Daily Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1918-191?, 1918-03-19

hospltnl. where he generally goes un-
der m nnesthctlc, either 20 have his
wounds cleaned or 10 he operated on.
he requires the services Of about three
10 i've persons. From this point an
other ambulance ride lmpresses more
men IN his service. and then nj the am
bulance train. another corps OF doc
tors. n. A. NJ. @. men. Red Cross nurses
7 and the trains crew. From the train
he enters he base hospital or casualty
clearing fiation. where n good-slxed
corps Of d1ctors. nutres. etc. are kept
busy. Another anlu'nncc journey n
next In ortlcr-this Time 10 the hospital
ship. lie crosses the channel. arrives
In BllFh,y-more ambulinces and per-
haps q ride for Ave hours on an Eng.
lish Rel Cross train with It's crew ~
Red Cross workers. and NJ last he
reaches the hospital. Generally h.
stays from two 10 SIX months. or long
or. IN this hospital. From here he IL
sent 20 a convalescent home for slx
weeks.
II by wounds he II untitled for fur.
ther service. he Is discharged. given a
pension. or committed 10 soldiers
home for the rest OF his llfe-and stlli
the expense piles up. When Jon reai-
Ire that oil the ambulances. trains and
ships. not 10 mention the man power.
used In transporting n wounded mnn.
could be used for supplies, ammunition
and re-enforcements for the troops al
the front, II win not appear strange
that from strictly military stand
point. a dead man is sometimes better
than a live one az wounded).
Not long after the FIRST digging party
our general decided, after n careful
tour Of inspection Of the communion
ton trenches. upon 'an ideal spot" A.
be termed u. for q nnachine-gun en-
placement, took his map. made 6 dot
on II. and rs he was wont, wrote "dlg
here" and the next night we dug.
There wese twenty in the party, my
self included. Armed with picks.
shovels and empty sandbags We ar.
Rived az the 'ideal spot" ana started
digging. The moon was very bright,
but we did not care as we were well
out OF sight Of the German limos.
We had gotten about three feet
down, when the fellow next to me, aft
er a mighty stroke with his pick. let go
Of the handle. and plnched his nose
with his thumb and foreflnger, al the
same time letting out the explosion.
"Gott strafe me pink. I'm bloody well
gassed. not 'alf amt" quickly
furuan a.. HE Atroctf,., ,..tfl, ~, t..,,Ir
Ing look, az the same Instant reaching
for my gas bag. I soon found out what
was ailing him. One Whit was enough
and lost no time In also pinchlng my
nose. The stencil was awful. The rest
OF the digging party dropped their
picks and shovels and beat II for the
weather side OF that solitary pick. The
officer came over and inquired why the
work had suddenly ceased, holding our
noses. we simply pointed In the dlrec-
ton Of the smell. He went over 10 the
pick, Immediately clapped his hand
over his nose, made an about turn"
and came back. Just then our cap
tain came along and investigated, but
after about u minute said We had bet
W.T. fuENN WI WIN NiaNNliNs NUNA "
nd not see WIN we shorii hrc.
As soon as II was dark. Wheeler and
I crawled 10 our post which was about
halfway between the lines. II was
rnlnlng bucketfuls. the ground wns a
sea Of sticky mud and chung 20 us like
glue.
We took turns In listening with our
cars to the ground. I would listen for
twenty minutes while Wheeler would |
be on the qul vlve for German patrols.
We ench wore n wristwatch. and be- /
lieve me. neither one Of us did over /
twenty minutes. The rain soaked us
10 the skin and our ears were full Of
mud.
Every few minutes bullet would ]
crack overhead or a machine gun would .
traverse back and forth.
Then all firing suddenly ceased. I
whispered 10 Wheeler. Keep your eye
skinned. mate; most likely Fritz hns
a patrol out-that's why the Boches
have stopped firing"
We were each armed with n rifle and
b0yonet and three Mills bombs In De
used for defense only.
had my ear to the ground. All ~
sudden I heard faint. duh thuds.
In a low but excited voice I whispered
TO Wheeler. II think they are mining.
listen"
lie put his ear 20 the ground and
In an unsteady voice spoke Into my /
pnFs