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About Cloverdale courier. (Cloverdale, Tillamook County, Or.) 190?-19?? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1917)
\ CLOVERDALE COl'RIE GOOD ROADS, GOOD HOMES, B E ST CHEESE horrible scream and kicking. T he din was terrible. Shells would hurst in the roads choked w ith people, but tbe mo m entary gap would immediately till ami the panic stricken people would sw eep over th e ir own dead. At the time 1 couldn’t seem to real ize w hat w as happening. I felt num b all over, but w ith an awful terror grip ping me, and I longed to turn and fly. FOURTEEN MONTHS y a t // THE FRONT J. CH A PTER II. First Tima Under Fire. H A T afternoon about 4 o'clock shells began to drop into tbe town, and we m ade a quick exit. It w as my first time under lire, and it w a s fa r from being agreeable. I bad very often wondered w hether I would be scared or n o t Well, 1 found out then, and I certainly w as seared. Since then I have often wondered about th a t family and w hat they would think of me for advising them th a t they were in no danger. It d id n ’t ta k e us long to move, and it is a good thing it didn’t, for as we were leaving the tow n we could see the G erm ans coming over the hill about f o u r miles aw ay. We won dered w hy we didn t go to meet them, but a p p a re n tly our tim e was not yet. My duties were very light. Attached to Captain Colvin, I had tjie care of his horse and saddlery a n d had to ride behind him wherever he w ent when mounted. T h a t is about ail 1 had to do. Of course when the regim ent went Into action my duty would be to fol low th e captain. E ventually wo arrived a t a little place called Zillebeke, and it w a s here th a t we joined up with the Seventh infa ntry division. T h e re was very lit tle doing, and nobody seemed to know j u s t w h a t we were g< lug to do. Our chaps w ent out on patrols every day. an l occasionally they would run Into a G erm an patrol, and there would be a scrap. D uring our stay a t Zilleheke it was decided th a t all untrained men were to be returned to E ngland to finish their training, and it looked very much as if I w as going to la r d buck in t l u t riding s ho< 1 a f te r all. While the mat. te r w as still undecided the d riv e r of G eneral Byng's car was killed, so I w ent to the captain and told him 1 could drive a i ar, end 1 offered my By WILLIAM J. ROBINSON TILLAMOOK COUNTY BANK Established in 1903 Tillamook, fe P B » " IL a services. l i e put In a word for me, and I w a s given the cur, but only until a regular d riv e r could be secured. I t w as while 1 w a s driving this car th a t I saw the city of Ypres for the first time. T here had not been a shell in the place yet, a n d it certainly was a fine old town. One afternoon I was w aiting in tbe car for some staff officer in th e G rand place when I heard a lot of shooting and shouting. 1 looked over in the direction of the noise and sa w th a t some of c u r troops w ere all firing into the air. And there, above, w as the tirst Get man taube 1 Intd ever seen. T he pilot w as flying very low a n d within easy rifle range, so I got excited and dragged out my rifle a n d began firing at him too. IDs machine, I heard a f t erw ard, w as absolutely riddled with bullets a n d he w as wounded in three places. T h a t w as my first shot a t a German. I t w as in Ypres. too, th a t I sa w 700 of the Pru ssia n guard brought in, and 1 m u s t say th a t they w ere some of th e finest looking soldiers I have ever seen. They were ail great big fellows, and our I n f a n try c ha ps looked mighty small beside them. It w as soon a f te r this th a t the Ger m ans got their forces together and itnade th e ir first a tta c k on our positions outside of Ypres I w as in the tow n when tlie first shells landed, a n d the panic they created w‘us som ething te r rible to witness. Men, women a n d children seemed to have hut one idea, and th a t w a s to get out ns quickly as possible. Old wonieu would go staggering along w ith their belongings tied in each end of a lied sheet and th e whole th in g slung around their uqek. T he st ¡vela were crowded with them. Men w ere driving pigs and chickens before them a n d th e women lending and c a rry in g children. The roads were littered w ith de a d a n d dy Ing, wounded horses sc re a m in g tliei* Teach Your Boy the Value of a Ba?ik Account. TART your boy of! right in the battle of Ijfe. Deposit something to his credit in the bank. If he is working for a sa la r y , ask him to place something aside weekly. If he h in b i i i n e s « , show him the importance of k c c p 'n g a goodly balance in b a n k . There’s n o telling when an op jht .* 1 u n i t y mav present itself w h e r e b y a little ready cash m ay be the foun d a t i o n of a f o r t u n e . We d o all k in d s o f b a n k in g . S (• NESTUCCA VALLEY BANK Cloverdaie, A widow in speaking of her late husbnud said: “ He was always n good provider.” In the mind of this bereaved woman, this was a high trib u te to her h u s b a n d ’s c haracter. It is often true t h a t th e best husband is th e one who saves a p a rt of his inco m e tor the future. By th is plan he is aide to provide all necessities and m any of th e luxuries; blit constantly accum ulate money and property th a t will safeguard Ins family against want when he is unable to work or after his de a th . 