Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-21

| that we had just come through, and, as
In dream. the horrible sights wo had
witnessed passed rapidly before our
eyes. We could not help thinking of all
the men VIC knew so well who had gone
West. and wondering what had hap
pened to our friends in other parts
CT the line. 1t did not seem possible
that the whole regiment. and perhaps
! the division. had suffered such terrible
losses as our own company had en-
dured.
We were rudely awakened from our
rcvero by being ordered to climb into
truck of the little train standing on
tho tracks of the engineers railway
close by. The train consisted of II small
/ engine and four cars, which were about
five feet wido and ten feet long and
closed In TO the height of two feet. On
either side was n wooden bench. II was
only n step from the ground UP, but
that was more than l could manage in
/ my weak condition. Two German off,
GERS who had been standing close by
saw my predicament and gavo mo u
! hoist up. / was so grateful for this
/ little attention that l gave them my
gas masks as souvenirs. ] expected to
have them taken from me, 50 did not
! mind giving them to somo one who had
/ been kind 90 Inc.
FOR PARTS UNKNOWN
Before long the train was loaded and
We started off for parts unknown. sit
ting across from Wells and myself was
"A little fair German who was in "a terri
bic state of shell shock. ON either side
was "A big burly chap holding linn by
the arm. At frequent intervals the lit
tlo fellow would roll his eyes and writhe
| in frantic attempt to escape from his
] On Ig ,,1th ha1
for him. but were glad TO know that
our artillery was giving them a little OF
their own back.
There were also Il few slightly wound
ed Germans OH tho train and some 9TH
ers evidently going back on duty of
| some sort They seemed highly pleased
about II and lit up their pipes and Ci-
gars. ono man sitting next to us was
apparently interested. and seeing by the
looks OH our faces that We were dying
for II smoke gave us each IA cigar. We
murmurcd "Dlnko schoen' and lit up.
They were filthy weeds, probably made
of cabbage leaf chemically treated. but
they tasted good 10 US. Three OF these
are issued TO the German soldiers as
part of their daily rations.
1T was quite dark as the little train
wandered slowly back past numerous
gun positions from which there came
increasingly tho long red tongues OF
flame as tho guns fired.
We often turned around TO tako a
look at the place on which tho artillery
was directing it's fire. The ground
sloped gradually up to tho front-line
trenches. The whole skyline was bril-
Qantly lit by the flash of exploding
shells, illuminating flares and red and
green S. .. :. signal lights which were
continually going up all along the line
We knew by this that our artillery was
pounding the new German trenches and
that theyShad the wind up" The dis
play was wonderful TO watch. but wo
knew only too well what II terrible nigh,
it meant for all those in the front line
About midnight We arrived at what
we judged TO be Mcnin. Hero wo found
some more of our wounded and wo were
all piled into "A motor bus. We were
again seated ON wooden benches and
packed III like sardines. Near tho door
were two or three German scntrics with
fixed bayonets.
The engine of the bus was so wear
that it could not start without assist
! ance. Several German soldiers wer,
; ordered out to lend a hand and with thi
aid of many cultural oaths they at las
got the old ark moving. The driver dareC
not slow down for fear he would nevei
, get started again and we bumped alont
over railway tracks and ruts in til,
road The continual jarring gave ris,
= to many "a muffled groan from those i'll
, side.
Fortunately tho journey across IN,
. town was not long and we soon arrived
at tho main railway station. AS W.
passed along the platform We came tC
; the half-open door of the main waiting
room in which we could see more of ou
men. My heart jumped with excitement
knew that IL We got In there. some o
them might be able TO give me SOM
information about my brother-in- law
and also some of my other friends II
the regiment. However. We We're no
allowed ~ stop. We concluded that ties
men were less severely wounded an'
that the German mania for system an'
D classification would not permit OF GU
= being mixed with them.
We were taken to "A small woodei
, building filled with tables and benches
> where We were told to sit down. w
, sighed with relief. for wo saw we well
. to be given food.
Tho room was lit by electric ligh
and for the first time we were able t
, look around and see who were with US
Sitting next to me was an ofiicer or TN
, First C. NJ. T.. who was badly wounded
! in the head. on the other side wa
m -.
! had not seen since shortly after tn
mine went up. Across the table was
, man with his jaw badly shattered. The,
. were a sad looking crew, covered Wit
bloody bandages and very pale. NO
. body spoke much. They were all think
ing toe hard of how different 1t migh
have been. 1t was midnight, ana
= rhey had been picked up by Canada
> stretcher bearers, by this tino the
a would probably have been in England.
GERMAN WAR RArIoNs
r Soon there was a clatter of tin dishe
c and the food appeared. We were l
have our first taste of German wa
. rations. We discovered that there ha
: been no reason to get excited over i
: | Each man was given cup or acor
q coffee without sugar OF milk, of course
4 and a small chunk of black, sogg
4 bread. 1t was the first food We had hl
In thirty hours and we were ravenou
e I sympathized with the poor chap wit
: the shattered jaw, but that didn't al
pease his appetite. What wouldn't
have given for an eggnog and straw
When the banquet was over we a
searched our pockets for cigarettes
Z Those who had them broke them up int
two. or even three, pieces. so that ever
one might have a smoke. i racked III
e brains and at length produced the ser
tence "Durfen wir cigaretten kaufen
(May we buy some cigarettesD bi
gathered from the reply to this that III
cigar stores of the town didn't stay ope
IS All night. SO we settled down to ava
: the next move.
= Fortunately. we did not have long