Evening star., 1915-01-22
Cheating Death, They Said.

We're cheating, said PAIR OF Eng
lish officers in Calais on one OF the
three-day furloughs recently. by
rights we are dead.
The colonel of one of the great Eng
lish regiments-a man whose family
name has been conspicuous in English
history, and whose town house is one
of the sights of London-wrote to a
friend:
We no longer wonder if we will be
killed" said he. We all know that
we cannot expect to live through TINS
war. And we suffer so in these internal
trenches that we hope death Will come
soon"
This seems to hold good for the men
OF all armies. 1t is not that they are
despondent or frightened. For the most
nort they manage to enjoy themselves
eyceiIentIy when they get the chance
II is merely that they are numped-
Many close their eyes to the grim pos
sibilities of war-but for most one sus-
pects that the bitterness of death
mas sses when they make up their minds
they will never see the folks at nome
again Thereafter they fight and suner
in a strange sort OF peace.
This attitude is reflected in the man
ner in which the dead are regarded.
Dead fesh-dead human fesh-is colo
and heavy to the touch. one man.
whose duty it had been to handle many
scores of corpses in the dark, sald tnere
was something reptilian and unnuman
about them-as though he were nfting
things that held themselves rigid IN
his hands. He was a man OF edocat1on
and imagination- 1t seemed 10 MN nun as
ties of the living. But he felt none OF
the terror which the living man 1eefs
for the dead. ~ -
II was so tired" said he. so tired.
No
Valuable Only for Uniforms.
To the higher officers of all armies
,b. dead are merely losses" They are
-,t an iUcumbrance. as the wounded
orc They have certain small but
definite yaIue-that of the unspoiled
c,o,bes which may sometimes be
s,rinped from them before their naked
hodies are consigned to the common
trench. They are q potential nuisance
which. if not abated. may interfere
with the process OF killing other men.
II il is quite convenient thelr ioehatS
- asrertaiued for the Information OF
Tho war office and the folks at home
hut this depends entirely upon con-
yeuience The operations OF war are
rarely interrupted in order 10 give ue-
c.nt burial to the men who nave taiieii
rhs,e are fields upon fields Uttered
with the remnants of men and swept
nv the fire of both armies. The other
day, in northern France, an armistice
mans and British might bury the
bodies that lay between their lines
This was so uncommon an occurrence
that "Eyewitness." the official observer
OF the English army. commented upon
il III his report to the press.
An arnistice for this purpose said
hc, lis uncommon-almost unprece-
Gented-in this war
Lot t,~.-G
their slain are not wanted at the front.
They are in the way-and they may
impair the morale of those who stun
live BectusC this battle hne Is IN
France the French leaders nave oeeh
forced to endure these deprecated visits
20 some extent. But when the bodies
are found--if they are found-trans-
purtatiou upon railroad trains Is for
bidden. Those trains are needed Tor
the wounded men. some OF whom may
b.. patched UP for killing later VITA
characteristic forethousht the Germans
arranged this in advance.
Bodies may not be carried upon
trains" is the gist OF the order that
was issued. Upon proper application
r.latives may secure d pass permitting
-Eern to take bodies from the field in
automobiles.
Put Yourself in the position Of the man
on night outpost duty. Imagine that
all about you in the darkness are tum-
bled heaps that you can but dimly see
Understand that at times their pres
,uce is perceptible to you through
another sense. Comprehend that some
times wounded men still lie among the
dead, and that, Voiceless as they may
be in the daytime. at night their voices
rise in a monotone OF despair. Would
YOU not be shaken by superstitious
fears. Would not your stricken mind
endow that field with unearthly hor-
ror?
No Reverence for the Dead.