Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-06-16
Ry Will Irwin.

Lne WOunueu ran fuli. III was one OF
those days in the midst of battle when
the issue stands at balance and the
tirnorous think OF defeat. Strange
JUNIORS 10Th hopeful and hopeless.
flied the civilian quarters Of the city.
All We kaew for certain was that h
French tcrritorials in the midst of the
allied line near Npres mad broken and
fallen back before the deadly chlorine
gas, and the Canadians, in one of The
highest pinches which the army ever
met, were trying to hold-were even
trying to advance, Wounded Cana
dams were pouring in on every train.
Through the varied accents of the
British nrmy-north irish, south Irish.
peasant Irish. gentry Irish. Highland
Scotch. Aberdeen. Edinburgh. Lanca-
shirc, Yorkshire. cockney, oxford,
Welsh--ran like Il thin, hard silver
thread the accent of the North Ameri-
can Anslo-SaNon.
As | passed along the road toward
the casino, the motor ambulanccs We're
gliding slowly and IN order down the
wide. %gravelcd driveway. The Sitting
cases ON the front seat with the driver
wore mostly The n pie leaf insignia of
CANADA. one by one the ambulanceS
drew up AT the srand marquee. where
ladies' of fashion, dressed in the latest
1rlvolltles of Paris. used TO pass and
cplss only eight briet months ago.
ND's wy itS iNSt
servants used to bow in the viSitor
during that incredibly remote period
In a dead past of the wrold stepped
men III the invariable khaki-quiet
moving, silent, ~businesslike men. With
incredible swiftness and yet incred-
s~tretchcrs from the racks. slipped the
handle into the loops Of their harness
and carried them in. The figure on
each stretcher was wrapped tight in an
army blanket. The face which peered
forth from the top OF the blanket roll
was always saffron pale. except when
1t was bound about somewhere with "a
white bandage or was discolored by
powder marks. There was never much
expression in these faces eve when
the men had their eyes open. Mostly |
they looked merely patient.
was in the entrance hall now. a
hal; once green with palms, quivering |
with distant music. fragrant with
strange French perfumes. 1t was
stripped bare: only its garish wall dec
Grafton remained. For perfume there
was only a scent of drugs and mortif- |
cation. n distant sound quivered on
the EAR. 1T was the composite sound
OF many groans. kept low with all the |
VIII w of soldiers who are trying
to suffer in silence, and the more
poignant for all that.
A way had been kept clear in the
door of the great baccarat room of the
casino; otherwise the floor was COW
cred with rows Of men on s%tretchers. |
all wrapped up and ticketed. These
were the safe" cases. the men out of
danger but yet badly wounded. who
were going back to England to recu-
perate. These were not suffering. The
prevailing expression of a great pa |
tience was lighted by a kind of ex-
preston of relief-and here and there !
n turned his head toward his COM
rade on the next stretcher and VEN
tured n feeble joke.
stepped. then. within the door--and
before me lay the tragedy and the ON
tl;Sst of war. 1t was a great, high room
lined with great mirrors. decorated with
highly colored nynphs and cupids.
From the center of the ceiling hung an
chandelier with 1000 glass
crystals. Here but eight months ago
the overdresscd dolls of Europe used to
squander the wealth of Europe. while
scented handles leaned over them to
watch the play. The dolls were gone
nov, transformed into women by grief
and poverty. The dandies were dead, or
had become bearded .'poilus'' waliowing
in the filth of the trenches.
Wounded Thick az Shingles.
AMI the wounded. the g%rievously |
lay thick as shingles on a
roof along the great floor. The cots
were packed SO tight that one must |
his way to get along the aisles.
ing IN SO fast that afternoon as to
strain ell resources of the hospital. /
The newly arrived. still on their
stretchers. had been slowed away in
the. interstices between the cots.
The lay mostly, very quiet. Some
legs and the body you could not see |
because they were covered by the
Here and there was a head
to twice its size. From these |
punches of bandages would peer out
q single hlackened eye-in three cases
OF Y 9 u in the head pro-
duces that effect as surely as q direct
blow. From the nearest cot to the
there rose beside pale and un-
wounded head q hill of white sbandaYe |
and gauze. 1t covered "a set OF Shout /
der, muscles torn clean away BY the
tar 9 q mar with a bandaged head |
looked steadily at Il red cotton hand
kerchief, which he turned and fumbled
n his ha ads. No intelligence shona sinj
his eyes. There were masks. too
9hastly white masks OF muslin, with |
Hits foEsthe month and eyes.
la the center OF the room, and lust |
Mharo h cr0urier used to call the |
odds and the winnings in the daya Of
the ancient world. lay one who was |
dying. ~ I 1Tst looked at him e
though Indeed that he was dead. You |
6nd to watch to flnd the faiMtest fiutter |
0fabreath:. Where his hands had been
s, ~ ss & Cotton Peg; The shell
sHRlnet HIS cot las two men onsstretch-
3rGsIsT Neither moved nor spoke nor
Ieonl0d TO bay%the slightest attention
u, him except that they lay with their !
D9See6l turned pWAys#As 4 looked ono OF
Elae nusssasspeeaioS about upon their