4 Per Geat Paid on Savings and Time Deposits. Ee3t Banking Facil ities in Town. T h e m o st g ra p h ic acco u n t o f th e g r e a t w ar th a t h a s y e t been w ritten c o m es from th e pen o f a tw e n ty -tw o - y ea r-o ld B o sto n bojff w h o h a s ju s t re turned from F ra n ce, w h ere a s d ragoon g u a r d sm a n , d isp atch rider and m o to r car d riv er he served fou rteen m on th s under th e B ritish flag. Out o f th ir ty - on e m o to rc y c le d isp a tch rid ers he w a s one o f fou r su rvivor* ROBINSON (& (Boob (profnber for fi)e f)ome A n A m e ric a n B o y's B a p tis m o f Fire Copyright, Little, Brow a & Co. T NO. 15 CLOVERDALE, TILLAMOOK COUNTY. OREGON. NOVEMBER 8,1917 VOL. i3. WILLIAM The Nestucca V alley F irst, Last and all the Time. O regon. V «' a * While Shells Continued Screaming Over Us, They Were Bo ¿ting in the Town. I rem em ber seeing my officer coming, so I got out und sta rte d tbe engine. T here wore tw o horses standing Just behind the car, niuf as the ntlLer w ent to step In » piece of shell cut one of these horses In two. As soon us v.e were clear of the town we were all right, for. while the shells continued screaming over us, they were still bursting in the town. T h is w as the beginning of tb e first baitle of Ypres, in which the little Seventh division did the seemingly Im possible. Day nnd night the G ermans poured shells Into us. and still we held on. T hen their artillery lire would slacken, and they v,ot.Ul hurl their su perior n u m b e rs ugaiust o u r "eoatompt- ibie little arm y ’ in a vain endeavor to crush us by . ¡.. or Weight, as it were. T h e enemy seemed to rise out of the ground nnd sw eep tow ard ns like a g re a t tidal wave, but our mu< bine guns poured steel into tli-m at the r a te of tlUOshois per minute, and they'd go dow n like grass before the so the If they did reach onr lines a I ull they never went b:e L to tell a bow* It is iav honest opinion thal a man in action g c.; temporarily Insane, for were it not s o how could any man con tinue to work a gnu that w as sending hundreds of Ida follow creatures into a heap of groaning, squirm ing doath? T h a t is exactly w hat was happening. T he G erm ans were climbing over heaps of the ir own dead only to meet the sam e fa te themselves. T h e deeds of valor which hat «escaped notice around the Ypres salient w ould till a t least one large book. With the end of the first battle of Ypres our division retired to a village t ailed St. Je a n Capelle. While the Bel- claa civilians had been so nice to us on the w ay down from Ostend I am sorry to say th a t we found them exactly the opposite here. We had not been in the tow n th re e hours before we Itnd three Belgian p e a sa n ts arrested and convict ed of espionage. T here w as a windmill cn a hill Just hack of the village, and some one no ticed th a t ns soon as we entered the village th is windmill sta rte d to go, a l though there w asn't a breath of air stirring. Investigation show ed that tw o Belgians wete signaling to the G erm ans in this wav. T he other case w as even werae. One of ou r police stopped an old Belgian with a bag under bis s r m and asked him w hat was in it. IJe replied tha t it contained nothing hut n few vegetables Something aroused our «Imp’s suspi cion. and on exam ination he found that it contained tw o pigeons With me-: «ages giving <>ur e x a c t str e n c th stts«‘he«l to them. T hese men v ere ta l o n to th«> re a r and -hot. Thin*;- like 1 1, t o j - e It very unpleasant for till concerned. It w a s about tl is time that a pew d riv e r w'as found for the g e n e si's rar. so th a t left -me without any definite work to do. At tha t time, p >>, we bad the first arm* red cars In action on our part of the line. They were l>eautlful machines, sixty hor>*p w«r. mounted with mat bine guns or three pounders While I w as waiting to find out what was to beiom e of B e I made one trip in the armored t a r th a t is to say. 1 w ent Info action with it once. Of course tbe gun was worke«l by expert gunners and I wns simply acting as a spare d riv e r in case a nything serious happened. T he body of the ear was Covered w ith bullet proof steel, and it was bullet proof too. We didn’t get up as far a s tom e of -*> - - Oregon the cars had been, but we got quite far enough to suit me. W hat with the 1 * too. They w e n t down in hundreds, racket our gun w as m aking nnd the und. while ou r fire c lic k e d them sonie- noise of the bullets bouncing off our a rm o r plate. It w as mo place for n nervous man. T^te Liard part for me was the inactivity, simply sittiug there and w aiting in case I should be wanted. \Ye didn't slay there so very long, and I was not sorry for It. either '1 h a t was my only trip In an arm ored ta r. nnd I'm not particular about hav ing any more, th a n k you. 1 was advised th a t th e only way I could escape being sent back to Eng land was to be tra n sfe rre d to tbe arm y service corps. This corps, the royal engineers und Hie royal army medical corps, arc the throe largest corps In the British arm y W’heu you