Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-03
SOLDIERS IN BATTLE
How Men Feel and Act With
 Death All About Them.
THE STORY OF A PRIVATE

With the Beginning of the Fight
 Comes Fear. but That Soon Passes
 Away In the Easerness For Killing.
 Varying Effects of Wounds.
 A narrative of the battle of Solferi- no as told by a veteran survivor to Robert Shackleton appears in liar. per's. It is, word for word, a chapter of history as seen by man in the ranks. Incidents which impressed him are curious:
 "We halted, and Tyrolese lying on the ground cried out: I am dying. Give me to drink Whereat my com panion stopped to offer him a flask. and as he stopped the Tyrolese struck savagely at him with his bayonet. but my companion jumped back, and it missed him, and he said, You Tyro- lese. you said you wanted drink be- fore you died, and now you shall die without the drink And he stuck his bayonet through him as a boy would stick pin through fly.
 ''The fighting soon began again, and 1t was very fierce. It was soon that we came to know that we were to cap ture little village and the hills about the village. The village was named San Maritime, and there were walled barns and gardens, and the Austrians were very strong there.
 The bursting of the shells was very bad. Sometimes all of us close by would be thrown down and be GOV cred with mud and earth, but most of us would jump up again. not wounded, but always there were some who would not jump up again, because they were wounded or dead.
 At the beginning of battle sol dier feels afraid. At the beginning of this battle I felt afraid. and I know that other men felt afraid. though 1t was not our first battle, and we knew what 1t was to be under fire.
 50 1t was that at the beginning we commended ourselves; we felt like death. but soon that passed away, and we thought no more of death. but only of the killing of the Austrians.
 "All around me men were killed. There were heads and arms blown of, and men flew into pieces like the smashing of jug. But we did not care. We thought nothing of it. l do not know that we even knew we saw such things, but some of them come to me as I sit with you and talk of that long day. We did not notice, and we did not think that at any mo- ment we too might have our heads blown of or be smashed into little pieces like the breaking of jug.
 "Once, when we rushed over the big guns and killed the men who still fought with us. we turned the guns to fire on the Austrians as they flew away, but they had driven bits of steel into the touchhoies, and so we could not fire them. They were of cour- age, those Austrians.
 "only once in all that battle did l think much of what l saw or heard, and that was when there was the terrible screaming of a captain who had his foot shot of. He twisted and turned as he cried out, and it was a very bad sound. But 1t is just as 1t chances. l saw many men who were hurst worse than that captain and many who were blown into little bits, but did not trouble about them. It 1 is just if 1t chances so.
 'It Is very often that a man does not know that he Is hurt. remember that once there was a man near me with a great hole in his forehead. but he ran right on with us with his bay onet. and thought. He will fall dead But after that 1 snw him no more, for there was always the fighting.
 "The storm and the blackness. they made of us a great mixing. Yes; it was a very great tangling. for all lines were lost, and I know that sometimes Austrinns struck at Austrians and sometimes Italians struck at Italians, for we were in a very great mixing and very fierce In the blackness of that storm.
 "we were told to lie down and sleep So we lay down where we were. among the dead and the wounded, among the Italians and the Austrians.
 And we slept. Yes: we were tired for we had fought hard for all that long. long day. and on that bill that al last we had gained we slept. and VI gave DO heed to the dead men or th' wounded.
 "The wounded they made very great cries. and there were men sent to gC among them with lights. Some wers surgeons. and some were men to carry them to the field hospitals. But thu most of us we lay there and slept. and we were very tired. and we knew thai with the morning there might be an other fight"
 e.,., Hir, Ng;tk Hsr O,ssn ENs.