New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-12
On Being Wounded
WRITER in "The New Witness
\ q. H. contributes the follow.
~ ing interesting commentary on

ing interesting commentary on
the sensations of wounded soldiers:
"By the time the clearing hospital ID
reached, by continual humping and jolting
about, there is an intense desire for rest,
for that spotlessly white bed which has
bulked so largely in his active service dreams.
Peace, however, is not yet; the wound Is
dressed, and via more stretchers one Is pushed
onto an ambulance train for the base hos
pital Another strand is interviewer; the In
significance Of one wounded man when In
the grip Of system which handles the un-
ending stream of casualties with the indfer-
ence of a universal store.
"There are walking cases and stretchsr
cases, and on each man is pinned large lug
gage label, designating him concisely and ac-
curately. As such he is pushed on and Of
stretchers, dumped In odd corners Of drafty
railway stations, stacked in rows on ambu-
lance trains but all the time nearing an in-
creasingly vivid England. These journeys
sometimes last nearly twenty-four hoursg
there accordingly follow interminable con.
versations, which arise easily enough when
each member of the party carries on his per-
son the wherewithal to cause interesting dis
cussion. The formula is unvarying:
"Where did you get itT
cleft Leg
"Here the questioner usually says, NO, i
mean what part of the liner 'Oh! Monchy)
and the rest is easy. Never before came 80
strongly the feeling that this eager mutual
handing over of small change is not INDUCED
for the sake of the little facts that one
learns in the process; it is a reaching out, an
adult substitute for the action Of children
who walk securely hand-in-hand. To the sick
man it is the greatest sedative he has.
"All this time the pain theme has, 50 70
speak, been given out in a subdued msnne1
by the double bass, but when the white bed
is finally attained and the excitements Of the
journey are fading, with the rapidity With
which, for the patient, all impressions seem
to fade, it begins to be announced with moro
insistence.
"Then begins that alienation of exaltatiou
and depression which is so bewidering to rs4
call afterward. There is a timeless element
in it; so that when in pain there seems u
exist for one only the pain already suffered
and that inevitably to come. And when tie
leg has ceased to throb or the daily Dress
ing is happily over, the mind wanders Over
all the pleasant things Of the past and antici
pates the future peace Of impending convs-
lescence. In each state the other appears In
conceivable-it is as IL one were changed
suddenly from black bishop, moving freely
about the black squares Of the chessboard,
into white one, for whom blackness does
not exist.
wounds, however, quickly grow less pains
full, and the ordinary ease is in week or 50
ready to be transferred to England. Again,
there is the mixing on ambulance trains and
boat with men Of all regiments and with -
many different kinds OF wounds. Curiosity
about one another is undated; again have
to explain either that was wounded in the
leg or at Arras-according to the demands Of
my questioner. At last-submarnes permit
ting-one reaches Victoria. This should be
tremendous, but by this time one is too limp
to do moro than purr apprecistively. But
the spectacle Of taxicabs, parks, delightful old
gentlemen who raise their hats at the sight
Of the ambulance, is quite unforgettables
Arras seems inconceivably remote. Then tho
stretcher for the last time, and one is in aH
English bed
THUS arrived on the first spring day d
1917 and was turning on my side thankfully
to sleep, when from the opposite bed camV
the question;
"'Where did you get IT.?
"wth feeling Of sinister forebodina
made desperate choice.
"'At Arras,'
"'No! MOI he said, mean y u
at was probably inevitable" 80