The Monmouth herald., March 29, 1918, Image 2

F5MI
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I-Flred by tha news of the
Inking of the Lunlianla by a German
submarine, Arthur Ouy Empy, an Ameri
can, leaves his office In Jersey City and
roes to England where he enlist In Uie
British army.
CHAPTER II-After a period of train.
Ing, Empey voluntatis for Immediate serv.
Ice and soon finds himself In rest bllleti
"somewhere in France." where, he first
makes the acquaintance of tha ever-pres-
oiAPTER lTI-Empey attends his first
church services at the front while a Ger
man Fokker circles over the congregation.
CHAPTER IV-Empey's command goes
Into the front-line trenches and Is under
fire for the first time.
CHAPTER V-Empey learns to adopt
the motto of the Brtish Tommy, "If you
are going to get It, you'll get it, so never
CHAPTER VI-Back In rest biiieia, Em
pey gets his first experience as a mess
orderly.
CHAPTER VII-Empey learns how the
British soldiers are fed. ...
In the EnRllsh papers a "Lonely
Soldier" column Is run. This Is for
the soldiers at the front who are sup
posed to be without friends or rela
tives. They write to the papers and
their names are published. Girls and
women in England answer them, and
send out parcels of foodstuffs, ciga
rettes, candy, etc. I have known a
"lonely" soldier to receive as many as
five parcels and eleven letters In one
week.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Little Wooden Cross.
After remaining In rest billets for
eight days, we received the unwelcome
tidings that the next morning we would
"go In" to "take over." At six In the
morning our march started and, after
a long march down the dusty road, we
again arrived at reserve billets.
I was No. 1 In the leading set of
fours. The man on my left was named
"Pete 'Walling," a cheery sort of fel
low. He laughed and joked all the
way on the march, buoying np my
drooping spirits. I could not figure out
anything attractive in again occupying
the front line, but Pete did not seem to
mind, said lt was all in a lifetime. My
left heel was blistered from the rub-
blng of my heavy marching boot. Pete
noticed that I was limping and offered
to carry my rifle, but by this time I had
learned the ethics of the march In the
British army and courteously refused
hls offer-
We had gotten half-way through the
communication rrencn, fete in my im-,
mediate rear. He had his hand on my
shoulder, as men In a communication
trench have to do to keep in touch with
each other. We had just climbed over
a bashed-ln part of the trench when
In our rear a man tripped over a loose
signal wire, and let out an oath. As
usual, Pete rushed to his help. To
reach the fallen man he had to cross
this bashed-in part A bullet cracked
ln the air and I ducked. Then a moan
from the rear. My heart stood still.
I went back and Pete was lying on the
ground. By the aid of my flashlight
I saw that he had his hand pressed to
his right breast. The fingers were cov
ered with blood. I flashed the light
on his face and in Its glow a grayish
blue color was stealing over his coun
tenance. Pete looked up at me and
said : "Well, Yank, they've done me in.
I can feel myself going West" His
voice was getting fainter and I had to
kneel down to get his words. Then he
gave me a message to write home to
his mother and his sweetheart and I,
like a great big boob, cried like a baby.
I was losing my first friend of the
trenches.
Word was passed to the rear for a
stretcher. He died before it arrived.
Two of us put the body on the
stretcher and carried it to the nearest
first-aid post, where the doctor took
an official record of Pete's name, num
ber, rank and regiment from his iden
tity disk, this to be used in the cas
ualty lists and notification to his
family.
We left Pete there, but it broke our
hearts to do so. The doctor Informed
us that we could bury him the next
morning. That afternoon five of the
boys of our section, myself Included,
went to the little ruined village In the
rear and from the deserted gardens of
the French chateaux gathered grass
and flowers. From these we made a
wreath.
While the boys were making this
wreath, I sat under a shot-scarred
apple tree and carved out the follow
ing verses on a little wooden shield
jNMffiON SOLDIER
WHO VENT
MACHINE OTR.BVM F-
wmcn we nulled on l'eto's cross.
