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About The Monmouth herald. (Monmouth, Or.) 1908-1969 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1918)
u u lYNOPtlS. , CHAPTER I-F1red by tlx news of tbe tlnklac of the Lualtanla by a German iubmarina, Arthur Guy Kmpey, an Amarl san, laane hka offlca la Jaraay City ud foe to England wbare b enuats In tbe . British army. CHAPTER n-Aftar a parted of train bif , Empey vohintears (or Immedlata err. Ic and tooa ftodi hlmsalf In rut billet! "aomawhera la Franca." whara ha Ant makaa tha aequalBtanc at tha evar-prae- CTIAJTKR III Empay attend! hli flrtt church wnrlcaa at tha front whlla a Oar nan Fokkar circle ovar tba eongracatloa. CHAPTER IV Empey'a command (oaa bito tha front-Una tranchaa and la unoar Are (or tha drat tlma. CHAPTER V Em pay laarni to adopt tba motto ot tha Brtlsh Tommy, "If you ara going to fat It, you'll fat It. as aavar CHAPTER TI Back In raat biitaia, Em pay aata bl firtt azperlanoa aa a maas Ordrly. CHAPTER TII-Empar laarni how tba Brltlah aoldlara ara fad. . . CHAPTER Yrn-Back In tha front-Una tranch, Empey taai bl first fiiand of tba tranchaa "to Wt" CHAPTER IX-Jtmpey makaa hli flrat Tlalt to a dufout la "Sulcida Ditch," CHAPTER X-Empey laarni what cob atltutaa a "day' work" In tba front-Una trench. CHAPTER XI-Empey foa "OTr tba top" (or tha flrat tlma la a charge on tha German trenches and la wounded by a bayonet thro R Xn-Empey Jotni tha "tut '' . J tha borobln Muad la called, CHAPTER Xuf-Eacb Tommy fat an official bath. CHAPTER XIT-Empey help dtf an advanced troacb under German lira. CHAPTER XY-On "Ustanlnf port" la No Man's Lnd. ' CHAPTER XVI-Two artilleryman "put one over" on Old Pepper, their regimental onmraaoAar. CHAPTER XTO-EmpeyhM VV?: capa whlla on patrol duty In No Hang TTIAPTER XVin-Back m lest bfflatf Emritea aPl.Uget a tare comedy, waya to amuaa tbemaalvaa whlla "on their CHAPTER XX-Empey volunteer for , machine gun aemoe a -- the front-Una trenche. coBC-aa S Ulled an4 - wounded. wui m nwuea to yon ror yrfOr ret a journey to your respective stations. Beastly rotten, I know." Then be left A dead alienee resulted. Then men started to curse, threw their rifles on the floor of the car; others said notu-J tag, seemed to be stupefied, while some had the tears running down their cheeks. It was a bitter disappointment 4 to all. How we blinded at the engineer of that train; it was all his fault (so we reasoned) ; why hadn't be speeded up a little or been on time, then we would have gotten off before the order ar rived? Now It was no BUghty for us. That return Journey was misery to ns ; I Just can't describe It . When we got back to rest billets, we found that our brigade was In the trenches (another agreeable surprise) and that an attack was contemplated. J Seventeen of tbe forty-one will never get auot'.ier chance to go' on leave; tney were killed in the attack. Jist think if that train had been on time, those seventeen would still be alive. -; 1 hate to tell you how I was kidded by tha boys when I got back, bnt It was good and plenty. Our machine gun company took over their part of the line at seven o'clock, the night after I returned from my near leave.- ,!. it . At 8:30 the following morning three waves went over and captured the first and second German trenches. The machine gunners went over with the fourth wave to consolidate the cap tured line or "dig In," as Tommy calls It i Crossing No Man's Land without clicking any casualties, we came to the German trench and mounted our guns on the parados of same. I never saw such a mess in my life bunches of twisted barbed wire lying about, shell boles everywhere, trench all bashed in, parapets gone, and dead bodies, why, that ditch was full of them, theirs and ours. It was a regu lar morgue. Borne were mangled hor ribly from our shell fire, while others were wholly or partly burled in the mud, the result of shell explosions cav ing in the walls of tbe trench. One dead German was lying on his back, with a rifle sticking straight np in the air, the bayonet of which was buried to the hilt in his chest Across his feet lay a dead English soldier with a bul let hole in his forehead. This Tommy must have been killed Just as he ran ' his bayonet through the German. Blfles and. pnulDment were scattered ARAMBKM 50IMR WIIOWINT MAOflEOJfiflER.BVINCIHfRAffCE' ' Oll7 BY aouui, ana occasionally a nan mw could be seen sticking out ot tha mod. - At one point Jnst In tbe entrance to a communication trench, was a stretch er. On this stretcher a German was lying with a white bandage around bis knee, near to him lay one ot the stretcher-bearers, the red cross on bis arm covered with mud and his helmet filled with blood and brains. Close by, atttlnf np against the wall ot