The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, November 14, 1918, Image 3
Alberf K Depc
EX-GUNNER AND CHIEF PE
MEMBEPv OF THE FOREIG
CAPTAIN GUN TURRET. FREf
V WINNER OF THE C
f*". tv " ? ' ?nd Bran Co. TW^i Spacui t
CHAPTER V.
With the "75's."
My pal Brown, of whom I spoke before,
had been put In the Infantry i
when he enlisted In the Legion, be- I
cause he had served in the United
8tates Infantry, lie soon became a
ergennt, which had been his rating
In the American service. J never saw
Llm In the trenches, because our outfits
were nowhere near each other, but
whenever we were In billets at the
same time, wo were together as much
as possible.
Brown was a funny card and T never
saw anyone else much like him. A
imk, in 11, reu-neaueu, dopey-looking fellow.
never Buying much and slow In
everything he illcl or said?you would
never think he amounted to much or
was worth his unit. The hoys used to
call him "Ginger" Brown, both on account
of his red hair and his slow
movements. Hut he would pull a surprise
on you every once In a while,
like this one that he fooled me with.
One morning about dawn we started
out for a walk through what used to
*^1 he Dlxinjide?piles of stone and brick
and mortar.* There were no civvies to
be seen; only mules and horses bringing
up casks of water, bags of beans,
chloride of lime, barbed wire, ammunition.
etc. It was a good thing we
Were not superstitious. At that, the
shadows along the walls mude iue feel
aliaky sometimes.
Finally Hrown said: "Come on
down; let's see the? '7.f?'s.'" At this
time I had not seen a "7-r?," except on
o train going to the front, so I took
him up right away, but was surprised
that ho should know where they were.
After going half way around Dlxinude
Brown euid, "Here we are," and
started right into what was iel't of a
We Started Right Into What Was Left
of a Big House.
big house. I kept wondering how he
Would know bo much about It, hut fol
4 lowed lil in. Inalde the house was a
W passageway un?ler the ruins. It was
About seven feet wide and fifty feet
long, I should Judge.
At the other end was the great old
Tfi." poking lt? nose out of a hole In
the wall. The gun captain and the
crew were sitting around waiting the
word for action, and they seemed to
Itnow Brown well. I was surprised at
that, but still more so when he told
me I could examine the gun If I
Wanted to, Just ns If he owned It.
" Ko I sat in the seat ami trained the
Cross wires on nn object, opened and
Closed the breech and examined the
recoil.
Then Brown sold: "Well, Chink,
you'll see some renl gunnery now," and
they pnssod the word and took atatlons.
My eyes bulged out when I
law Brown take his station with them!
"Silence!" Is about the first comfrnnd
:i gun crew gets when It Is-going
> t!on, but I forgot all about It,
ed out and asked Brown how
' * '?? a gunner. But he only
' gi looked dopey, as usual.
The V to and expected to get a
ea'l ' .t m the ofllcer, but he only
jrln; so did the crew. It
cein- nl It all framed to spring
Ion to v I hey expected I would bo
urp'S<>
?t cotton In our ears and
the Jh called the observation
towc jort distance away and they
. gave J :ho range. Then the captain
"called ?"' meters" to Brown. They
placed the nose of a shell In a funo
adjuster r.m. turned the handle until
It reached .a-ale 4128. This set the
j Mnc> u; t'A|> itt Hit: K1 t'-'i1*
Then they s aniincd the shell lute Uie
breech, locked It shut nnd Rrown sent
blH bent to Fritz.
' The bnrrel slipped bnrk, throw out
the shell ease lit our feet and-returned
over a cushion of grease. Then we
received the result# by telephone from
-the observation tower. After he had
fired twelve shots the captnln said to
Brown, "You should never waste yourself
In infantry, son." And old dopey
Brown Just stood there and grinned.
That wns pfown every time. He
knew about more things than you could
think of. He had reud about gunnery
and fooled around at Plxmude until
they let him play with the "7r>'s," and
finally here he was, giving his kindest
td old Fritz with the rest of them.
