New-York tribune., 1917-06-17
The Romantic Other Side of Trench Wartar

morrow, Gerrys. Would any Of ye be IA H.,
as to lend me the loan Of hammer
The Germans received him with smile, l..
as they did not know English. they w.,. :.
able to understand what he wanted. unit, !
made it clear BY pantomimic action, wh.,
vas given the hammer with a heart a..
half" as he put it himself. Having r.o.h.,
the defences Of his own trench he br.,I'
back the hammer to the Germans, and th.,.'
he might give them "a bit o! his mind.,v ~.
out offence, as they did not know vbnL
was saying.
Here's your hammer. and thanks" s,i1,.
High hanging to the man that caused a..
war-ye know who mean-snd may v. 4
all soon busily at work hammerins nail, IN.
his coffin"
Many touching stories might be told Of IA.
sympathy which unitcs the combatsn,, VII.
they find themselves lying side BY "A.
wounded and helpless. in shen.ho., a..
copses or on the open plain after an .nr,,.
ment. The ruling spirit which animate, n.
soldier in the fury of the fight is. a, !.
seems to me, that of self-preservation. p.
kills or disables SO that he may not Be tin..
or disabled himself Each side. in their an.
opinion, are waging purely defensv. ,.,
So it is that the feeling OF hostility uh.
sides. once the sense Of danger is rnov.a
by the enemy being put out Of action, and ,,,.
side sees in its captives not devils or b.,.
barians, but fellow men.
Especially among the wounded, British "A,
German, do these sentiments prevail, as th,
lie stricken together on the field Of BATH.
In a dim way they ptifuly regard each otAr
as hapless victims caught in the vortex OF II.
greatest of human tragedies. and they SOM,
| times wonder why it was they fought s,t.
other at all. They try to help each other d
ease each others suferings, to stsneh ssa
others wounds; to give each other comfor, |,
their sore distress.
Reconciliation between wounded foemen n
happily. a common occurrence on the strets,
plain. The malignant roar Of the guns mr
still be in their ears, and they may see aroy,t
them bodies battered and twisted out Of 4,
human shape.
All the more are they anxious to testit
that there is no fury in their hearts wit
each other, and that their one wish is to m,s
the supreme parting with prayers and word
of loving kindness on their lips.
have had from French officer, who va
wounded in a cavalry charge early in the va
en- account Of pathetic incident which ,osi
place close to where he lay. Among his coz
panions in aff1ction were two who were ir
gone on the way of death. One was priu,
in the Uhlans and the other a private in th
Royal Irish Dragons. The lrishman sa
with a painful effort, from an inside pocte
of his tunic a rosary Of beads which had |,
to mutter to himself the invocations to he
Blessed Virgin, Of which the rosary is eon.
posed
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with
thee; blessed art thou among women, at
blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus
The German, lying huddled close by, stirr.:
with the uneasy movements Of man weai
from pain and loss of blood on hearing th'
murmur of prayer, and, looking round IN
dazed condition, the sight Of the beads IN tn
hands of his fellow in distress seemed q
recall to his mind other times and differed
circumstances family prayers at home some
where in Bavaria, and Sunday evening de
votions in church--for he made, in his owl
tongue, the response to the invocation; "ho!
Mary, Mother of God pray for US sinners n''
at the hour of our death. Amen"
So the voices intermingled in address en-
prayer-the wrapt CALCULATIONS Of the lnN
man, the deep cultural of the German-gs'
ting weaker and weaker, in the process 0
dissolution, until they were hushed on ear.
for ever more.