the trench, with head resting on his cheat, waa the other stretcher-bearer. Be teemed to be alive, the posture was to natural and easy; but when I got closer I could see a large, Jagged hole In his temple. The three must have been killed by the same shell-burst The dugouts were all smashed In and knocked about big square-cut timbers splintered into bits, walls caved In and entrances choked. Tommy, after taking a trench, learna to his sorrow that the hardest pat of the work is to hold It In our case this proved to be to. Tbe German artillery and machine gnna bad na taped (ranged) for fair; It was worth yoor Ufe to expose your self an Instant Dont think for a minute that the Germane were the only sufferers; we were clicking casualties to feat that you needed an adding machine to keep track ot them. Did yon ever see one of the tteam shovels at work on the Panama canal t Well, It would look like a hen scratch ing alongside of a Tommy "digging In" while under fire. You coolant see day light through the clouds ot dirt from his shovel. ' After losing three out of six men of our crew we managed to set np our machine gun. One of the legs of the tripod was resting on the chest of a half -burled body. When tbe gun was firing, It gave tbe Impression that the body was breathing. This was caused by the excessive vibration. Three or four feet down the trench, about three feet from the ground a foot waa protruding from tbe earth. We knew It was a German by the black leather boot One of our crew need that foot to hang extra bandoliers of ammunition on. This man always waa a handy fellow; made use of little points that the ordinary person would overlook. ' The Germans made three counter attacks, which we repulsed, bnt not without heavy loss on our side. They also suffered severely from our shell and machine-gun fire. Tbe ground was spotted with their dead and dying. Tbe next day things were somewhat quieter, bnt not quiet enough to bury the dead. We lived, ate and slept In that trench with the nnburied dead for six days. It was awful to watch their faces be come swollen and discolored. Towards the last the stench was fierce. What got on my nerves the most was that foot sticking out of the dirt It seemed to me, at night In the moon light, to be trying to twist around. Several times this impression was so strong that I went to It and grasped it In both hands, to tee If I could feel a movement I told this to tbe man who hatf used It for a batrack just before I lay down for a little nap, as things were quiet and I needed a rest pretty badly. When t woke up the foot was gone. Be had cut It off with our chain saw out of the spare parts' box, and bad plastered the stump over with mud. During the next two or three days, before we ere relieved, I missed that foot dreadfully; seemed as if I had suddenly lost a chum. I think tbe worst thing of all was to watch the rats, at night end some times in tbe day, run over and play about among the dead. Near our gun, right across the para pet, could be seen the body of a Ger man lieutenant the bead and arms of which were banging into our trench. The man who had cut off tbe foot used to sit and carry on a one-sided conver sation with this officer, used to argue and point out why Germany was in the wrong. During all of this monologue I never beard him say anything out of the way anything that would have hurt the officer's feelings had he been alive. He was. square all right; wouldn't even take advantage of a dead man in an argument , ' 4 To civilians this must seem dread ful, bnt out here one gets so used to awful eights that It makes no Impres sion. In pawing a butcher shop you are not shocked by seeing a dead tur key hanging from a hook. Well, In France, a dead body la looked upon from the same angle. But nevertheless, when our tlx days were up, we were tickled to death to be relieved. Our machine gun company lost seventeen killed and thirty-one wound ed In that little local affair ot "straightening the line," while the other companies clicked It worse than we did. After the attack we went Into re serve billets for six days, and on tbe seventh once again we were In rest bit- ( :;l'-i."V;-' CHAPTER XXII. Punishments and Maehlne-Qun Stunta. Soon after my arrival In France; In fact from my enlistment I had found that In the British army discipline la very strict One baa to be very care ful In order to stay on the narrow path of government virtue. There are about seven million waya ot breaking the king's regulations; to keep one you have to break another. The worst punishment Is death by a firing squad, or "up against the wall," aa Tommy calls It This Is tor desertion, cowardice, mu tiny, giving Information to the enemy, looting, rape, robbing the dead, forcing a