I \ never saw a battery better conC?alWl
than this one. Up on tUt ground
Bssssasscsssssssss^^ '*u **l&*mm~~mm
m^:
r^ LEGION OF "FRANCE
>JCH BATTLESHIP CASSAKD ^r
",ROlX bE CUFRRP
*rr?it?nwrt W?h ih. G?or*. )Um A4ut? Wvfca
you couldn't see the muzzle twenty
yards away?and that was all there
was to see at any distance. There
was a ruined garden Ji\st outside the
gun quarters, and while the gunners
were there picking apples there would
be u hiss and an explosion, and over
would go some of the trees, or maybe
a man or two, but never a shell struck
nearer the guns than that. The pollus
used to thanlfr. Fritz for helping them
pick the apples, because the explosions
would bring them down In great style.
Shells from our heavy artillery passed
just over the garden, too, making un
awful racket. Hut they were not In It
with the* "75's."
They gave mo a little practice with
n "7.r>" under the direction of expert
French gunners before I went to my
74-Inch naval gun, and, believe me, It
was a tine little piece. Just picture
to yourself a little beauty that cun
i send a 38-pound shell every two seconds
for five miles und more, If you
want It to, and land on Fritz' vest
button every time. There Is notlllng
I like better than a gun, anyway, and
I have never since been entirely satisfied
with anything less thun a "75."
As you probably know, the opposing
; artillery In this war Is so widely separated
that the gunners hover see their
targets unless those happen to be
i buildings, and even then It is rare. So,
; since an artillery officer never sees tin?
; enemy artillery or Infantry, he must
depend on others to give him the range
and direction.
For this purpose there are balloons
' and airplanes attached to each art II:
lory unit. The airplanes are equipped
J with wireless, but also signal by
Smoke and direction of flight, while
, the balloons use telephones. The oh
I servers have irmps and powerful
glasses and cameras. Their maps are
marked off In zones to correspond with
the maps used hy the artillery .officers.
The observations are signaled to a
1 receiving station on the ground aiiuI
are then telephoned to the batteries.
All our troops were equipped with
telephone signal corps detachments
and this was a very Important arm
of the service. The enemy position Is
shelled before an attack, either en
barrage or otherwise, and communication
between the waves of attack and
the artillery Is absolutely necessary.
Bombardments are directed toward
I certain parts of the enemy position
almost us accurately as you would use
i a searchlight. The Held telephones are
' very light and are portable to the lust
degree. They can be rigged up or
knocked down In u very Hhort time.
The wire Is wound on drums or reels
and you would be surprised to see how
'quickly our corps established communication
from a newly won trench
i to headquarters, for Instance. They
{ were usklng for our casualties before
we had finished having them, almost
Artillery tire was directed by men
whose duty It was to dope out the
' range from the Information sent them
by the observers In the air. Two men
were stutloned at the swltchbourd,
one man to receive the message and
the other to operute the board. As
1 soon ns the range was plotted out It
was iciopnonea to tno gunners una
they did the rust.
| The nnvnl guns at Dlrmude wero
mounted on ilut curs and these were
druwn back und forth on the track by
little Relgiun engines.
After I had been ut my gun for several
days I was ordered back to iny
regiment, which was again in the
front-line trenches. My course was
past both the Itrltlsh and l?'rench lines
but quite a distance behind the front
lines.
Everywhere there were umbulances
und wagons going backward and forward.
I met one French ambulance
that was a long wagon full of poilus
from a ilyld hospital near the tiring
lino and was driven by a man whose
left arm was bandaged to I he shoulder.
Two pollus who sat In the rear
r\r\ eniird liinl tuifh Kiwm u /nnuhwl In
"" ' ""*? ir?.v?? "
the leg niul one had hud u big strip of
Ids seadp torn off. There was not u
i sound man In the bunch. Yon run
imagine what their cargo was like, If
tho convoy was as used up as those
chaps. Itut all who could wore singing
and talking and full of pep. That
la tho French for you: lhe> used no
more men than they could possibly
spare to take care of the wounded, hut
I thoy were ull cheerful about It?
u I ways.
| Jusf after I passed this ambulance
the Cleriuuns began shelling a section
of the road too near me to la* comfort*
' able, so I beat It to a shell crater
about twenty yards off the rou4; to the
rear. A shrupnel shell exploded pretty
( near me Just as I jumped Into this
. hole?I did not look around to see how
i close It was?and I remember now
how the old minstrel Joke I'had heard
on board ship came to my mind at the
time?something about a fellow feeling
so small he climbed Into a hole
and pulled It after him?and I wished
I might do the snme. 1 flattened myself
as close agulnst the wall of the
| crater as I could and then I noticed
t.iiui soiueoouy nan mane n nuarout iu
the other wall of the crutRr and 1
, started for It.
