The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-12-11
Unknown Stretcher Bearer De-
ScribeS Horror of Horrors.
Farmhouse, the Refuge Of Wounded
and Dying, Is Bombarded by Artil-
lery - Ghastly the Scenes
That Ensue.

London.-The Chronicle publishes
the following account of the lombard
ment of a farmhouse. situated between
the French and German lines and tenn
porarily a refuge for the wounded
The article is a translation from the
notes of French corporal stretcher-
bearer. The Paris Temps says the
work of the unknown author may be
compared with the most striking pages
of some Russian writers:
I'VE now heard the whiz-z-z that
those who have once heard can never
forget. The shell was coming straight
toward us We fell fiat in the twin
king of an eye, our noses to the
ground. Happy he who finds a drain
or ditch at such a moment. Yet we
had time to ask ourselves whether 1t
would pass over or catch us in this
ridiculous position; and l saw the past
and the future.
I'VE got up, muddy and peeyish. A
faint smell of dynamite filed the ar
We passed through the gateway. The
yard surrounded on three sides Dy
the farmhouse and servants quarters
was quiet and trim.
I'VE entered the kitchen and three
ground floor rooms were full OF wound
ed-French and German Many of the
unfortunates, lying on the blood
marked straw had horrible wounds.
A soldier asks for a drink; as he rises
with hand stretched out for the glass
of water, a bullet comes through the
window and strikes him full in the
heart. The poor fellow sinks without
a sigh.
Most of the wounded are taken
away in a lull of the combat 1t Is
three O'Clock in the afternoon. Firing
recommences, more violent than ever
The shells whistle ceaselessly. An
adiutant, terribly wounded. begs to be
put into the cart, which seems to him
a guaranty that he will be among the
next to be removed. Scarcely is he
laid there than shrapnel bursts over
the cart. killing him. The firing sounds
more clearly.
"a wounded man in the kitchen
calls me. Struck by a ball in the
chest, the poor fellow pants for
breath. He is supporting himself by
one arm, which slips on the bloody
straw. With the other hand he feels
in his overcoat pocket, which is glued
up with CONCEALED blood, for letter
which he hands to me, his eyes full OF
tears. MY sweetheart" he murmurs.
And I see in his fingers little lock OF
black hair which he presses tenderly
to his lips.
Raising my eyes to the ceiling, !
see the plaster break into huge
star, and through a gaping hole the
end of a great shell appears. The
ceiling sinks funnel-wise; at the same
moment the roof cracks and the she'll
explodes. Then all is dark
Presently come to myself, half sutfo-
Gated with dust and the fumes of dy-
Mantle.
"The house is riven from top to bot
tom, and we can see the calm, blue
sky through the broken roof. The
least seriously wounded men olsen
gage their fellows Nearly all of us
are bleeding. The poor lover is dead,
disfigured. Shells have struck the
house on two sides
They manage to get into the cellar,
and here the German wounded, hungry
and desperate. burst out into com
plants of this war of immeasurable
agony into which they have been
driven.
"My poor wife! My poor children'
cries one of them, wounded in the
stomach by a fragment of shell.
"At this moment, in dark corner.
we heard sob and a woman's voice
rose out of the shadow. All of my