davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-10
THE RECRUIT

Dedicated to Co. II, Sixth Mo.
SEE Corporal Madden to Private Nc
Fadden:
"Bedad, yer bad un!
Now turn out yer toes!
Yer belt is unhookit,
Yer cap is on crookit,
Ye may not be drunk,
But be jabbers We look it.
Wan-two!
Ye monkey faced devil, I'll jolly We
through
Wan-two!
Time! Mark!
Ye march like the aiglc in Cintheral
park"
SEE Corporal Madden to Private Nc
Fadden:
"a saint it would sadden
To drill such a mug
Eyes front!-ye baboon We,
Chin up, We gossoon, vel
Halt! ye leather Tipped loon, ye!
Wan-two!
Wan-two!
Ye whiskered orang-outang, I'll fix
you!
Wan-two!
Time! Mark!
Ye've eyes like bat!--can we see in
the dark ?"
SEE Corporal Madden 70 Private Nc
Fadden:
eyer fingers wants paddin'--
Sure, man, we've no shape!
Behind We yer shoulders
Stick out like two boulders;
Yer Sims is as thin
AS g pair OF penholders!
Wan-two!
Wan--two!
Yer belly belongs on yer back, yo
Sioux!
Wan-two
Time! Mark!
I'm dhry as . dog-I can't sphake
but | bark"
SEE Corporal Madden TO Private ne
Fadden:
"Me heart it would gladden.
To blacken yer eye.
Ye're gettin' too bold, yc
Compel me to scold ye-
'Tis halt! that say
Will We heed what told We?
Wan-two!
Wan-twoi
Be jabbers, Pm dhrycn than Brian
Boru!
Wan-two!
Time! Mark!
What's worruk for chickens is sport
for the lark"
"Ill not stay q gaddin'
Wild dagoes like you!
Pm dying for-wather;-
Can We loan me a quarther?
Yas-as, you.
What-two?
And yen pay the Pothecn? Ye're a
daisy Whurro!
You'll do!
Whist! Mark!
The regiments fattered to own We,
me spark"
Robert William Chambers, in
Dexter Statesman.
The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-10

HARRINGTON MILLING co.
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in
Flour, Meal, Bran and Ship-Stuff.
The names of the flour that you get
at home are: Golden Rod, Snow Drop,
Blue Label and FarmilcO Self-Rising.
Phone IA
The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-10
ALBERT HILLIKER

House, Sign and Decorative Painter
Paper Hanging and Picture Framing
Estimates furnished. Satisfaction
Guaranteed. Come in and let US fig
ure on your work. Phone Four.
The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-10
FOR SALE

] have fine quality of home grown
tobacco for sale. R. E. Hope, Route
l, Pennington, Mo. 26-5t.
The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-10
Do you believe in the
"RUY Ar HOME"

doctrine? If you do you should have
a space in this department. 1t costs
YOU but Csc week. The subject mat
ter will be changed each week.
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

outside of Ypres. l was In the town
when the first shells landed, and the
panic they created was something ter
rible to witness.
Men, women and children seemed to
have but one idea, and that was to get
out as quickly as possible. Old women
would go staggering along with their
belongings tied in each end of a bed
sheet and the whole thing slung around
their neck. The streets were crowded
with them. Men were driving pigs and
chickens before them and the women
leading and carrying children. The
roads were Uttered With dead and dy-
ing, wounded horses screaming their
horrible scream and kicking. The din
was terrible. Shells would burst in the
roads cholsed with people, but the mo-
mentary gap would Immediately fill
and the panic stricken people would
sweep over their own dead.
At the time | couldn't seem to real
lie what was happening. l felt numb
all over, but with an awful terror grip
ping me. and ! longed TO turn and fly.
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

