The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-21
OFFICER TELLS HOW
IT FEEL. TO Be
At THE FRONT
(By Associated Press)

soldiers and OhcerS, says an officer
who had been at the front since the
beginning of the war, have faith in
a mysterious power analogous t.
antique fatality which disposes OF
our sort. Those that it favors We
say are in luck The greatest i'm
prudence doesn't accept their invul.
nerability. Others seem fated t.
sacrifice; il they escape from q
pitched battle. spent ball or q
fragment of shell will get them the
following day, miles behind the
tonches, while they are in appar.
ent security.
This instructive belief brings 9
certain tranquility, not only to
those who think that they are in
luck but to those also who are in
doubt whether they possess a lucky
star. No one escapes his fate they
say. If one is slated for death
what's the goo of taking precau-
tions; the bullet that's intended for
me will find me-
Certain cases seem to bear out
this superstition. One of them was
related by an officer of the general
staff, tall, cool, almost as phleg-
matte as an Englishman behind ihs
and SO careful to exag-
gerate nothing that he SENS to con-
template the most tragic events with
the wrong end Of Of his spy-glass.
Il ought to have been killed a
hundred times, he told me. At the
moment of the general mobiliza-
tion l was in the staff of the gen.
eral of division, to whom / was per-
sonally attached after years of very
close collaboration; he treated me
as his personal aid-de-
camp. l went everywhere with him.
A few days after the declaration of
war he was infomed of the death of
his wife, whom l knew he adored.
He concealed his pain but | under
stood at once that the blow had
morally crushed him and that he
had made up his mind to get himself
killed. He took me with him where
the bullets were thickest. The d.
vision was on the eastern frontier,
and alongside the storms of shrapnel
that burst above our heads the Ger
man bombardment of today are
small incidents. Every other day
we went to the first line, and while
the men lying round us fired at the
Germans, we remained erect to en-
courage them.
lone afternoon We had passed four
hours under the enemy's shells.
From time to time 4 said to myself,
in ten minutes or even in five min,
utes perhaps it'll be my turn But
we were neither Of us touched. An.
other day, after a very violent en-
gagement in which we had ben OBJ.
liged to give way, one of our bat.
teries remained stuck between the
two armies. I proposed to recon.
noitre the position to see il it wal
possible to bring it back. l intended
to go along and to come back quick.
ly. But the general declared hi
would go along. 1t was vain to re-
mark that 1t was not his place, hi
replied with soma feeling that hi
had no orders to receive from me.
Everything went we'll and W.
reached the position of the battery
without any trouble. There remain
ed only two men, q major and /,
private soldier, guarding the bat
| terry, firing with all their energy t,
make the enemy believe that tn,
position was still occupied in force
We succeeded in getting the piece
into shape and dragging them GU
of danger, but instead of followin,
the direct route toward our lines
the general proposed that we max,
little detous, In order he said
that the men may not have the I'm
preston that we are retreating g.
We followed route on the side of ,
hill. which during several hundred
yards passed over space of alb
solutely uncovered ground between
the two firing lines. II I had beef
alone I should have covered tina
space at double quick. The general
though, declared that this precipi
tation would have produced ba'
effect upon the troops, so it was a
a walk that we crossed this expos
ed ground Offering ourselves as tar
gets to the German infantry.
1.-The balls whistled around u
incessantly-so quickly that tn
leaves on the trees along the rout
fell as in an autumn storm. Neithe
Of us received a scratch, neithe
we're our horses touched. I aske
the general IL he did not think
marvellous that we should hav
passed unscratched through tn
storm of the bullets. He shook hi
head sadly and said: The bullet
don't seem to want me- As for M
since that trial there is nothing ths
surprises me. I sincerely believe II
lin luck and am quite sure that tn
Germans will never get me- :"
FA Soans man. living nsarf Pant