The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-05-10
BRAVERY OF FOREFATHERS LIVES
AGAIN in DEEDS OF AMERICANS
Yankee Troops France Laugh at Shell Fire. lest at Srapne
Spraying and Take Whatever Comes WEa Bold Courageous
Spirit That Makes Them Acknowledgement Braves
Death to Save His Horses.

With the American Army in Franc
Plunged from their world of sha
battles, training camps and dreams
maelStrom of fierce realities, Il
American soldiers are proving they 81
made of the same stuff which carrie
their forefathers through the tests I
the trying periods of American hi
tory, writes Don Martin in the Ne
York Herald.
have seen them in action. l hav
seen them under shell fire which Ii
orally sprayed them with flying cart
and shrapnel, and their relatives an
friends back in New York, Californi.
Maine, Florida, Montana or whereve
you please, may take the word of a
eyewitness that they have alread
taken their places among the mos
valorous and sturdy fighters of this g
gantic world war.
Very recently / visited them in a lii
tie village as close to the enemy line
as units can be quartered. / had gon
to see the artillerymen at their tasl
and instead Of anticipated tranquillit!
ran into the fiercest kind of excitement
the first these particular Yankee!
had known. 1t all burst suddenly ant
unexpectedly, just as most war devel
opments break.
Shells Break 1900 Yards Away.
From the rear window of headquar
tiers in charge Of an American captain
and a French officer shells could be
seen breaking on a sloping hillside
The nearest one while was observing
fell perhaps 1900 feet away. They
were aimed at an American battery.
TITS nothing" said the captain, a
stRlwart, handsome man, who only a
few years ago was a renowned football
player in Michigan university. "They
throw over few shells every day, but
they never hit the town."
With the musical Kissing of the
shells for an accompaniment we con-
versed about news in America and had
was no talk of war. Beside the table
at which we ate was a sagging cot
with wrinkled blankets. The captain
sleeps there.
Sometimes at night" he said, 'the
Smelling is pretty heavy and it's hard
to sleep, but I'm getting used to it."
Clerk Indifferent to Smelling.
Just beside the open window in the
rear-the window was more like
barn door than a window and had no
glass-a clerk was pegging away at a
typewriter. The dropping of the shells
made no impression upon him. At
home, learned, he is a clerk in an
express office-a 1.-THE, well groomed
youth who has dreams of future COM
mercial greatness.
'These shells come little too close
for comfort, don't they?" I observed.
''They won't get any nearer"
To war amateur the spectacle Of
shells striking so near yet coming no
nearer, when it would have been so
easy to blow the town to bits, was a
matter of wonder.
eyes, they could hit the town, of
course" was the captains comment,
'Tbut they never have shelled it. Sort
of an unwritten understanding, ina
CINE. They have towns similarly stu
ated which we could shell, but they
don't want them shened."
Other understandings were that the
Germans spare some towns because
their own people have property in
them. Whatever may be the reason
for sparing certain towns all reason
ing was wrong with respect to this |
particular village where I was having |
luncheon. We had just finished when |
a noncommissioned officer entered the |
upstairs room, considerably out Of |
breath, but in no way excited, and |
after saluting said:
Battery Connections Broken.
"Our battery is being shelled with
gas and telephone connections have
been broken"
Hurried orders were issued. It was
all done quickly and quietly. The foot
ball player, now a captain, acted as if
he were coaching an old team at
school. Presently men were seen sour
rying off through the fields toward the
shell-swept zone wherein the batteries
lay. They dropped fiat two or three
times, but all crossed the danger belt
safely and disappeared in the more
thickly spattered region. This action
had just been put into effect when an
other soldier appeared before the cap-
tain and, saluting and standing erect,
said:
Il have to report, sir, that the shell
fire is becoming more severe. Shells
are now falling in the village"
The nearby whizz of the flying
things and the boom and crash at the
end of the street gave terrifying en-
phaSiS to the sharp cut words of the
soldier. No one was so vexing as to
ask about the "unwritten understand
ing" not to bomb the town. Where
shells had been falling at the rate of
two every three minutes, they were
now dropping at the rate of four or
five a minute. They were striking in
many parts of the village.
There being nothing to do in the
town word was given to evacuate. In
a moment French and Americans were
streaming slowly off into the fields and
along the roadways and in five min
ltes only few American and French
officers and ambulances were to be
seen IN the streets, which were fire.
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