Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-12-01

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had twc months more cf wSathk 6A|
the eomme. There might have booase
different stoey to tell.
s6itRpllAsd Medicine.
We eoe drafts Of recruits before ~
went 70 the Somme, and some Of our
wounded men were sent back to- 0hg1
land, where we had left our "safety
first battalion" That was really The.
Fifty-drst battalion Of the Fourth divti
sion Of the Canadian forces, composed
Of the physically rejected. men recov4
ering from wounds and men injured
In training. The Tommies. however,
called It the safety nrst" OF 'Ma3oH
Gilday's Light infantry" Major gu
day was our battalion surgson. He.
was immensely popular. ana ~
achieved . great name for himself. HA
made ono realize what great psEl
sonal force . doctor can be and what
an unnecessary elaboration there = n
the civil practice Of medicine.
Under Major Gilday's administ5atioa
no man In our battalion was sick Il h(
couid walk, ana ii No couldn't We -
there was q reasonable suspicion thai
he was drunk. The major slmplided
medicine down to an exact science o.
two forms Of treatment and two rena1
edies-'number Mines" and whale OIL
aNumber nines'' were pale oval pills
which, If they had been eggs, would
have run about eight to an omelet Tor
six persons. They had an internal
effect which could only be defined a.
dynamic. After our men had become
acquainted with them through pses
sonal experience they stopped calling
them number mines" and called them
"whiz.bangs." There were only two
possibilities Of error under Major GIL
days system Of simplhed medicine,
One was to take q whiz-bang for
trench feet and the other to use whale
oil externally for some form Of Digs
tional hesitancy. And In either case
no permanent harm could result while
the error was as simple Of correction
az the command "about face" Blighty
was therefore not very popular With
our battalion, blighty being the trench
name for the hospital.
Two weeks and half after we LEFT
Belgium ne arrived at Albert, having
marched all the way. The sight which
met our eyes a. we rounded the rock
quarry hill outside of Albert was won-
derful beyond description. I remem1
Der how tremendously 1t impressed my,
pal, Mcfarland. He sat BY the road
side and looked round over the land.
scape a. II he were fascinated.
"Boy," said he, "ws're at the big
show at Last"
Poor fellowi It was not only the
big show, but the last performances
for him. Within sight Of the spot
where he sat wondering he later fell
In action and died. The scene which
80 impressed him gave us all feeling
of great awe. Great shells from q
thousand guns were streaking and
criss-crossing the sky. Without glasses
I counted thirty-nine Of our observa1
ton balloons. Away of In the dis
lance I saw one German captive BALI
loon. The other aircraft were un-
countable. They were everywhere. api
parently in hundreds. There could
have been no more wonderful PAM
Drama picture Of war in its new aspect.
Our battalion was in and out Of the
town Of Alert several days waiting
for orders. The battle Of Courceletts
was then In progress, and the First
Second and Third Canadian divisions
were holding front positions at terri'
bic cost. In the first part Of October,
1915 we went in opposite the n
nous Regina trench. The battle-ground
was Just miles and miles Of debris
and shell holes. Before we went to
our position the officers and nOncoms
were taken in by scouts to get the lay
Of the land. These trips were called
Cooks tours" On one Of them !
went through the town Of Poziefes
twice and didn't know 1t. It had
population Of $4,000 before the war.
On the spot where it had stood not
even a whole brick was left, it seemed.
Its demolition was complete. That
was an example of the condition Of the
whole country over which our forces
had blasted their way for ten miles
since the previous July. There were
not even landmarks left.
The Cooks Tour"
On the night that we, went II @
inspect the positions we were to hold.
our scouts, leading US through the nat
desert of destruction, got completely
turned round and took NJ back through
q trench composed Of shell holes con-
nected up Until we ran into battalion
of another brigade. The place Wa
dreadful beyond words. The stencil
Of the dead was sickening. In many
places arms and legs Of dead men
stuck out Of the trench walls.
lContinued on Page seven.1
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