The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1914-12-02

and falls on his knees and raises his
face eXpectantly and hopefully TO the
churchman and takes his absoluuon
, without sigu OF weakness. But the
Red Cross doctors know when 10 call
the priest. Four hours usually see
| the finish OF the Asiatic cholera VIC
I tim and tho priest can be called none
F., too soon after the first unfailing symp-
tom is discovered This symptom Is
| life and death sentence. and these
men. lying under the trees in the sun
shine, their faces greenish in hue.
their eyes closed, are dying, even
though some OF them have strength
enough left to kneel upright as the
priest blesses them. have seen
men killed; I've seen men hanged:
| I've seen men executed at the wall. but
this sight that | have happened upon
by accident IN Galicia is one OF the
most piteous that the sun could ever
shine upon or that human being could
ever behold. got the picture with
my camera, but II is burned into my
mind more clearly than any dim can
ever show II. I'm going TO put down
| the exact words as | wrote them at
the moment. while trying 10 force my
stunned mind TO grasp what ! was
seeing They viii show how weak
words can be.
Army priest goes TO side OF little
white shack where three men lie In
straw In sunshine. They struggle TO
their knees, fold their hands as he
bends over TO hear one confess. 9th
er two wait with heads bowed. Their
faces are terribly drawn. and CHASTITY
green. They'll be dead by morning.
or the priest would not have been
called. There II misery unspeakable
about the yard. Twelve men ara dying
under the trees. Sunshine dripping
on them. With almost their last
strength they crawl TO their knees
one after the othsr as priest arouses
them. and humble weakly into his
ear. They fall back weakly az the
priest Strengthens up and raises his
hands in blessing over them"
That's the best can do. I've never
learned any words that would tell
such story as that and Adams. who
has painted emperors and kings. says
there's no brush or paint that can tell
the story on canvas.
AT last there's picture ] can't
paint" he said.
And as for me. I've found story /
couldn't write.
And above all this, the artillery Is
booming and all around soldiers are
working, cooking, cleaning horses.
building fres. chopping wood, for the
living must 1--we. and fight, as well
as the dying must die.
One figure under q blanket. an I'M
shaved soldier whom the priest had
been unable TO arouse. writhed and
tossed about. The priest hurried over
to that corner OF the yard and stood
with outstretched hands and uplifted
face, with Red Cross doctor stand
ing helplessly by his side, until the
writing ceased with a sudden jerk
and the soldier Of Austria came 10 his
end.
s:40-We are having our own ex-
perience with Russian shells. Col.
John and Capt Miakich had gone with
us to the first battery. where we In
tended TO say goodbye to the COM
mandant. when suddenly q shell burst
on hill 200 PAGES from us. We could
see the bits OF broken shells plough
their way over the ground. Then came
salvos OF shells. The Russians. II
seemed, had felt out and found the
Austrian battery. The shells dropped
In the courtyard OF farm house, 900
feet away Across the road from US
was camp OF hundreds OF wagons.
horses and men. The sight was In
describable as they dashed on toward
q hill which had a safe leeway. For
20 minutes shells fell IN our area.
First we would hear the very distant
burr OF Russian battery; then
would come the growing shrek OF
the shells. and. by my watch. 10 sec
onds later, somewhere around us
there would be terrific explosion
which produced clouds Of intensely
black smoke.
Our battery returned salyo after
salvo. The man at the telephone In
the hole yelled his orders TO the COM
mandant. who. In turn, yelled TO the
so men at the guns. Whether our
firing did II or not, or whether the
RI ssians lost the range. no one could
decide. but as suddenly as II had be-
gun the Russian firing ceased In our
direction, and we ventured out to see
what holes the Russian shells had
made In the country round about. We
found Ave holes as large as cellars
aud some wounded horses. but no one
had been killed. that we could dis
cover.
AT 8 o'clock II was pitch dark. We
went back TO the creek and climbed
into our wagon for the return to
Przemysl. Ire reserve men had come
down from the hillside, where they
had waited all day, and were begin
ming to GROSS the bridge towards the
front. The white horse that we had
seen among them In the morning was
ridden by a young captain with q
bristling moustache. We passed hun
dreds OF camp-hres and the strings OF
wagons still filled the road az they
had done In the morning, and as they
had done every minute OF the day.
and as they will do as long as there
are hundreds of thousands OF death
hungry men or sickly. wounded. dying
men on the Przemysl battle-ground.
6:30--I am back In Przemysl. II
was my frst day OF actual battle. r
have seen war at first hand. As for
the safety Of Prxemysl. II Is certain.
The Austrian soldier is taking his
war with enthusiasm and saw more
smiling faces today and heard more
hearty laughs than I'd see or hear on
the streets of New York In whole
month. You can measure the morale
of an army by how much II smiles
and by how little Il worries. and this
part OF the Austrian army around
Przemysl isn't worrying at all, that