Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1917-07-06
HOW 1T AFFECTS ONE TO
go OVER THE TOP"
Myriad of Sensations While Waiting
i'll Trenches For II Charge, Told
by Canadian Soldier.

l.ondon-Did you ever have the
combined sensations of waiting in the
attic to be whipped, watching the girl
you're in love with go of with anoth-
CT fellow and standing in the dock
while the jury decides your fate?
If you have, you know what IL is
to he in the trenches, waiting for
charge.
The sensations mentioned are de-
scribcd by Canadian sergeant in
one of the overseas bnttalions, writ
ing to London paper. He says:
/ There's crawley, goo8ey, hun
ger sick, maggoty feeling in The stom-
ach of you; n save the -w0men-und
childrcn-nnd- God holp-mc grip at the
heart. The raw of breaking down
clutches and numbs the brain like the
icy hand Of the grim angel.
"llave you even been three hours
alone in an attic waiting for your
father come home and give you the
licking of your life? Did you ever see
the only girl you could ever love
going to the theatre with another fcl-
low? Did you ever sit (or is il
stand y in the dock mmbly waiting
for the jury to say whether you did
or you did not? Eth? Well, Just roll
these delightful sensations all into
one, plaster few shovelfuls of the
sticky, clnmmy mud around your legs
and hands mot Forgetting to save n
little for your rife); then finish off
neatly with dash of ice and slcct
from the North Pole and roll into an
"assembly trench" in front of your
own front line in No ans Land. This
is probably the feeling you will have
whicl waiting TO go over"
a few centuries pass. You notice
such trivial things as that your put
tees are getting frayed. All! well, all
the easier to get new pair when
you 20 on leave. Leave? God save
us! You poor, miserable microbc,
you're just awaiting your execution.
Some Blasted Fool is Trying to Smile.
Ages roll by. Some blasted fool is
trying to smilc-thc same CHASTITY
contortion of the facial muscles you
would expect when caught by phys
ically III and antiprohibition coalhcav-
er i'm the arms Of his wife.
More gloom, more wintry blasts
more deep depths"
Swish, swish, swish. Rapidly, say
in half second.
"Thcre she goes" whispers an old
hand in your ear. "She's opened up"
| Some one from somewhere makes
a sign, and in about second you are
actually cover the top" in No Mans
Land, face set toward--well, whatev-
er it happens to be. You are SUR
prised to find that your blood still
circulates, that you can leap, crawl,
stagger onward-forward. And in
what seems to be minute of time
you are close up to "his" front line.
You are glad he's putting up scrap.
You flop quickly into shell hole and
peep cautiously over the top. You
are suddenly conscious that your COM
rades on your right and left are doing
the same. There is no need to worry,
the stride for the last leap. Just a
minute.
You are conscious of some one by
your side for the first time Why is
he rolling his head around in that
idiotic manner, as though overcome
by sleep? He is grinning. Ah there
is hole through his neck. 1t is the
grinning of death. BY Jove! It's
Jimmy. You are not shocked OF griev-
ed-just surprised. The shock and
grief will come later.
You find yourself moving again
(the wait having occupied a minute
or so), and that every one else is
moving along the line. Also Fritz
is moving, and that as fast as fear
and the first law of nature will carry
! him. Then begins the big hunt. But
that is another story.
/ The official reports will grandilo-
| ouently state that HWe advanced on a
i front Of" etc., The special war COR
sppnieemtly W storeds spp 'H But. DVSa yS
want wan It in the vernacular Of the ar
imy, you merely went cover the top