True to his Clod; true to llrltuln.
Doing his duty to the last,
Just one more name to be written
On the Roll of Honor of heroes passed
Passed to their God. enshrtned In glory,
Entering life of eternal rest,
One more chapler In England's story
Of her sons doing their best
Rest, you soldier, mate so true.
Never forgotten by us below;
Know that we are thinking of you.
Era to our rest we are bidden to go.
Next morning the whole section went
over to say good-by to Pete, and laid
him away to rest.
After each one had a look at the face,
of the dead, a corporal of the U. A.
M. C. sewed up the remains In a blan
ket. Then placing two heavy ropes
across the stretcher (to be used In low
ering the body Into the grave), we lift
ed Pete onto the stretcher, and rev
erently covered him with a large union
Jack, the fi.g he had died for.
The chaplain led the way, then came
the officers of the section, followed by
two of the men carrying a wreath. Im
mediately after came poor Pete on the
flag-draped stretcher, carried by four
soldiers. I was one of the four. Be
hind the utretcher, In column of fours,
cnme the remainder of the section.
To get to the cemetery, we hud to
pass through the little shell-destroyed
village, where troops were hurrylug
to and fro.
As the funeral procession passed
these troops came to the "attention"
and smartly saluted the dead.
Poor Pete was receiving the only sa
lute a private Is entitled to "some
where In France."
Now and again a shell from the Ger
man lines would go whistling over the
village to burt In our artillery lines
In the rear.
When we reached the cemetery we
halted In front of an onen rrnte. and
; lad the strt,tcner beslde lt, FormnB
; a nollow gquare around tne openlnR of
the &e chaplaln read tne burlal
! gervCCi
j G(rm'nn machine-gun bullets were
. erncl!nR ln the a,r obove us, but
Ppte ddn.t mlni and Deltner dld wa
i whpn ne b(,(ly w, lowered Int0 tbe
;grave tne flng 'having been rt.move(i,
we cll(,ked 0r heelg together and
cnmp t() t)m s.llute
I I left before the grave was filled in.
lcoM not bear t0 gee tne drt tnrown
on ,he blanket.covered fuce of my com-
rade. On the western front there are
no coffins, and you are lucky to get a
blanket to protect you from the wet
and the worms. Several of the sec
tion stayed and decorated the grave
with white stones.
That night, in the light of a lonely
candle In the machine gunner's dugout
of the front.llne trencn j wrote two
letters. One to Pete's mother, the
other to his sweetheart While doing
this I cursed the Prussian war god
with all my heart, and I think that St
Taking Provisions to the Front
rrrrr mnm anitm.
The machine gunners In the dugout
were laughing and Joking. To them
Pete wbi unknown. Pretty noon, In the
warmth of their merriment, my blues
disappeared. One aoon forgets on the
western front
CHAPTER IX.
Suicide Annex.
1 was In my first dugout and looked
around curiously. Over the door of
same was little algn rending "Sui
cide Annex." One ( the boys told
me that this particular front trench
was called "Suicide Pitch." Later on
I learned that machine gunners and
tiombera are known as the "Suicide
Club."
That dugout was muddy. The men
slept In mud, washed In mud, ate mud,
and dreamed mud. I had never before
real I led that so much discomfort and
misery could be contained In those
three little letters, M C P. The floor
of the dugout was an Inch deep In
water. Outside It was ruining rats and
dogs, and thin rivulets were trickling
down the steps. From the air shaft
Immediately above me came a drip,
drip, drip. Suicide Annex was a hole
eight feet wide, ten feet long and six
feet high. It was about twenty feet
below the fire trench; at least there
were twenty steps leading down to It.
These steps were cut Into the earth,
but at that time were muddy and slip
pery. A man had to be very careful
or else he would "shoot ,the chutes."
