The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-11-15
IT'S ALL IN NIGHTS
SLEEP, WRITES ESTES

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American soldiers called it a quiet
night when they were compelled to put
TO Capt. q. Newton Estes, former attor-
n~eN-genoral Of Shelby county. writing
10 a Memphis friend from the battle
front in France
But busy as the soldiers were chasing
the ~eN-kaisers men out Of France, they
were not too busy to read The News
Sctmitar and TO talk home politics. as
also evidenced by Capt. Estes letter.
He writes.
Please send me The News Sclmitar.
saw a copy at brigade headquarters
the other day, and ! vas glad to get
a line on what Was going on, although
the date Of the paper was Aug. 3.
About two weeks ago | learned by
word Of mouth Of results Of the August
elections, Was glad to see our crowd
win again. sam Bates beat Hunter VIII
son, | heard. and all Of the Crump ticket
Won with M or two exceptions.
The Americans are In tough fighting
where | am. The Germans, aided by
mud-unending mud-much rain and
tough terrain, are putting up determined
resistance
The other day we pulled out for a
new position and found ourselves at
3 an In a little wood full Of German
corpses. We were under fire from Ger
man artillery on three sides. 1t was
funny walking around in these woods
IN lnky darkness, picking out battery
positions, to step on a dead mans hand
or stumble across his body. An orderly
in our battalion went to sleep next to a
corpse thinking it was one OF our own
men, lie arose with celebrity the next
morning, when he was awakened and
told that the person he was budding
up to was a dead boChe,
Picture a certain little town, with a
horseshoe hiss back of II; high, steep
n fun Of machine gun nests. Each
morning for three mornings we took II
and each evening the bOChe retook II.
Then we took it again and the boche
beat IT, This gives you an idea how
tough the fighting has been.
"A negro passing by saw us firing
INTO their machine gun nests and after a
heavy voliey had been turned loose said
men,
The American soldiers are fighting
with a dash and vigor that can not be
denied.
u am stlll wearing horseshoes. |
touch wood, for Is men were wounded
and a couple killed by shell fire about
100 feet from me about an hour ago
Last night | had a quiet night-only
mad to put on my gas mask once, and |
expected a rough one,
! it iliBf III DtlbIt | tAltCtpU u ullot
night and my experience was amusing.
| had settled down for a rest after the
guns had been firing continuously for
IN hours. | even had my bedding roll
brought up forward to get a good rest
Pitched a little pup tent behind "a
ledge and turned in, wet and tired and
muddy, In a cold, drizzling rain, with d
telephone strung to my bedside, read,
to order fire should orders come down
for IT,
II had just gotten warm and almost
comfortable when a gas shell burst on
the hill about 90 feet from me. | put
on my gas mask and thought | could
stu continue to stay warm. About IL
minutes later two gas shells hit on the
slope OF the hill and riCOCheted over my
tent, cutting the bushes Just above me.
| still hated to get out in the cold and
wet, so fingered, knowing the probable
error of the field artillery gun would
make unlikely another hit at exactly the
same pace unless a large number OF
rounds were fired, In about a minut,
another shell cut through the bushes
without ricoCheting, followed immedi,
ately by ~ direct hit within eight feet
IF me, II the air was filled with the
ucadly phosgenc gas, | discovered the
nature OF the gas when returned for
my equipment. Yes, | had to return to
get II.
II left that spot about as fast as /
ever got away from the mark when
used to run the 100 in 10 3-5 in football
clothes. | gave the boChC a quit lain
deed to that particular spot in La Belle,
france, without lingering to sign the
papers passing title, and went about 40
yards TO the flank and lay down in Il
shell hole until the rain had "A chance
to beat the gas down. | thcn repaired
to the telephone central and let my
gloom mingle with the telephone Ia
despair as we sat and dripped and
cursed at this cold October rain and the
hoche,
II have Just had a good bath and
clean underclothes and clean sox and a
dry pair of shoes, and the sunshine
came out today for the first time In
weeks, so J am already forgetting the
rain and hope to get under foot for a
day or two,
"The next time | look a bathtub in
the laCe-l mean n real one with hot
and cold water and everything, not liz.
Il rubber one--Geet | would like to sit
In "A big chair before a big fire and gas
with a bunch Of the boys again,
Life is one drive after another, with
the Americans doing the driving.
"A couple Of German airplanes have
Just blown over and dropped a couple
OF bombs and are still bu2zlng around
with our machine guns and Rntiaircrafts
bombing away at them.
- Just ran out to see n pretty air
battle between our planes and the
hoche, our planes Just came up. Two
planes were brought down, | could not
say whose they were. Too high up and
far off.
ITS started over this way again.
will u out and see again,
We've run the boche planes Oft
again, Hell viii be popping tonight, foi
the artillery on both sides have taken
advantage Of the clear visibility to do
some accurate adjustment.
The more we fight the quicker wen
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