, some J
n big vans in all. and with accom- ^P
odatlons for 100 men. complete
aerating room. X-ray. etc., etc. This
in be moved in a day, and will go
rect to the front. Dr. Greenough
s been urged to take it over, but |
>r many reasons is undecided,
ouhl leave this place without its MV
lief, and besides he has four little j Qp
lildreu. There is some red tape at : dh
"esent with the army, so the per
mnel is unknown, but it 1 pet a half
tance I'm going. However, this is =
1 in the air now, as it will take a 1
onth to organize and equip. Dr.
roup telegraphed us from Serbia
st week, and Greenough told me
1 wanted to go he might arrange
let nie off a little later, but advised '
e strongly not to go. Hut it's not (
my line, and I decided not to do it. !
I dined with Dr. Du Bourchet, the !
irgeoti-in-chief of the ambulance |
ispital. here.
One thing that impressed me there
as the ease with which the entire
mily switched from their own ltusiin
to English. This included them
1 down to r. 16-year-old boy. It
akes me ashamed. Here we are.'
oln Harvard and supposed to be [
lucated." 1 suppose, and not a man- *
ck in the crowd, including Cushiug, I
n do more than ask "Do you sell j
amps here?" There's something'
itten about it all. Dr. Greenough |
i?nk? nniUiH liVuiioli liL?? - ? '
% ... I * u\ II Iirvt- U 311 l*u l\ ,
i r<Hh about perfectly well, but aa
iss Du Bourohet confided to me. It
"ter'ble Franch."
'GETS-IT" a SureShot
for All Corns
roe Two Drops ? and They Vanish.
When corns mnko you almost die wtth
our boot* on, when you try to walk on j
lie edge of your shoes to try to get away
om your corns, you're way behind time
' you have not used It's the j
Murder! Everybody Trie* to Stew on My
Corn!" Use "GETS-IT" end Yeu'U
Here No Corns to Be Stepped On.
irn cure of Iho century, the new way.
in sure, painless, sliuplo way. It makes
fellow really feel foolish after he's used
M-eattiiK salves, onrn-bltlng ointments.
>o buuUliinc bandages, blood-bringing
izor*. knives, files, scissors. Jablwrs and
hat-nots, when he uses Just 38 drops of :
[JETS-IT"and sees his corn vanish. The I
lff?>ronce Is illrlnA ft,.* ?? v
on't wince when you put on your shoes
i the morning. "OKTS-IT'Ms sure, "gets"
ny corn, callus, wart or bunion.
"OKTH-IT" H sold by druggists every. '
'here, 26c a bottle, or sent direct by E. |
awrence A Co.. Chicago.
Sold In Lancaster and recommend1
as the world's best Corn CuYe by
le Lancaster Pharmacy and J. F.
lackey Company.
Wind - Storm
Already this spring, the
Farmers' Mutual has been
1 called on to pay for so 2
buildings wrecked by Wind.
Our policies cover FIRE,
WIND and LIGHTNING.
Address j
D. E. BONEY, Mgr.
Yorkville, S. C.
I
* , jfe
We Second the Motion. We
In 1916 the North Carolina news- In ord
per editors will be invited to meet keroui
th the Caroliniaus and for the Caroli
thering there is no better place in 19]
in Chick Springs. onel '
Doubtless divers hospitable cities on-thc
11 crave the attendance of the Car- North
nlatis, but they- Can wait until the ably,
irth Carolinians Ijave been square Tht
aled, so to say, and for the opera- surely
n Chick Springs has facilities of both i
optional merit.
1
Saved Girl
"I want to tell you what wond
celved from the use of Thedford's
Mrs. Sylvania Woods, of Clifton M
"It certainly has no equal foi
liver and stomach troubles. I firml;
saved my little girl's life. When
they went in on her, but one gc
Black-Draught made them break on
more trouble. I shall never be wit
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If you suffer from any of these
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' mi. r*enoeMmme
'
move, Brethreu, here und now,
er to cut off rancorous, cnntans
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nians assemble for a third time,
L6, under the wing of old Colrom
Arnold at Chick-Spriugsw.
>-Inter-Urban and invite the"*
Carolinians to assemble, peacethere
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ire is no other way that will as
' make the North Carolinians
vise and happy.?The State.
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