The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, August 03, 1916, Page 2, Image 2
HORRORS OF THE TRENCHES.
American Stood It For Twent;
Months and Then Quit.
A unique, a horrible word pictun
of war has been painted by Eloi
Bordin, who recently left New Yorl
for San Francisco, after experience
in French trenches facing the Ger
man line.
Stories galore have been told b;
men "back from the trenches." Bu
nmnne them Bordin's narrative
stands out distinctively in a class b;
itself.
His viewpoint differs from the oth
ers, vastly so?for Bordin "quit" th<
trenches after he became convince<
that "war is no job for a human be
ing."
He makes no bones of the fact tha
he deserted. Just how the oppor
tunity came he does not say, for s<
doing would involve others. But h<
did not "quit" because of cowardice
He played his part with bravery ii
six different attacks on the Germai
lines in the Champagne district. H<
was four times disabled?twice b;
poison gas and twice within a weel
by shells which buried him unde
ground.
Bordin is an American of Frencl
fi' '* ,
birth. He enlisted at the beginninj
of the war and saw twenty month
of service.
"I ought to know about war,'
says" Bordin. "From the soldier'
RtAndDoint. that is. As to the stand
~ ~ '
point of the men who send you int<
the war, that is altogether anothe
matter. I do not know anythini
about that. No soldier does. In tin
* French trenches the soldiers were al
ways asking each other, 'What ar<
we here for? What are we fightinj
about?' Nobody could answer.
Soldiers Just Slaves.
"I saw twenty months of trend
fighting. At the end of that time j
chance offered itself and I quit,
feel about that quitting ^exactly a:
the American slave, in the days be
fore the Civil war, felt when he ha<
managed to run away from his mas
ter, Soldiers are slaves. Nothinj
more. Just slaves.
"I quit my job after I had ha<
plenty of time to become convince<
that it was no job for a human be
ing. No man has any* right to sen(
v other men into the places where
have been or to do the things
have done. It was right to quit.
"Mud is the soul and essence o
KSl-V
trench life. It is always with you
It gets into everything, and every
thing gets into it.
Mud is Sickening.
"It is a peculiarly sickening sor
of mud. . It has things in it that an
not in regular mud. All the trend
; offal, cast aside by a crowded armj
of men becomes a part of that foot
. deep mud. Old garments, shoes
food, bits of metal, are added to it
The arm or leg of a man who has
had his arm or leg shot off, drops
into the mud, rots and itself passes
after days, into the condition of mud
There are worms in that mud?maggots.
"The old soldier is always soaked
f , in it, bathed in it, pickled in it. It
is in his eyes, his hair, his nostrils
his mouth. There is an oil preparation
they give you to rub your trousers
and boots with, but it is of little
avail against that mud. The dailj
shower comes along, the shell-torr
ground becomes slimy, the horrible
odor increases, the surrounding hil
- - ' 1 11-- A -V
iocks drain down mio iue ireucu am
the mud in the bottom of the trench
becomes a rotting soup, infinitely
horrible, infinitely foul.
"The climax of trench horrors is
reached when the order comes dowx
the line to attack.
"For weeks you have been cowering
in that infernal ditch, eating
there, sleeping there, never standing
fully erect, never daring to expose
a finger tip. The edge of that ditct
has come to mean to you the limil
of the world. Beyond that edge there
is nothing. Oblivion. The end.
Order to Charge.
"Now comes the order that yoi
and your fellows are to clinch ovei
that dreadful edge and rush for the
German trenches.
"That is the moment at which ]
have seen pitiful scenes. Not al
that has happened in the Europeai
trenches at different times, when th(
attack order comes, will ever be told
And I shall not tell it.
"The men take pictures of theii
wives and children, letters fron
home, locks of hair and little keep
sakes from their pockets and look a
them, kiss them unabashed.
"It may be the last moment o
life. There is never any cheering
The thing is too cold, too murder
ous. It is the feeling that a mai
must have just before he is hanged
when his own legs are carrying hin
up the gallows.
Charge is Ghastly.
