The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-10-04
ADVENTURES
Of YOUNG
AMERICANS
New York High School and
College Boys Tell of Thrill
ling Experiences in
Battle.
TRAPPED IN A DUGOUT
Captain and Twelve Men Lie Wound
ed In Shall Hole for Hours
Until They are Res
cued.
TRAPPED IN A DUGOUT
LBy Lowell Me1lett, United Press
Ty~r-raerorHaY%

[By Lowell Me1lett, United Press
Staff Correspondent
WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
FRANCE, Oct. A. Fresh from a
breathless contest with death. scores
of New York high school and college
boys today told stories of military ex'
ploits calculated to stir the imaginar
tions of the folks Of their home towns.
Wet, caked with mud, ragged and
weary, these boys are now resting
safely this side of the Hindenburg
line after adventures such even boys
scarcely dream Of.
| These boys are part OF the Amerl-
can troops who smashed their way
through one Of the strongest points
| In Germany's greatest defense sys.
TENS.
Leon Davidson, aged Is, of Brook
lyn: Walter BURY, 20, Cornell stu
, dent; Arthur Giles, 19 Of Brooklyn; !;
Ernest Menden, OF the Bronx and Ged-
con Anderson, Brooklyn, participated
in last Fridays fight to prepare po-
sitions preliminary to the big attack
staged Sunday. When the barrage fire
ceased. the boys became separated
from the rest Of their platoon and
found themselves facing battery OF
machine guns The boys dropped into
a shell hole, where they remained
for hours. Under cover OF battle
smoke the youths found their way to
dugout thirty feet deep and with two
exits.
Enemy machine gunners quickly
discovered the presence of the lads
and rained bullets upon both openings
to the dugout- All Friday night, the
boys remained prisoner in the dugout.
Selling an opportunity early Saturday
morning, they slipped cut of the hid
ing place in the darkness, but could
not get their directions and returned
to the dugout where they remained
all of Saturday, subsisting on stale
black German bread and drinking rain
water. Once during the day they
smelled gas and for several hours lay
gas-masked.
Saturday night they stole out
again and finding a wounded comrade
living in a shallow trench carried him
hack to their dugout and gave him
first aid. ALI that night the roys re-
mained in their shelter. Sunday morn
ing they heard the shells OF a new
American barrage breaking in their
, vicinity and presently the voices OF
, American troops at the entrance OF
the tunnel. leading to their dIsout.
The lads staggered from the shelter
too weak to walk and were carried 10
the rear on stretchers.
Captain Harry Close, son OF the
athletic coach at Princeton, and JOS
eph Giovanni, Brooklyn, with plat-
DON, were passing the entrance to a
saw a curtain before a dugout move
slightly Close called upon the occu-
pants to come out and nine German
soldiers and one officer emerged. Clio
vanni was ordered to conduct the
nartv to the rear. During this journey,
Giovanni who understands German
overhea the officer suggest to his
men that they try to bolt. Instantly
Giovanni ordered the officer to stand
aside and threatened to kill the first
man who tried to escape. The OFFICER
then offered to guide Giovanni to the
American lines, but the doughboy
world have none of it and found the
way himself, turning his party over at
beadouarters. The prisoners were I'M
mediatelv put to work serving as
stretcher bearers despite the protests
of one. who spoke of the 'indignity OF
it,
One New York officer, at the mouth
OF the main Hindenburg tunnel founo
a German officer. The German ex-
nIained the tunnel was lighted by
electricity and the New York sergeant
ordared him to turn on the lights. Be
Fore obeying, the German carefully
disconnected wires running into the
I;gbt switch which were connected
with big explosives.
New York troops described 1lerce