Of his service had been done In India,
30 he knew the ropes pretty well.
AS loon as we were of duty we three
made for the nearest estaminet Tor
small cafe) In the Flemish town. We
We're just putting away some bread
and eggs and coffee when the general
commanding the division walked in
with two of his officers. OF course
we jumped to attention and were about
to withdraw. but he told US to finish
our meal.
We were the only British troops to
land at Ostend, and, being the first the
Belgians In that part had ever seen,
we attracted a great deal of attention.
Our horses aud equipment seemed to
amaze them. They would come up
and handle the saddlery and ask, off
cier?' When we would tell them that
1t was just a troopers equipment and
that all the others were the same they
could not seem to get over it.
Although it was after 4 o'clock In
the morning, everybody seemed to be
up and at work. The Belgian peasant
has no interest In the eight hour law.
He works from before daylight until
long after dark. The peasants seem to
be very poor, and a franc mean more
to them than several dollars would to
our farmers.
We left Ostend about 0 o'clock in a
hurry. No one seemed to know where
we were going, and all sorts OF wild
rumors were flying. As a matter of
fact, we left at 0 and the Germans
were in there at 6 the same night, but
we didn't know this until long after
ward. The Belgians were nos kind
to us. They would bring us bread,
eggs, wine, ETC., and would not take
any pay for the things. They were
kindness itself and couldn't seem to
do enough for us.
We did most of Dur travelling at
night, and it wasn't much fun. We
were not allowed to show a light OF
any kind and were even forbidden to
smoke. AS I said before, we hadn't
any idea where we were going, but we
were all sure we were on our way tc
meet the Germans, and there vas 9
great deal of speculation as to when
the meeting would come.
On the morning of the third day we
came to the town of Roulers. A halt
was called, and we went about max
ing ourselves comfortable. The peo-
pie were extremely cordial, too, and
there was nothing that was too much
trouble for them to do for us. l got
into a house where the man spoke
English. He had been in the shipping
business in Antwerp and knew a great
many of the firms my father had dealt
with. : really felt quite at hogae.
They asked me If l thought they had
better move or whether the Germans
would ever get as far as Roulers. III
never forget how / scorned the idea
and assured them that they were as
safe there as they would be in Eng
land.
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26
PREFACE.

Prior to my arYiual IN Eng
land the idea of participating IN
the great foar had neper entered
ny head. IWent abroad ON bust
ness, and / expected to return
to this country as soon al my
porE soGs completed. 1t seemed.
though, that fate decreed other
toise. / had been IN England q
good mGny times before, and IN
France and Belgium, too, for
that matter. Ny father aoGs. q
sea captain, and l soGs born
aboard his ship. In fact, I HOed
the first sfr years Of my Nfe on
shipboard. This last trip across
the Atlantic made the tsoenty-
third time for me, so I pa quite
at home In the British isles. Al
most before / kneto 1t / had tax
en- the step that soas responsible
for the most terrible get aoon-
derfuI experience that ever came
to me
In telling rny story haze tried
to take the important epentS and
set them doson In chronological
order. / haze endedpored also
to link them together so as to
make 1t possible for the reader
to foIoso me through the princi-
pal happenings during my time
of serpice. Many of the more
sordid details of this great Dat
/ haze been obliged to Leave out.
/ haze dDeIt neither ON the hor-
rors of aoGr nor yet on the glory,
but I haze tried to picture the
daily routine of the fighting
mans Ute as 1t really Is.
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26
CHAPTER II.
First Time Under Fire.

THAT afternoon about 4 O'Clock
shells began to drop into the
town, and we made q quick exit.
1t was my first time under fire, and it
was far from being agreeable. had
very often wondered whether l would
be scared or not. Well, | found out
then. and / certainly was scared. Since
then l have often wondered about that
family and what they would think of
me for advising them that they were
In nc danger.
1t didn't take US long to move, and
it is a good thing it didn't, for as
We were leaving the town we could
see the Germans coming over the hill
about four miles away. We Won
but apparently u time was not yet.
Ny duties were very light. Attached
to Captain Colvin, l had the care of
his horse and saddlery and had to ride
behind him wherever he went when
mounted. That is about all | had to
do. OF course when the regiment went
into action my duty would be to fol-
low the captain.
Eventually we arrived at a little
place called Zillebeke, and it was here
that we Joined up with the Seventh
infantry division. There was very lit
tie doing, and nobody seemed to know
just what we were going to do. Our
chaps went out IN patrols every day,
and occasionally they would run into
a German patrol, and there would be
a scrap.
During our stay at Zillebeke it was
decided that all unframed men were
to be returned to England to finish
their training, and it looked very much
as if l vas going to land back in that
riding school after all. While the mat
ter was still undecided the driver of
General Byng's car was killed, so /
went to the captain and told him |
could drive a car, and offered my
services. He put In a word for me
and l was given the car. but only until
q regular driver could be secured.
1t was while | was driving this car
that 1 saw the city of Ypres for the
first time. There had not been a shell
in the place get, and it certainly was
a fine old town.
One afternoon | was waiting in the
car for some staff officer in the Grand
place when I heard a lot of shooting
and shouting. | looked oyer in the
direction of the noise and saw that
some of cur troops were all firing into
the air. And there, above, was the first
German taubef l had eve seen. The
pilot was flying very low and within
easy rife range, so l got excited and
dragged out my rifle and began firing
at him too. His machine, / heard aft
e1ward, was absolutely riddled with
bullets and he was wounded In three
places. That was my first shot at a
German. 1t vas In Ypres, too, that ]
saw 700 Of the Prussian guard brought
in, and l must say that they were some
Of the finest looking soldiers | have
ever seen. They were all great big
fellows, and u infantry chaps looked
mighty small beside them.
1t was soon after this that the Ger
mans got their forces together and
made their first attack on our positions
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26


