“
OVER THE TO P”
By A n Am erican
Arthur G uy Em pey
Soldier W ho Went
M achine G u n n er, Serving in France
U ip r r lfk l 1917, b , Arthur Ou j C rop«/
EMPEY GOES “OVER THE TOP’' FOR THE FIRST TIME AND
HAS DESPERATE HAND-TO-H/fND FIGHT
Synopsis.— Kir oil by (ho sinking of the Lualtunla, with the Iona of
American Uvea. Arthur (luy Empey, nn American living In Jersey City,
«<><•« to England ami enllata aa a private In the Itrltlah army. After a
short experience aa u recruiting officer In London, he la sent to train
ing quarters In France, where he first henra the sound of big guns and
makes the acquaintance of "cooties.** After a brief period of training
Kmpey'a company Is sent Into the front-line trenches, where he takes
hi* first turi. o. the fin» step while the bullets whl* overhead. Ktnpey
learns, as comrade falls, that death lurks always In the trenches.
CH A PTER X —Continued.
We hud a sergeant In our bnttallon
named Warren. He waa on duty with
Ida platoon lit the tire trench one after
noon when orders entne up from the
rear that he hud been grunted seven
days* leave for llllghty, and would be
relieved at five o'clock to proceed to
England.
He was tickled to death at these
welcome tidings and regaled his more
or less envious mates beside him on
the fire step with the good times In
store for him. y e figured It out that
In two dnys’ time he would arrive at
Waterloo station, l^mdon, and then—
seven days' bliss!
At about five minutes to five he
started to fidget with his rifle, and
then suddenly springing up on the Are
step with a muttered, "I’ll send over
n couple of souvenirs to Frits so that
he'll inlss me when I leave," he stuck
his rifle over the top and fin'd two shots
when "crock" went a bullet and he
tumnled off the step, fell Into the mud
at the bottom of the trench, nnd lay
still In n huddled heap with a bullet
hole In his forehead.
At about the time he expected to ar
rive of Waterloo station he was laid
to rest In a little cemetery behind the
lines. He had gone to llllghty.
In the trenches one con never tell—
It Is not safe to plan very fnr ahead.
After “ stand down” the men sit on
the fire step or repair to their respec
tive dugouts nnd wait fnr the "rum Is
sue” to materialize. Immediately fol
lowing the rum conies brenkfast,
brought up from the renr. Sleeping Is
then In order unless some special work
turns up.
Around 12:30 dinner shows up.
When this Is eaten the men try to
amuse themselves until "tea" appears
at about four o'clock, then "stand to"
and they carry on us before.
While In rest billets Tommy gets up
nbout six In the morning, wnshes up.
unswers roll call. Is Inspected by his
platoon officer, nnd hns breakfast. At
8:45 he pnrndes (drills) with his com
pany or goes on fatigue according to
the orders which have been read out
by the orderly sergeunt the night pre
vious.
Between 11:30 nnd noon he Is dis
missed, hns his dinner nnd Is “ on his
own” for the remainder of the day,
unless he hns clicked for a digging or
working party, ami so It goes on from
day to «lay, always "looping the loop"
nnd looking forward to peace and
Blighty.
Sometimes, while engaged In n
"cootie” hunt, you think. Strnnge to
say, but It Is n fact, while Tommy Is
searching his shirt serious thoughts
come to him. Many a time, when per
forming this operation, I have tried
to figure out the outcome of the war
and what will hnppen to me.
My thoughts generally rnn In this
chunnel:
Will I emerge safely from the next
attack? If I do will I skin through the
following one, and so on? While your
mind Is wandering Into the future It
Is likely to be rudely brought to earth
by a Tommy Interrupting with, "What's
good for rheumntlsm?”
Then you have something else to
think of. Will you come out of this
war crippled and tied Into knots with
rheumatism, caused by the wet nnd
mud of trenches nnd dugouts? You
give It Up ns a bad Job and generally
saunter over to the nearest estninlnet
to drown your moody forebodings In a
glnss of sickening French beer or to
try your luck nt the always present
game of ‘‘house.” You can hear the
sing-song voice of n Tommy droning
out the numbers ns he extrncts the
little squares of cardboard from the
bng between his feet.
