New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-15
Tommy, Graphing Consonants,
Finds Nicknaming Easier
'Vfjwaegcnkipje Yields to John Browns Corner and
by Similar Alchemy the Crandloquent Title OF
The Marquis of Carabas" Was Evolved

the earth. fighting men Of all nations,
foregathered and toasted one another,
drinking damnation 70 the German,
and, having met for a short space,
would elbow out through the throng,
resume their packs and weapons and
trudge off 70 their duties. Death has
since terminated many queer &C
quaintance begun at the Marquis OF
Carabas."
IL was toward the end of April when
the red tree of battle broke out into
full flower. The intermittent guns be-
came incessant. The roads were choked
with hurrying transports, reserves and
ammunition. and the air was uneasy
with a sense Of impending great events.
The customers of the Marquis"
were harder pressed for time; many
old friends who had been in steadily
week in and week out, when relieved
from front line duty, vanished, and
came not back at all. Then, in that
heavy dusk Of the spring evening,
came the first gas attack at Ipres-
the new murder trick, first fruit OF the
scientific learning Of q nation OF as
sessins.
The windows of the Marquis Of
Carabas" shone orange in the dusk
when two horsemen galloped down the
Brielcn road, away from the city OF
Ypres. The men in the estaminet heard
them shout something as they passed,
and those within asked those nearer
the door what had befallen.
Sergeant Goes Out
A red capped sergeant of the mill
tary police rose from his seat and went
out into the roadway. II was as II some
instinct warned him that something
wrong was afoot. Overhead the sky
fickered with that quick summer light
ming that is the reflection of many
guns, and the whole air throbbed TO
the crashing thunder of the artillery.
From the camps and billets came a
confused noise of men aroused and
standing to; then, patterng softly
through the thick dust of the road,
came the vanguard. Grotesque in their
disarray, foam and blood-spume upon
their lips and hands, clutching and
tearing at their heaving, agonized
chests, they reeled and tottered blindly
past. Unable TO say what allied them,
speaking but in gasps and in strange
tongues. they passed down the long
road, heading they knew not where, but
anywhere away from the horror Of that
green cloud Of agony and death.
For a while all was confusion; no
one knew what had happened. and the
soldiery in the inn did what they could
TO stem the tide and aid the sufferers.
Then came n Canadian with talk of
"gas-aye. poison gas" and the men
were COMPOUNDED. incredulous, despite
the sights before their eyes. Swiftly
each man departed TO rejoin his unit.
Somewhere close. a high explosive
she'll fell in a field and the estaminet
rocked and quivered with the concus-
sion. Madame issued a short order, and
her daughters disappeared 10 pack their
belongings. She and her helpers stayed
10 ease the suferings Of the suffocated
men.
They lay there upon the sawdust
floor amid the litter Of cigarette ends
and filth. Nothing could be done for
them. Motor ambulances arrived. and
hospital orderlies bore them away on
stretchers 70 the cars. The shelling
was coming nearer now; a house fur
Their along the road had just been hit
One by one the lights were put out
after the men had been moved. In the
shadows of an outbullding was a coun-
try cart. high freighted with the gear
Of the people of the marquis Of Cara
bas." There was a rasplng of bolts
and clatter Of keys. Madame came
out and mounted the cart. and the lit
lie cortege set out into the night. To-
day heap of brick is all that remains
of that famous estamlnet upon the
Brielen road.