The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1914-11-13
HOW FRANCES BLACK men FROM
AFRICA FIGHT THEIR BATTLES

and his cap like fez without tassei.
His Moroccan campaigns, he SAID.
were mere practical jokes TO the pres
ent butchery, and he told me THIS
story OF the trenches, from which no
had just returned:
I'VE have a hard time making the
men stay down under cover. They
want to see what is going on. they
want to Jump out and wave their guns
and shout insults at the enemy oc-
casionally as they used to In MO
rocco. Our captain, who was, Oh
course. a Frenchman. Was as bad as
any. Except to sleep. he absolutely
refused to descend into the trenches.
He would kneel for hours on the
ground a little to the rear Watching
the enemy through his glasses and d.
recting our fire. When we remon-
strated with him he merely said, ike
any Mohammedan, that bullet "oulu
find him when his time came-neither
sooner nor later But so many OF
our men paid for their temerity Win
their lives that he. too, finally con-
sented to come down out OF the nall
| of bullets which had never ceased
| about him. Yesterday was his hrst
| day in the trenches. About three
o'clock in the afternoon she'll burst
| overhead A piece of it hit him on
the crown and killed him instantly.
so you think it was because his
time had Gomez"
What else can one think? He had
found safety in the midst or death,
but death had found him in what
should have been the midst of safety
The captain was right. 1t is written.
Think "AII's Fair in War;"
l do not know the origin of the
proverb, "All's fair in love and war,
but it has an ancient, oriental SAVIOR
and / suspect the Turcos thoroughly
subscribe to it. These African fight
ers are the only ones among the
allies whom have heard speak open
ly in praise of German ruses.
They're sly ones!" say the Turcos,
and wag their brown heads and grin
appreciation. They think it very
good scheme of the Germans not to
make any effort to bury their dead
| DeiOI6 ItlIcdbllS OiC PCDANiO-i -
another. for thus the pursuing enemy
, must either bother to do the job him.
! self or else run the risk of discomfort
and even disease. They especially
admire the German trick of standing
up their dead, helmet on and gun IN
hand. along deserted trench, so that
the French will think the trench Is
:. still defended And the wonder TIC
:, them is, not that the Germans have
! burned and shelled towns, but that
! they have not done so more frequent
o ly.
Seneoalese Worship Fetshes.
d The Senegalese t1railleurs, although
J. resembling the Turcos in certain o
l. their military ethics, are beings o
It an altogether different order. "Ther
It is but one Allah, and Mohammed i
s. his prophet" means nothing to them
c They worship fetishes. They ar
e black men of Timbuctoo and tn
le Ivory coast, where the fiery harma
lie tan blows southwestward off the So
hara toward the sea.
lie knowing that the forefathers
|
IS groes had been captured by Englis
It. and Portuguese slavers in preclsel
ar these regions, expected to find som
e. thing familiar in the aspect of tn
b. Senegalese riflemen. / was destlne
u to disillusion Three days ago on tn
a road to Reims, | overlook an EMIL
I'M regiment. They stood or squatted {
to sprawled for several hundred yart
ct. along the grass at the edge of tt
he winding road, resting under the pc
ut lars. their rifles stacked, their viii
le officers withdrawn into groups,
of ways at some distance from the me
ev Save for a red sash under their
ed MICS. they were uniformed entirely
rg- dark blue, even to their cloth ca
Dis. and their putties. / walked pa
ere them slowly, fascinated. Most VIC
lry shoes. some were barefooted in san
cir dals, but | had to look very close
sill at the dark feet to distinguish tt
led difference. They seemed very tir
ur- under the weight of their haversacl
ed. Their eyelids dropped like those OF
y exhausted animal or of man who b
lad been drugged.
ire. Their Look Causes Shudder.
In 1t may have been this, or it m
re- have been the blodshot whites
vas their eyes which caused me to sh1
eat der slightly when one looked at I
far. They scarcely spoke. Some sat st
ms ing into space, bent forward on
ect- their long. thin legs. which extend
like poles in front of them. A nj
!" Der were bearded-that is to s
tai they had across their upper lips {
leir under their chins circle of bl;
n a hair. the center of which was 7
con- OF thick lips When one of them t.
Mo off his cap to mop his brow | '
nch- amazed TO see headdress like the
four cravings in the anthropolgy Il
,cco books-a shaved head with a tuft
fell top from which descended on
'ers. sides little kinky strings, Some,
'ked had earrings.