The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1917-07-31

they had sent regular troops like the
Then some sensitive Canadian wish
ed the Australians luck and hoped
they'd finish 1t up as we'll as they had
the affair in the Dardanelles. After
that our two days rest was made up
principally of beating it out Of esta-
minas when strategic requirements
suggested new base or beating it into
estaminas when it looked as If we
could act as efficient re-enforcements
That fight never stopped for forty-eight
hours, and the only places it didn't
include were the church and the hos
pitfalls. I'll bet to this day that the
Belgians who run the estaminas in
Poperinghe will duck behind the bars
if you just mention Canada and Aus
tralia in the same breath.
But I'm bound to say that 1t was
good, clean fighting Nobody fired
shot, nobody pulled bayonet. and no.
body got the wrong idea about any
thing. The Australian heavyweight
champion who landed on me went
right out in the street and saluted one
of our lieutenants. We had just one
satisfying reflection after the fight was
over-the Australian battalion that re-
lieved US fell heir to the counterattack
! which the Germans sent across to even
up on our bombing raid.
Down to the Somme.
We began our march to the Somme
| by a hike to st. Omer, the first Brit
ish headquarters in Europe. Then we
| stopped for a week about twenty miles
| from Calais, where we underwent a
course Of intensified training for open
fighting. The infantry tactics. in
| which we were drilled, were very SINH
| lar to those of the United States army,
| those which, in fact, were originated
| by the United States troops in the days
of Indian fighting. We covered most
| Of the ground around Calais on our
| stomachs in open order. While it may
/ seem impertinent for me, a mere nom
| com, to express an opinion about the
larger affairs of the campaign, l think
| I may be excused for saying that the
! war didn't at all take the course which
was expected and hoped for after the
| fight on the Somme. Undoubtedly the
| allies expected to break through the
| German line. That is well known now.
| While we were being trained near Ca
lais for open warfare a very large
| force Of cavalry was being assembled
Il 10
| was never used.
| That was last August, and the allies
haven't broken through yet. Even
tually / believe they will break
through, but in my opinion men who
are drawn for service in the first
half million of our new American
army will be veterans in Europe before
the big break comes which will wreck
the Prussian hope of success in this
war. And if we of the U. S. A. don't
throw in the weight to beat the Prus-
slams now they will not be beaten, and
in that case the day will not be very
far distant when we will have to beat
them to save our homes and our ma
ton. War is a dreadful and ingloriOus
and i'll smelling and cruel thing. But
if we hold back now we will be in the
logical position of a man hesitating to
go 20 grips with drunken, savage,
shrieking. spewing maniac who has all
but whipped his proper keepers and is
going after the onlooker However.
wish we had had two months more of
weather on the SOmme. There might
have been different story to tell
| Simplified Medicine.
We got drafts of recruits before We
went to the Somme, and some Of Our
wounded men were sent back to Eng.
land, where we had left our safety
first battalion" That was really the
Fifty-first battalion of the Fourth di
vision of the Canadian forces, com
posed of the physically rejected. men
recovering from wounds and men in
jured In training. The TOmmies. how
ever, called it the safety first or MA
jor Gilday's Light infantry" Major
Gilday was our battalion surgeon. He
was immensely popular, and he achiev
ed great name for himself. He made
one realize what a great persona
force a doctor can be and what an un
necessary elaboration there is in the
civil practice of medicine.
Under Major Gilday's administration
no man in our battalion was sick if be
could walk, and if he couldn't WALL
there was reasonable suspicion thai
he was drunk, The major simplihef
medicine down to an exact science Of
two forms of treatment and two rem
edies-"number mines" and whale Oil
Number mines" were pale oval pills
which, if they had been eggs, woult
have run about eight to an omele
for six persons. They had an interna