The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1917-02-16

mont-Fleury for two months in the
first line trenches without days
rest. He said. eve had no water
there at all for washing purposes
During all that time we could moi
wash our face and hands and we Of
ten drank water found in holes dug
by shells. One night" and his smile
broadened, 1--WE made delicious coffee
from water from one of these pools
but in the morning we found a Ger
man corpse had been sojourning there
for some time. We were rather dis
gusted, but the doctor assured US that
since the water was boiled the
"boche' could not hurt us-and in
deed he didn't"
In spite of the horror of his story
we were obliged to laugh with him
He added that often they could have
had water if they had walked three
or four miles, but as they were al
ways too tired and as the road was
in full view of the Germans, they pre-
ferred to do without it.
He was on the water chapter, so
he went on telling his experiences
with it, all of them amusing. zone
sunny morning went up ground to
enjoy a cigarette, when, to my dis
gust, l saw an officer washing him.
self in full pail of clear, lovely
water. l was thinking what bad
officer he was to spoil good drinking
water, when he turned around and I
recognized an old friend. He had
won many honors on the battlefield
but | could not get rid of my first i'm
preston, so l told him what I had
been thinking. He laughed, and said
he could give me all the water |
needed, as squad of men went reg
ularly to the river and came back
with ample quantities. I told him
drinking water was the only kind ]
needed-that was not such a syba-
rite as he-and that if he wanted tc
make me present l would much pre-
fer some candles, as sometimes the
darkness of the trenches filled me
with horror"
But the funniest of all these water
stories was that of the doctors bath
which set all the regiment to laugh
ing and is still a subject for merri
ment.
"That DOCTOR" he said, ais lthe
bravest of men. He goes out unde1
direct fire to attend the wounded
He is father to his men, but he ha!
a mania for cleanliness. He woul.
rather use his water for washing
| than drinking, and every morning h,
uses about a pint of it for his ablu
tions. First, one of the soldier!
pours half of the precious liquid or
his hands, then the rest is used or
his face. But one morning he hat
nearly a gallon, so he decided tt
take g bath. For this operation he
poured the water into his sleeping
bag (called meat, bag in the slang
of the trenches), crawlcd in after il
and wallowed about in the bag. II
was the funniest sight I ever saw
All our company turned out to watcf
the ceremony and we will never forget
the poor doctor, shaking himself
about in the bag, trying to make the
water reach all parts of his anatomy
When he came out of it he was
blacker and dirtier than ever, fol
he had slept in that bag for tw,
years, and you can imagine its con
dition."
The boy jumped abruptly from one
subject to another and sometimes his
recollections were of the most tragic
kind. But his ever-present smile re
moved the horror from the tales
though we could not help shuddering
He told of the tremendous fight
around Verdun, especially at THAI
mont and Fleury, which at the last
bore all the brunt of the battle. The
artillery fire was so terrific, he said
that hills of dead bodies separated