The itlr was foul, and you could cut
the smoke from Tommy's fags with
knife. It was cold The walls and
roof were supported with heavy square
cut timbers, while the entrance was
strengthened wltb sandbags. Nails had
been driven Into these timbers. On
each nail hung a miscellaneous assort-,
ment of equipment The lighting ur- !
rangements were superb one candle
In a reflector made from an atnmunl-1
tlon tin. My teeth were chattering
from the cold, and the drip from the ,
nlrshaft did not help matters much. ;
While I was sitting bemoaning my
fate and wishing for the fireside at ;
home, the fellow next to me, who was i
writing a letter, looked up and Inno-1
cently asked, "Say, Yank, how do you
spell 'conflagration' J" !
I looked at him to contempt and an-,
swered that I did not know.
From the darkness in one of the cor
ners came a thin, piping voice singing
one of the popular trench ditties en
titled: "Pack up your Troubles In your Old Kit
bag, and Smile, Bmlle, Smile."
Every now and then the singer
would stop to cough, cough, cough, but ;
It was a good Illustration of Tommy's
cheerfulness under such conditions. ,
A machine-gun officer entered the
dugout aud gave m a hard look. I '
sneaked past him, sliding and slipping,
and reached my section of the front-
I line trench, where I was greeted by
In 'ave you been?"
I made no answer, but sat on the
muddy lire step, shivering with the
cold and with the rain beating In my
fuce. About half an hour later I
teamed up with another fellow and
went on guard with my head sticking
over the top. At ten o'clock I was
relieved and resumed my sitting posi
tion on the flre step. The rain sud
denly stopped and we all breathed a
sigh of relief. We prayed for the morn
ing and the rum Issue.
CHAPTER X.
"The Day's Work."
I was fast learning that there Is a
regular routine about the work of the
trenches, although It Is badly upset ut
times by the Germans.
The real work In the flre trench
commences at sundown. Tommy Is
like a burglar, he works at night
just as 11 negtns to get nan tne
word "stand to" Is passed from trav
erse to traverse, and the men get busy.
The first relief, consisting of two men
to a traverse, mount the lire step, one
man looking over the top, while the
other sits at his feet ready to carry
messages or to Inform tho platoon offi
cer of any report made by the sentry
as to his observations In No Man's
Land. The sentry Is not allowed to
relax his watch for a second. If he Is
questioned from the trench or usked
his orders, he replies without turning
around or taking his eyes from the ex
pause of dirt In front of him. The re
mainder of the occupants of his trav
erse either sit on (he flre step, with
bayonets llxed, rvuily for uny emer
gency, or If lucky, and a dugout hap
pens to be In the near vicinity of the
traverse, and If the night Is quiet, (hey
are permitted to go to same and try
and snatch a few winks of sleep. Little
sleeping Is done; generally the. men sit
around, smoking fags and seeing who
ran tell the biggest lie. Some of them,
perhaps with their feet In wuter, would
write home sympathizing wlUi the
"governor" because he was laid up
with a cold, contracted by getting his
feet wet on his way to work In Wool
wich arseuul. if a uiun should manage
to doze off, likely us not he would wake
with a start as the clammy, cold feet
of a rut passed over his face, or the
next relief stepped on his stomach
while stumbling on their wuy to relieve
the sentries In the trench.