safeguard, striking a superior, etc. Then comes the punishment of sixty four days In the front-line trench with out reltet During this time yon have to engage In all raids, working partlea In No Man's Land, and every hazardous undertaking that comes along. If yon live through tbe alxty-tour daya yoi are Indeed lucky. This punishment Is awarded where there la a doubt as to the willful guilt of a man who baa committed an of fence punishable by death. Then comet the famous field pun ishment Na L Tommy has nicknamed It "crucifixion.", It mean! that a man la spread-eagled on a Umber wheel, two hours a day for twenty-one daya. During this time he only gets water, ' bully beef and biscuits for bla chow. Ton get "crucified' for repeated minor offenses. Next In order It field punishment No. JL , This It confinement In the "clink," without blankets, getting water, bully beef and biscuits for rations and doing all tbe dirty work that can be found. This may be for twenty-four hours or twenty days, according to the gravity of the offense. Then comes "pack drill" or default era' parade. This consists of drilling, mostly at the double, for two bears with full equipment Tommy hates this, because it It bard work. Some times he fills bla pack with straw to lighten It nd sometimes he gets caught If he gets caught be grouses at everything In general for twenty one days, from the vantage point of a limber wheel Next comes "C. B." meaning "con' fined to barracks." This consists of staying In billets or barracks for twenty-four hours to seven days. Ton also get an occasional defaulters' parade and dirty Jobs around the quarters. Tbe sergeant major keeps what it known as the crime sheet When a man commits an offense, be Is "crimed," that Is, bis name, number and offense Is entered on the crime sheet Next day at 9 a. m. he goes to the "orderly room" before the captain, who either punishes him with "C. B." or sends him before the 0. C. (officer commanding battalion). The captain of the company can only award "C. B." Tommy many a time has thanked the king for making that provision In his regulations. To gain the title of a "smart soldier," Tommy has to keep clear of the crime sheet and yon have to be darned smart to do It I have been on It a few timet, most ly for "Yankee impudence." During our stay of two weeks In rest billets our captain put ns through a course of machine-gun drills, trying out new stunts and theories, ,. After parades were over, our guns crews got together and also tried out some theories of their own In reference to handling guns. These courses had nothing to do with the advancement of the war, consisted mostly of causing tricky jams In the gun, and then the rest of the crew would endeavor to lo cate as quickly aa possible the cause of tbe stoppage. This amused them for a few days and then things came to standstill. One of the boys on my gun claimed that he could play a tune while the gun was actually firing, and demon strated this fact one day on the target range. We were very enthusiastic and decided to become musicians. ' ' ; After constant practice I became quite expert In the tune entitled "All Conductors Have Big Feet" When I had mastered this tone, our two weeks' rest came to en end, and once again we went up the line and took over the sector in front of G - At this "point tbe German trenches ran around the base of a hill, on the top of which was a dense wood. This wood was infested with machine guns, win, and aweep the streets of t little village, where we were billeted while In reserve. There waa one gun In particular which need to get our goats, It had tbe exact range of oar "elephant" dugout entrance, and every morning, about the time rations were being brought up, Its bullett would knock np the dust on the road; more than one Tommy went West or to Blighty by running Into them. x This gun got our nerves on edge, ud Frits teemed to know it, because he never gave ua an hour's rt Our reputation aa machine gunners was at stake; we tried various ruses to locate and put this gun out of action, but each one proved to be a failure, and Frits became a worse nuisance than eger. He waa getting fresher anymore careless every day, took all klmls of liberties with ua thought he waa In vincible. . Then one of our crew got a brilliant Idea and we were alt enthusiastic to put It to the test . . , Here was his scheme; When firing my gun, I wnt to play my tune, end Frits, no doubt would fall for It, try to Imitate me aa an added Insult This gunner and two others would try, by the sound, to lo cate Frits and his gun. After having got tha location, they would mount two machine guns In trees, In a little clump of woods to the left of our ceme tery, and while Frits was In the middle of his lesson, would open