The Washington times., 1915-11-30
KIDDING" ANT|DOTE
FOR WARS HORRORS
Soldiers Indulge in Chatting to
Preserve Mental Balance on
BatteIfieIds.

WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN
C'ITAMAGNE. Nov. 1 (by rnain.-"How
can thev stand Il? I should think the
soldiers living with death and the dead
about them all the time would no in
sane One frequently hears that. The
answer IL easy. The men very quickly
get used to It all. Take this example:
As our partv returned to the motors
today Mt sundown. after walking over
the Champagne battlefield. two carts
pushed quickly past us. On n canvas
stretchcr beneath the horseshoe axle
Of each lay a soldier. fully clothed.
'Wounded?" some one asked.
Yes" said an officer and changed
the subject. But the soldiers pushing
the carts were strangely careless with
the wounded men. They walked rapidly
and tooh n9. pains to keep the wheels
6ut OF .y7e smaller she'll holes. The
forms rocked and pitched and swayed.
Tho oSd attitude Of ono OF them fasci-
mated me: he was on his back. hiS arms
crossed before. but not touching his facc
nor touching each other. With every
lurch OF the car his arms wave about
risidly and stuck iust where they were.
A second man accompanied each We
hicle and these two were Kidding
each other. The first threw clod at
the second and the second replied by
Ringing his metal helmet at the first
There was a burst OF laughter. and as
the carts stopped to permit the pushers
TO mop their perspiring broks. the two
youngsters-they were about twenty
began TO chase each other round and
round the stretchers.
a. ~
procession. The soldier still lay with
his arms crossed as though warding off
blow. The soldiers on tho stretchers
Of course. were dead: killed the night
before in the front trenches and now
under cSyer OF the twilight haze. n mix
ture Of purple vapors and canon smoke
their four fellows were taking the
bodies to one of the new Champagne
cemeteries at the rear. Lifting the torn
can from the face of the soldier with
the crossed arms. some one asked him
in n hushed voice:
How did It happen?'
STRAY bullet" the cart-pusher re-
sponded laconicaily. "whew! It's
pretty warm today
The stifr-armed soldiers death had
been instantaneous. He stiffened as he
had fallen. his arms before his face
He had been a very young man. A
small mmstachc. faxcn light. was on
his upper lip Tho cap was replaced
ana We went our way. leaving the Hy-
ing and dead to go theirs.
Now don't misunderstand. These four
men escorting their dead comrades to
me graveyard were not unfeeling nor
pitiiess In the ordinary sense. Taken
from refined homes. probably. where the
sight OF pain hurt them deeply: and
from an environment where the pres
ence Of the dead was depressing and
awesome. they were suddenly plunged
into war and slaughter and agony and
death until their senses were deadened.
Their power OF appreciation had been
nulitfed. Dead r-en men no longer awed
IMAM h'~~d NJ Io~on- stckaoed them
Nature. which makes men fiRht and
nnutilate and kill each other. had fur
nished It's own antidote. otherwise these
man. instead OF 'kidding" each other
would have been iibbering idiots.
One man-his wife and little girl live
in Paris--after serving through the
battle Of Champagne. had TO be sent to
special hospital. He was not
wounded. Hts nerves had been shat
tered. his mental balance upset. His
brain had not becn able to readiust
itself. Nature had let him go on weigh
inF and appreciarIng all the horror
about him
The other condition IL the only possi-
bile safeguard against insanity. 1t Is
the War Gods own anesthetic.