Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-11-01

how many men We're sitting there, nor
now many more mon We're in the adj
joining Enclosure. But while / had
been watching the unloading of the
ship one ambulance train had been
filled and a moved out. slowly. ST.
4 lently, toward her namelcss destina-
ton. For each day, as the new Of
fensive ON the western fronts fulfills
the tragic bartering of men for land,
the hospitals of England register toll
for victory.
And this offensive. which has re-
claimed territory valuable beyond es-
timation. was conceived with accuracy
and true vision. Men We're neither
~squandered nor offered up in sacrifice.
! Yet day by day the white ships nut into
halbor and the white trains come and
go. weaving back n forth, fulfilling
the purposes of war.
And l was Watching one infinitesimal
! part of this. 1t was moving very surely
and precisely, the grave business of
trinsferrence. l saw with astonish-
ment that the deck was cleared. A little
procession of orderlies, bringing empty
stretchers. vas marching down the
pier. l had thought that the ship was
emptied, so many men in khaki had
passed down the gangway. But | saw,
instead, that the work had but COM
menced.
For from below they were carrying
iASH. <Aiiu lIlcSe men lay quite
sun on the Stretchers, with their gray
blankets drawn close around them.
Ihelr faces We're very white, that ex-
ira clear white of pain. But
sometimes when they were carried by
they smiled. l think tina there We're
men among these soldiers who had
measured the hours of their journey
by their w agony. Only suffering
could have drawn such deep and
searching lines. could nave brought
such shadings and such contours into
mems faces. There was one boy who
! lay with his hands folded on his chest;
ms eyes were closed, and the shadow OF
nus oiack lashes was no darker than
tne deep circles which furrowed his
cneeks. There was neither life nor
color in his flesh; his hands had he
hie and delicate transparency of a
child's hands. Yet, just as he was be-
ing carried by, he opened his eyes
made an in%scrutable, almost imper-
ceptible, movement with his fingers as
II some impulse a impelled him to a
GESTURE which must be unrealized.
Ihere was, for one swift instant. the
illusion that he smiled.
! Yes. there was courage enough
among them, these men who were COM
ing home. | marvelled at them: 1 had
never thought of that particular de-
gree of courage which lies in the
one Very simple fact that men-even
lnose men who are coming back to
England to die-come back home smil-
ing.
And marvelled more and more at
.hese miracles of wal when l went
aboard the white ship and saw
Just it meant. this long journey
OF the wounded. saw all of the splen-
dor of that big ship only as a back
ground for the men Who had returned
IN her Yet certainly she was both
beautiful and splendid. l was told that
once in her history she had come into
foyal iavor be that as it may, what
ever the purport of her destiny, she
had been fashioned with true UNDER
ndln In the wide sweep of her
decks. in h very lines and grada-
I,ons of her. there was that character.
mat abiding character and personality.
wnlch IS the inheritance of al good
ships of the sea.
Hospital Wonders.
II may be that she suffered a little
rom a certain lavishness, not wholly
!u~dlclous. For her cabins and her sa-
ICONS We're panelled in woods of many
coIors ana many grains, inlaid accord
ing TO the obscure ethics of such mat
lers. NOT that her fine frescoes were
liol decorative. with their bright cubes
ana squares and quaint Interpretations.
amey like satin: in the borders,
Il ~ASAShH IN kxcGIl. DTIIll1nI
nangings We're mirrored, extraordinary
ny luminous and rich in texture.
lout ! liked best her big wards be-
low. \ liked their generous proportions
and ! the clean. wide cots, row upon
row OF than. There was. too. that
ra,mt' pleasant odor Of a%ntiseptics and
new linen. The copper sterilizers, set
on shining tables. We're ~resplendent in
that cool and colorless interior. The
enameled basins and portable dressing
stands We're a brilliant and stainless
white.
7, But. above all. there was, in this
place q certain very fine n defini-
i've individuality. I do O know that
there were either details or designs in
which 1t found expression. But in
disputably this was a hospital on board
q ship. 1t Is true that above each cot.
suspended. were two long canva strips
70 Wnlch We're attached a bar Of wood.
very much like a short trapezs. BY
means OF this q patient could lift .llm-
sell. SO that. with his pillows behind
him. he could sit up. Also. there were
certain cots strips of white
cioth. These were fashioned like big
sings. and they had been conceived by
genius. For by the simple means Of
supporting a bandaged arm or a band
aged foot In them the vibration Of the
ship. the steady throbbing Of her en-
zines. was in 9 very great measure
SOuaAtcIdCISu Gut II was not In these
Ethtnss that the character OF this white
saloon was revealed. I think. instead.
that 1t was concentrated In one quite
simple thing. In this big ward there
was but Q faint. diffused light; for
above he beds. and screening the tort
holes. was 2 long. unbroken sweep of
green curtains. with black shadows
marked In vertical lines. And these
shadows. straight. deep bars on me
green cloth. swayed q little. changed q
little. widened and became narrow with
1t was the movement nf ,fha ahin n