The shells were exploding no fast
by that time that you could not listen
for each explosion aeparately, and Just
' as I jumped into the dugout a regular
hall of ahrapnel fell on the spot I had \
Juat passed. It wan pretty dnrk hi j
j the dugout and the first move 1 made '
| 1 humped Into somebody else and he
! * 4 Jfeftt 29Uluu?
J ?'..: v:t r fr j*-*"-r~
1 riiiinsS- .. w
A Regular Hall of 8hrapnel Fell.
heard n mile. It was a Tommy wlio
hud been wounded in the hund and
between curses he told me I hud sut
right on his wound when I moved. I
asked him why he did not yell sooner,
but he only swore more. He surely
was a great cus:-or.
The bombardment slackened up a
bit about this time, and I thought I
would huv& a look around. I did not
get out of the crater entirely, but
moved around out of the dugout until
I could see the road I had been on.
The first thing I saw was u brokendown
wagon that had Just been hitIn
fact, it was toppling over when my
eye caught It. The driver Jumped
from his sent und while he was in the
air his heud was torn completely from
his shoulders by another shell?I do
not know what kind. This was enough
for me, so bnck to the dugout.
llow the Gcrnlnns did It I do not
know, but they bad found out about
that road and opened fire at exactly
the moment when the road was covered
with wagons and men. Yet there
had not been n balloon or airplane in
the sky for some time.
After a while the bombardment
moved away to the east, from which
direction I hml come, and I knew our
batteries wort; getting It. The Tommy
and I came out of the dugout- Ah I
started climbing up the muddy sides
I saw there was a man stunding at
the edge of It, und I could tell by his?
puttees that he was a Limey. I was
having a hard Job of It, so without
looking up I hailed him.
"That was sure some shelling,
wasn't It?" I said. "There's u lad
down here with a wounded fin; better
give him a liund."
"What shelling do you mean," says
the legs, without moving, "There's
been none In this sector for some
time, I think."
The Tommy was right nt my heel
by tills time, and he let out a string
of language. I wus surprised, too, und
KtlU scrambling around In the mud.
Then the Tommy let 11 "tJuwd 'elp
us!" und I looked up and saw that the
legs belonged to a Limey odlcer, a
major, I think. And here we had been
cussing the eyes off of him!
Hut he sized It up rightly and gave
us a hand, and only laughed when we
tried to expluin. I got rattled and
told him thut all I saw wus his legs
and that they did not look like un ofllcer's
legs, which might have mude It
worse, only he was good-natured about
it. Then he said that be bad been
asleep In a battalion headquarters dug
out, about u hundred yards away, and
only waked up when yurt of the rooi
caved in on him. Yot ho did not know
he bad been shelled!
I went on down the road a stretch
but soon found it was easier walking
beside It, because the Huns had shelled
It neatly right up and down the middle,
Also, there were so many wrecked
horses and wugons to cllinb over ou
the road?besides dead men.
After I had passed the nrea of the
bombardment and got back on the
road I sat down to rest and smoke. A
couple of shells had burst so near the
crater that they had thrown the dirl
right into the dugout, ayd I was a little
dizzy froin the shock. While I was sit
ting three a squad of Tommies came
up with about twice their number ol
German prisoners. The Tommies had
bgcn making Fritz do the goose Rtefi
and tliey started them at It again when
they saw me sitting there. It sure
is good for a lac ;h any time, this
goose step. I guess they call it thai
after the fellow who Invented it.
One thing I laid noticed about Frit'/
was the way his coat llared out at the
bottom, so I took this chance to find
out. about It, while they halted for a
rest just a 111 tie farther down the
road. 1 found that they carried their
emergency kits In their coats. These
kits contained canned meat, tobacco,
needles, thread nod oldster?nil t?>U
In addition to their regular pack.
Min i. [ drilled down the road some
more, hut had to stop pretty soon tc
let a column of French Infantry swing
on to the road from a Held. They
were on their way, to the trenches a.s
re-enforcements. After every tvi
comjanlcj there would ho a wagon
Pretty soon I saw the uniform of tin
I-.ec.lon. Tnen a company of my regh
luent. came lit) arid T wheeled to will
them. We were In the rear of the column
that had passed. Our hoys were
going up for their regular stunt In tlio
front lines, while the others had Just
arrived ut that part of the front.
