Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-09-01

mothers BY providing maternity op
was not right. A soldier near b!
supplied the sad details. He hat
had a bullet in his brain, and {
lpiece Ct his skull had been remov
ed, an6 he would never be but {
child in intelect, perhaps might Los
his mind altogether. He was a fins
outstanding fellow and some way aft
ter seeing what war had done II
him, the day lost its brightness fOl
me. 49,.
At another hospital are severa,
men back from the Dardan Giles. Man.
return with injured eye sight, the
glare of the: midsummer sun on the
desert sands is insupportable to mel
from this neutral climate, the Aus
traians stand it far better, as thea1
own climate has Injured them to the
intense sunlight. They tell us the
fighting is indescribably frightfu1
down there. No place are they out
of range of the shells, and the Turks
are fine nlarksmen. The discipline
is terribly severe in the Turkish
army; several men have told me
of seeing Turkish soldiers chained
or strapped by their officers to
their machine guns, so they could
not desert in a charge, but stay
and serve their guns until death.
Also when they are commanded to
charge, the machine guns are turn
ed on them from the rear, so they
will not be tempted to retreat. II
the allies are successful in reaching
the, Turkish trenches, they are blown
up even as the allied soldiers reach
them, by one Turk who is chosen
to remain behind and to explode
the mines, and incidentally, himself
to lose his life.
Some of the stories told us are
too ,ghastly to repeat, one wonders
how the 1r'*en can come through such
experiences sane. One soldier told
me how when their trenches and
those OF the enemy were very close
together they used to shout back
and forth. He said one night the
Germans shouted over, ''We're COM
ing over at half past twelve to-
night" so they kept close watch all
that night. They kept calling that,
for three nights and at last they
did charge, but not many of them
returned he added cheerfully.t \ 81
Private Overton, fair7haired youth
of twenty. with his leg off at the
knee, told me his story which
found very interesting. He had, with
some of his mates, been resting in
an old barn near a village in France
which was being shelled by the Ger
mans. All of a sudden a shell came
through the roof cut Through his
leg and without exploding went down
into, the earth. Hardly knowing
What he was doing and with his
leg hanging by a shred, he crawaed
outside the barn, and almost instant
ly was wounded in the arm by a bit
Of SHE'LL He told me he kept cry
ing to the stretcher bearers Who
lodged in and out of the ruined
dwellings for the wounded, Help
me, help me-" but they did not
come. AT last he. said, 81 cried,
"Oh God help me-" and he finished
quite simply, then they came"
They could find only a broken old
but were able to convey
him mile to his dressing station,
but there they could do nothing
but bind up his leg, and at last at
ter an agonizing wait the Red Cross
men took him two miles in motor
ambulance over the frightful roads,
cut up by shells, to a field hospital
At length he was brought to London,
but lack Of immediate care had
caused septic poisoning and he al
most died of that. He is one of
these happy in the consciousness
hot I1ra hi dufxy opI.
there is to be no returning for him.
One of the sweetest stories of the
war, has just been published in the
Daily Mail" and is told by motor
car driver at the front, concerning
\ heroic officer. After remaining
In the trenches in continuous rain
lay after day, he and his men leap
ed from their trenches to stop a
Dayonet charge. At daybreak the
British noticed that the Germans
had returned and collected their
with the exception of one
man, who lay groaning in agony
half way between the trenches. From
The opposite trenches a flying. figure
in an effort to save the
wounded man, but volley laid him
low. Then came the order from
The officer, Cease fire" He jump
ed forward from the trench, and,
10 doubt with the intention of TAX
ng revenge for their dead comrade,
The Germans fired. Badly hit, he
staggered onward, and the sight
from both trenches was
greeted with loud cheers, and not an
,ther shot was fired for nearly an
hour. Badly wounded himself, he
picked up the wounded German, and,
o the amazement of all, carried him
direct to the German trench, and
aid the body before the officer, and
'aluting turned on his heel to return.
He was as safe during those few mo-
nents as he would have been in his
twn home. But he was not to re-
urn unrewarded. The German of
icer climbed from the trench, and.
his own Iron Cross pinned
t on cur hero. The cheer from
10Th sides was long to be remem-
ered. The motor driver telling the
tory said that he had the honor of
aking the wounded officer back to
he hospital. Before leaving, the
teneral informed him that he would
g recommended for the V. c. the
cry next day, but that night he
led, and his cross now, is a plain
npainted wooden one, such as marks
10 graves of thousands of this
reat war.