American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-12-14

But All the Time I Had Mine | Never
Saw Another Sign of Gas.
me suddenly that it was the gas. The
officer who had left a few minutes be-
fore poked him head down and shouted,
run like h; it's the gas
By this time l could hardly see, and
l was doing some tall old scrambling
to get out of hat place. l would hold
my breath as long as 1 could, and her
I'd take another breath through my
khaki handkerchief. When 1 got out
side I found that everything was Gov
cred with a greenish yellow haze, and
1 couldn't see three feet in front Of me.
I ran In the direction Of the place l
had left my car, and 1 struck 1t the
first shot. Perhaps / wasn't thankful
1 had left the engine running! l jump
ed in and started down that road for
all l was worth, and before 1 had gone
100 yards I was off the road and stuck
In a plowed field. l was clear of the
gas, though, and that was all l cared
about.
l waited there for two hours before
any one appeared, and when a fatigue
party finally came along the road I had
them help me get the car out. They
got eight horses, and we hitched them
on to the back. 1 raced my machine,
and the horses pulled, and after half
an hours work the car was back on
the road again.
No sooner had they gone than my
officer showed up safe and sound and
we started back for camp.
1t was a terrible experience, and W.
were absolutely helpless, as we had
not been furnished with the respirators
and gas helmets at that time. We Sc
cured these things soon after, but all
the time l had mine | never saw an
other sign of gas.
l found u afterward that those W
officers who had been in the dugout
were both killed by the gas.
The officer who was with me at the
time Of the gas attack was one of the
most remarkable men l ever met. For
several years before the war he had
been in the British secret service in
Germany. so he spoke German almost
as well as he did English.
One day we stopped at a hospital in
Bailleul. and one of the orderlies told
us that there were some German
wounded there. The officer asked m
if l would like to go in and see them.
l said l would like it very much, so we
went in. There was one poor devil all
by himself among some English pa
tents. The officer went over and sat
on the edge Of his bed and began to
talk to him.
If you could have seen that poor fell
lows face when he heard himself ad-
dressed in his own language. His
whole c%ountenance lighted up, and he
began to talk. Pretty soon the tears
began to run down his cheeks. and I
felt awfully sorry for the poor chap,
who was away from all his own PEG
pie. severely wounded.
He said that he had just been mar
ried before the beginning of the war.
and he and his wife had saved all they
could. and two days before he was
called up they had bought a COW. He
was as worried as he could be for fear
something had happened to the COW.
The bombardment of Ypres began the
night Of the April day we experienced
the gas. and with the bombardment be-
gan the infantry attack. l was up at a
little place called Rheninghlest. and 1
could hear the rifles and machine guns
at it for all they were worth. 1 was
thanking my lucky stars that l was on
my car instead of a motorcycle ma
chine gun. when an orderly rode up and
told me that l was to report at head
quarters at once.
All the way back to camp l had the
feeling that something was going TO
happen. and when l arrived there 1
was told to report myself to the signal
company for duty with my motorcycle.
Then | knew that | was 70 carry dis
patches through the coming battle.
l wish TO make particular note of the
fact that at the beginning of this bat
tie. which lasted three weeks, we dis
patch riders numbered thirty-One in all
for our corps. Half IN hour later we
were fully equipped and on our way t.
the advanced report center, which
would be the scene Of our activities
until the fight vas over.
We were about 500 yards 10 the rear
Of the first line of trenches and were