The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-12-28
A TRIP TO THE TRENCHES.
Bsing the Experience OF u Congress.
man on a Visit to the War Zone.


FRESHMAN Dill's visit to Europe, made
just after the adjournment of congress
IN the fall. Mr.. Dill has kindly furnish.
| ed this office with a typewriter copy
Of the experience and we pass it on tC
tbe readers of the Gazette
France and England are defeating
Germany on the western front, but not
decisively. Their armies are on the Of
fensive. Germany's armies are on the
defensive. That tells the whole story
Our part is to supply the added forces
necessary to turn the allies military
advantage into military victory. The
war Is so big that this means that
America must supply millions of men
and billions of dollars. This is my con
cusion, after visiting the French
English and Belgian battle fronts from
Switzerland to the North Sea.
1t is impossible to give the details
of the trip taken by the ten congress-
men in this statement so | shall give
only brief outline. We sailed on the
American liner st. Louis shortly after
the adjournment of congress. The St.
Louis has five guns. They are manned
by crack crews of American naval
gunners. Besides, it was conveyed
through the submarine zone by Amer
ican destroyers. The maneuvers at sea,
the practice shooting at targets, the
sailing without any lights whatever
thrnuOh tho darkpaSS apd tho ;,,Docn;
bility of sending any wireless messages
to the outside world. impressed us all
very forcibly that we were moving in
to the world of war.
At Liverpool representatives of the
British foreign office and of the Amer
lean embassy took the members of
congress off the steamer shortly after
the ship arrived. On the way to the
dock We stopped to get some officers
of big Holland-American liner
which had just arrived from China
with 5000 Chinese coolies on their way
to France to work as laborers. They
were the first of the thousands and
thousands of others of their kind we
were to see in France later.
We left for London at 2:3O D. M.
and arrived at p. m. Our first impress
sion was that it was city of darkness.
This was on account of the dim and
hooded street lights. The British Off
Gals there wanted to entertain us for
two weeks. but we dared not stay
more than three or four days if we
we're to cover the battle fronts, and re-
turn for the opening of congress in
December. During that period they
made most wonderful use of their
time. First they took us to some of
their great orthopedic hospitals. We
were most impressed at Ruehampton
and Shepherds Bush, where they re-
make broken men, where the legless
are enabled to walk and the armless
tc do almost everythoing that man
with arms can do. We saw wives and
mothers in some Of the wards, sitting
besides the parts of men that were left
after operations. which had Just been
performed. They had that wonderful
look in their eyes that only those who
nave made the supreme sacrifice can
nave. We saw perfect physical speci-
mems of men from 20 to 35 years old,
whose nerves were broken, whose
brains could not function, saw them
learning to walk like babies of only
l2months of age, saw them trying to
make their bodies do the many things
they had always done before. We saw
also, those patient women who sit for
hours working on the bodies and limbs
OF men whose muscles will not move,
whose nerves no longer control,
searching over and into ever particle
OF the cuticle with electric vibrators
irving to discover and awaken those
nerves and muscles which have gone
to sleep before their time. We saw men
with every conceivable kind of injuries
being cured and remade and all but
hypnotized into believing they could
still play a useful part in the world of
In addition to all this we
were honored in surprising manner
at the Shephard's Bush hospital. 1t
was by a brass band composed of
Britishers gathered from all parts of
the empire and led by one armed
man. After playing number of Sc
lections, they played "The Star Spang
led Banner" for the American con-
gressmen, while we stood at attention.
We also went to st. Dunstan's hos
pital for blind soldiers whose eyesight
had been shot away and who were be-
ing taught trades and sounds they
could not learn while they could see.
These sights and many more of SIM
liar nature, showed us how they repair
the human wrecks of war, and all this
wa sbefore we had seen the war itself.
Then We were taken to the House of
Commons and the House of Lords as
guests of honor on the day when Eng
lands greatest statesman told of the
wonderful deeds of valor of her sail
ors and soldiers on water and on land
and over and under both. We were
banqueted in the House of Commons
by Mr. Balfour at noon and by Lord
FiIlay, the high chancellor of the
House of Lords at night when David
Lloyd George, the prime minister, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Curzon,
Lord Cecil, General French and num-
erous others of England's greatest
statesmen were present We had al
ready seen the destruction in various
parts of London caused by the Zepplin
raids, just two days before our arrival
and we hurried to our hotel that night
along deserted streets at II p. m. and
We heard from every corner the cry
take cover" being given by policemen
and boy scouts, while the people hur-