The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1916-06-19
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/. WAR AND THE MAN 1
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(By NJ. Collnguy)

No end OF predictions are being cou-
cocted on the general changes in So
cial and economic conditions that will
occur when the war is over. But what
OF the far far more interesting and hu-
man study-the change in the men
themselves? No man can go through
the struggle and come out the same.
Some are etched more deeply than 9th
ers, naturally; some we're professional
soldiers before, and to them the game,
though infinitely more terrible than
their previous experiences, was not
quite new But what Of all the others
the lawyers, the doctors, the artists.
the clerks, the writer's, the stockbrok-
ers, all of them taken suddenly from
the placid, everyday sedentary life aud
pitchforked into the Great Adventure?
Will II make them msnlier or simply
tougher? Will they be able to settle
down to the deadening monontony Of
the old routine, the same old train in
the morning, the same stuffy office, the
conventional amusements, the same
train back home? One has read so
much-one has understood so little.
Here is a conversation that shows
the contrast of normal, ordinary life
in England against war life in France
Passing vane, the stockholders,
house the other evening suddenly
heard a hail:
Come in and have a gargle. I've
Just got back on short leave"
Good" | answered. Mrs. Vane
must be pleased" We strolled up the
drive, and in through the door. You're
looking very fit, old man. Flanders
seems to suit you"
MY dear fellow, it does. It's the
goods | never knew what living was
before The thought of that cursed Of
flee makes me tired-and-and once
he shrugged his shoulders-"it filled
my life. Say when"
Cheer OH" We clinked glasses,
81 thought you were taking a commits
sion. -"
81 am-very shortly. The Colonel
has recommended me for one, and |
gather the powers that be approve.
But in a way I'm sorry, you know. I've
got a great pal in my section-who
kept a whelk stall down in White
chapel l assure you, my dear chap.
that fellow spins yarn better than
any society reconteur I've ever met
Garnished a little, trife full-bodied
and spicy-but still, que voulez-vous? ?"
He was looking reminiscently into
the fire from the depths of an armchair
and pulling luxuriously at his pipe.
Suddenly he gave a short laugh.
ITO show you the type of fellow he
is. About a week ago We were up in
the trenches-bored stiff, and yet hap
Ply in way. you know, when Mas
ter Boche started to register--that is,
to find out the exact range of our bit
of Mother Earth by dropping shells
there. | suppose 1t was a new battery
or something. but they were using
crumps, not shrapnel; mean, 1t was
howitzer firing stuff that exploded
on impact, not field gun firing shrap-
mel that explodes in the air. They
weren't very big but they we're very
close-and they got closer. You hear
nasty droning noise, then there's the
hell of an explosion-a great column
of blackish yellow smoke rises, and
the bits ping through the air overhead.
Well, he got bracket; by that mean
the first one was so yards short of the
trench and the second was a hundred
yards over. Then he started to come
back-always in the same line; and
the line passed straight through our
bit OF the trench.
Ere! What yer doing, you perish
ers? Sargint, 90 and stop 'em. Tell
em I've been appointed purveyor of
wrinkles to the Royal '0use OF the I'm
Emperor
Our friend of the whelk stall was
surveying the scene with intense dis
favor. A great mass of smoke belched
up from the ground 20 yards away and
he ducked instinctiyely. Then we
waited-l5 seconds. about, was the in
terval between shots. The men were
a bit white about the gills, snd-well,
the feeling in the pit of my tummy
was what il known as wobbly. Then
H. came and we covered. There was
roar like nothing on earth-the back
OF the trench collapsed and the whole
lot Of us were buried. II the shell
had been FIVE yards short il would have
burst in the trench and my whelk
friend would have Wicked no more"
( Vane replenished his drink and
laughed. I'VE emerged plucking mud
from our mouths and cursed The man
apparently was satisfied and stopped.
The only person who wasn't satisfied
was the purveyor OF wrinkles to the
Royal 'ouse. He brooded through the
day. but toward the evening he became
more cheerful
Look ere,' he said 10 me, ave you