up snd trust to luck. By our calculations, It would take at least a week to pull oft the atunt t If Frlti refused to awallow our bait It would be Impossible to locate bis special gun, and that's the one we were after, because they all sound alike, a slow pup-pup-pup. Our prestige waa Wanting by t thread. In the battalion we had to en dure all klndt of Insults and fresh re marks aa to our ability In silencing Frits. Even to the battalion that Ger man gun waa a sore spot ' Next day, Frits opened up as usual, I let him fire away for a while and then butted in with my "pup-pup-pup? pup-pup-pup." I kept this np quite a while, used two belts of ammunition. Frits had stopped firing to listen. Then he started In; sure enough, be had fallen for our game, his gun was trying (a lmUta pjlqa, but at first ha mada a Trains into Monmouth L've Portland 71.5, a m, Gerlinger 10:20, Independ'ce 10.32, Monm'th 100 " Salem 9.X5, , " . , . " ", ,1.40, pm,. ....... ....Dallas 2:45 ; " 8:10 " ; " , 8.45, " Gerlinger M, Independence 457, Monmouth 4:66 "" ' " 6.00. " , . 6:45... . " . 6:57, " , 7:10 '" Portland 8.30, Connects with above ' , . -( " Corvallis 6.45, a m ...... Independence 7:85.'... Arrive Monmouth 7:46 " " 1-15, p m ..." 2:14 2:30 " Dallaa 7.00, a m, Arrive Monmouth 7:25 ' Airlie 8.30, a m and 8:45, pm. Arrives Monmouth 9:05 a m and 4:13 p m Leave Independence, 6.50 am, 7.35, 8.45, 10.85, 12.20, 1.80, p m, 2.20, 3.60, 4.40, 7.00 Trains out of Monmouth L've Monmouth 7:05 t m. Independence 755, Gerlinger 7:49, Ar Salem 850 " Same as above Portland 11.10 ' " Monmouth 1:45, p m, " 2:14. : " 2:27, Salem 8;10 " Same aa above Portland 6:60 " Monmouth 4:05, " 4:40, " 4X5, Salem 5:30 " " .9:05, am Dallas 10:00 .. ,1. "11:00 " " 4;30, pm . " 4:45, " 6:85 " " 9;05, a m, Independence 10:32, Corvallis 1120 " " 4;55,pm, " 6X7, "7:45 7;25 a m and 8;10 p m. Arrives Airlie 8 a m and 8;40 pm Leave Monmouth 7.06, a m, 8.15 9.05, 10.50, 12.30, M, 1.46, p m, 2.36, 4.15, 4.56, 7.1J !- .. If you have pride in the farm that gives you a home and a living why not show it by naming the farm and doing your corresponding on printed stationery? Ask us about it. Good Printing is the Product of the Herald Print Shop Practically Every Department of Banking A MONG the helpful facilities and services afforded "by the First National Bank are: Checking and Time Deposit Accounts; Bank Money Or ders, Drafts, Travelers Cheques, Foreign Exchange and Collection services. ,: v , We cordially invite you to use such of these convenien ces as may best suit your purposes. 1 ' Ira C. Powell J.B. V. Butler Emma M. Parker '-' i. ?; FlRSTMnONALBANK horrible mesa of that tune. Again I hutted In with a few bars and stopped. , TUu he tried to copy what I had played. He was a good sport all right because hit bullets were glng away over our beads, must have been firing into the air. I commenced to feel friendly towardbtin. This duet went on for flvf daya. Frits waa a good pupil and learned rapidly, In fart, got better than hie teacher, I commenced to feel Jealous. When be had completely mastered the tune, he started sweeping the road again and we clicked It worse than ever. But be signed hit death warrant by doing to, because my friendship turned to bate, Every time he fired he played that tune and wt danced. . The boys In tht battalion gave na tbe "na! Ha!" They weren't In on our little freroeup. The originator ot Ihe rose tod the other two gunners had Frtti's location taped to the minute; they mounted their two guns, and also gave me the range, Tha next afternoon was set for the grand finale, Our three guns, with different eleva tions, had their fire to arranged, that opeulng np together, their bulleta would suddenly drop on Frits Dkt a hailstorm. About three the next day, Frits start ed "pun-pupping" that tune. I blew sharp blast on a whistle, It waa the sig nal agreed nponi we turned loose and Frtti's gun suddenly Mopped In the middle of bar. We had cooked hit goose, and our rose had worked. After firing two belts each, to make sure ot our Job, we hurriedly dismounted our guns and took cover In the dugout We knew what to expect toon. We didn't have to; wait long, three aatvoa of "wblss-banga" camt over front Frits's artillery, further confirmation that we bad sent that mnslcal machine-gunner on his Westward-bound Journey. That gun never bothered na again. We were the heme of the battalion, our captain congratulated us, said It was t neat piece ot work, and, conse quently, we were all puffed up over tbe ttunt There are several ways Tommy uses to disguise the location of his machine gun and get hla range. Some of the most commonly used stunts are aa fol lows: At night when he mounts his gun over tho ton at hla ac-fc President Vice-Pres Asst-Cashier