The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-05-02

..eLe.y lAc trap Sc AZ. ~ a.. -
French. Before the first ammunition
and other relief supplies reach us we
will all be killed"
Up to this time we had trusted
blindly in the invincible strategy of our
great general staff. Now it was brought
home to us on all sides that the
French were fighting at home. close
TO their greatest source OF supply, an"
had excellent railroad connections at
their disposal. Further than that the
French maintained a terrible artillery
fire from guns Of far greater CALDER
than we believed they owned. This led
us to the conclusion that they were oc-
cnpyinS positions which had been pre-
nared for long time. Yet we believed
that the picture painted by the artli-
Ieryman had been too black. We were
soon to know better.
( AS we approached the enemy's
trenches. we were met with heavy
machine gun fire. and in double-quick
step hurried to the temporary protec.
tion of hastily thrown up dugouts. A
. hard rain had set In. The field around
us was covered with dead and wound
ed. Even our trench was filled with
wounded. which made its occupation
BY the defenders difficult. Many OF
/ the wounded men were paralyzed from
! lying on the Shiny ground. All were
without bandages. They begged for
/ bread and water, but we had none for
ourselves. They pleaded piteously. just
, for a scrap Of bread. Many of them
I had lain in this inferno for two days.
without having eaten anything what
ever.
7 We were scarcely established when
| the French attacked en- masse. The oc-
cupants of these trenches, whom we
/ had REINFORCED had already repulsed
several Of these attacks. They urged
us 10 shoot and fired wildly themselves
! into the ranks Of the advancing masses.
We responded to the eXhOrtations of
+; the infantry officers: Fire, fire hard
! er. harder"
| We fired until the barrels Of our
| guns became red-hot. The enemy
i turned The victims Of our fire al
ready lying in heaps in No Mans Land
| between our lines and the enemys
were increased by hundreds. The at
tack was repulsed.
| It is dark, and it rains and rains. All
about us in the darkness are heard
the wounded weeping. moaning, i'm
| poring Their cries are augmented
by other wounded closer by. All called
| for bandages, but we had none left. We
/ tore strips from our muddy shirts and
with them covered the gaping wounds.
Men are dying constantly. There are
no doctors. no bandages, nothing. The
wounded must be assisted. but first the
French must be repulsed.
The rain falls harder constantly and
we are all wet to the skin. We shoot
blindly into the night. The fluctuating
fire of musketry becomes strong. then
weaker. then strong again.
| We pioneers are scattered among the
Infantry. My neighbor touches me.
J Say" he calls.
"What do you want?" ask. "Who
are your
"Come here" he Kissed.
1t is eerie, alone in this devils night.
"Why are you here7 Will you MUIR
der me like those over there. Soon
| they will return from over there and
the fun will be on again. Do you hear
the others weep?"
And he laughed.
Suddenly he started again: II al
/ C<
weeping. That is fun"
And again he laughed. maniacally,
! and louder than before.
realized finally that this man had
lost his reason. A man passed bring
ing ammunition and l asked him to
fetch the commander at once. The Of
ficer arrived, accompanied by an infan-
try lieutenant. I met them and report
ed that my neighbor had been firing on
the wounded. talking nonsense, and
undoubtedly was insane. The lieuten-
ant stepped between US.
Can you see anything?" he asked.
"See! No. But hear them moan
ny and weeping. AS soon as hit one
he is quiet for he sleeps!"
The lieutenant nodded to me. He
tried to take the gun from the man.
but the latter seized 1t quickly and
sprang back to cover. From there ne
fired while standing among the wound
ed. until a moment later. he himself
fell. riddled by many bullets.
The drama had only few specta-
tors. 1t was hardly over before 1t was
forgotten. Anything but sentiment.
The blind firing continued. The
cries Of the wounded became constant
, ~ louder.
Why? These wounded lying be-
; tween the two fighting lines are ex-
posed to the firing Of both parties. No
one can help them for 1t would be in
. sanity to venture into No Mans Land
, Ever louder and with more heart
rending pleadings. the wounded called
for the stre,chers for help. for water
I AT the most a curse or an oath is the
] only response.
~. &.o,oh ,,.cc GllnI with several