"After that leap you see no more
Whether you are wounded, killet
outright or lucky enough to ge
through it makes little difference. I
is all horrible. Whether you sur
vive or have that ghastly experienci
again or not, the feeling is death
I have not died, but I know wha
I
death is like; for six times I have
attacked.
y /'When you reach the German C
trenches, either you find it full of
dead?from your artiller\; you had
e no time to shoot while you were runs
ning forward?or else it will be oc- h
^ cupied only by a few of the most 0]
s hopelessly frightened men you ever S{
. saw. It is almost as bad to be at- u
tacked, of course, as it is to attack; b
y in either case death is sitting on your h
t shoulders. g
e "If there are Germans yet alive ?
y you rush up with the bayonet and jr
take them prisoner. They hold their n
. hands aloft. Then you see the only ^
e happy look you ever see in war?the b,
i look in the eyes of a man who has b
- been taken prisoner. Prisoners are g
happy. They are through with the g
t war. t'c
Always Hope for Peaee. 0
3 "There is nothing harder than p]
e leaving the hospital and returning \s
to the front. When you have been ^
a sent to the hospital you have told va
yourself, 'Maybe I will stay here ten S(
e days or two weeks, and by that time g
y there will be peace.' That is what
t you are always hoping for?the end Vj
r of the war. Just as you do not know g.
when it may end, or why. All is out
i of sight. n?
"But the war has not ended; and a(
s the order comes for you to join the 0
regiment. tl
" "For this return to the trench of g;
s death the French soldiers have in- ^
. vented a word that shows how they p
3 feel about it. When Christ was led t
r to be crucified, and knew what tor*
ture he was facing, the mountain up
e which they led him was Calvary.
Called Trenches Calvary.
e "That is the word that stands for d
y the act of marching into certain, sure ir
agony; and that is what the French m
soldier calls it when he returns to tl
! the front from the hospital. It is d<
i called 'Calvaire.' ' t(
I "Four times I underwent 'Cal- g<
s vaire.' The fourth time was worse k
_ than the first; and the fifth?the m
I fifth did not happen. ti
"I had been sent back to the front is
r in the Argonne region. We were be- r<
ing bombarded by the great German N
I guns, throwing huge shells, and one ti
I of these struck the ground not 20 e<
. feet in front of the French trench ai
I directly opposite me. ci
I "All I heard was an incredible si
I .roar and shock. In that same in- r<
stant I knew I was alive, and then r<
f that I was dead, for I was buried in ci
the ground. r(
Buried Alive. ir
"The blood rushed to my head and te
I fainted. I could not breathe. m
t "But the light came back, and I w
5 was lying on my back in the filthy tl
i bottom of the trench?alive. It ai
t seemed that I had simply been caught ai
. beneath the trench wall as it caved tt
in and buried. The shell had not w
struck me. My feet had been left in
5 projecting up into the air, and my ti
5 comrades pulled me out. qi
"The worst was the shock. I was, fr
> I
very weak and sick. But they did J ai
. not give me hospital orders. Every] to
man. was needed in the trench, for m
[ an attack was expected. oi
"And less tljan a week later the bi
same thing happened again. A shell to
, came, caved in the bank, and once bj
. again I was buried in the ground. is
i Thought Himself Insane. ?f
CT?. ItAnixv rrnaaf TTTQffnn. TC
I I y uaviug LIU CC gi tai n abuu~
l loads of dirt suddenly flung on top a*
J of you by an explosion. My nervous M
system was wrecked. I thought my- ei
I self insane. Si
i "They sent me to the rear, more of
r dead than alive, and much of the
time I was out of my head.
> "How it happened that my fifth
i 'Calvaire' never happened I shall not
relate. There would be others in
volved beside myself.
- - . . .. . Cf
; "All I will tell is that arter two ~~
fii
; weeks of flight and starvation I
? found myself over the southern bor- m
l der of France, with no money and 1)1
01
t but little clothing, sick, walking to>
ward the Pyrenees mountains, which tl]
were covered with the freezing snow
of early winter,
i "And I crossed those mountains,
r often waist-deep in snow/ found a
i ship at a Spanish port, and came pi
home. The other particulars I shall
[ not reveal. p
f e
I "But I shall say this?and I say it
1 with all the sincerity of a man who 1U
5 is now undergoing criticisms from
. those who know nothing of what they
are saying:
r " 'War is the greatest crime. Muri
der is but one man's death; war is
- murder over and over again.'
< ? n T jn
*> i au iuix?iu a uic.
"There is no word that, can make p.
f war right. The word patriotism
. does not make it right. The idea d,
- of patriotism is a lie. I have shout- p
i ed for France and I have fought for =
, France, and while I was fighting I tl
i did my best, and none accused me of ti
cowardice. But the things France I
asked me to do for her are wrong, m
>. Eternally and always wrong. sc
i "And if any believe that I have
t presented things wrongly, or that my
t nttitnrlo ie oYPontinnnl mv flnswpr lft ai
- this: Go over to the trenches ana ri
e see yourself.
