\
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