Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I& I Over the Top" By An Americas Soldier Who Went ARTHUR GUY EMPE7 china Conner Serving tn Franca "%vMAneic 1.1 nurJ1J* >ter I?Fired by the news of king of the Lusitania by a a submarine, Arthur Guy Emi American, leaves his office ey City and goes to England he enlists in the British army. ?ter II?After a period of Empey volunteers for imi service, and soon finds himrest billets "somewhere' in where he first makes the itance of the ever-present s." ?ter III?Empey attends his lurch services at the front i German Fokker circles over lgregation. ter IV?Empey's command to the front-line trenches and sr fire for the first time. |ter V?Empey learns to a Ie motto 01 tne untisn iomt you are; going to get it, ;et, so never worry." ter VI?Back in the rest bilipey gets his first experience ;ss orderly. . ter VII?Empey learns how tish soldiers are fed. ter VIII?Back in the frontnch, Empey sees his first >f the trenches "go West." ter IX?Empey makes his it to a dugout in "Suicide ;er X?Empey learns what tes a "day's work" in the ie trench. ;er XI?Empey goes "over " for the first time in a on the German trenches and ded by a bayonet thrust, er XIF?Empey joins the club" as the bombing squad YTTT TT.qoIi Tnmmv crofts 1,1 bath. r XIV?Empey helps dig need trench under German sr XV?On "listening post" an's Land. sr XVI?Two artillerymen over" on Old Pepper, their al commander. ?r XVTT?F.mnev has narrow |rhile on patrol duty in No tnd." sr XVIII?Back in rest biley write and stages a farce sr XIX?Soldiers have many amuse themselves while "on 1 " ir XX?Empey volunteers line gun service and goes ) the front-line trenches, sr XXI?Empey again goes e top" in a charge which company 17 killed and 31 r XXII?Trick with a mail silences one bothersome r XXIII?German attack, by gas wave, is repulsed, h* XXIV?Empey is forced part in an execution as a pf the firing squad, t XXV?British prepare lig Push?the battle of the r XXVI?In a trench raid, [ the Big Push, Empey is ly wounded and lies uncon|No Man's Land for 36 [ XXVII?After 4 months fcsh hospital, Empey is dis[s "physically unfit for furIsprvipp." iHAPTER XXVII. Blighty. (r flrst-ald nost. after lnocu I with antitetanus serum to kjaw, I was put Into an amd sent to a temporary hosd the lines. To reach this e had to go along a road miles in length. This road shell fire, for now and then lid light up the sky?a trecploslon?and then the road tremble. We did not mind, doubt some of us wished 1 would hit us and end our twaAnalln T mo a r>nf noi*Hnn. UUUHJ, A TT UiJ UVI. wtvu S^R^k nothing but bump, jolt, ratBdk HHHtimes the driver would turn give us a "Cbeero, mates, HH be there?" fine fellows, ^^^^Hlance drivers, a lot of them Mo. |^^^Hually drew out of the fire ^HBHulled up in front of an lm Hout. Stretcher-bearers car flHSHwn a number of steps and |^^ftn a white table in a brightly I ' M it i" AMEWCW SOLWm lowrar ? * IlilMJYlMY WE <MiER,BYI> Ui FRANCE-? ?1917 err ARTfottttttrprr '\mmm i In "Blighty." leal corps removed my Danaages and j cut off say tusdc. Then the doctor, | with his sleeves rolled up, took Charge, j He winked at m? and I winked j and then he asked, "How do you feel, smashed up a bit?" I answered: "I'm all right, but Td give a quid for a drink of Bass." He nodded to the sergeant, who disappeared, and I'll be darned if he didn't return with a glass of ale. I could only open my mouth about a nnow^Aw aH1 n n InnVi Ktlf T rrnf Q TT7QX7 Xrl fh v|uai ici y;. uu mv.u| i/ub a u?t?j ?? *-* every drop of that ale. It tasted Just like Blighty, and that Is heaven to Tommy. The doctor said something to an orderly, the only word I could catch was "chloroform," then they put some kind of an arrangement over my nose and mouth and it was me for dreamland. ' When I opened my eyes I was lying J on a stretcher, in a low wooden building. Everywhere I looked I saw ; rows of Tommies on stretchers, some dead to the world, and the rest with fags in their mouths. The main topic of their conversation was Blighty. Nearly all had a grin on their faces, except those who didn't have enough face left to grin with. I grinned with my right eye, the other was bandaged. Stretcher-bearers came In and be gan to carry the Tommies outside, xou could