CH A PTER XI.
Over the Top.
On my second trip to the trenches
our officer was mnklng his rounds of
Inspection, nnd we received the cheer
ful news that nt four In the morning
we were to go over the top and take
the Oerman front-line trench. My heart
turned to lend. Then the officer car
ried on with his Instructions. To the
best of my memory I recall them as
follows: “ At eleven n wiring party will
go out In front and cut lanes through
our barbed wire for the passage of
troops In the morning. At two o'clock
our artillery will open Tip with nn In
tense bombardment, which will last un
til four. Upon the lifting of the bar
rage the first of the three waves will
go over." Then he left. Some o f the
Tommies, first getting |MTiulsslon from
the sergeant, went li to the machine
gunners' dugout and wrote letters
home, saying that In the morning they
were going over the top, und also that
If the letters reached their destination
It would mean that the writer had been
killed.
These letters were turned over to
the captnln with Instructions to mall
name In the event of the writer’s being
killed. Home of the men made out
their wills In their pay books, under
the caption, “ Will and Lust Testa
ment."
Then the nerve-racking wait com
menced. Every now nnd then I would
glance at the dial o f my wrist watch
nnd was surprised to see how fast the
minutes passed by. About five minutes
to two I got nervous waiting for our
guns to open up. I could not take my
eye* from tuy watch.
I crouched
against the parapet and strained my
muscle* In a deathlike grip upon my
rifle. A* the hands on my watch
showed two o'clock a blinding red flare
lighted up the sky In our rear, then
thunder. Intermixed with n sharp, whis
tling sound In the air over our heads.
The shells from our gun* were speed
ing on thelrfwny toward the Oerman
lines.
With one accord the men
sprang up on the fire step nnd looked
over the top In the direction of the
Oerman trenches. A line of bursting
shells l i g h t e d up No Man's Land. The
din was terrific and the ground trem
bled. Then, high above our heads we
could henr a sighing moan. Our big
boys behind the line hud opened up
and 9.2’* and 15-Inch shells commenced
dropping Into the Oermun lines. The
flash of the guns behind the lines, the
scream of the shells through the air,
und the flare of them, bursting, wus a
sfH-ctacle thnt put I’nln’s greatest dis
play Into the shade. The constant
pup, pup, o f Oerman machine guns and
un occasional rattle of rifle firing gave
me the Impression of a huge audience
upplnudlng the work o f the batteries.
Our lH-poundcra were destroying the
Oernuin barbed wire, while the heavier
stuff was demolishing thel| trenches
nnd bashing In dugouts or funk holes.
'ihen Fritz got busy.
Their shells went screnmlng over
head, aimed In the direction of the
flares from our batteries. Trench mor
tars started dropping “ Minnies” In
our front line. We clicked several cas
ualties. Then they suddenly ceased.
Our artillery had taped or silenced
them.
During the bombardment you could
nlmost rend n newspaper In our trench.
Sometimes In the flare of a shell-burst
a man's body would be silhouetted
agnlnst the parados of the trench nnd
It appeared like n huge monster. You
could hardly hear yourself think. When
nn order was to tie passed down the
trench you had to yell It, using your
hands ns n funnel Into the ear* of the
man sitting next to you on the fire step.
In about twenty minutes n generous
rum Issue wns doled out. After drink
ing the rum, which tnsted like vnrnlsh
nnd sent n shudder through your
frnme, you wondered why they mnde
you wnlt until the lifting of the bar
rage before going over. At ten min
utes to four word wns passed down,
"Ten minutes to g o !” Ten minutes
to live I We were shivering all over.
My legs felt ns If they were nsleep.
Then word wns passed down: “ First
wave get on and near the scaling lad
ders."
These were smt.ll wooden Indders
which we hnd placed ngnlnst the para
pet to ennble us to go over the top on
the lifting of the barrage. “ Ladders of
little Tommies were engnged with him.
They looked like pigmies alongside of
the I'ruNNlun. The Tommy on the left
was gradually circling to the rear of
his opponent. It wa* a funny sight to
see them duck the swinging butt and
try to Jab him at the same time. The
Tommy nearest me received the butt
of the German’s rifle In a smashing
blow below the right temple.