"You will find things as I have
t suggested; and you will find not only ti
NAMING OF THE SANDWICH.
ard Player Had Bread and Meat "
Brought to Table.
Lord Sandwich, who died, and the
am sandwich, and the sandwich men *
n the street, and Sandwich, Barn;able
county, Mass., are all bound ^
p together. Queer how it should *
e so. The papers already have told f
ow the sandwich, an article of food. a
ot its name from the fourth Earl r
andwich, because he was such an b
lveterate card player that he could ^
ot take time to eat his meals, and 8
ad bread brought to him with meat 7
etween the slices, at the card table. *ut
Lord Sandwich was called Lord ^
andwich because the first Earl 0
andwich, back in 1660, chose to ^
ike his title from the ancient town e
f Sandwich, in Kent. Fine old F
lace?greatest place for golf in Eng- p
ind. When some people came to
ew England in 1639 and started a t
illage down on the cape near the ^
ia, they bethought themselves of 0
andwich, in old England, which ^
ty just that way, and called their ?
illage Sandwich. That accounts for
andwich, and Lord Sandwich, and 8
le sandwiches. And the sandwich v
lan is just a poor wretch, with an s
dvertising board hung on each side y
f him, the human meat (or bone) in
le middle, just as it was in Lord r
andwich's hasty meal at the card 11
ible. So all the sandwiches are ^
resent and accounted for.?Boston ^
&
ranscript.
1;
Military Roads. b
h
One thing the British found out *
uring their first winter campaign r
l Europe?a thing which the Gerfans
already knew?and one thing P
le American troops along the bor- n
er will find out, whether they go in- f
) Mexico or not, is that without b
ood roads no army can expect to ?
eep itself as well provided with am- T
tunition and supplies as modern ar- T
llery practice demands. The Brit- n
h have been obliged practically to b
^build every road in that part of
orthern France occupied by their o
oops. And they have not content- e
I themselves with mere graveling t
id grading. They have built con- t<
*ete roads and bridges, and if they b
irrpAri in holdiner their erround these S
)ads will for many yeats serve to li
unind the French of the British oc- ?
lpancy of Northern France. The >ads,
which the British found were s;
l fair condition, but as soon as win- ^
ir came on the artillery and heavy
totor trucks cut them until they
ere practically impassable. It was
len that the British discovered that
1 ordinary road will not serve an
:my. Back of the reserve trenches
iey began to build concrete highays
suitable for motor trucks, havg
in mind first the necessity in
mes of peril of transporting large
lantities of ammunition and guns
S'
om one part of the line to another,
id also the demand for -good roads
> enable the ambulance drivers to
ake quick time with the wounded
dered to the base hospitals. The
lilding of these roads also serves
supply work for' the reserves held
ick of the line. Of course, there
3i
always the possibility that in case
! a retreat the army will destroy the P
ads by blowing large holes in them
; frequent intervals, and also by
owing bridges dut. But, in a gen al
way, French roads have been
*ea\ly improved by the occupation
' the country by the Germans and
ritish.?Indianapolis News.
c<
An Unexpected Explanation.
o
Banks?I had a new experience
jsterdav, one you might call unac- ^
untable. I ate a hearty dinner, j
lishing up with a welsh rabbit, a
ince pie and some lobster a la 'NewC1
lrg. Then I went to a place of ^
rmsement. I had hardly entered
C1
te building before everything swam ^
ifore me.
Banks?The welsh rabbit did it. .
Bunks?No, it was the lobster.
Bonks?I think it was the mince
is
e.
Si
Banks?No, I have a simpler exanation
than that. I never felt bet>r
in my life. I was at the aquarim.?Chicago
Journal.
a
Proof. ?
v
Parson?Susie, I am sorry your ^
ipa was not at church. s
Susie?Please, no,' sir; he went a
it walking in the woods. 1(
Parson?I am afraid, Susie, your ^
ipa does not fear God. ^
Susie?Oh, yes, sir; I guess he r
les; he took his gun with him.? n
hiladelphia Ledger. b
??????_______ fi
le occasional soldier, but the en- v
re army full of soldiers talking as b
do. These thoughts are in every o
lan's mind; I have been one of the P
)ldiers and I know. S'
"All are asking: ji
" 'What are we here for? "Why f<
re we killing the Germans? What P
ght has the government to send me c
ere?' si
"There is no answer to that ques- b
on." S
"EARLESS PETER."