hear the chug of the engines in the waiting ambulances. I was put into an ambulance with three others and away we went for an eighteen-mile ride. I was on a bottom stretcher. The lad right across from me was smashed up something horrible. Right above me was a man from the Royal Irish rifles, while across from him was a Scotchman. We had gone about three miles when I heard the death-rattle in the throat of the man opposite. He had gone to rest across tne ureat urnae. i tmnit at the time I envied him. The man of the Royal Irish rifles had had his left foot blown off, the jolting of the ambulance over the rough road had loosened up the bandages on his foot, and had started it bleeding again. This blood ran down the side of the stretcher and started dripping. I was lying on my back, too weak to move, and the dripping of this j blood got me in my unbandaged right j eye. I closed my eye and pretty soon could not open the lid; the blood had congealed and closed it, as if it were glued down. An English girl dressed in khaki was driving the ambulance, while beside hor nn fha coof woo a onmnrnl Af tho R. A. M. C., They kept up a running j conversation about Blighty which almost wrecked my nerves; pretty I soon from the stretcher above me, the Irishman became aware of the fact that the bandage from his foot had bej come loose; it must have pained him I horribly, because he yelled in a loud voice: "If you don't stop this bloody death wagon and fix this d bandage on ! | my foot, I will get out and walk." xne gin on ine seat iurueu uruuuu and in a sympathetic voice asked, j "Poor fellow, are you very badly i wounded?" The Irishman, at this question, let out a howl of indignation and answered, "Am I very badly wounded, what bloody cheek; no, I'm not wound: ed, I've only been kicked by a canary | bird." The ambulance immediately stopped, ' and the corporal came to the rear and i fixed him up, and also washed oul: my 11 right eye. I was too weak to thank 1 him, but it was a great relief. Then j I must have become unconscious, be1J cause when I regained my senses, the '1 ambulance was at a standstill, and my stretcher was being removed from it. It was night, lanterns were flashing lb Kkk1- '.riu .11. w- V' i ' here and there, and I coufd see stretch* er-b?arers hurrying to and fro. Then I was carried inte a hospital train. The inside of this train looked like heaven to me, just pure white, and we met our first Red Cross nurses; we thought they were angels. And they were. Nice little soft bunk9 and clean, white sheets. A Red Cross nurse sat beside me during the whole ride which lasted three hours. She was holding my wrist; I thought I had made a hit, and tried to tell her how I got wounded, but she would put her finger to her lips and say, "Yes, I know, bui: you mustn't talk now, try to go to sleep, it'll do you good, doctor's orders." Later on I loaroed that she was taking my pulse every few minutes, as I was very weak from the loss of blood and they expected me to snuff It, but I didn't. t From the train we went Into ambulances for a short ride to the hospital ship Panama. Another palace and more angels. I don't remember the trip across tie channel. I opened my eyes; I was being carried on a stretcher through lanes of people, some cheering, some waving flags, and others crying. The flags were Union Jacks, I was in Southampton. Blighty at Inst. My stretcher was 1 o+rea-n with flnwers. rlcrnrettes. and chocolates. Tears started to run down my cheek from my good eye. I like a boeby was crying. Can you beat it?? Then Into another hospital train, a five-hour ride to Paignton, another amoQlaiice ride, and then I was carried into Munsey ward of the American ; Women's War hospital a:ad put into a real bed. This real bed was too much for my unstrung nerves and I fainted. When I came to, a pretty Red Cross , nurse was bending over me, bathing : my forehead with cold water, then she left and the ward orderly placed a screen around my bed, and gave me a much-needed bath and clean pajamas. Then the screen was removed and a bowl of steaming soup was given me. It tasted delicious. Before finishing my soup the nurse came back to ask me my name and number. She put this information down in a little book and then asked: "Where do