It
smashed his head like an eggshell. He
pitched forward on his side and a con
vulsive shudder ran through his body.
Meanwhile tne other Tommy had
gained the rear of the Prussian. Sud
denly about four Inches of bayonet
protruded from the throat of the Prus
sian soldier, who stnggered forward
and fell. I will never forget the look
of blank astonishment that came over
hi* face.
Then something bit me In the left
shoulder and my left side went numb.
It felt as If a hot poker was being
driven through me. I felt no pain—
Jest a sort of nervous shock. A bay
onet had pierced me from the rear. I
fell backward on the ground, but was
not unconscious, because I could see
dim objects moving nround me. Then
a flush of light in front of my eyes and
unconsciousness. Something had hit
me on the head. I have never found
out what It was.
I dreamed I was being tossed about
In an open boat on a heaving sea and
opened my eyes. The moon was shin
ing. I was on a stretcher being car
ried down one o f our communication
trenches. At the advanced first-aid
post my wounds were dressed, and
then I was put Into an ambulance and
sent to one of the base hospitals. The
wounds In my shoulder and head were
not serious und In six weeks I had re
joined ray company for service In the
front line.
♦•♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»
r ♦+ STATE
NEW S
IN BRIEF.
Following a abut down of more than
a week aa a result of the fire July 7,
the Hammond Lumber company’s mill
at Aatoria resumed operation* Wed
nesday. The loss from the fire, aside
from closing down the plant, will total
close to $100,000.
July 16 was the formal opening of
the new Klamath state bank at Klam
ath Falls In a new pressed-brick block.
The new Institution waa launched with
a capital stock of $50,000 and a sur
plus of $15,1)00. A savings department
Is to be established at once.
Cutting of fall grain is well under
way now in Linn county. Considering
the labor shortage, the work of cutting
Is progressing rapidly. From all in
dications fall grain will produce a fair
yield. Owing to lack of rain, however,
the spring grain gives very little
promise.
death” we called them, and veritably
they were.
Before a charge Tommy Is the po
litest of men. There Is never any push
ing or crowding to be first up these
ladders. We crouched around the buse
o f the ladders waiting for the word
to go over. I was sick and faint, and
was puffing away at an unllghted fag.
Then came the word, “Three minutes
to g o ; upon the lifting of the barrage
It has come to light that Lieutenant
and on the blast o f the whistles, 'Over
Raymond E. Templeton, the Browns
the top with the best o’ luck and give
vllle aviator who met his death on a
them hell.'" The famous phrase of
flying field In Michigan, made a be
the western front. The Jonah phrase
quest for the good of his home town.
of the western front. To Tommy It
He has remembered the home of his
means If you are lucky enough to come
boyhood with a gift of $1004 and speci
hack you will be minus an arm or a
fied that the money be used to erect a
drinking fountain for horses.
leg. Tommy hatea to be wished the
best o f luck; so, when peace Is de
In the belief that every woman in
clared, If It ever I*, and you meet a
Klamath Falls under ordinary circum
Tommy on the street. Just wish him the
stances can devote at least three hours
a week to the Red Cross work, a com
best of luck and duck the brick that
mittee wa* appointed at a meeting of
follows.
the
Red Cross executive committee to
I glanced aguln at my wrist watch.
present a plan for securing greater co
We all wore them nnd you could hnrdly
operation at the work rooms.
call us “ sissies” for doing so. It was a
Official inspection of the Klamath
minute to four. I could see the hand
I Falls municipal railroad, now complet
move to the twelve, then a dead si
ed from Klamath Fall* east to Olene,
lence. It hurt. Everyone looked up
10 miles, was made by the officials
to see what had happened, but not for
Tuesday, under the escort of the build
long. Sharp whistle bluats rang out
er, Robert E. Strahorn, and Chief En
Empey joins the "Suicide
along the trench, and with a cheer the
gineer Bogue. The party went as far
club." The thrilling details are
men scrambled up the ladders, The
as the road terminus at Dairy by auto
told in the next Installment.
and returned by train.
