The daily Alaskan., 1918-01-11

The Sikh places caste above every thing. He will not drink from any thing that has been used by a white man, for if he did he would lose caste. If he happens to be eating and a white mans shadow falls across the Sikh's food he will starve rather than touch 1t again.
 The Indians got along very well with the French people, and some of them could even talk little broken French The suffering among the Indians dur ing the first winter was terrible, but they bore 1t all fairly cheerfully and did their duty well. They are not trench fighters, though, and cannot play the waiting game. They want to get out at the enemy, and the officers have their work cut out to keep them in the trenches for very long.
 The Germans certainly did not like the Indians a little bit The Indians belief regarding no quarter is not es pecially nice to think about, and their natural instincts are hard to control They have q weakness for cutting off ears md heads and keeping other little souvenirs. The Germains know this, and naturally 1t puts the fear of death Into them.
 
 spent Christmas day of 1914 in the trenches just south of Ypres. Christ mas eve was a beautiful night, and the IGermaus who held the trenches oppo- site left us very much alone the entire evening. We didn't bother them either.
 There was a beautiful moon, and with everything so quiet and peaceful 1t was hard to realize that there was war on. During the evening the Ger mans started singing, and l heard some of the most beautiful music ever listened to in my life. The song might start just opposite us, and It would be taken up all along the line, and soon 1t would seem as If all the Germans in Belgium were singing. When they had finished We would ap- plaud with all our might, and then We would give them a song in return.
 A regiment In the trenches started \ My Old Kentucky Home" The men were getting well along with 1t when 1 some one in the German trenches join ed the singing in just as good English as any of Us could speak. It was beau tIful but 1t made me awfully home sick After they had finished the same German voice saug Dancing Around,' and, believe me, that fellow could sing ragtlmc. He was applauded uproari- ously. and then We sang some more popular songs for them. and so 1t went until the wee small hours of the morn ing.
 During the night a couple of our chaps Crawled up almost to the Ger man parapct, and with them they took a photograph and record. They wound up the machine put on the rec ord and attached a piece of string to the starting lever. Then they crawled back, unwinding the string as they came The next morning they pulled the string, and it started the machine ! playing the song which was so popu- lar in England at that time, When We Wind Up the Watch on the Rhine" You can bet that that photograph was filled full of lead in short order.
 During the few weeks directly after Christmas was in the trenches just south of Ypres most of the time. When on duty in the daytime 1t was not so bad, but the nights were awful The Germans had the advantage over us In that their trenches were on higher ground, and they drained all the water down into our own. We had only buckets to bail with, and 1t was very slow work, as well as dangerous, . Then. too, the cold weather increased s our troubles.
 2 notice in my diary, which I kept . from time to time, that l entered an incident which shows our state. will quote you just what wrote:
 Dee. 2T. 1914. - Was talking with two boys of the Royal Scots today, They have just come down from the l t1OlleDehb llGlNAeSt dA4N lANs oAt Al NNA ' rible condition. Their casualties dur q 1 ing the last engagement were light, as they lost only four killed and nineteen , wounded, but forty-twO died from ex A posture.
 "One poor devil tells me that he has a three brothers and fifteen cousins tn 2 bis battalion. Two of his brothers N died during the past two weeks. One stopped bullet, bat the other Ont A drowned right by his side In tht trenches, and he was unable to aid ! him.
 "A lot came in on their hands and knees. and many came dragging them A selves on their stomachs through tht ! mud. It was terrible"
 D One of the saddest things l have 3 ever seen Is the last roll call of reg S iment which has been cut to pieces ( I saw one regiment go into action fol J the first time.
 IA l watched them go up- singing anG