Then for the llrst time my feet began
hurting me. Our boats were riindo
of rough cowhide and fitted very well,
but it was a day's labor to carry them
on your feet. I begun lugging behind.
I would lag twenty or thirty yurds
behind and then try to catch up. Put
the thousands of man ahead of me
kept up the steady puce and vary few
limped, though they hud been on the
inureh since 3 a. in. It wuh then uhout
11 a. in. Thoao who did limp were
curried in the wngona. ltut I had Been
cry few men beside* the drivers rtdIiiK
in the wagons, and 1 wanted to
be na tough as the next guy, ao I kept
on. Kut, believe me, I was anre glad
when we bulled for a rent along the
roud.
That la, the re-enforcementa did!
Our company of the Legion hud not
com from ao far, and when the front
oii the column had drawn out of the
f i*
V
T
way along the road we kept on filing,
tin the Buying Is. I did not care about
being tougti then, nnd^ 1 wua ready for
the wagon.
Only now there were no wagons!
They belonged with the other troops.
So I had to eu?e along us best I could
for what seemed like hours?to my
feet?until we turned off onto another
| road and halted for a rest. I foynd
1 out later that our ofllcers had gone
astray and were lost at this time,
though, of course, they did not tell
us so.
We arrived at our section of the
trench about three o'clock thut afternoon
and 1 rejoined my company. I
| was all tired out after this trek fund
found myself longing for the Cussard
and the rolling wave, where no Marathons
and five-mile hikes were necessary.
But this was not in store for
me?yet.
CHAPTER VI.
Fritz Doe* a Little "Strafe I ng.w
My outfit was one of tho.su thut Raw
the OerinanH place women and children
In front of them as shields
HRalnst our Are. More than u third of
! our men, I should say, hud been pretty
| tough criminals In their own countries.
They alwuys truded their pay ugulnst
a handful of cards or a roll of the
bones whenever they got a chance.
They had been In most of the dirty
pnrts of the world. This war was not
such a much to them; Just one more
' Job in the list. They could call (?o<l
and the sulnts and the human body
more things thuu uny boss stevedore
that ever lived.
Yet they wero religious In a way.
Some of them were always reading
! religious books or saying prayers in
i different wnys and between them they
1 believed In every religion and super
stition under the sun, I guess. Yet
' they were the toughest bunch I evei
suw.
After they enw the Germans usinj.
I the Belgian women the way they did
almost every man In my company took
home kind of u vow or other, und
most of them kept their vows, too, ]
1 believe. And those that were religious
got more so after that.
Onr chaplain hnd always been verj
friendly with the men, and while ]
1 j think they liked him they were s<
j tough they would never admit It, ant
some of them claimed he wus u Jonah
or Jinx, or bad luck of some kind. Jlu
l
; tg&xSk
How We Give 'Em the Butt.
they all told him their vows as soon
II U thov tlthin alt/1 1?o vena ? ??
poged to bo a sort of referee oh tc
' whether they kept them or not.
During my second stunt in the front
\ lines things got pretty bud. The Oer
nmns were five to our ono und thej
' kept pushing back purts of the line
and cleaning out others. And the
. weuther was as bad us it could be
! and the food did not always come reg
I ularly. Now, before they took theli
vows, every last man in the buncl
I would huve been kicking und growlitif
i oil the time, but, us it wus, the onlj
tlmo they growled was when the Oer
! mans pushed us buck.
! Things kept getting worse and yoi
i could see that the men talked to tht
! chaplain more and quite a few of then
got real chummy with him.
1 One morning Fritz blurted in brlgh
nnd early to begin ids strufe. Tin
! lieutenant wus walking up and dowt
the trench to see that tin* sentries
I were properly posted and were on tin
1 Job. A shell whizzed over his heat
1 uml landed just behind the para do:
' und the dirt spouted up like I imaglm
1 n Yellowstone geyser looks.
Another oillcer ciune up to the lieu
tenant?a new out; who had onl;
Joined the company about a week be
fore. They had walked about tei
vards when another shell whizzed ove
1 them. They laid to nnd a third on?
came. There were three In less than
Ave minutes, directly over their bends,
Ttir.r> > ipt.nl! I.pn.ln.l .... !..?? ..t.l.