bullets were cracking overhead, and
occasionally a machine gun would rip
Dr. Wr. G. Hughes, a member of the
nnd tear the top of the sandbag para
Milton council and well known resi
(TO B E C O N T I N U E D »
pet. How I got up that ladder I will
dent of Milton for the past five years,
never know. The first ten feet out In
received a telegram from Washington,
front was agony. Then we passed DEADLY WEAPON OF WARFARE 1 D. C., advising him to report for duty
■ in the dental army corps within the
through lanes in our barbed wire. I
knew I was running, but could feel no German Albatross Is Probably the next two weeks. Dr. Hughes expects
Most Powerful Machine That Has
to shape his affairs so that he can
motion below the waist. Batches on
: enter the service in accordance with
Yet Been Developed.
the ground seemed to float to the rear
| the call.
ns If I were on a trendralll and scen
The
tendency
In
airplanes
has
been
Superintendent J. A. Churchill re-
ery was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put a barrage of shrapnel to run to two extremes— for fighting, I turned to Salem Wednesday from the
across No Man’s Land, and you could as small and fast us possible; and meeting of the National Education as
henr the pieces slap the ground about for bombing, as large and powerful sociation at Pittsburg, where Be ap
as possible. In a three-seated, one peared on the programme a number of
you.
passenger sits out In front mounted times. The sessions, he stated, were
After I had passed our barbed wire In a machine-gun turret.
The pilot almost entirely confined to questions
and gotten Into No Mun's Land a comes next. Immediately behind the dealing with the schools in connection
Tommy about fifteen feet to my right motor, while the second passenger sits with the war and how they may be
front turned around and looking In my behind him mounted In another ma come a factor In developing citizenship
and also in preparing youthful minds
direction, put his hand to his mouth chine-gun turret.
This airplane Is
and yelled something which I could not capable o f carrying many bunded for the readjustments coming after the
war.
, make out on account of the noise from pounds of explosives nnd. being very
The University of Oregon’s first
| the bursting shells. Then he coughed, fast and heavily armed, generally ac
summer military traiping camp will
stumbled, pitched forward and lay stllL complishes Its mission.
close Saturday, July 20, after the busi
| Ills body seemed to float to the rear
The German albatross Is capable of est week in the entire month of its
i of me. I could henr sharp cracks In
1 a horizontal speed of 300 kilometers ! life.
Applications for the second
| the air about me. These were caused
(about 187 miles) an hour.
It Is a camp, in which the enrollment has
by passing rifle bullets. Frequently,
single seater and carries three ma | been limited to a maximum of 300
to my right nnd left, little spurts of
chine guns, which, being controlled by men, are coming in large numbers.
1 dirt would rise Into the air and a rico-
the motor, shoot automatically nnd si More than 50 applications have been
• chet bullet would whine on Its way. multaneously through the propeller. received since it was definitely decid
| If a Tommy should see one of these
ed last Saturday to provide a second
The sight of these weapons converges
j course in officers' training. August 1
little spurts In front of him, he would
nt approximately 50 yards In front of
tell the nurse about It later. The the nlrplnne. mnklng the chance of to August 31. The applicants reside
in all parts of the northwest. Enroll-
crossing of No Man’s Land remains a
hitting the opponent three times as | ment will not close until August 1.
blank to me.
, sure. The motor Is equipped with an
The state tax commission has or
Men on my right and left would electric self-starter. It hns also elec
stumble and fall. Some would try to trical devices for keeping the water dered Secretary Goodin, of the board
get up, while others remained huddled \ warm in the radiator while flying at of control, and Tax Commissioner Gal
and motionless.
Then smashed-up great heights: The wing surface is loway to secure estimates from all
i state institutions and departments as
barbed wire came Into view and less than 20 square yards.—Scribner's. to the probable cost of operation for
seemed carried on a tide to the rear.
the next biennium to determine how
Suddenly, in front of me loomed a
much of an increased levy should be
Silkworms of the Sea.
bnshed-ln trench about four feet wide.