head and tail and legs and everything.
Why, / wouldn't trust you blighters to
drive my duck to water. There isn't
one of you who could ride a table,"
etc. We were dismissed$at 4:30 and
told that this was our routine for ev-
cry day until we had passed out and
earned our saddles.
l don't think l was ever so tired In
my life as l was that night, and I de-
cided to turn In right after supper.
That shows how much I knew about a
barTack room. After supper all those
who couldn't get permission to go out
seemed to blame it On me, for l was
battered around until they were tired
of it, and when l finally got into my
bed 1 was In a pretty bad way.
| o found u that it was futile
to try to get even. Such an attempt
only made matters worse, and the only
thing to do seemed to be to grin and
bear it. The next morning we went
down to riding school again and had
the same old drill all day, except that
In the afternoon they turned us around
SO that our backs were toward the
horses heads and made us ride that
way the rest Of the day.
AS I was crossing the parade ground
in the evening a fellow who was in
my room asked me how I felt I told
him In two words.
"Well," he said, "if you want to be
let alone you do as I tell you. Tonight
when you go into the room pick out
the biggest man you car find and don't
say anything, but just walk up and
paste him with all your might. You
may get licked, and you may not, but
you won't have much trouble after
ward, whichever way it comes out"
Well, l didn't know whether I'd have
the nerve to do 1t or not, but the more
1 thought about it the more l thought
he might be right. l hadn't passed
through the door to the barracks be-
fore the kidding started again, and I
knew what would follow.
So l screwed up all the courage l
had, and, seeing a big chap who was
making a lot of talk, l swung as hard
as / could and let him have 1t. l
won't say anything about what hap
pened to me, but the next afternoon l
found I'd been unlucky, as usual. The
man 1 had picked was a heavyweight
champion of the British army in South
Africa during the Boer war! Things
were much better after that, though,
and / made some mighty good friends
among those fellows.
At first 1T amused me greatly to hear
the men talk about the regiments they
belonged to, but later I came to under
stand that their regiments meant more
to them than anything else. In peace
time when a man Joins the army be Is
obliged to learn the history of the regi-
ment he joins from the day 1t was
formed to the present day. Tradition
plays a great part in the life Of a reg
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26
CHAPTER l.
Sent to the Front.

