The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1917-02-14

the dead and wounded were fifteen
and twenty deep between the lines,
which is called mo Mans Land" Fol-
lowing the battle both the German and
French artillery poured shells into
this mass to make sure that no wound
ed were left alive there to suffer, as
it was impossible to rescue them. This
was known to both sdes as "The Fire
of Mercy"
Bodies of the dead were taken back
from the trenches to nearby towns and
buried sixty in trench. So many
were killed that they were handled
much like our farmers handle grain
sacks. Big trucks with side boards
were used and two men grasped the
bodies, one at the shoulders, the 9th
er at the ankles, and it is swung until
the momentum will carry it up and
over the sideboards of the truck. One
Of these trucks will hold over one hun
dred bodies and when it is filled it
slowly winds it's way back to the i'm
provised cemeteries with arms and
legs protruding through the Stats
of the sideBoards.
Mr.. Marshall had with him a suit
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were most interesting and which had
been collected by him on the battle
field. He exhibited the knife and dag
ger used by the Sengalese soldier. The
knife closely resembled cleaver used
in a butcher shop only it is much larg-
er and has long handle. The dagger,
which is quite small, is made from
bayonets of the French army rifle.
This blade has four edges and when
withdrawn causes the wound to close,
resulting in an internal hemorrhage,
which in nearly every instance is fatal.
The Sengalese were brought from Al
rica by the French and early In the
war were used in charges on account
of their fearlessness and so brutal
were they that If there were no more
Germans in sight they would begin
killing each other. Mr.. Marshall stat
ed that methods of killing used on the
battlefields of France were new to
these savages, who little supposed that
their white brothers would stoop to
such low things.
The hand grenade used in Europe Is
some smaller than baseball, but so
deadly is it that it has been known to
kill eight men and wound seven others
in one trench. The grenade Is equip
ped with time fuse regulated by a
spring and when pressed down the
grenade will explode in just four Sec
onds, which does not permit the per-
son throwing it to spend much time in
picking out target. The rifle grenade
is much the same as the hand grenade
only it is equipped with slender
steel rod which is dropped down into
the bore of the regular rifle and shot
up in the. air so, it will drop into the
enemy's trench. He exhibited the
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IBavarian helmet which was taken from
q dead soldier. The French helmets
are mad of steel to protect the head
from wounds. After the soldiers were
equipped with these theN number OF
head wounds at the hospital increased
so per cent, but the deaths due to
head wounds decreased so per cent.
In describing the curtain of fire,
which Mr.. Marshall said was used to
pave the way for an infantry attack.
more than $4,000 shells we're used. 1t
lasted for two hours and forty min
utes, and he estimated the cost in
American money OF the shells as more
than $2,000,000.
Dunn dunn bullets are used by the
soldiers of all the countries at war, al
though the use of them is not sane
toned by their superiors. In idle
moments the soldiers file the noses OF
their bullets, making them dunn dunn.
In closing Mr.. Marshall stated that
he hoped he had not made towards
of those in the audience, but he did
hope that they hated war as he hated
it. There at Verdun where thousands
upon thousands of the young boys OF
Europe have been killed the battle
lines are practically the same as they
were a year ago and the war is no
nearer decision than it was then.
Mr.. Marshall stated that in his belief
the Germans would never capture Ver-
dun, nor would they march into Paris.