Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-24

| NSlDb was long nall tnat ran
L across the front OF the building. Oppo-
site the door was n stone stairway lead
ing upstairs, and on either side another
leading down TO the courtyard and the
basement Along the hall were rooms
with painted signs over the doors read
ing Chef Arzt. Inspector. Polizei Bu-
reau" (Police Office, etc.
We were lined up in the hall and
taken in charge by the police corporal,
a short, dark man with a nasty DISPOSE
tion. who was chewing the butt of
cigar. We later on learned to despise
this fellow.
A group Of French. English and Rus
sian patients gathered round to look at
us This was the first excitement they
had had in some time, and the Eng
lishmen were particularly Interested.
They saw glorious opportunities for get
ting some recent news from the front.
Very few of them had been the steel
helmets which we were wearing They
gazed at us in wonder and well they
might, for we were curious-looking,
muddy lot of almost exhausted men.
We were just as interested In the pa
tents. They were all wearing the hos
pital clothes. consisting of a long coat
and loose trousers of blue and white
striped material. The coat mad one but-
ton at the neck and was fastened around
the waist like Il dressing gown wi:h
tape made from the same material on
their feet they wore sand slippers,
which were well named one had TO curl
his toes up tightly to keep them from
-. A.. 1. N
all dressed this way it was hard TO tell
the English from the others.
"CHEER-O FELLOWS"
The little crowd of spectators vas
roughly ordered to stand back and the
police corporal commenced business
lie came to Wells and myself first as
we were on the end of the line.
The conversation was again mixture
OF French and German. l told nm we
were officers and asked 20 be put with
the other British officers If there were
anv in the hospital. He demanded papers
to prove that we really were officers !
don't know whether or not he expected
thar we all carried our commissions
around in our pockets. | showed him
the stars and braid on my sleeve but
that made no impression on hin' nc
wanted written proof. | fumbled AT tht
neck of my shirt and produced my ldehtl'
ication disc on which was engraved my
rank and regiment. rms seemed to
satisfy him and we were told to fall out
and go upstairs to the officers ward.
An English sergeant with his arm III
plaster came up to US ana asked II he
could help us. We accepted ms services
as guide He led us up to the nrst moor
and around the corridor, which was
En1 1-tn door
inc the letters b.. He told US this was
70 he our new home and opened the
door. -, ,o, =,
MN talking TO two British officers. As
soon as we entered she bowed 10 hei
sr,ands murmured "auf wiedersehen'
Iaood-by) and slipped quietly out OF the
room. ., -,
The taller one of the two greeted Us
with "Cheer-o, fellows. Wha'S ui'
matter? You look bad, MY name
Noodle Captain q. ;. Mooo.e' biaGF
Watch) and this is Gray U.ieutenant h
w Graz r. +, O. Where did you ge
yourso You're the first human being'
ya've seen since January. Won't yot
sit dovn?" We gladly accepted the in
vitation. introduced ourselves ana pro
cecded 10 sketch briefly the story O
Juno >.
ENGLISH TOMMIES
Gray went to the window ana shouted
down into the courtyard watkins Hai
lam :" In about a minute '"o i1'e''''
Tommies rushed in. ..
,rha,, uera natients who had recovered
fr,n, ibeir wounds and were kept OH a
aNnors, servants. one of them wen
dnwrstairs and came up with bed linen
,,,hiio the other proceeded to punch IN
three sections of mattress Cor biscuits
as thev are called) and get everything
ready. H., y,rt,,,a W..
NE were pretty tired. While w
talked we kept one eye on the peu
10 make sure they would not Nahisi
| and with the other LOOK Ill GU
surroundings ,,. ,,,,or,,,
o,a feet long and twenty feet wide tn
walls were finished in light gray stucco
| Tbere were three large WINDOWS over
innLinp the courtyard. on the wall n
| one end was blackboard arrange
| like, window. The two halves SID "
/ and down in a frame. lhis was en-
niained by the fact that. the hospta
bnd been a girls school before the wa
nnd yye were occupying classroom BZ
The floor was covered with ruobe
/ ao,,,nosition mating. Four regulation
Cerman military hospital beds wer
ranved along each side or the room
,rhese were narrow iron beds with
steel rod at the head which carried
metal plate painted black ana on WING
were chalked the patients nu'tlpei' "
.,t<ranl,heit" Qllness) and details as I
~, d;at"-but more about this later. BE
Ia Zach bed stood a small locker VIII
/ t,vo shelves and a drawer A tapie a
tHa onnosite end Of the room from IN
Haolshnard. a chair pushed under IN
Sont Of each bed, and cupboard b
The door, completed the furniture
ALLOWED TO WRITE
,s soon as we had fulfilled our dutie
noarers of news we asked II II wer
s,hIe 10 cable to our familte
,va we're told that II was impossible, bu
NAT there was a mail leaving heN
.ianr,;ne (Monday, June 30. We wer
niio,yad TO write a postcard every wee
"a a letter every fortnight ava W
I,,'rried we could get one OF each ava!
Noodle and Gray nrov'ded US WI
note paper and peneils-ink was We
hotsn." We pulled our chairs up pesie
our beds and began our letters. ! stue
a pin through the paner 10 Az mo'u ~
,rote and proceeded to MI the s
"a sheets we were allowed. 1 wro
rs small. gave a detailed account
canture. and my new address, wh'S
| '-.s sts,ad Of nv rank. NAME ana res
eant,in full, followed by Kriegsgefan
| Eestuneslazarett vi, Abt. Kaiser
| .,,ste- Schule Koeln Deutschland
| -, that was enough to deter any oi
s.n,,, writing TO me. My flther z
| o,,ar This d'fficulty later by havir
| n,,merous envelopes typewriter al
| nrssenting them to any one who su
rested sending me a 'ss.er -, 40 s -