Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-19
France Looks Upon Us As People Who
Get Things Done, Writes G. w. Chester

vaughan accommodations of the 'front.'
where he'll have to crack the ice 10
get his shaving water. Leftenant ION
Is an extremely modest young man.
and it took eight or ten or us, sie uane
around on the chairs and chalseionse
and bed and floor Of a coZy ill.,
apartment, to coax him into Leiilhs
about the last wound of his: This Is
how he described that thrllllng mo
ment of his life:
1.-THE order came to go over the top.
Somebody from the artillery had to 60
along on observation, so they salo:
Here's Tom. He 8 just been on leave.
He's fresh;' so I got it. l took six men
with me, and followed the first wave
"Whooping and yelling and n
madly forward, l supposed" interrupt
ed the latest American arrival, a war
railroad nan
"Well, no." corrected the l%eftenant,
Strengthening his leg cautiously. It's
the slowest thing there is; no excite.
ment about it. You see, we followed
a creeping barrage. The ground IS all
laid out III imaginary squares, ana a
platoon of SIX guns has to drop ~
shells on that square. If two or three
of the gun are out of commission, the
rest of them have to divide it up, but
10 shells must drop on that square,
which makes it pretty certain that
there won't be a living thing left on
top of the ground. Then the guns are
trained on the next square ahead. and
the infantry follows up to hunt the
Boches out of the pill boxes"
What time was this; dawn?"
came from one who craved picture.
mo, about seven-thirty," consider
ed the %leftenant. "Well, about nine
thirty, after I'd sen back two observ-
ers and a couple of pigeons, the enc
my's barrange came forward to meet
and got me, in the hip. My light went
out for a minute, but I came to right
away. I lay there eve hours in the
mud, but it didn't hurt very much. I
was pretty comfortable. In that time,
two barrages passed right owe me,
our own and the enemy's. At about S
O'Clock the stretcher-bearers found
me. Say, they're the brave fellows!!"
That's the way he told it. No can
mons red glare, no ~ear-bursting din,
no pandemonium tearing loose, no
fierce, struggling figures amid the roll
ling smoke, like wierd demons let out
OF hell, no straining forward until the
blood veins seemed bursting in the
temples, no mortal gasp as the frag-
ment struck him, no frenz;ed effort to
preserve consciousness as he Slid into
Nv ulAil sIlduOWS Ol OBLIVION, no TAX
ing US in on his probable vivid pictures
of home and mother, and the boys on
Main street, and the girl at the garden
gate, and no seven long hours Of ag-
onized torture while the battle ragged
around him and death dealing shells
were dropping on. every hand! No fire
works. no dramatics. no lurid word
pictures of any sort, and no thrill;
particularly 10 thrill! You wouldn't
+ hj11k CnntSr,n,$ -, >~@A,-, = 49,
man, would you?
But what's the big idea. about 60
ing back into it?" inquired a gentle
man of the commercial contingent.
"You've lone your bit. You could quit
with credit right now"
I~4eftenant Tom Strengthened up, and
looked at the gentleman of the COM
merclal contingent with wonder in his
soft. brown eyes.
Quit" said he, "Why. the Roche
isn't licked. We cant quit, any of us,
until humanity is safe.
And Lieutenant Bill talks exactly
like Leftenant Tom. He has a fine
medical practice at home, a nice wife,
a beautiful little daughter; and his
father didn't want him to come.
o here, Bill" said his father
WHATS your idea in going? You're
dolng better than any Of us ever ex-
S.S - WY uoH you stay right
mere and hold your practice"
wen, father" said Lieutenant Bill,
every man must be true to himself
There you are. The. Americans who
am over here are fighting with ex-
actly that sort of thought in mind
Ana 1T isn't bunk" because they're
risklng their lives for it; more than
dnelr lives; everything they hold dear,
rms is the biggest collection of Simon
r altruists ever brought together!
IN our nigh idealism lies the answer
US, his trust in us, his supreme con.
hdence The bond of sympathy be-
tween us is the poetry in us both.
HoW's that? will