The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-03


need and they are there to supply
the need of every wounded man. even
thouEh this one may have blown of
half the face OF that one alongside
him minute or two before. Our
man would have done the same for
his enemy If he could and without
doubt the German casualties were of
our making
/ There were ghastly enough wounds
even among the walkingt ~ SeiS and
soon every one of the four and thirty
little aid posts was blessed center
of bleeding humanity, with clothes
and flesh In shreds, with faces CORY
and haggard and twisted with pain.
AT time no face whatev% could he
seen, nothing but bloody bandages
! hastily fixed bv the stretcner- bearers
under fire. But in most cascs there
/ WIS a mouth somewhere. and II It
could b. any means drink and eat,
| II felt 100 per cent happier for these
! things and 1000 per cent better for
! the hrotheriy love that had provid-
! ed them right there In the very thick
I Of things and just at the exact mo-
ment when they were most needed.
! II Is doing exactly the right thing at
exactly the right moment which Is
more than ever needed nowadays It
ir that which will help to rebuild all
! life There has been, unnecessarily,
so much Of the reverse Of this spirit
on every sido since we tumbled into
this hideous world-war
Not One Man Groans.
can not refrain from quoting the
words Of one good worker up there
/ 'hat day lie SAYS the experiences
OF the day left inderblc impressions
on his mind az indeed how could
j 4.
at the dread price at which even an
overwhelming success has been pur-
chased. II is horrible. horrible A
sense Of amazed admiration at the
| fortitudc, courage and modesty Of
our men. Not one Er0an or whine did
, ! bear es | moved about among them.
from four IN the Tltornng till six at
| night again from twelve at night till
| eight next morning Constantly in
! ana out between closely laid stretch
ers. not one man made q groan, not
one man pited himself. but even the
most sorely wounded endured their
pain and the additional pain of re-
| dressing without murmur The man
to whom the lifting Of his head and
shoulders. so that. he might drink,
must have given additional pain, gave
no sign save of THIS grateful apprecia-
ton. The man whose wounded foot
/ accidentally touched as he sat on
a crowded bench. mot my apology by
EnlillnRly saving X was nothing. The
man Whose jaw was so badly smash
ed that he could not have n drink.
| aid not repine; the men whose
wounds were such that drink must
not he given them were Just az CRATE
ful for spoonful of water with which
to wet their parched lips and Threats
as though for cupfuL The courage
and fortiude OF the men lis a thing
| never to he Forgotten, And their
| modestyi In normal times we have
! to limit supplies and no man is al
lowed to buy more than three bars
| OF chocolate. On this day we were
| using Bry's--which breaks most sari-
| ly into half bars--and almost every
man had to be asked to take s@s-
ond.
> Their chivalry also knows no
bounds. as Just this incident will
show. About goo o'clock we had TO
refuse drinks OF water to unwound
ed German prisoners. as our water
! supply was very nearly giving out
and we could not be sure of the early
arrival OF a water cart Almost i'm
mediatelv / caught a wounded Brit
| ish soldier Offering. before he had
| touched II himself a drink of his
! cocoa to two unwounded Germans"
| Roughly speaking, all the wound =
| ed had first claim, next them the
stretcher- bearers, whose work liz as
risky and taxing as any, and lastly
tho battalion runners who keep up
the difficult communications between
front and rear and between the lines.
business full of risks and terribly
trying.
| THE CY2r~r,a 20 -x~n,,~4nA -. -.- n
| nj their unexpected good treatment.
/ Urwounded German prisoners acting
as stretcher- bearers appreciated 1t 80
highly that one batch, who accident
ally got lost by their guard. came
! back to one OF the stations to carry
more wounded-and get another
drink
The actual cost to the Red Tri-
angle of that three days service was
$4,000 or about 10000. The actual
gain to humanity-who shall assess
it7 1t runs beyond the computation
OF all the figures In the world for Il
touches mems souls
Here are some telling little Incl
dents. After his refreshment--and
until you have been through the FIRE
and smoke which has left you throat
like lmekiln, and your nerves
| dutverinG, and your limbs shaking
| in spite OF themselves to your intense
! disgust, and are plastered with mud
and blood from head TO foot, you can
not fully appreciate the vivifvin z
wonder of a clean drink of hot lemon
! ade or coffee or beef broth or cocoa
Apart from the actual Joy of them
there is the unfailing glory and Won
der of being still alive after going
down into hell over there, the magical
flavor OF life and safety which adds
its keen and dearly-hought zest. At
| ter his refreshment, one man emptied
his pockets of every farthing he pos
sessed three francs ond fourpence--
halfpsnny In English money! and in
sisted on giving II to the Red Til
angle by way of acknowledgment. An
officer who received assistance at the
same time laid down l. 50-frano note.
! All honor to them both, but the
| Tommy gave even more than his mas
ter. Lake the widow. he gave his
/ all
A man came staggering in. on the
third day, one solid cake OF mud from
head TO foot. His story was very sim
| PLEAS the greatest deeds are. He
! was badly wounded In the arm His
"hur' ~ the same moraent had his
legs shattered and rolled into n shall
t.r ca half full OF water. The
| other followed to see what he could
do. and found his chum's head un.