you come from?" 1 anfwered: "From the big town behind the Statue of Liberty;" upon hearing this she started jumping up and down, clapping her hands, and calling out to three nurses across the ward: "Come here, girls?at last we have , got a real live Yankee with us." They came over and besieged me with questions, until the doctor arrived. Upon learning that I was an American he almost crushed my hand In his grip of welcome. They also were Americans, and were glad to see me. The doctor very tenderly removed my bandages and told me, after viewing my wounds, that he would have to take me to 'the operating theater Immediately. Personally I didn't care what was done with me. In a few minutes, four orderlies who looked like undprtakers dressed in white, brought a stretcher to my bed and placing me on it carried me out of the ward, across a courtyard to the operating room or "pictures," as Tom my calls it. / I don't remember haying the ane9thestlc applied. When I came to I was again lying in ' a bed in Mnnsey ward. One of the nurses had draped a large American flag over the head of the bed, and clasped in my hand was a smaller flag, and It made me feel good all over to again see the "Stars and Stripes." At that time I wondered when the boys in the trenches would see the emblem of the "land of the free and the home of the brave" beside them, doing its bit In this great war of civilization. My wounds were very painful, and several times at night I would dream that myriads of khaki-clothed figures would pass my bed and each would stop, bend over me, and whisper, 'The best of luck, mate." Soaked with perspiration I would awake with a cry, and the night nurse would come , over and hold my hand. This awakening got to be a habit with me until that particular nurse was tiuncforrpri tn nrinthpr ward. In three weeks' time, owing to the careful treatment received, I was able to s^t up and get my bearings. Our \ ward contained seventy-five patients, j 90 per cent of which were surgical cases. At the head of each bed hung a temperature chart and diagnosis sheet. Across this sheet would be written "G. S. W." or "S. W.," the former meaning gun shot wound and the latter shell wound- The "S. W." predominated, especially among the Royal Field artillery and Royn' engineers. About forty different ments were represented, and many arguments en- j sued as to the respective fighting abll-1 lty of each regiment. The rivalry was I wonderful. A Jock arguing with an | Irishman, then a strong Cockney accent would butt In in favor of a London regiment. Before long a Welsh-1 man, followed by a member of a York- j shire regiment, and, perhaps, a Cana- j dlan Intrude themselves and the argument waxes loud and furious. The patients in the beds start howling for thera to settle their dispute outside and the ward Is in an uproar. The head sister comes along and with a j wave of the hand completely routs the doughty warriors and again silence reigns supreme. Wednesday and Sunday of each week were visiting days and were looked forward to by^the men, because they meant parcels containing fruit, sweets or fags. When a patient had a. regular ; visitor, he was generally kept well | supplied with these delicacies. Great jealousy liTiBown among tEe men a? S to thalr visitors and many Word war* h ?nsti6 after the viflttqflB Leave. * When a man is sent to a convales- h cent home, he generally turns over his h iBteady visitor to the man in the next tl bed. h Most visitors have autograph albums lc and bore Tommy to death by asking him to write the particulars of his tl wounding in eame. Several Tommies h try to duck this unpleasant Job by tell- a: ing the visitors that they cannot write, but this never phases the owner of the a album; he or she, generally she, offers h to write It for them and Tommy Is lr stung into telling his experiences. The questions asked Tommy by vlsi- A tors would make a clever joke book F to a military man. F Some kindly looking old lady will T stop at your bed and in a sympathetic j< voice address you: "You poor boy, wounded by those terrible Germans, i Tou must be suffering frightful pain. E A bullet, did you say? Well, tell me, I have always wanted to know, did it a: hurt worse going in or coming out?" ii Tommy generally