Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1916-02-09
IN TRENCHES At rs
French Veteran of 1870 Is Doing
His Share.
Corporal surrusue, Twelve Years
Mayor of Auxerre, Is Still Hale
and Hearty and Does His Bit
Like the Others.

Paris.-The Paris Journal .Officiel
recently published the following hon
orable mention in army orders:
Corporal Surrugue, Charles, en-
tered under No. 9,131, in company
go T of the Sixth regiment of En-
gineers, second company of the corps
veteran soldier of 1870, chevalier of
the Legion of Honor, enlisted as vok
unteer for the duration of the war at
the age of seventy-six years, asked to
go to the front as second sapper and
miner, takes part without any physical
weakness in all the work carried on
day and night under fire of the enemy,
animated with the highest conscien-
tiousness and the most noble concep-
ton of his duty toward his country,
and offers to his younger comrades a
model discipline of dash and energy"
Seeing this description of the old
young man a correspondent of the
Illustration of Paris set out for the
front to find him. After wandering
about the trenches in zigzag fashion
the correspondent saw rather small
man with white beard and the insig-
mia of an engineer on his cap Re-
Numbering Stanley's description
of how he met Livingstone
in the heart of Africa and walked up
to him, saying "Mr. Livingstone, pre-
sume?" the correspondent accosted
the engineer: Corporal Surrugue, are
you not?"
The engineer was completely taken
aback at the idea that anyone would
want to interview him, but finally led
the newspaper man into subter-
ranean shelter, which was very humid
and from the roof of which large drops
of water fell on the correspondents
notebook.
Asked how he kept so well, Cor
poral Surrugue replied that he did it
by walking. Having been occupied
with work on country roads, a thirty
mile walk was nothing to him.
For twelve years before the war he
had been mayor of Auxerre, in the de-
partment of the Yonne. Before that,
as a civil engineer, he had been en-
gagged in railroad construction and es-
pecially on the railway from Arras to
Etaples, for which he offered the plans
in 1872. That year he drove the first
spade at the station of St. Pol-en-Ter-
noise, in the same place where forty
four years later he has come to handle
the spade and pick as an ordinary
sapper.
In 1871 he belonged to the army of
Faidherbe and was captain of engin-
GERS engaged in constructing defense
works in the valley of Scarpe. He
was twice honorably mentioned then,
once for having remained at his post
when the other workers fed, fearing a
German advance on Athies, near Arras,
and again for having saved wounded
officer by carrying him to the rear.
In 1875 Mr.. Surrugue entered the
service of public roads in the Dor
dogne, where he remained six years,
and then took up the same kind of
work in the Yonne for twenty years.
Elected member of the municipal
council Of Auxerre, he soon became
Tie l0duluS Ludu anu WAS udyOI OI tu0
town from 1900 to 1912. His admins
tration of public roads and works
caused him to be attached to the in
spection department of the ministry
of the interior.
Such was the civil career of this
modest and brave man. When asked
about his present service and whether
his companions knew who he was, he
said They don't know much about
me and i am not going to tell them.
l am Surrugue, who does his bit Of
trench work like the rest, and that is
all. These days what one has done in
civil life doesn't count. Everybody is
equal in the common effort When a
man has physical vigor which can be
used there should be no hesitation.
81 passed the medical examination
and they were forced to take me. Then
l had three months of instruction in
novelties which we knew nothing
about in 1870 and in July left for the
front. l took part in all the works of
preparation for the drive in Septem-
Der and On October / was named a
corporal