Daily Arizona silver belt. (Globe, Gila County, Ariz.) 1906-1929, 1908-10-25
SOLDIERS IN BATTLE
How Men Feel and Act Witt
Death All About Them.
THE STORY OF A PRIVATE.

With the Beginning Of the Fight
Comes Fear. but That Soon Passes
Away In the Esgerness For Killing.
Varying Effects Of Wounds.
A narrative of the battle Of Solferi
no as told by veteran survivor 20
Robert Shackieton appears In Har-
per's. II IL. word for word, a chapter
of history as seen by a man in the
ranks. Incidents which impressed hin
are curious:
"We halted, and Tyrolese lying or
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 bis
bayonet through him as boy would
stick n pin through fy.
THE fighting soon began again. and
II was very fierce. II 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 hg
would be thrown down and he 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. I
AT the beginning OF battle
der feels afraid. At the begir No'
this battle felt afraid. an nAs OF
that other men felt afrai' kno"
was not our first battle tDougn IL
what IL was TO be un| snd we knew
$50 Il was that Ier nre.
we commended Mt the beginning
death but So ourselves; we felt Ike
we. though. % that passed away. and
of the no more Of death, but oulY
"Ar -dlins Of the AusTia.oo
tt around DE- men were killed.
ere were hpsds and arms blown of.
4 end men Few into pieces like the
enasnpg Of jug. But We did not
earS. We thought nothing of it. 1
20 not know that we even knew We
saw such things, but some of them
come to me as 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 siill
fought with US. we turned the guns
TO fire ON the Austrians asf they few
away, but they had driven bits of steel
into the touchholes, and so we could.
not fire them. They were of a eour-
age, those Austrians.
only once in all that battle did
think much of what | saw or beard.
and that was when there was the
terrible screaming OF captain who
had his foot shot of. u twisted and
turned as he cried out, and II was
very bad sound. But il is Just as IL
chances. | saw many men who were
hurst worse than that captain and
many who were blown into little bits.
but did not trouble about them. II
Is inst IL it chances So
lit is very often that a man does
not know that he is hurt. ] remember
that once there was man near me
with :, great hole in his forehead. but
he ran right ON with us with his bay
onet, and thought. lie will fall dead
But after that | saw him no more, for
there was always the lighting,
The storm and the blackness, they
made OF us great mixing. Yes: it
was a very great tangllng. for all lines
were lost, aud know that sometimes
Austrians struck at Austrians and
sometimes Italians struck at Italians.
for we were IN Il very great mixing
aud very iierce In the blackness of that
storm.
I'VE 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 NE slept Yes: We were tired.
for we had fought hard for all that
long. long day, and ON that hill that at
last we bad gained we slept, and we
gave no heed TO the dead men or the
wounded.
The wounded they made very great
cries. and there were men sent to go
among them with lights. Some were
surgeons. and some were men to carry
them to the field hospitals. But the
most Of US we lay there and slept. and
We were very tired. and we knew that
with the morning there might be an
other fight"
The Hungry Author.