replies that he did p not stop to figure it out when he was h hit fl One very nice-looking, overenthusl- a astic young thing, stopped at my bed t< and asked, "What wounded you in the a face?" d In a polite but bored tone I an- o swered, "A rifle bullet." I n With ? lnnlr nf rilarinln she rmgfied h to the next bed, first ejaculating, "Oh I t< Only a bullet? I thought It was n n shell." Why she should think a shell a wound was more of a distinction beats q me. I don't see a whole lot of differ- a ente myself. b The American Women's War hospl- e tal was a heaven for wounded men. h They were, allowed every privilege pos- n slble conducive with the rules and mill- tl tary discipline. The only fault was a that the men's passes were restricted. F To get a pass required an act of parliament Tommy tried many tricks to h get out, but the commandant, an old S: Boer war officer, was wise to them all, k and it took k new and clever ruse to n make him affix Us signature to the ^ coveted slip of paper. e As noon as it would get dark many a tl patient climbed over the wall and went a "on bit own," regardless of many signs t staring him in the face, "Out of bounds for patients." Generally the nurses A were looking the other way when one ** of these night raids started. I hope this information will get none of them " Into trouble, but I cannot resist the " temptation to let the commandant P know that occasionally we put it over 81 on him. c< One afternoon I received a note, f1 through our underground channel, from my female visitor, asking me to attend ? a party at her house that night- I ? answered that she could expect me and to meet me at a certain place on the J1 road well known by all patients, and " some visitors, as "over the wall." I told her I would be on hand at seven- ^ thirty. About seven-fifteen I sneaked my r overcoat and cap out of the ward and . hid it in the bushes. Then I told the . nurse, a particular friend of mine, that I was eolne for a walk in the rose gar- ? den. She winked and I knew that ev- ** erylihlng was all right on her end. Going out of the ward, I slipped Into 8< the bushes and made for the wall. It f* was dark as pitch and I was groping *j through the underbrush, when sudden- " ly I stepped into space and felt myself rushing downward, a horrible bump, and blackness. When I came to my wounded shoulder was hurting horribly. I was lying against a circular wall of bricks, dripping with moisture, and far away I could hear the trickling of water. I had in the darkness fallen into an old disused well. But why wasn't I wet? According to all rules I should1, have been drowned. Perhaps I was and didn't know it As the shock of my sudden stop gradually wore off it came to me that j I was lying on a ledge and tiiat the least movement on my part would precipitate me to the bottom of the well. I struck a match. In its faint glare I saw that I was lying In a circular hole about twelve feet deep?the well had been filled in! The dripping I had heard came from a water pipe over on mv rieht. ! With my wounded shoulder it was Impossible to shinny up the pipe. I could not yell for help, because the rescuer would want to know how the accident happened, and I would be haled before the commandant on charges. I Just had to grin and bear it, with the forlorn hope that one of the returning night raiders would pass and I could give him our usual signal of "alss-s-s-s," which would bring him to the rescue. Every half-hour I could hear the clock In the village strike, each stroke bringing forth a muffled volley of u curses on the man who had dug the _ well. After two hours I heard two men talking in low voices. I recognized S1 Corporal Cook, an ardent "night raid- j F er." He heard my "slss-s-s-s" and | 81 came to the edge of the hole. I ex-! plained my predicament and amid a lot | of impertinent remarks, which at the d time I did not resent, I was soon fished b] out lc 'ToIrlnCT nfP sini* KnAfa ttta anoo\rar\ JnfA xuix iiig vu. uui UV;WLOJ nc auv,uu\.u the ward. I was sitting on my bed in . *' the dark, Just starting to undress, I when the man next to me, "Ginger" j* Phillips, whispered, " 'Op it, Yank, 'ere hi comes the matron.? I Immediately got under the covers and feigned sleep. The matron stood c talking in low tones to the; night nurse f1 and I fell asleep. When I awoke In the morning the 1 :nlght sister, an American, was bending over me. An awful, sight met my eyes. 31 .The coverlet on the bed and. the sheets 11 jyrwa iy masa of mud and green ailing. ? ^ ,?"v.V" ... .'