The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1914-11-06
HOW FRANCES BLACK men FROM
AFRICA FIGHT THEIR BATTLES


and his cap like fez without a tassel.
His Moroccan campaigns. he said.
were mere practical jokes 10 the pres
ent butchery, and he told me this
story OF the trenches, from which he
had Just returned:
I'VE have 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. OF
course, 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 10 the rear watching
the enemy through his glasses and di-
recting our fire. When we remon-
strated with him he merely said, like
any Mohammedan that bullet would
+, find him when his time came-neither
sooner nor later But so many OF
our men paid for their temerity with
their lives that he, too, finally con-
|
OF bullets which had never ceased
about him. Yesterday was his first
day In the trenches. About three
o'clock in the afternoon a shell burst
overhead A piece OF 1t hit him on
the crown and killed him instantly.
so you think 1t was because his
time had Gomez"
| ola htpl JJa IA
found safety In the midst OF death.
but death had found him in what
should have been the midst OF safety.
The captain was right Ii Is written.
Think "Ail's Fair In War;"
do not know the origin OF the
proverb. "All's fair In love and war,
but IL has an ancient, oriental SAVIOR
and | suspect the Turcos thoroughly
subscribe TO II. These African fight
ers are the only ones among the
allies whom have heard speak open
~ In praise OF German ruses
They're sly ones" say the Turcos.
and wag their brown heads and grin
appreciation. They think IL very
good scheme Of the Germans not to
make any effort TO bury their dead
before retrcating from one position to
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
land, along a deserted trench, SO that
| Al. al no Il,
still defended And the wonder tn
them Is, not that the Germans have
burned and shelled towns, but that
they have not done so more frequent.
, ly.
Senegalese Worship Fctishcs.
| The Senegalese tirailleurs. although
+ resembling the Turcos in certain OF
+ their military ethics, are beings OF
{ an altogether different order There
{ is but one Allah, and Mohammed Is
J.; his prophet" means nothing to them
C They worship fetishes. They are
e black men of Timbuctoo and tbs
e Ivory coast, where the fiery harmat
e tan blows southwestward off the Sa
hara toward the sea.
e Knowing that the forefathers o
o many Of our own good American ne
S groes had been captured by Englisl
l. and Portuguese slavers In precisel
r these regions, l expected to find some
= thing familiar in the aspect of tn
D. Senegalese rif1emen. 1 was destine'
l. to disillusion Three days ago on tn
a road to Reims, l overlook an entir
n regiment. They stood or squatted o
o sprawled for several hundred. yard
t. along the grass at the edge of tn
e winding road, resting under the pol
Ut lars, their rifles stacked, their whit
e. | officers withdrawn into groups, n
)f ways at some distance from the mer
y Save for a red sash under their II
ID MICS. they were uniformed entirely l
g dark blue, even TO their cloth cap
S. and their puttes. | walked pas
re them slowly, fascinated Most wor
" shoes. some were barefooted in sane
ir dals, but | had to look very closel
IL at the dark feet to distinguish tn
I'd difference. They seemed very tire
r. under the weight Of their haversack
d. Their eyelids dropped like those OF a
I'd been drugged.
e. Their Look Causes Shudder.
III 1t may have been this, or it ma
e have been the blodshot whites {
IS their eyes which caused me TO shu
al der slightly when one looked at m
IT. They scarcely spoke Some sat sta
IS ing into space, bent forward owe
CT their long, thin legs. which extendt
like poles in front of them. A nur
Der were bearded-that Is to 50
al they had across their upper lips al
eir under their chins a circle of blaC
q hair. the center of which was n Pc
N Of thick lips. When one of them toe
To- off his cap to mop his brow l VI
h amazed 10 see a headdress like the c
ur cravings in the anthropolgy tex
co books-a shaved head with a tuft
ell top from which descended on {
RS. sides little kinky strings. Some. &c
ed had earrings.