Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-26

Inn
the American Army IN Franco
AMERICAN FIELD HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE, Oct. 20.
The gun was so we'll camoutlaged that
six feet away no living soul could tell
II was there. II was n French seventy.hve.
pointed toward invaded country, as are and
have been many thousands OF its fellows
these last few years. The interest in it,
and the reason for this writing were IL
the facts that its crew were Khaki clad
Sammees, and that at exactly G:"7 O'CLOCK
upon a recent october morning its lanyard
was pulled by an American gunner launch
ing the first hostile shot in the war defend.
ing American honor against barbarism. and
the Kaiser's rule
We stood seven accredited correspond
ents in company with the American MAJOR
who is our chief press officer, ankle deep
in rich red mud amid driving rain. It
was Sunday afternoon. Above us, upon u
rise in the ground between the gun ana
the telephone station, stood the ueHtehaht
commanding, youngster OF perhaps
TWENTY-FIVE. slight. Smooth-faced, brown
haired hazel.eyed. His voice was low and
musical with somt,hng OF southern
drawl although he told US aiterward he
came from Indiana. | wish ! could tell hlS
name and the name Of the gunner. But
As the rain pattered upon the oiucer
helpet and upon ours for all the world
upon many tin roofs and tricl;ied in
streams from the sleeves Of our ranc'ats
he told US this story. int rruptins himself
to give orders as the piece was inter-
mittently discharged.
GUN PLACED BY MAN POWER
1T was raining like this, only harder. We
we're told we could fire as soon as tho gun
In, ion ltt la nd ssrls fpk
II was impossible TO pull it to this place
with our horses. SO, in eagerneSs to get
on the job. the crew unanimously agreed
to drag II by hand If | gave permission
It was some job II was the hardest job
perhaps we ever tackled together. The
morass was as deep as the hubs and over
our knees. But in the dark and the rain
we turned the trick
Three five hundred" interrupted q voice
at the phone, phone camounaged az was
the gun.
Three five hundred" repeated the leu
tenant. watch that bubble" :"
"Ready TO fire. :" continued the voice
Ready to fire." again repeated the
lieutenant
Fire 20 came the voice from the phone
And as we opened our mouths and placed
dripping gloved fingers to ears the leu
tenant repeated, Fire -
With the flash and the following bang. he
resumed his story, Six times during its
brief recital he interrupted to transmit q
different range, the order, Ready" fol-
lowed by Fire 20
We had eighteen shells including five
shrapnel. We did not wait for any range
We just showed her nose where you sec IL
jammed n shrapnel home and let 'er f1y be-
yond no mans land over there We wanted
to beat any other battery to II, and we did ,
The whole crew took part. of course even
If that lanyard was pulled by Sergeant
= for afterward each man took the
trick. We used all our shells with a given
range after the first one, and then we had
to phone quit for lack Of ammunition You
see, we could not bring up more and the
gun besides.
THEY DON'T MIND THE RAIN
We are sure glad to be here, every man
The weather Is nothing. II rains every
ours to stay instead of going back after
q while TO give way TO others"
"Dd you give any special order for that
first SHELF" I asked
mo- sir nothing but like that YOU havc
just heard. II was just as any other dis
charge and did not count for more beyond
the honor Of being first.
Cease firing" came the voice from tba
phone.
Cease firing" commanded the lieu
tenant.
Right. SIR" came from the unseen crew
under the camoufage.
: AS we shook hands before going on. we
asked the lieutenant IL we could see tho
gunner. Al a request, he came forth a
simple. clear cut. red headed Sammee Of
Irish extraction, who blushed in modest
pleasure. With that OF his officer 7 reneat
/ wish could tell his name. But r. Is
not for this time-for later date when n
Is destined to be associated. not with the
mere pulling of 75's lanyard. hut the
thing significant and eXempllfied in tho
pulling.
we walked on mile and half through
mud and water to Major --'s quarters
camoufaged again. Here, in the onlv dr.,
spot OF the afternoon, wa welcomed and
were welcomed by recent friends Of the
training camps back Of the lines. as we'll