> r: he was a good sporf air rfgK, iand ustled to get deen clothes and sheets i that no oae trtrald get tflse, btft "on er own" she gave me a good tongue ishlng bnt did not report me. One of le Canadians in the ward. described er as being "a Jake of a good fel>w." Next visiting day I had an awful me explaining to my visitor why I ad not met her at the appointed time ad place. And for a week every time I passed patient he would call, "Well, well, ere's the Yank. Hope you are feellg well, old top." The surgeon in our ward was an merican, a Harvard unit man, named rost. We nicknamed him "Jack tost." He was loved by all. If a ommy was to be cut up he had no obiction to undergoing the operation If Jack Frost" was to wield the knife, heir confidence in him was pathetic, te was the best sport I have ever met One Saturday morning the command* nt and some "high up" officers were ispecting the ward, when one of the atients who had been wounded in the ead by a bit of shrapnel, fell on the oor in a fit They brought him round, nd then looked for the ward orderly > carry the patient back to his bed t the other end of the ward. The or eriy wu? iiuwutrre iu ue iouqu?use ur policemen, they never are when eeded. The officers were at a losa ow to get Palfaer iiito his bed. Docjr Frost was fidgeting around in a ervous manner, when suddenly with muffled "d n" and a few other ualifying adjectives, he stooped down nd took the man In his arqM like a aby?he was no feather, Either?and taggered down the ward with hirn, put lm in bed and undressed hlra. A low lurmur of approval came from the patents. Doctor Frost got very red, and s soon as he had finished undressing 'aimer, hurriedly left the ward. The wound in my face *had almost ealed and I was a horrible-looking [ght?the left cheek twisted into a not. the .eve milled dnwn. und mv louth pointing in a north by northwest direction. I was very downheartd and could imagine myself during tie rest of my life being shunned by 11 or account of the repulsive scar. Doctor Frost arranged for me to go 0 the Cambridge Military hospital at Idershot for a special operation to y and make the scar presentable. 1 arrived at the hospital and got an ppful shock. The food was poor and le discipline abnormally strict J^o atient was allowed to sit on his bed, ad smoking was permitted- only at >rtaln designated hours. The face jeclalist did nothing for me except > look at the wound. I made appll* itlon for a transfer back to Paignton, Efering to pay my transportation, his offer was accepted, and after two eeks' absence, once again I arrived i Munsey ward, all hope gone. The next day after my return Doc>r Frost stopped at my bed and said: Well, Empey, if you want me to try ad see what I can do with that scar 11 do It, but you are talcing an awful bance." I answered: "Well, doctor, Steve rodle took a chance; he halls from [ew York and so do L" Two days after the undertaker juad carried me to the operating )om or '"pictures," as we called them ecause of the funny films we see uner ether, and the operation was perjrmed. It was a wonderful piece o1 1 he Author Just Before Leaving for Home. lrgery and a marvelous success, rom now on that doctor can have my lirt More than once edme poor soldier as been brought Into the ward In a ying condition, resulting from loss of lood and exhaustion caused by his ing Journey from the trenches. After a examination the doctor announces lat the only thing that will save him i a transfusion of blood. Where Is ie blood to come from? He does not ave to wait long for an answer?sevi-al Tommies immediately volunteer ielr blood for their mate. Three or >ur are accepted; a blood test is lade, and next day the transfusion ikes place and there Is another pale tee In the ward. Whenever bone Is needed for some peclal operation, there are always len willing to give some?a leg If ecessary to save some mangled mate :om being crippled for Ufe?