The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-10-30
FIGHT ALONG CANAL.
BritiSher Tells of Birthday Pres
ent From Kaiser.
English Soldier, Although Wounded.
Keeps Up Lively FusiIlade Upon
Ranks of Approaching Germans
Another Version Of Sea Fight.

London.-Private G. A. Turner, now
lying wounded in the London hospital.
sends the following account home of
one days fighting in France.
Il am still living, though a bit
knocked about. got birthday pres
ent from the kaiser. On Sunday, 23d,
we had rifle inspection at IL
a. m, and were ordered to fall in for
bathing parade at 1870. While we
were waiting for another company to
return from the river the Germans
commenced to shell the town We
tell IN about p. m, an hour and a
half afterwards, to go to the scene
OF the attack. Shells we're bursting
in the streets as we went. We
crossed bridge over the canal under
artillery fire, and stood doing nothing
behind a mill on the bank for some
time
Then some one cried out that the
Germans were advancing along the
canal bank, and our company was
ordered to go along. Then the Ger
mans opened fire with their guns at
about five hundred yards with shrap-
mel, and the scene that followed beg
gars description. Several of us were
laid full length behind a wooden fence
about half an inch thick. The Ger
man shells burst about three yards
in front of 1t. 1t was blown to splin-
tiers in about ten minutes. None of
us expected to get out alive
They kept us there about an hour
before they gave US the word to re-
tire. | had just turned round to go
back when l stopped one. 1t hits
you with an awful thump, and
thought it had caught me at the bot
tom of the spine. as 1t numbed my
legs for about half an hour.
When found could not walk,
gave it up, Just after got my first
view Of the Germans. They were
coming out Of wood about four hun
dred yards away, all in a heap to-
gether. 80 thought as was done for
would get bit of my own back,
and SO l started pumping a bit of lead
into them.
II stuck there for about three-quar-
ters Of an hour, and fired all my own
ammunition and a lot belonging to
two more wounded men who we're
close to me-about three hundred
rounds altogether, and as 1t was such
a good target, guess accounted for
a goot lot of them.
Then suddenly discovered l
could walk, and SO l set off to get
back. had to walk about one hun
dred and fifty yards in the open, with
shrapnel bursting around me all the
way.
"a man who was at Paardeburg and
Magersfontein in South Africa said
they were nothing to what we got
that Sunday. Out of 240 men of my
company only about twenty were UNI
injured"
Mrs. D. L. Wilson Of Hunslet sends
letter received from her husband, a
seaman of the Bacchante. He says:
You will have read of our victory
in the North sea. 1t was fine. Our
ship brought the dead and wounded
and the prisoners back. A grim job
it was, too. only wish the whole
German feet would come out. We
may get chance Of coming home
soon. Their firing is rotten, while
our men behind the guns are perfect.
They get hit every time.
The Founders won't come out.
That was the reason our ships had
to try to drive them out. You see
the place is all mined, and If a ship
runs into one of these mines 1t means
destruction.
The commander OF the Liberty, a
torpedo-boat destroyer, asked his
ships company If they would volun-
teer to go up 'Kiel harbor with him,
and every man said Yes although it
looked certain death. Up they went
and got under the forts Of Helgoland
and let rip at the German cruisers In
the harbor. One of the wounded sail
orS Of the Liberty told me that the