The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-11-16
INK Lieutenant Feels Huns Will
Get Him, but viii Take
Few Along.
PR0UDEST MAN IN UNIFORM
Wins Promotion From Corporal to
Platoon Leader for Daring Piece
of Work on Night Pa
troll Duty.

Paris.-It was on the boulevard
The Opera. The Opera was but q
scant half block away. And 1t was
dark, both the Opera and the boule-
ward. The only light came from the
kiosks advertising Paris newspapers
patent bouillon and talcum powder
There heard the typical story of the
American second lieutenant, the pla-
tOOn leader who's doing wonderful
bit in winning the war.
Call him Prettyman, which isn't his
name. He was deputy superintend-
ent of banks before the war. AS he
said himself, he'd never been out In
his life after one In the morning ex-
cept in q taxicab. He used to earn
$4,000 a year, have his bath every
morning and cocktail before dinner.
He is typical successful young New
Yorker.
"Gosh," he said, I'm the proudest
man In this army. I've got two kinds
of itches at the same time.
eve came over on the Justicia, the
one that was torpedoed the other day.
he said.
"And they spewed us out at an
English port at eleven o'clock one
night, and at eleven the next night
we were back of the lines in Flan-
ders. I was only a corporal then.
Then we were moved to Alsace and
there we got our first taste of war.
incidentally, there l got to be pla-
toon leader.
On Night Patrol.
Here's what it was. Up In the
first line the Heinies were just about
City yards away. One night the or
der came for patrol. Now, It's hard
to tell you about patrol standing
here In the boulevard. Out there It's
as black as the inside Of your shoe.
It's into that that patrol is sup
posed to go. And we went. Sure
was scared. Scared green. I didn't
know where was, and had the lives
Of go men in the hollow Of my hand.
But we went. We laid for IA hours
right up against the German wire and
we located every machine gun they
had, and every man jack Of us got
back to our own lines safely.
"My God! it was different from
New York. 1t was lot different from
Paris. 1t was hell. But when the
Heinies came over the next day we
knew where they were coming from.
And we sloshed them.
"That country is full of spies and
our wires from the front line back
were cut. So I went back myself.
They'd laid down the best box bar
rage I have ever seen. Oh, I got
through 1t, because was lucky. sup
pose. I got through 1t three times
that night, in fact. And me, never out
after one o'clock in my life before ex-
cept in a taxicab.' Say, it was fierce.
Right out In the open country. All !
had to tell me where was were the
telephone wires. And they were cut.
/ was almost sick to my stomach when
black wire I'd kept running through
my hand. But we did get word
through. And all the Germans got by
way of prisoners were II cripples that
had been sent up to the front line by
mistake.
"And, say, feel they're going to get
me. I've got my second lieutenancy
and I'm going back up to the front in
q few days. as soon as this celebration
is over. And I have bunch that I
won't come back.
give got little sister and a dear
father that I'd like to go back to, but
there's something bigger than that.