- ... .. II pill II ami'MMi "II HIT- M il ri'ir
of the trench and n poiiu y?*lI?m1 thai
four men hiul got It. They went all
wounded und throe died later. The
lieutenant went over to them and Just
after ho panned me u lad pot it nquart
not far from mo and wan knoTkeO
over to where I was lying.
Tlio lieutenant rnme hnok tint
helped me with the tirst-aid rol'i and
then the Germans begun using nlirap
nel. The lieutenant wan nwearing
hard about the shrapnel and the Gcr
mans and everything else.
Farther to the right a shell had jusl
struck near the parados and made n
big crater and across from it, agnlnsl
the parapet, was a young chnp wltl
a deep gnnh In his head, sitting or
tho Are step and next to him a fellow
nursing the pluce whore his arm* had
been blown off. Onr hrend ration laj
all uhout the trench and somp of thi
poll as were Ashing It out of the mu<!
and water and wiping the biscuits ofl
on their sleeves or eating as fast a>
they could. Only some of ttie biscuit.'
had fallen In bloody water and thej
did not eat these.
A young fellow, hardly more than c
boy, stumbled over the parados and
fell Into the trench rlirht rveiir fir
lieutenant and the lieutenant dres?e<!
hlH wnundn himself. I think he wuj
Home mint Ion of the hoy.
The lieutenant nuked hlin how h<
felt, hot the hoy only asked for wntei
nnd Hmlled. Hut you could see ho wni
In Krcnt pnln. Then the hoy said
"Oh, tho puln 1h awful. 1 am goln>
to die."
"You are all right, old man." th<
Lk v . 4. * ' *r -1*
, nontenant said, "Ton will be horn
j rood. The stretcher bearers are com
i lng." So we passed the word for th<
| stretcher bearers.
j Then he took tho water bottle fron
the boy's side and sat him op and Kav<
1 him somo wutor. He left the wate
bottle with the chnp and went t<
hurry the stretcher bearers along
When he got around the corner of tin
trench the hoy was slipping buck ant
the wuter bottle had fallen down. 8'
I went over to him and propped hln
' up again and gave him some mor
water.
The lieutenant came back with tin
stretcher bearers and he asked one o
thorn, so the boy could not hour him, 1
the boy would live.
The stretcher bearer said: "I don*
think so. One through hla chest au<
right leg broken."
The boy had kept quiet for a whlh
but all of a sudden he yelled, "Give m<
a cigarette 1" 1 handed him a clgu
rette butt that I hud found In the due
out. We were all out of elgurettef
So they lit It for him and he kep
quiet. As soon as they could they go
i around the corner of the fire bay wltl
' him- and through n communleattoi
trench to a field hospital. The llet
tenant and I walked a little way wltl
him and he begun to thank us, and h
i told the lieutenant, "Old man, yo
have been a fnther and a mother t
me."
And the lieutenant said to hlrn
"You hove dono well, old boy. Yo
I have done more than your share."
When they started Into the conum:
> nlcatlon trench the boy begun t
scream aguln. And the lleutennn
acted like u wild roAn. lie took ou
> his cigarette case, but there were n
cigarettes In It, and then l?e swore an
put It back again. Hut In a few mlr
Utes he had the cose out again an
t was swearing worse than ever an
talking to himself.
"The boy Isn't dying like a genth
, man," ho said. "Why couldn't he kee
quiet." I do not think he meant 1
: He wns nil nervous and excited an
[ kept taking out his cigarette cuse an
[ putting It back again.
, Tho other officer hurt gone on to ii
sport tho Rontrlos when the boy rolle
. into the trench and n pollu ciune u
? to tell us that the oflleer had been hi
j We walked hack t? where I had bee
j and there was tho oflleer. If I ha
been there I would huvo got It to
? I guess, lie was aja awful mess., T1
veins were sticking out of his net
and one side of him wns blown ol
Also, his foot was wounded. That
what shrapnel does to you. As
crawled past him I hnppened to tout
his foot ami he cursed mo all over tl
place. Hut when I tried to say I wj
sorry I could not, for then he apoh
glzcd and died a moment luter.
There was a silver clgurette en?
sticking out of the rags where h!
side had been blown away and th
lieutenant crossed himself nnd reache
In and ^pok out the case. Ilut who
he pried open the case he found tlm
It had been bent and cracked and a
the cigarettes were soaked with bloot
He swore worsd than over, then, an
threw his own case awuy, putting th
other officer's case In his pocket.