HXACTLY one week from. a certain
from the United States I was
notified that my job was gone, as the
company that l represented was In
the hands OF receivers.
1 was disappointed, Of course, but
tried to look at the thing philosophical
~ and to make the best Of It I bought
my ticket for home. but as the boat
On which l intended sailing did not
leave for several days l proceeded to
enjoy the remainder of. my stay In
England.
Things were certainly moving at that
time. Very soon l was as enthusiastic
as any Of them, and in London 1 made
inquiries as to whether I could Join
the army.
1 was told that l would have no diff
ficulty at all, but on second thought I
decide | to let well enough alone The
day before l was to sail from Liver
pool l hesitated again and talked 1t
over with IN army officer. he was SO
nice about explaining everything to me
that l decided that / might do lots of
worse things than to see a little of
the biggest scrap the world had ever
known.
That night | thought about the mat
ter some more and came to the conclu-
sion that If they would take me into
a cavalry regiment / would haye a
try at it. The next morning | enlisted
~a.6 rya made n fpnnnnr In tho Fifth
Dragon guards. That same afternoon
I was IN my way to Aldershot, but
had / known what / vas going to go
through l don't think l would have
been so light hearted rs / was. In the
evening l was fitted out with my en-
tire kit and informed that from now OF
I was a soldier.
/ was assigned to a bed In the bar
racks, and from that time my trou-
bles commenced. | was In with a
crowd off old soldiers, men who had
served from two to twenty years in
the army, and, while they were very
decent chaps, they seemed to resent
the fact that a "civie" had been pushed
in on them. l was at once christened
1u0K, anu L Dellefe Luey lOulu n
few other things to call me too.
The next morning at 5 o'clock the
sergeant came around and dug me out.
He took me down to the stables and
put me in with a bunch OF rockies who
weren't any happier than a We
were then instructed in the gentle art
of grooming a horse. l couldn't seem
to do anything right, and they didn't
hesitate to tell me so either.
Then we were marched down to a
breakfast of bread, bacon and tea, but
we had as much rs we wanted. l felt
a whole lot better after eating. Break
fast over. we had room inspection, and
as soon as that was over we who were
rockies were marched down to the rid
ing school and handed e to the ty-
rant who ruled there.
l had expected to find horses all sad
died, and 1t certainly was quite a shock
to learn that we got our saddles only
when we had cared them. In other
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

~ SS0Na hAIS
This Windmill Started &c Go.
what, they still came on. 1t was Ger
tainly a ~despairing feeling to be
streaming bullets into the Germans
and see them still advance. After
several minutes of this the whistles
blew for cease fire" aud our infantry
jumped the parapet and went after
them with the bayonet- They broke
the attack right there, and. more than
that, they took w lines Of German
trenches.
A few days after this an Incident
occurred that, to my way of thinking,
was one of the most wonderful things
that ever happened. Volunteer dis
patch riders for dangerous work.
were called for. About eighteen of
our chaps offered themselves, and of
L all were accepted. A dispatch
was TO be carried about two miles
along the road which follows the bank
of the User canal. This road was con-
stantly being swept by German ma
chine gun and rifle fire. The dispatch
was to be handed to a French COM
mander who was waiting for it.
The first man was given a copy Of
the dispatch. and be started out with
1t. This road ran right under the
nose of the Germans aud was in full
view of their trenches all the way.
1t was so swept by machine gun and
rifle fire that it seemed as if no one
could possibly live through a hundred
yards of it.
The first man started and was soc
out of sight. They waited In vain for
a certain length Of time for a signal
,(To Be C~ontinued.l
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

could escape being sent back to Eng
land was to be transferred to the
army service corps. This corps, the
royal engineers and the royal army
medical corps, are the three largest
corps in the British army. When you
join the A. S. c. you are never sure
just what you will be let in for, be-
cause as a rule an A. S. c. man is eli
gible for general enlistment, and that
means that he may be used for any
branch of the service when he is
needed.
My luck had held good so far, and [
decided that might as well push 1t a
little bit more, and so | got transferred.
| found that | was to be attached to
the staff of the Fifth army corps, but
as that corps was not yet In the coun-
try l was used for anything that turn
ed up.
1t became known that l could ride a
motorcycle. and so | was temporarily
attached as a spare rides TO motor ma
chine gun section No. 8. These ma
chimes are simply motorcycles with a
side car attached. but instead of a nice
cushioned seat ON the side car there is
a little bucket seat for a gunner and a
machine gun. The gunner and rider
are entirely In the open, as 1t would be
impossible for SO small a machine to
carry any protection. l went out on
several practice runs. and one night
about II o'clock we were called to take
four of the guns up to the trenches in
a hurry.
l thought | had had some thrilling
rides in my time. but never imagined
anything to equal that II We car
ried no lights and had to fly through
the inky blackness. guessing at the
road. Several times we got stuck and
my mate and / dragged the machine
out of the ditch and few on again.
Eventually we reached the place on
the Menin road known as hell fire corr
ner," and / think the name must have
been given 1t from It's condition that
night. As the star shells went up the
whole place would be almost as light
as day. The Germans were Smelling
the road and the air was filed with
all kinds of missiles.
That road was literally a death trap,
and how so many came out without be-
ing touched is one of the mysteries that
never can be explained. We could hear
two of the guns which had got there
before US In action further up the road.
We continued to feel our way along
until we came to where our officer was
waiting for us. He showed us our po-
sition and went back to look for the
machine that had not yet arrived.
Our position was in a ditch just by
a place where the road had been cut
by an old support trench. We eased
the machine into the ditch and got her
firmly fixed. Our officer came DASH
ing back and told us to cover the road
where 1t led out from the German
trenches. Then it was simply a CASE
Of wait until they started to advance
from that quarter.
We sat there for two hours before
we saw any signs of activity, but
when it did come it came with a rush.
Hundreds of Germans seemed to rise
from nowhere, and that road was lit
orally erammed with them.
Dick, the gunner, opened at the first
sign. and the machine guns from u
trenches were pouring 1t into them
too. They went down In hundreds,
and. while our fire checked them ome
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

