The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-07-20

ID the American soldier good
fighting man? He is. /.E II.
Is he as good fighter as his fathers
and grandfathers were In the Civil
war? The answer to this is not 20
simple because fighting in Civil war
days and in 1918 is by no means the
same thing, says Don Martin In the
New York Herald. Whenever the
Yankees have had an opportunity to
meet the enemy in q straight-Out hand
,to.hand fight the American has demon
strated that he Is chip of the old
block, and that, bear In mind, Is saying
a good deal. a..
People who have not been face to
face with the war that has ravaged
Europe for nearly four years must of
necessity have but poor conception
of Just what war In these days Is
like. Read what an officer from a
Southern state, who served with dis
tinction in the Philippines and is
serving with distinction now, says
about It.: ..
*"If there were to be a few great
battles like Gettysburg, Spottsylvania.
wilderness, Charlottesville, Cold Har-
Dor or Antietam It would be 4 diner
ent proposition. The boys would
know that the killing would occur at
certain times, on certain days and the
victims would be recorded as, having
fallen in some great battle about
which all coming generations would
read. But here there will be only a
few great battles known as such by
name. There will be the Marine,
Somme, Aisne, verdun, Ypres, Picardy
and some, others. of course. but the
millions and millions Of casualties
which this war has rolled up will rep
resent for the greater part side line
lighting and little subsidiary struggles
about which no one will ever hear.
"A division Of any, army might be
holding part Of sector--a quiet sec
tor. too. There would be no great
clash between the opposing forces.
There would be raids, meetings Of pa
trolls, sniping, deaths by artillery and
eas, accidcnts-a thousand and one
things. and at the end of a year the
number of casualties In this division
would be as great as IL the unit had
been In a gveat battle. There is a
certain romance about war. When men
can go into battle with colors"f1ying,
bands playing and q world waiting to
hear the outcome ,of ,thea particular
combat, there Is an Incentive which
does not exist In Il struggle Of waiting,
Of hidden attacks and. gas. But the
patriotic, spirit Is there. In fact, l
confidently feel that II, takes more pa
trIotism to keep an army fighting as
armies fight now than it did in the old
days. 54., = = :,
The Fighting OF Today. y. T..
~ ct me give, YOU an illustration
Part Of q regiment goes into the
trenches. Il may stay there three
days, it may stay there eight days.
before it is sent back on 'repo,see. to
get ready for another siege at under
ground warfare. These boys know
that shells will he directed at their
trenches practically every night and
maybe oil day. The. artillery also
know that the enemy Artillery will be
firin. shells, gas and shrapnef at their
batteries almost continually. Both the
arti,ier,ren and the, lads In the
trenches know that gas shells will be
hurled day and night and that death
vii, LUX everywhere for him who can
not handle his gas mask properly.
The possibilit! IF raid from the en-
envy is not feared. In fact. It is this
very possibility Of real action. OF q
real meeting with the enemy. which
acts as q sort Of stimulant for the
men In the. trenches. To have shell
come down on a {lugout, crushing 1t In
and perhaps killing and wounding sew
eral men is an unpleasant thm'1e
doubly unpleasant because 1t comes
from some one, who cannot be seen
and whose identity will never be
known. There Is the consolation. or
course, that the shells which we are
throwing IRE causing death and injury
across the line, but while we know We
are biting them we do not really know
ut that. 1t Is a queer war, inhuman
because the Fun made. It so and des.
t,tute Of the amenities and chivalries
Of all other wars because the Hun pos
sesses all the traits of the coyote or
the hyena. ..
1.-THE Americans would like to meet
the Hun in a fair fight and have 1t out,
but that cannot be-. The Hun can
not fight fair, because he knows In a
fair fight he would be cleaned OF the
earth He viii be cleaned. of any
how, but it will take us longer; that's
ALL" -.... s.i;%
No doubt in the United States. a. In
Europe, the question Is asked MIL
lion times day, How many hghting
men has the United States in France7
That question can be answered only
in Washington. I don't know, and the
censor, quite properly. would not let