Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-01-14
ARMY SURGEON ON
SICK LEAVE HERE
Captain F. L. Pratt Of Allied Armies
Visits ]. E. Fitzgerald and
Other Old Omaha Friends.
TELLS MANY YARNS OF BIG WAR

Carrying in his vest pocket little
steel shrapnel ball as big as the end
OF mans finger, the same having
been dug from his thigh, Captain F.
l.. Pratt, a surgeon in the Allied
armies, now on sick leave. is stop
ping at the Fontenelle hotel and Wis
iting with J. e. Fitzgerald of the
Woodmen of the World, and other
friends in Omaha.
Captain Pratt has seen seven months OF
service as a surgeon and has at times
been desperately close to where the scrap
iron flies He was a. quarter OF a mile
from the battle front at Neuve Chapelle
when the stray shell burst and the shrap-
mel struck him. The impact OF big piece
of the shell broke his right thigh. and one
OF the 200 steel balls the shell contained
penetrated the leg.
Predicts Three More Years.
Captain Pratt predicts that the war
will last some three years more. He
speaks of the war in a calm, dignified
way, with little or no prejudice, appar-
emily, and views the whole drama
merely from the standpoint OF sur
| geon.
One interesting incident he tells is that
at one of the battles of Neuve Chapele
the British killed between 10000 and 35,
600 OF their own troops through a blum
der whereby the men were sent to
charge trifle before the artillery in
the rear was given the order to raise
It's range.
The young surgeon tells interesting
tales OF the zouaves. and other troops,
from wild territories OF northern Africa.
One zuave came into camp wounded IN
the leg, but still Juggling a huge bundle
of considerable weight lie protested
against having the lugsage examined.
When the authorities insisted, they found
he had In It a Germans head which he
ad cut off in battle. The helmet was still
on the head, but was erammed down hard
over the ears.
Cut OFF Hostile Ears.
They have peculiar religious beliefs"
said Captain Pratt. 1T is not uncom-
mon to see zouave or some other of
those wild territorials coming i'm with
string OF human ears dangling from his
belt. He has the religious idea that when
a man dies he Is lifted into heaven by his
ears. and so he cuts the ears off his enc
mics that they may not be lifted into
heaven"
The close proximity OF the two lines Of
trenches occupied by enemies, the captain
says, Is not mere myth lie says
in some instances trenches are as
close as six or ten feet and occu-
pied by opposing forces. This he says,
occurs in cases where trenches are taken
land retaken, snapped back and forth, as
IL WERE until IN this furious juggling OF
positions the enemies finally settle down
within six or ten feet of one another.
Here many interesting incidents occur,
A German and Frencnman conversed m
opposite trenches. he relates. until they
discovered they had rowed against each
other a few years before In an interna-
tional rowing contest in England. The
Frenchman related to the German a little
practical Joke some friends had playe1
on him In putting a red parasol ia his
! bundle. He had the parasol in the trench
with him. The German laughed heartily
at this and agreed that II the French
man would open the parasol. come out Of
: the trench and walk back and forth IN
p the open, he and his companions would
shoot over his head. and let him get py
with the feat. The Frenchman bet his
comrades that he could walk in the oper
with his red parasol. lie did. The Ger
: mans fired several volleys over his head
and he leaped hack into the trenches
, the hero OF the day.
Fatal Practical Joke.
, Again the French found themselves on
day with more meat than they could use
They began TO toss chunks of beef int
the German trenches. for which the enc
= mics were grateful The Germans watche,
= for the beef ano caught the chunks Il
y their hands. Just then the daily distrlbu
ton OF hand grenades was made TO tn
, French troops, and few practical joker
. among the French tossed hand grenade
= right on the heels OF the beef. The
!, blew the Germans out OF the trenohee
!. said the captain 1T was a kind OF
rotten trick, but they did IL that day"
Walters an Gas ntkea.
Captain Pratt became acquainted wit
Z French waiter who waited table
brussels when the German invssio
came. The waiter said that $4,000 Ger
mans marched through the streets Il
ten days and ten nights without ha
y, in the streets that kitchens were o
he wheels and that troopers on motorcyel'
e. rode up and down the marching column
and served the men with plates of n
m lions which the soldiers ate on the marc
In Doubtless they slept before enterir
Brussels and after they passed throus
Brussels" said the captain, but IN
steady march of ten days through a
4, streets with The mastery efficiency
= feeding ON the march was doubtless dor
10 create an impression"
Another evidence OF the efficiency az
thorough preparedness OF the Germsn wi