Just try to sleep with a bolt full of
ammunition around you, your rl tic bolt
biting Into your ribs, Intrenching tool
bundle sticking Into the small of Juur
Trains into Monmouth
L've Portland 71.5, s in, Gurlinger 10:20, lndepend'cu 10.32, Monm'th 10:50
" Salem 9.35, " " " " " " "
" " 1.40, pm Dallas 2:45 " 3:10
" " 3.45, " Gerlinger 4:24, Independence 4::;7, Monmouth 4:55
" " 6.00, " " 6:45, " 11:57, " 7:10
" Portland 3.30, Connects with above
" Corvallis 6.45, am Independence 7:35. . . , Arrive Monmouth 7:45
" 1.15, pm " 2:14 " 2:!t0
" Dallas 7.00, a m, Arrive Monmouth 7:25
' Airlie 8.30, am and 3:45, pm. Arrives Monmouth 9:06 am and 4:13 p m
Leave Independence, 6.50 am, 7.35, 8.45, 10.35, 12.20, 1,30, p m, 2.20, 3 50,
4.40, 7.00
Traini out of Monmouth
L've Monmouth 7:05 a m. Independence 7:35, Gerlinger 7:4'J, Ar Salem 8:30
" Same as above . Portland 11.10
" Monmouth 1 ;45, p m, " 2:11, " 2:27, Salem 3:10
" Same as above Portland 6:50
" Monmouth 4:05, " 4:40, " 4:65, Salem 5 JO
" " 9:05, a m Dallas 10:00 " 11:00
" " 4;30, pm " 4:45, " 5:35
" " 9;05, a m, Independence 10:32, Corvullis 11:20
" " 4;55, p m, " 6:57, " 7:45
" , " 7;25 a m and 3;10 p m. Arrives Airlie 8am and 3;40 pm
Leave Monmouth 7.05, a m, 8.15 9.05, 10.50, 12.30, M, 1.45, p m, 2.36, 4.15,
4.55, 7.1J
WATCH TALK
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eighteen size Elgin' Waltham and Illinois watches
seven, fifteen and seventeen jeweled movements.
Now is the time to get that new watch you are want
ing as I am offering these movements at last year's pric-
es.
WALTER
Watch Repairer and Jeweler.
For any thing you want or don't
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..t.... t. I I f..t..tiit..i.f..t..tr
First National Bank
Monmouth, Oregon
Paid Capital, $30,000.00 -Surplus
& Undivided Profits, $18,000.00 ::
Established .... 1889.
Ira C. Powell, President;
Emma M. Parker, Assistant Cashier
We are prepared to take care of your
banking business and Solicit your account.
Interest paid on time deposits.
DIRECTORS
J. B. V. BUTLER, Chairman
I. M. SIMPSON, WM. RIDDELL, ROBERT STEELE
IRA C.
T LJJsjJJJfi
nunc, witn a tin nut tor a (iimnv mm
feeling very dump aud cold, with
"cooties" boring for oil In your arm
pits, the air foul from the stench of
grimy human bodies and smoke from a
Juicy pipe being whiffed Into your nos
trils, then you will not wonder why
Tommy occasionally takes u turn In
the trench for a rest.
While In a front line trench orders
forbid Tommy from removing his
boots, puttees, clothing or equipment
The "coolies" take advantage of this
order und mobilise their forces, and
Tommy swears vengeance ou thorn and
mutters to himself, "Just wait until I
hit rest billets aud am able to get my
own buck."
Just before daylight the men "turn
to" mid tumble out of tho dugouts, man
the lire step until It gets light, or (he
welcome order "stand down" Is given.
Sometimes before "stand down" Is or
dered, the command "live rounds rap
id" Is passed along tho trench. This
means that each man must rest his
rltle on the top and flre as rapidly as
possible live shots aimed toward the
Gorman trenches, and then duck (with
the emphasis on the "duck"), rhorc Is
u great rivalry between the opposing
forces to get their rapid flre all oft
flrst, because the early bird, In this In
stance, catches tho worm sort of gets
the Jump on the other fellow, catching
him unawares.
We had a sergeant In our battalion
named Warren. He wus on duty with
bis plutoon lu the flre treuch one after-
!',UII . . i I t oili. YX CKI.Ii' Up i lo ll ll a
rear that he bad been granted si-v-tn
days' leave for Blighty, and would be
relieved at live o'clock to proceed to
lCntdnnd,
and
in
G.
BROWN
Perkins I'hurniacy,
if jf..fjiTT.itli ilsit.it i.t..fiil..f.tlt -I ..t i- .1. .t-
J. 13. V. Butler, Vice Pres. $
POWELL
nT.iTiiT.iT.iti .t.T..!sit..fs.fsitmAUj