Plenty of worms live in the sea, placed before the people at the general
Queer-looking forms like mud turtles and some of then» are very beautiful election in November. The commis
were scrambling up Its wall. One of crentures. Which latter fnct ought to sion will meet again on August 15 to
these forms seemed to slip nnd then be consoling to ourselves, inasmuch ns consider the estimates, most of which
rolled to the bottom o f the trench. I there are naturalists who contend that will be in by then. It is also the plan
leaped across this Intervening spaci. the earliest ancestor of the human race of the commission to hold hearings
from time to time for organizations
The man to my left seemed to pause In wns a marine worm. But the so-called that may have suggestions to make
midair, then pitched head down into “silkworm of the sea” —the designation relative to the necessities of state ex
the German trench. I laughed out loud being purely Uguratlve nnd poetical— penditures.
In my delirium. Upon alighting on the Is a bivalve mollusk properly known
The A. J. Wisdom sawmill near El
other side of the trench I came to with as the “ pinna” and native to the Medi
gin employs a girl high school gradu
a sudden Jolt. Bight In front o f me terranean. It spins a silk so beautiful ate as a driver of the sawdust wagon,
loomed a glnnt form with a rifle which thnt In ancient days the fiber was re the young man formerly on the Job
looked nbout ten feet long, on the end served exclusively for the weaving of having enlisted.
of which seemed seven bayonets. These royal garments. This silk is spun by
La Grande is to have a liberty chor
flashed In the air in front of me. Then the mollusk to furnish an anchor line us c f approximately 200 voices. More
through my mind flushed the admoni by which It fastens Itself to a con than 100 already belong and it has
tion of our bayonet Instructor back In venient rock. It is extremely fine nnd been decided to employ Professor Ed
Blighty. He hnd said, “whenever you very strong. Cleaned, dried nnd passed wards, of Baker, as director.
get In a charge nnd run your hnyonet through combs. It Is reduced to deli
A break in the A line canal of the
up to the hilt Into a German the Frits cate threads of a lustrous brownish- Umatilla project, near Hermiston, dur
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will be yellow hue. which are woven Into ing the storm last week put the irriga
wrenched from your grasp. Do not gloves, stockings and other articles. A tion system on the project out of com
waste time. If the hnyonet Is fouled pair o f stockings of this material today mission for two or three days.
In his equipment, by putting your foot costs
—Philadelphia Ledger.
Miss Ella Nelson was the first girl
on his stomach nnd tugging at the rifle
employed at the Baker mills to suffer
to extricate the bayonet.
Simply
Pretty Bright Mule.
injury, she losing the second finger
press the trigger nnd the bullet will
The farmer alleged n freight train and portion of the thumb of her right
free It.” In m / present situation this of the defendant eonpany had hit one | hand Saturday by a saw at the box
factory of the Baker White Pine Lum
wns the logic, but for the life o f me of his mules.
ber company.
I could not remember how he had told
“ Now, Mr. Jones, said the nttorney
me to get my bayonet Into the Ger for the corporation to the aggrieved
The Baker Commercial Club has ap
man. To ipe this was the paramount party, who occupied the wltness'stand. pealed for assistance from the govern
Issue. I closed my eyes and lunged “will you kindly tell the court whether ment through Representative Slnnott
forward. My rifle wns torn from my or not your mule wns on the track, the I to revive the Sumpter Valley irriga
hands. I must have gotten the Ger property of the defendant, when hit tion project, completion of which
! would water about 80,000 acres east
man because he hnd disappeared. by the train?”
of Baker.
About twenty feet to my left front
“ Well, sir,” replied Mr. Jones, “I
With the labor shortage so serious
wns a huge Prussian nearly six feet didn’t witness the occurrence, but I
four Inches In height, n line specimen suppose things must hnve been about j that farmers cannot handle the hay
o f physical mnnhood. The bayonet ns you say. This wns a pretty bright crop, young women have begun work
in the fields in some parts of Linn
from his rifle wns missing, but he mule nnd I reckon It that train had j county. From different communities
clutched the barrel In both hands nnd took out after him In the woods which the past few days have come reports
was swinging the butt around his head. fringe the trnck there where he waa of girls being seen in the fields pitch
I could almost hear the swish o f the killed he would hnve got behind a ing hay.
butt passing through the air. Three tree.”