The Washington herald., 1915-12-26

into the already overloaded ambulance
The letter goes on:
Every day may be the last for almost
any one of US. as We have TO make our
trips into Mensil regardless Of the num-
Der of shells falling. You see the Ger
mans know almost to an inch how far
1t is to almost any place they want TO
hit, so il ia a case for everyone to get as
far under ground as possible when things
start, or lie in the ditch on your stom-
ach-and wonder why you seem so large
The soldiers can hit for a dugout, OF
course, but We have to keep going, and
many a time when have seen them light
out all of sudden l have said little
silent prayer.
Two days ago was ordered down to
Mensil for my turn. was almost there
when I heard sudden shrek above the
noise Of the car and ! thought that the
end Of the world had come when two
shells burst almost together with-a ter
rife crash in the field beside the road
and within ffty-fve yards of me. The
only thing that saved my life was the
fact that ii had been raining for four
days and the ground was so soft that the
shells went down a good way and the
sides OF the holes sheltered me. but the
way millions of pieces screamed over my
head made my blood run cold. hid the
car behind a part of an old barn which
is used as a morgue and ran for my life.
That afternoon over three hundred shells
were thrown into that place. two land
ing directly on top of our dugout. one
in the trench directly in front within
eight feet of the door and two within
fifteen yards Of where the car stood II
bullets were the only things used in this
war il would be regular picnic, but
when you see the results of shells il is
unbelievable. There are men brought
in every day. some with part of their
heads gone and their brains smeared all
over them, one with both eyes torn out
and the ragged bloody holes where they
had been and only one big hole where his
nose and mouth were: some without any
heads and legs. The dead. some a month
old. are brought in and stacked in piles
in this old barn where leave our
cars and then man and a dog are there
night and day fighting off the swarms OF
huge rats which are everywhere. The
whole country is so deep in filth that il
is alive with them. Is it any wonder
that when you hear a shell coming. You
wonder whether you will be the next
member of that bloody pile"
Coatesworth tells about a trip to the
trenches that had been the first German
line before the attack. where they found
postals half written. guns. bombs and
bodies half buried by shells
We. received word tonight that We
are going to he relieved in a few days
and that the whole corps is to be in Paris
for an inspection Of the cars and the
awarding of seven Croix de Guerre
(crosses of war; to our corps for the
work here. They said that none of their
cars had come anywhere near doing the
amount OF work We did. | suppose that
We will be given a great time but Paris
is not the gay Paree' of old times now.
and there is too much sadness there to
have an old-fashioned blowout. ! had a
two weeks leave. but I didn't do q thing
except rest and eat my head OF Man,
oh man. when | get into a bathtub now
| really hate to think of it. as I have
only had one wash In almost two months
Every time | take my clothes of now I
have to lay a rock on them TO keep them
there. 1t can't be helped, though, as
there Is no water here even to drink. but
Just enough to cook with. Even that has
to be carried ten miles.
Give my best to every living soul and
try to persuade some of them to drop
me line, as It Is mighty lonesome out
here and letter is a godsend. Eat
some turkey for me. will you? My din
ner will be q piece of army bread and .
tin Of bssf. Yours. C."