Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-11-01
AMERICAN PROFESSOR
TELLS OF TRENCH VISIT

VIII iut Wal ldNts
The best answer to this question
heard along the Flanders battle front
by Professor George Herbert Clarke,
who has returned To the chair Of
English at the University Of Ten
nessee, was By South African, who
remarked reAeetiyely; We'll, sir, |
can't rightly say; but it looks TO me
as though this ere war as settled
down now into sort of mstichoo-
shun."
Professor Clarke veutured TO ask
the question all along he firing line.
How long il piece of string?" re.
torted an English statesman.
a certain major did me the honor
TO invite my own conjecture Pro
fessor Clarke says. and, sill better,
agreed with il, but | found. for the
most part. the expected vide diver
sity Of opinion"
Another interesting question arose
on board ship during Professor
Clarkes return from Europe is a
ship safer than the trenches? Ger
tain Canadian officers ON the boat
rgued the negative OF the question,
1ut The university professor was
llach for the affirmative.
Canadian officers said that there
was less danger in trenches because
shells seldom struck the trenches,
and the shot usually went over the
heads OF the men. But Professor
Clr',e was of the opinion thar there
IS .ess risk n ship on the ocean,
erau lhueh he Kaisers sea sharks,
Submarines menace vessels. and
-autj boat be ,orpeioei 1t would
probably pa, be long until passen-
gers W,le tulnl for Davy Jones
iurkey Q.ea hey were in lifeboats
u fife ers.
Tuc dsseiahI town of Yres was
visited rg Pro'essor Clarke while in
tHa wan aua The American imagi.
nation he's been deeply touched by
he tragedy If Belgium" he says.
"lad WltH BE exception of its brutal
bUtagoasfs ail he world sh res that
pity
"}r.s is JUS symbol The towns
body rs HenaipI dead has been
Through 100 cred; hens AM many
lesser ones bi it soul lives on
.inuc. Tine town mayor impressed
ne as precisely the type of man TO
govern Yrfs today He is its mill
Wo'her .o Yres. brave. broad
shodderea Cornlshman. who has
risen from uBr ranks end WHO al
ministers the affairs of his ruined
borough with a pride and zeal that
are not short of beautiful He is not
wholly obsessed by military values;
he does not wish the visitor TO miss
the rare places OF Yres that are still,
in their grim setting, more or less
visible.
The other day he helped Bel
gian to discover his little hoard OF
francs that had been buried in the
town during the first bombardment.
He shows firm judgment and instant
sympathy as each Is needed. II Yres
is Belgium, he-English as he isis
ircs brave, steady. enduring and
confident Looking up whimsically
at shell that seemed 10 me to burst
intentionally near tbut then, they
all sounded like that), he remarked:
An, high explosive; thought as
much. Perhaps you had better be
going now And we went with a
sense of abiding regard for this
sturdy soldier. while a deafening
crash close by announced that the
British guns had something urgent to
say to the enemy, something that
could not wait"
The word Somme similarly has ex.
banded into novel and grotesque
symbol, Professor Clarke says For
the Somme Is a Dantcan desOldtiOn
extending mile beyond mile-a desc.
lation of splintered tree trunks, strip
! ped, woebeg0ne boughs, churned mp
subs0ls that look like plague spots
upon the corpse Of earth. | though
/ OF 0oleridge's 'rotting sea The ad.
1 iectiye is pale and ineffective here !
hought OF Brownings 'Chide Re
land
But there is another side TO the
armme picture: brisk movement at
the appropriate spots is not wanting
as there is distant train hauling it's
FREIGHT, German prisoners working
the roads: guns volieying overhead.
he Army Service Corps, carrying on
Win 'tr never ceqs'ng string Of lum.
hnr'nr l0rries. and. perhaps most
completes" ''rer'ing Of ALL the mo-
WeuNu sUrca"ance Of Kenmkv
mule ~ - CIV line. tossing his heels
IN 500 abnnio0cl ecstacy.
'essor Clarke was connected
WI' ~ 'ute'l'acrdh nenartwent OF
'1 Nr'trh W"r ONCE In the war
zone.