Join the A. S. C. you are never sure ju st whut you will be let In for. be cause as a rule a n A. S. ( ’. m an Is eli gible for general enlistment, a n d that means tha t lie may l>e used for upy branch of the s e n ice, \\hen tie is needed. My luck had held good so fur. and l decided th a t I m ight as welt push it a little lilt more, and so I got tra n sfe rre d I found th a t I wns to lie utlaehed to the staff of the F ifth a rm y corps, but as th a t corps w as not yet In the coun try I w as used for an y th in g th a t turn ed tip. It became know n tha t I could ride n i' ol< i, .vcle, Htul so I w as temporarily attached as a sp a re rides to motor m a chine gun section No 11 Those m a chines a re simply motorcycles wlih a side c a r attached, but Instead of a nice cushioned seat on the side ear there is a little bucket seat for a g u n n e r and a m achine gun. T he g u n n e r nn«l rider a re entirely in th e open, as it would tie Impossible for so small n machine to curry any protection I w ent out on several practice runs, nnd one night about 11 o'clock we w ere called to take four of the guns up to the trenches In a hurry. 1 thought I had had some thrilling rides In my time, b u t I u e v e r Imagined a n y th in g to equal th a t one. \Ye c a r rlcd no lights a n d hud to il.v through the Inky b'.uckness, guessing at tbe road. Several lim es we got stuck nnd my m ate and I d ra g g e d the m achine out of the ditch and flew on ngnln. E ventually v. o reached th e place on the Menln road known a s “hell fire cor ner,” and I think the n a m e must have been given It from Its condition th a t night. As th e s ta r shells went op the whole place would be utmost as light as day. T he G e rm a n s were shelling the road nnd the air w as filled w i t h all kinds of missiles. Tiiat road w as literally a death trap, and how so m any came out w ithout be lug touched Is one of th e m ysteries thsi never can lie explained. We could hear tw o of the gun« which hnd got there before us In action f u rth e r up th e road. V.’e continued to feel onr way along until we ««me to where our officer was w aiting for ns. He show ed us our po- s'llon and went hack to look for the m achine tha t had not .vet arrive«!. O ur position w as In a ditch Just hy a place w here the road had been cut by an old support trem b We eased the m achine Into the ditch and got her firmly fixed. O ur officer «ame d a s h ing hn'-k a n d told gs t«i cover the road where It leJ out from the German trendies. Then It w-na «Imply a case of w ait until they started to advance from th a t quarter. We sat there for tw o hours before we saw any signs of activity, hut when li did come it cam e with a ru-h As Scon a* We Entered the Village This Windmill S ta rte d to Oo. w hat, they still «ame on. It was cer tainly a despairing feeling to lie si reaming hullets Into the Gormans and see them still advance. A fter several minutes of this the whistles hletv for “cease Are” and ou r Infantry Jumped the pa ra p e t and went a f te r them w ith the b a y o n e t They broke the a tta c k right there, and, more than that, they took tw o lines of G erm an Ircnches. A few d a y s n ^ o r this a n Incident occurred that, to my way of thinking, was one of (lie most w onderful things thnt ever happened. Volunteer dis patch riders for “d angerous \york” were called for. About eighteen of our chaps offered themselves, and of «nurse all were accepted. A dispatch j was to be carried about tw o miles j along tbe road which follows tbe bank of the Yser canal. T his road was con \ stantly being sw ept by G erman m a i chine gun and rifle fire. T be dispatch was to be handed to a French* com m ander who was w aiting for it. T he first man was given a copy of the dispatch, a n d he sta rte d out with it. This road ran right under the nose of the G erm ans ami was in full view of their trenches all the way. It wns so sw ept by m achine p i n and rifle fire that It seemed as If no one could possibly live through a hundred yards of It. The first m an sta rte d ami was soon out of sight. They waited In vain for s certain length of time for s signal th a t he had arrived, und then called No. 2. No. i started out, but we saw him go down before he had g< tie a hun dred yards. T hen No. 3 started. It w as pitiful to w atch those poor chaps When a man knew It was Ills turn next 1 could see the poor fellow nervously working on his ma«'hlne. He'd prime fhe engine. th«-n b e d «>!*eti and close tbe throttle quickly several tim es—auytblng, tn fact, to keep himself busy. When his num ber would he called he'd hesitate • sei’i'od and perhaps flood the car buret or. then he’d ta k e his dispatch and suddenly d a sh out. Six of these -fellows went dow n tn less than half an hour. No. 7 was a young fellow whose n am e I don’t know I wish I did, for he was certainly tbe uervlest m an I ever saw. IT iindrMf r»f Ger7B*f!« to rl?** “ No. 7” » ! • hardly out of the off! from nowhere, and tF ir t road lit- cer’s mouth before he bad his dis erally cram m ed with them. patch and w as on Ids way. About five Dick, the gunner, opened at the first m inutes later the signal cam e th a t tbe sign, and the machine guns from our Continued on last page. trenches were pouring it into them