King of Guerrillas" is Hindenburg's
Grimmest Foe.
"Earless Peter," guerrilla king, is
he griniest foe of Hindenburg and
irchduke Frederick. Even the uneaten
Hindenburg dreads Earless
'eter, and his chief of staff has ofered
$20,000 for Peter, dead or
live. Peter at different periods
ages all over the 1,000-mile front
etween Baltic and Bukowina; raids,
ills, burns, cut railroads and teleraphs,
spies, escapes in incredible
rays, and does everything done by
Christian De Wet in Africa, with
ouble zeal and a picturesque spicing
f Tartar ferocity. Just now Earless
>eter is raging in Galicia. His last
xploit was to get right behind
'flazer-Baltin's lines, cut off an outost
and circumvent a much stronger
orce sent to relieve the outpost. Peer
and his horsemen rode through
he foe. They lost twenty men out
f eighty, but on their wild ride
ome they cut to bits a picket and
arried the pickets' caps as trophies
nto Tarnopol town, where Peter got
Jioriousiy arunK, smasneu a mniurj
rith his sabre and threatened to
lay the persistent newspaper men
/ho worried him to tell them yarns.
All over the 1,000-mile front guerilla
warfare is being waged, and for
nonths at a time the slaughter done
y guerrillas exceeds the slaughter
one by the inert trench warriors,
^together there are 50,000 guerrilas,
organized in about three hundred
rave bands, with grim and relentbss
leaders. Bravest is the band of
Sarless Peter, and grimmest, most
elentless of leaders is Peter himself.
Both of Peter's ears exist, and are
iainfully sound. He is "earless"
merely because he is deaf to appeals
or mercy. Earless Peter's two
rothers were killed at the battle of
Crasnik, the first stiff fight between
Russians and Austrians, and today
eter gives no quarter and asks for
one. He slaughters no prisoners,
ut he refuses to take them.
Earless Peter's biography is a pardv
of the perverted, whimsical and
xtravagant Russians found in Dosoyevsky
and Gleb Uspensky. Peer's
real name is Levachoff, and he
3 the 36-year-old son of a rich
molensk manufacturer. He is reigious,
a drunkard, charitable, fierce,
rim, frivolous and pleasure-loving.
-Petrograd correspondence to Kanas
City Star.
Hiat National Guardsmen Are Paid.
Brigadier general, $16.67 a day.
Colonel, $11.11. !
Lieutenant colonel, $9.72.
Major, $8.33.
Captain, $6.67.
First lieutenant, $5.56.
Second lieutenant, $4,722.
Privates, 50 cents.
First class privates in engineer or
ignal corps, 60 cents.
Corporals of infantry, 70 cents.
Corporals of engineers, signal or
ospital corps, 80 cents a day.
Sergeants of engineers, signal or
Hospital corps, $1.20.
Sergeants of infantry, $1.
Battalion sergeant majors of field
rtillery, chief trumpeters and princial
musicians, $1.33.
Quartermaster sergeants, first class
srgeants, sergeant majors of signal
orps and first class musicians, $1.50.
First class sergeants of hospital
orps or sergeants of field musicians,
1.67.
First class sergeants of engineer
orps, $2.17.
Master electricians, quartermasters
f coast artillery, master signal elecricians
and chief musicians, $2.50.?
Ixchange.
i* -a ^i.1.
line strengm ana nation oireugui.
One effect of Winston Churchill's
riticism of the waste of men in the
iritish army has been a lively disussion
of officers' servants, of whom
lere are estimated to be some 200,00
in France. A number of officers
ave written to correct the popular
ssumption that these are merely minsters
of comfort, spending their time
t a safe distance from the front, in
olishing boots and opening bottles,
t is pointed out that the servants
o into the trenches with the officers
nd are equally exposed to danger,
tut this is not quite the point at
rhich Col. Churchill was driving,
virile incidentally he undertook to
how that about a quarter of the
rmy suffered the greater part of the
jsses and risks, his main concern
-as to show that the rifle strength of
be army was not in proportion to its
ation strength. Nor was he for
laking the officers black their own
oots, for it was part of his argument
bat to a considerable extent the
ork of the servants might be done
y natives. On the whole the effort
f his searching, but temperately, exressed
criticism has been wholeome.
That in some measure it is
ustified may be taken for granted,
Dr the evils which he attacked are
recisely those which are most difflult
to avoid or to eradicate. "Rifle
trength" is an index which cannot
e too forcibly insisted upon.?
pringfield Republican. 1
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