At this point our own artillery la
gan shelling and wo received the ordt
to stand to with fixed bayonets. Who
we got th? order to advanco some c
the men were already over the pan
pet and the whole bunch after then
and, bellevo me, I wus as pale as
sheet, Just scared to death. I thin
' every man Is when he goes over fc
" the first time?every time for thu
* matter. Hut I was glad we were goln
to got some action, because It Is har
t to sit around In a trench under fir
and have nothing to do. I had ull
r could do to hold my rifle.
> We ran across N? Man's Land.
> cannot remember much about It. r?i:
' when we got to the German trene
* I fell en top of a younfl fellow and m
* bayonet went right through hlin. 1
i was a crime to get him, at that. II
5 was a a delicate as a pencil.
f When I got hack to our trenchc
* after rr.y first charge I could not slec
for a long time afterward, for remcii
i berlng what that fellow looked Ilk
J and how my bayonet slipped Into hlti
i and how he screamed when he fell
He had his legs ami his neck twlstei
t under him after he got It. I though
? about It a lot and It got to he almos
i a habit that whenever I was going t
i sleep I would think about him am
3 then ull hope of sleeping was gone.
1 Our company took a German trend
a that time and along wltrh anothe
b company four hundred prisoners. W
had to retire because tin- ineu on ou
- shh-s did not get through and w
y were being flanked, llut wo lost a lo
of men doing it.
u When wo returned to our trenche
t our outfit was simply all In and w<
> were lying around In the front line
i like a bunch of old rags In a narrov
. allev. None of iim kIi<>u.->>iI ?mv ti.tn
* of life except ft working party thu
: wua digging with picks and shovels a
I Koine bodies thut had been frozen Inti
> the mud of the trench.
1 I used to think all the (Jermuns wer<
* big and fat unci Htrong, und, of course
I Rome of the grenadier regiments arc
but lots of the Roches I sow wen
I little and weak like this fellow I "got
I in my first charge.
It was a good piece of work to taki
: | the prisoners and a novelty for ine t<
' look them In the face?the fellows
had been lighting. IJecause, when yen
t look a Jlun in the face, you can sei
i the yellow streak. Even If you nr
t their prisoner you can tell that th
i Iluns are yellow.
i Maybe you huve heard pigs helm
r butchered. It Rounded like thnt whei
I we got to them. When they nttnckei
r us they yelled to beat the hand.
? guess they thought they oould soar
I us. Rut you cannot scare niachln
r guns nor the foreign legion either. S
i when they could not Rcare us the,
i were up against It and had to llghl
' I will admit, though, that the firs
time Fritz came over and began yell
L lag I thought the whole (lerman arm
| was nfter me. at that, and Kaiser Rll
> playing the drum. And.how they hat
I a bayonet 1 They would much rathe
i alt In n ditch and pot you.
I admit I urn not crflzy about hnvc
, net fighting myself, as a general proj
r osltlon, hut I will say that there hnv
, been times when I was serving a gu
. behind the front lines when I wlshe
, for a rifle and a bayonet In my hnn'l
and a chance at Fritz man to man.
a It was In this charge that our chnj
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In Iti was put out of commission. As
18 | we were lined up, waiting to climb on ,
R J to the fire step and then over the par- j
,1 | npet, tills chaplain came down the
u i line speaking to each man as he went.
j lie would not say much, hut Just a
11 j few words, and then make the sign of
1. j the cross. lie was In a black cassock,
d He was Just one man from me as
o we got the word and stood up on the
fire step. He was not armed with as
> much as a pin, hut he Jumped up on
Stuck His Head Over the Parapet and
Got It Square.
1 the step and sliu'lc his head over the
i?n r:i i Ml and got it square, landing
1 rig! beside me. I thought lie was
1 killed, l?ul when we ?l Irnek we foini'l
1 lie was only wounded. The men who
Mtw P were over the parapet before
s the oilier, was given nial then the
* whole hunch niter them, hecnuse they,
' too, thought he was killed and figured
v he never would know how they came
s out ahout their vows. All the men in
the company were glad when they
1 fou id he was only wounded.
