Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-11-13

We huonoo Sot oUo VouUo tuaS OU0
Of the Guns Had Just Been Fired.
that lifted me OF the table and dumped
me halfway across the room. The
whole place rocked, and every window
In the house was broken. We rushed
out to see what had happened and
found that one of these guns bad just
been fred. | mention this merely to
show what damage the conclusion
alone will do.
During the time the divisional head
quarters was In this chateau the strict
est rules were enforced regarding keep
ing under cover and showing no signs
of activity around the place. To hook
at II from the outside one would never
dream that on the inside several gen.
erals and their stats were working
q tremendous lighting machine No
autos. motorbIkes. bicycles or horses
were allowed within the gates, and
when q man went In he had to keep
under the trees all the way. At night
while the place was brilliantly lighted
on the inside, not even Q glimmes
showed from the road. guess II was
about the most quietly conducted head.
quarters on the whole front
viamertinghe Is SO close to the firing
line that It Is only matter Of couple
Of minutes before an aeroplane can b
right over the place. OF course our
corps headquarters at Poperinghs was
bigger, but was not SO near the front
After those big guns Of ours went
into action there 1t was only Q matter
Of q few days before shells began to
drop in on the place. I happened to b
on the other side Of ViLmertinghs
when the bombardment commenced,
and had to run through 1t on my way
back.
As usual, one Of the frst places to 60
was the church, and as passed By
caught q glimpse Of the edifce burning
and the priests working fevsrishly try.
Ing to save some Of the contents. A.
usual, too, the people were In q panic.
and the road was crowded with them.
One night I was called aud warned
for special duty the next day. hadn't
the slightest idea In the world what it
would be. but I'll confess that ] was
surprised when ! found out ! was
wanted by q colonel who had been sent
out from England to fnd the grave OF
Prince Maurice Of Battenberg. bis
resting place was thought to bs In the
Mcnin churchyard. and was to guide
the colonel up there nnd was placed at
bis disposal until the grave was found
Now, the Menin churchyard was
never q pleasing proposition. and from
what I could see It was going to b
far from pleasant this hms. "Hellnrs
corner" was Just opposite the church
and q very unhealthy spot Prince
Maurice had been killed near Yprss
while fighting for the English and hur-
riedly buried In the churchyard, which
had been 90 constantly shellsd that it
was feared his body had been oblitsr.
ated. English royalty was anxious to
know II his remains were still marked
We went up to the Porte Do Aenin,
In Ypres, In the car and decided to
leave It there. a. Il was not advisab BILE
to let q car stand very long on the
Menin road As we went mp the road
warned the officer to be careful. for
there were plenty ~ snipers shout
He was such an old man be had no&
been out to the front before In this
war. but from the colors he was wear
Ing ON his breast would be willing 70
wager that this was the 6rst one he
hadn't been In for q good many years
We reached the churchyard without
anything exciting happening, but was
not at all fussy about poking around
among those graves. The place had
been all shelled to pieces and the bod,
les blown out Of the gravea Aftes
about fifteen minutes search We found
the grave we were looking for BY the
inscription at the base Of crude mon
ument and marked It 80 We would b
sure to find II again. The body Of the
prince will probably be reburied else
where In more peaceful times
When we left the graveyard the OF.
deer asked how far It was to our
trenches told him that II was lee
than q mile. but that II was mighty
risky business going up la the day.
time. When the colonel found that 10
was such u short distance lie wanted
to 20 up and see what they were lfke
I was under his orders. 80 there was
nothing for me to do but take him
there. spoke Of the snipers again.
but hs didn't seem to care for al the
snipers In the German army. - ~
started up the road.
We hadn't gone 200 yards before Q
bullet pinged by close enough 70 give
wooden man heart allure OF
course ! ducked. and the old man no
ticed Il. You can imagine how ] fen
when be said: III you hear any snip
srs Jon might let me know In -
ting rather deaf lately"
Well I admit that sworA