The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-11-29
TRAIN Of WOUNDED
IN GERMANY
Not a Word Of Complaint From the
soldiers Who Were Wounded
While At the
Front.
THE FATHER AND son
Boys Eyes Were Gone and He Was
Being Taken Home to Mother
BY His Wounded
Father.
fBy kari II. Won Wiegand, omitted


ON BOARD EXPRESS TRAIN OF
WOUNDED FROM ST. Err N
FRONT, BETWEEN AIx-LA-CHAF-
Ellie AND HANOVER, Sept. rs.
(By mail to New York. For fve
hours / had been standing up in this
train without even strap to hang
on. Returning from London via Rot
terdam and through Holland to Aix-La-
Chapelle, connected with this fast
train at Cologne.
It is jammed with wounded-called
slightly wounded. because they can
hobble about and do not have to be
carried on filters. Every compart-
ment is filled with men who have
foot, leg, arm, or head bandaged. Many
are stretched out on the hard floor in
the aisles with nothing under them.
sleeping like babes and imperious TO
the pains of wounds.
Many OF the wounded show the
strenuousity OF the campaign. One Of
them with a bullet through the calf,
has just stretched out in the aisle, in
front of this compartment, with a
deep sigh of contentment, "Ah, this
is the best bed have had in weeks. .
he remarks AZ he closed his eyes. He
was asleep in moment. l ,s
Not q single word OF complaint did
| hear In the whole train. There was
+. in air OF cheerfulness about all OF the
idiers and many spoke with enthus-
iastic eagerness to return to the front
as soon as their wounds were healed.
The saddest sight that ! have SO far
seen in the war found in one OF the
COMPARTMENTS father and son.
The father-a major-a grey beard
ed man in the flfties with stalwart
soldierly figure, was wounded. He
was bringing home his son, also
wounded. The boy was nineteen and
had but recently received his COM
mission as lieutenant. His face was
partly covered with white bandag,e.
leaving only his chin and the upper
part Of his forehead visible.
A bursting shell had torn both OF
his eyes out and carried away the
upper part of his nose. Hour after
hour the boy sat silently, only the de-
/ spairing movement Of his hands CIV
ing indication of what was passing
through his mind. At last they came
to their station.
Come, my son, we are going to
mother" said the father, tear steal
ing down his grizzled cheeks, as tend
erly he took the boy by the arm and
led him out while the orderly follow
ed with their baggage.
Next to me sits a school teacher
from Rastock, man of education and
refinement. He has just come from
the trenches near Rheims. He was
shot through tha thigh, the bullet
barely touching the. bone as it went
through. Frankly and laughingly he
tells me that ''he got it from behind
while retreating from one of the
trenches which could no longer he
held in face of the terrific fire Of the
French.
found among the wounded an anti
English feeling that bordered on
fanatical hatred. Yes said the
Rostock teacher, who had also been in
the fighting around st. Quentin. all
that is necessary is to tell the men
the English are in front Of YOU and
the officers cannot hold them back.
In part 1t is because the German
soldier considers the English the real
enemy. 1t is due in part also to an
incident at St. Quentin. We had
charged the English with bayonet and
on nearing them, they threw down
their guns and up went their hands.
We took It as a token of surrender.
Then when within forty yards they
suddenly opened up with machine
guns. Almost two of our battali"ns
were annihilated when we reformed
and charged again and took the Eng
fish lines. no prisoners were taken.
II is impossible to describe the fury
OF our men when they meet the Eng
lish."
Another wounded man in our 'm-
partment. a member Of one Of the
Imperial Guard regiments, told of the
decimating IRE Of French and Eng
fish. which met the storming Germans.