While lmlf of us were on the firing
step throughout the day or night the
B other half would lie in the dugouts or
Kitting around In the bottom of the
' trench, playing little games, or mend
a lilt; clothes or sleeping or cooking or
doing a thousand an<l one tilings. The
ni(in were u:\vays !n eond humor lit
e suci. times and it seemed to iim> even
a inoro so when the enemy tire was
' heavy.
If a man was slightly wounded down
1 would rome the rlllea to order arms,
' and some poltu was sure to shout,
e
S I Owe My Life
? Mr. McKinley*s letter
' brings cheer to all who
may be sufferers as he
; was. Head it:
' "I can honestly say that I owr
" my liie to tVriina. After some of
I I...at 1- ? - ' ?
..... ...... r. ... VIIU .Mlllliy
tfavo mo lip nix! told 1110 1 ootilil
J not livo ariMhor inontti, I'riniiii
|| saved me. Travelling from town
to town, throughout tlio country
e and having to ro Into nil kind,
r of hadly heated hIoi-oh ami buildings,
sometimes standing up foi
hours at a tlrao while plying ni>
). trade as auftlonccr, It Is onlj
natural that I had colds fro<juen?lyi
so when this wouh
p occur I paid little attention to It
until last l>ecember when I c?>n
" traded a severe cane, which
Q through neglect on my par
. settled on my lungs, when at
I" moat too late. 1 hr(?n doctoring
Ihiit, without avail, until I hrnr<
of Peruns. It cured met ao
cannot praise It too highly."
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"Right this way. One franc." It was
a landing Joke ami they always did It.
The pollu who did It tnost was a Swiss
i.nd he was always playing a Joke on
somebody or Imitating some one of
us or making fuces.
We were all sorry when this Swiss
"went west," as the Limeys say, an<J
we tried to keep up his Jokes and say
the same things and so forth. Hut they
did not go very well after lie was
dead. lie got his In the same charge
In which the chaplain was wounded,
lie was one of the bunch that charged
before the order was given, when the
chaplain got it. and was running pretty
near r?c until we got to the Roche
wire. I had to stop to get through,
though must, of it wua cut up by arlU<
I'tv ilre, hut be must have Jumped It,
for wnen 1 lo< ,ed up lie was twenty
or thirty paces ahead of tre. We got
fi) fli?? / nu olwMit -*
... .... ... ci iimMu mm 11 iii*" mm
I was pytty busy for a while. But
soon 1 saw him iitrain. lie was pulling
Ills bayonet out of a Boehe when uuotln-r
iiaole a Jab at him ami stuck lilm
in the aria. Then the Boehe made a
swing at hiin with bis rllle, but the
Swiss dropped on one knee and dodged
It. lie kejit defending himself with
Ills rllle, but there was another (lerinun
011 lilin by this time and he could
not >:<'t up. The corpora I of our squad
came up Just about that time, but he
was too late, because one of the
Bnches trot to the Swiss with Ills bayonet.
He did not have time to withdraw
it before our corporal stuck him.
The other Herman made a pass ut the
corporal, but he was too late. The
co.p;.rul b< at him 10 it and felled hiin
with a terrific blow from bis rille butt.
TI10 llmivi wiiPii t
I " "
there Just us another fellow and myself
cnme up. A Boehe swung Ids rifle
nt tie- corporal and when he dodged It
the Itnehe almost got me. The swing
took him off his feet and then the corporal
did us pretty ti hit of work an
I ever saw. lie Jumped for the Hoc-lie,
who had fallen, landed on his face
with hoth feet and gave It to the next
one with his bayonet all nt the same
time, lie v.as the quickest tnan I ever
saw.
There were a couple of well-known
savate men In the next company and
I saw one of them get under Fritz's
guard with his foot and, believe me,
there was some force in that kick,
lie must have driven the (Jcrman's
chin clear through the back of his
neck.
We thought It was pretty tough luck
to lose hoth the chaplain and the village
wit in the same charge, along
with hall of cair ollieeis, and then have
to give ap the trench. Kvery man in
the hum h was sore us a hull when we
got hack.
(To Be Continued)
is PERUNA
mHPKBR
1 Mr. Hamurl McKlnTey, 1507 K.
2 12th St., KnriHan City, Mo., Memt>?
r of th? Society of U. 8. Jewelry
t Auctioneers.
A Sold Kvrrj wkrrr,
1 Tablet or Liquid Korn
>,
M i