The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-08-25

know. wish l did, for he was GER
tainly the nerviest man ever saw.
NO. T. was hardly out Of the officers
mouth before he had his dispatch and
was on his way. About five minutes
later the signal came that the dis
patch had been delivered.
my officer told me afterward that
the French general to whom he had
handed the dispatch had taken the
Medaille Militaire Off his own breast
and pinned it on that Of this young
dispatch rider. He was also later
awarded the Victoria Cross and given
commission. 1t Is things like this
that make one proud to belong to
such an army"
Shipping a sniper.
After spending Christmas, 1914. IN
the Ypres trenches. Robinson helped
second lieutenant in the Royal Engi-
neers to snipe German sniper on the
Dickebusch-Holle road. AS they
rode over a wooden bridge a bullet
whistled. Neither spoke, but on the
way back, three hours later, the off,
Ger said: "That blasted sniper has
potted ut me once too often. Well
leave the road here and sneak down
opposite the hedge under cover of the
trees"
lettering their horses, they crept
near the bridge, waited until a wagon
passed and heard the sniper's shot.
from behind. They crawled a hun
dred yards and waited. Soon they
heard the rifle crack again, not far
away. Creeping little further, they
waited again, watching the trees.
They cane so close to the sniper,
without seeing him, that next time he
fired they heard the ejector fly back
and the bolt snap. Then they spotted
him. He was we'll up tree, with his
rifle fitted on tripod. so that when
ever he heard anyone on the wooden
brids, he had only to pull the trig'
GER But he had ended his sniping'
The lieutenant and Private Robinson
fired together. and "Mr. SHIPPER came
down like thousand Of bricks"
The British Tommy of those days
according to William j.. was great
gambler" as we'll as great fighter
One of his forms of gambling was q
kind Of tontinc. known as trench
pool"
"About ten fellows got together
and each put ten francs in pool just
before they went into action. They
left this money with someone behind
the lines, for they would be in action
anywhere from six days to three
weeks. The idea of the pool was this
Those who lived to get back would
take the money and split 1t evenly
among themselves. If only one lived
he would have the whole lot.
Daredevil Officer.
The Tommies kept canaries, rats
mice, dogs cats, goats, and even pigs
as pets, and would 60 hungry before
the pet hungered.
The biggest daredevil" that Robin
son heard of was known as the "Mac
Major"-an artillery officer who kept
his own aeroplane for range finding
purposes. When he wanted to cor
rect a range he just flew over ant
dropped smoke bombs on the particu
lar spot he wanted his guns to hit
Then he went back and set the guns
| to work. One day, being annoyed
| with German 17inch howitzer, hi
flew over with a 1OO-pound bomb, nose
dived to within 400 feet, dropped the
bomb and blew the howtzer to atoms
He returned with his planes riddlet
with bullets.
| Mr.. Robinson indicates in few
words what happened to two men,
woman and two children when I
Taube dropped bomb in the square
at Poperinghe 1t is enough here tt
say that they were killed, and tina
the bicycle one Of the men was rid
ing was found twisted and bent OF
lamppost about fifty yards away
He also describes briefly the KILN,
of two officers in motOrcar by .
German 15.inch shell on the road go
ing into Ypres. The driver escaped
but was sent nearly mad by the shock
His nerve was gone and he had to b.
discharged.
This was during the second battle
of Ypres, when tine city was beinl
destroyed by shell fire and the houses
were burning.