words, we had to pass the bareback
test before we even felt a saddle.
There were no long explanations as to
how a thing should be done. We We're
told once and In as few words as pos
sible. Then we had to do It.
After we had mastered the art of
vaulting on a horses back we got the
walk march," then the ''trot march,"
Then we had to drop the reins and ride
with folded arms, and SO it went until
II o'clock, when we got an hours rest.
1t was the same thing in the after
noon.
All one could hear was the rid
ing master singing his commands:
walk, march. Trot, march! Halt"
And every once in awhile he'd yell:
Hollow your backs! Hollow your
backs! You're not driving a cab now.
That's a horse you're on. He's got a
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

Tho Germans Were In There at 6 the
Same Night.
hard biscuits all the way over, SO the
first place we sought when off duty
was a restaurant.
! had -chummed up with a fellow
named Harry McGarrow and also with
the heavyweight. The latter was an
old soldier and had served more than
twenty years In the army. Nine years
Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26
s.Mh.g
FOURTEEN
MONTHS
X AT II
TffE:FR0NT
An American Boys
Baptism of Fire
By WILLIAM ]. ROBINSON
By WILLIAM ]. ROBINSON
An American Boys
Baptism of Fire
Copyright. Little. Brown & Co,

The most graphic account of tho
great war that has yet been written
comes from the pen Of a t~wenty-two-
year-old Boston boy. who has just re-
turned from France, where as dragon
guardsman. dispatch rider and motor
car driver he served fourteen months
under the British flag. Out Of thirty
one motorcycle dispatch riders he was
one OF four survivors.
The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1917-07-13

Cooking for an army IL diffcrcn,
from cooking for hotel or n log.
sing camp. according TO Cook
Briggs.
Variety 10 Constant Aim
The Job" said he. rs TO give
them variety 80 they won't get
tired Of the food. when you're only
given certain things 20 do 4, with. q"
briggs manages TO give variety
f by cooking the same thing In DIFF
fcfcn, ways. Rice. for instance.
may De one thing one day and
I something else again the next.
Further variety Ia uninientional.
~ added by the men themselves.
who have nsw names for old
things.
Beans Are Berries"
Coffee In the American lake
camp IL "Jamoc": presumably q
contraction OF Java and Mocha.
Beans are berries"
Bread 10 dummy. why. Briggs
doesn't know.
II Is easier To understand why
hash IL mystery"
Sugar IN sand: beef. canned
While: milk. canned COW. ba.
con IL overland trout"
Meal-time is Chow time: and
the Kitchen police" or soldiers dc.
tailed To dishwashlng and similar
work. are "dog-robbcra.
| Th.x atars, -. n. g.. -
the DAYS when Colonel nill' lnglis
was boy. or he would have Joined
them. Ho did Join the first mill.
,ary organization he could got into.
namely. the high school cadets. IN
Seattle He continued his career
a. university cadet. and then
graduated into the National Guard.
And nov he Ia absolute czar OF
the entire mobilization camp at
Cosgrose. on American lake.
Some bears are Just naturally
born lucky. That's how II was
with Cnloxico and Mcxicali. brother
and sister respectively. the baby
boar mascots OF Company c. Sec
ond Washington.
When they we're hardly big
enough to pull at a milk bottle,
they were adopted By the Tacoma
shrincrs and brought from their
native wilds In Grays Harhor coun.
~ to the bright lights Of the city.
And only n little while afterward.
the father Of Lieut.. Hylss Henry
OF North Yakima. being on the
lookout for n suitable mascot to
present TO his sons company, spied
the little bears: and now they are
the petted darlings OF Company c.
and are TO 20 with IL TO the
trenches in France
II says Lieut.. Henry. the
bears will stand for H."