Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1916-01-21

censored story OF the allied retreat
from Serbia, ,--Editor.
ny VIM, G, Shepherd.
Salonikl. Dec, 1l,----A French sol
dier in a steel hat stopped and looked
at us curiously as we walked alone
lthe road.
Excuse me-" no said In broken
English, but it's so long since I've
seen man In clothes like yours
that couldn't help staring"
The big British gun was booming
lat two-minute intervals, French
guns, set on nearby hillsides. were
sending occasional shots to tho Bull
gar lines. II was a battlefield In
every sense of the word, battle
field which within "a hours was &c
be the scene OF an ally retreat, In
cidentally. I wonder what became ol
the little Frenchman,
Civilian clothes seem extraordin'
ary." he said. Have some choco.
late9" He pulled an envelope from
his pocket. with postage stamp and
an address on It. "This is something
I got in the mail from Paris today,
took a small piece OF his precious
chocolate.
| Have you heard that we're going
to move from here?" he asked. "Ths
rumor is going around our camp,
They say We are going to fall back
to the Greek border. Haven't you
heard anything about It back In
Saloniki?"
had not. His question was the
first sign OF the coming retreat. On
this spot. the very next day, dead
British and French soldiers were to
lie among the holly shrubs and Bull
gars were to charge with bayonets,
shouting their cry OF me pret, ne
lnosh."
TITS cold here.' exclaimed the
soldier, "but I've been healthier than
I've ever been before In my life.
l"Why when the war began couldn't
stand any hardship. II | wasn't In
bed by 10 o'clock every night, ] suf-
fered all day for It. had indiges-
tion terribly. Now I have not slept
in bed for five months, and l eat
anything and enjoy 1t. War beats
pills, / tell you.
This artillery firing makes me
laugh today. That big English gun
is not hitting anything. and there are
three Bulgarian batteries over there
that haven't hit anywhere near any
body. They ought to send word to
each other about how far they're
missing. II they don't help each
other out they'll waste an awful LOT
OF ammunition,
He had to be going at last. Would
walk along the road with him?
Right around the turn here some
OF the Bulgarian shells are well aim
ed" ne said. They're paying a good
deal OF attention to this turn this
afternoon"
II was like getting ready to jump
into a cold bath to start off with him
I knew that after | got my feet tc
working they would carry me along
but the hard part was not to make
, an excuse and return to the ravine
My right foot started, however. and
} then my left, and fifty feet farther or
, we passed the turn and faced mile
stretch of road cut from the hills.
Below us was the valley of Cos
/ torino; across 1t four miles ava!
, were the hills where the Bulgarianf
E were. A few soldiers we're on thu
road, walking singly.
Along here you may get a shell
anytime said the French soldier
! have to walk along here dozer
times day to get to my dug-ou
from the kitchen back there in The
ravlne Want to see my dug-out?'
/ did, and quarter-mile wall
along the road brought us to a littlt
ravine on the side OF which was {
soldiers home, partly hole ant
partly tent The other soldiers II
the dug-out were packing up theil
belongings.
Just to be ready If we 60" they
explained.
On fire outside the dug-out wal
tin pail with steaming contents
1t was not coffee; II was not rum
1t was half-and-half. / must have
had two drinks of 1t. 1t had an aw
full buzz in 1t.
1--WE get two dippers full Of wine
and half dlpper Of whiskey daily,
explained soldier. And we neet
1t in the cold, too"
figured 1t out az amounting to o
quart of wine and three fifteen cent
drinks OF whiskey.
Are you q tourlst?" asked one OF
the Frenchmen.