Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-07-28
KILLED BY FRIGHT
Russian Sentry the Victim OF
Superstition. ~..
Terrified by Sight Of Corpse In River,
Which to His Imagination
Had Assumed a chostly
Aspect.

One of the most gruesome OF the
many gruesome tales that are coming
out of this theater of war Is being told
In Warsaw these days. 1t Is an incl
dent of the Battle Of the Mill" That
was not a great battle. as great bat
ties go in this tremendous clash Of
titanic forces. 1t might be classed %
minor ARRAY" But it has furnished
its quota Of horrors. 1t Is called the
Battle OF, the Mill" because an old
fashioned water mill was near the CEN
ter line. It occurred ito the south.
ward" Beyond this brief reference
the location may not be safely men.
toned,
The fighting took place between
Russian and Austrian troops for the
possession Of position of which a
small river was the dividing line. For
five days the battle ragged and every
day was marked by the efforts OF one
side or the other to throw bodies of
troops across the stream. There was
no, heavy artillery employed, but the
machine guns wrought red havoc
among the men assigned to the task
of bridging the waterway. From
trenches and from behind logs and
small mounds Of earth on either bank
rifle fire was almost continuous. How
many men lost their lives It is not pos
sible to know. ee.5:, = ~ J. :.
But 1t is known that the little stream
was almost choked with bodies and
that the water in the mill race. into
which 1t was diverted by a crude dam,
rose until it poured over the forebay.
, The bodies OF human beings prevented
1t from passing through the open
gates. Men who took part In this bat
tie say that the river ran red for hours
after each successive charge; that out
Of 300 Austrians who attempted at
one stage Of the conflict to wade across
less than fifty reached shore. The
others. shot and torn by the rifle and
machine-gun fire. sank to the bottom
or foated on the surface. Those
wrapped In great coats and not too
heavily weighted with cartridges and
weapons noated. The others sank.
On one Of the last nights OF the san
culinary contest, when the contending
forces were almost spent and when the
ride fire was desultory, an officer of
the guard on the Russian side. was de-
tailed for sentry inspection. He fol-
lowed the sentry lines along the
stream, keeping as well under cover
as the character OF the country per-
mitted, until he came to the mill. 1t
was bright moonlight and the shad-
ows from the trees fell across the face
Of the waters. The orr1cer was sud
denly brought to stop by the sight,
just ahead, Of a sentry, leaning against
fence. against which some logs had
been piled as a shelter. The sentry's
gun was pointed toward the stream
and his index finger was on the
trigger. go. !, -} ,a
The officer crouched and waited for
the soldier to fire. He waited one min
ute, two, three. Then he crept stealth
lily to point from which he could get
better view of the river and what
ever it might be that the sentry was
about to shoot at. : On the surface of
the water, plain in the moonlight; was
the head Of man, the face toward
the sentry. The man appeared to be
wading the stream. with body sub
merged and head erect, the water not
quite covering the shoulders. Why
didn't the sentry fire? Why did the
wading Austrian remain motionless In
the water? For another. eternity the
officer waited. X. sl
Then the strain became too much
for him and he spoke to the sentry.
There was no response. He crawled
nearer and spoke again. Still he got
no answer. He arose beside the sol:
der and touched his arm. The sentry
did not move. He looked closer. The
man was stone dead. Shaken and al
most in a panic, the officer, accus-
toned as he was to death in all its
forms, made his way precipitately to
camp and there related the story.
With number of fellow soldiers he
went back to the mill to investigate.
The sentry still stood with leveled
gun. The Austrian still maintained
his position in the steam. With q
rope the men lassoed him and brought
him to shore, a bloated corpse. His