The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-07-11

wednesday and Sunday On e1cu 49,
were visiting days and were looked
forward to by the men, because they
meant PARCELS containing fruit, sweets
or Tags. When patient had a regular
visitor, he was generally kept well
supplied with these delicacies. Great
Jealousy is shown among the men as
to their visitors and many word wars
ensue after the visitors leave.
When man is sent to a GONZALES
Gent home, he generally turns over his
steady visitor to the man In the next
bed.
Most visitors have autograph albums
and bore Tommy to death by asking
him to write the particulars Of his
wounding In same. Several Tommies
try to duck this unpleasant Job by tell
ihg the visitors that they cannot write,
but this never phases the owner Of the
album he or she. generally she. offers
to write It for them and Tommy is
stung into telling his experiences.
The questions asked Tommy by visi-
tors would make q clever joke book
to military man.
Some kindly looking old lady will
stop at your bed and In sympathetic
voice address you: "You poor boy,
wounded by those terrible Germans.
You must be suffering frightful pain.
A bullet, did you say? Well, tell me,
have always wanted to know, did it
hurt worse going in or coming out?n
Tommy generally replies that he did
not stop to figure it out when he was
hit.
One very nice-looking, overenthusi-
astic young thing, stopped at my bee
and asked, 'What wounded you In the
faceT'
In polite but bored tone I an
swered, "a rifle bullet"
With a look of disdain she passed
to the next bed, first calculating, "oh I,
Only a bullet? I thought it was a
she'll" Why she should think a shell
wound was more of distinction beats
me. don't see a whole lot Of differ
ence myself.
The American Women's War hospi-
tai was heaven for wounded men.
They were allowed every privilege pos
sible conducive with the rules and mill
ta(y discipline. The only fault was
that the mems passes were restricted
To get a pass required an act of par
lament. Tommy tried many tricks to
get ont, but the commandant, an old
Boer war officer, was wise to them all,
ana 1t took new and clever ruse to
make him afix his signature to the
coveted slip Of paper.
AS soon as 1t would get dark many a
patient climbed over the wall and went
con his own" regardless of many signs
staring him IN the face, "Out of bounds
were looking the other way when one
OF these night raids started. hope
this Information will get none of them
into trouble, but cannot resist the
temptation to let the commandant
know that occasionally we put 1t over
on him.
One afternoon received a note:
through our underground channel, from
my female visitor. asking me to attend
a party at her house that night. /
answered that she could expect me and
to meet me at a certain place on the
road well known by all patients. and
some visitors, as lover the WALL"
told her would be on hand at seven
thirty.
About SEVENTEEN I sneaked my
pvercoat and cap out Of the ward and
hid Il In the bushes. Then told the
nurse. particular friend of mine, that
q was going for walk in the rose gar
den. She winked and knew that ev-
erything was all right on her end.
Going out Of the ward, I slipped into
the bushes and made for the wall. It
was dark as pitch and I was cropping
through the underbrush, when sudden
~ stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, a horrible bump
and biackness. When I came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. I was lying against a circular
wall OF bricks, dripping with moisture,
and far away could hear the trickling
OF water. had In the darkness fallen
into an old disused well. But why
wasn't / wet2 According to all rules
Y should have been drowned. Perhaps
was and didn't know It
AS the shock of my sudden stop
gradually. wore of 1t came to me that
/ was lying on ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pre-
cfpitate me to the bottom of the well.
! struck a match. In its faint glare
I saw that I was lying in circular
hole about twelve feet deep-the well
had been filed in! The dripping ! had
heard came from water pipe over on
my right.
With my wounded shoulder 1t was
impossible to Skinny up the pipe. I
could not yell for help. because the
rescuer would want TO know how the
accident happened, and I would be
hailed before the commandant on