- More v ... ; jl _ "than one man will go tbrotogb flfe'Wltfi aaother tu an's blood fBnnlqg-itaoach. bis veins, ojr a piece of Ms t!l> or h|? shinbaue in his I iknsf* times be nevsr svenksowsthe nana of Us benefactor. The spirit of sacrifice Is wonderful. For all the suffering caused this war is a blessing to England?it has-ma da new men of her sons; has welded all classes into one glorious whole. And I can't help saying that the doetors, sisters, and nurses in the English hospitals, are angels on earth. I lova them all and can never repay the care and kindness shown to me. For the rest of my life the Bed Cross will be to me the .symbol of Faith, Hope and Charity. After four months In the hospital, I went before an examining board and was discharged from the service of his Britannic majesty as "physically unfit for further war service." A At 1.1 T J aiiw u?j uiBuuu^e x nimqii: jJUlIf age*on the American lines New York, and after a. stormy trip across the Atlantic one momentous day, in the haze J of early dawn, I saw the statue of lib erty looming over the port rail, and I ' wondered If ever again I would g9i "oyer the top with the best of luck" and give them helL" And even then, though it may seem strange, I was really sorry not to b? back In the trenches with my mates. War Is not a pink tea, but In a worthwhile cause Uke ours, mud, rats, cooties* shells, wounds, or death Itself, are far . outweighed by the deep sense of satisfaction felt by the man whodoea his bit. There is one thing which my ex MU(UI IUO uiui lui^ui uciy uiv boy who may have to go. It Is this? anticipation Is far worse than realization. In civil life a man stands in. awa of the man above htm, wonders how he could ever fill his job. 'When the time comes he . rises to the occasion, is op > and at it, and Is snrptfsed to And how much more easily than he. anticipated , he fills his responsibilities. It la really so "out there." He has nerve for the hardships; the Interest of the work grips him; he finds relief in the fun and comradeship of the trenches and wins that best sort at happlneea that comes with duty waU done. [ THE END,' J NEWSPAPER WORK IS MILI- ^ TARY NECESSITY SAYS WILSON Sacramento, Cal., May 15.?The appeal to President Wlison by James G. Scripps, newspaper publisher of San Diego, Cal., for deferred classification in the draft on the ground that he was engaged in work of military necessity,, has -been granted, according to a telegram received by v Governor William. D. Stephens, from Provost Marshal General E. H. Crowder. Scripps applied for deferred classification but the exemption board denied the application and placed him in class one. He applied to the president, who ordered him placed in class four, division D. i BAPTISTS GIVE WOMEN VOTE. ?? f I Dr. Gambrell, of Dallas, Tex., Re - i ?* - ?.! 1 U-i elected rretiaem- or me nui Spring* Convention. % Hot Springs, Ark., May 16?Harmony is the word at the sixty-third session of the Southern- Baptist Convention, which had smooth sailing in its first day's proceedings. Dr. James B. Gambrell, of Dallas Texas, was re-elected president of the convention without Opposition. John D. Mell, of Athens, Ga., was chosen one of the vice presidents, while Governor Charles^ Hillman Brough, of Arkansas, was made another. Dr. W. C. McConnell, of Atlanta, led the fight for woman suffrage, and after a three-hour discussion yesterday afternoon, women of the Southern Baptist churches were granted full and equal rights with men in the convention of the church MUST HAVE THE PRESS AND BANNER Evanston, 111., May 16, 1918. My dear Editor: Find enclosed money order for $3.00 on my subscription, will pay up in full' soon as I can. You need never worry baout getting the sub| scription price as long as a "Bass" remains in the family. Years ago when the kind Mr. Hugh Wilson was editor I remember paying him at one time $7.00 for paper dues. KindI ness along these lines is never lost, to people of limitd means. Everything you know is up yonder these davs. but I must have my county paper. Our friend Mr. Frank Carwile's letters to the paper are worth the price of subscription. Some years ago we were adjoining neighbors and always known him to be a straight, honorable Christian gentleman. Thanking you dear editor, for your kind waiting without kicking. Your subscrbier, John W. Bass.