davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

Whispers. Inc company we relieved
filed past us and disappeared into the
blackness of the communication trench
leading to the rear. AS they passed us.
they whispered, "The best o. luck
mates"
l sat on the fire step of the trench
with the rest of the men. In each
traverse two of the older men had been
put on guard with their heads sticking
over the top, and with their eyes try
Ing to pierce the backness In "No
Mans Land" In this trench there
were only two dugouts, and these were
used by Lewis and vickers machine
gunners, so IL was the fire step for
ours. Pretty soon II started to rain.
We put on our "mucks," but they were
not much protection. The rain trlckled
down our backs, and II was not long
before we were wet and cold. How I
passed that night | will never know,
but without any unusual occurrence.
dawn arrived
The word "stand down" was passed
along the line, and the sentres got
down of the fire step Pretty soon the
rum issue came along. and II was Il
Godsend. 1t warmed our chilled bodies
and put new life into us. Then from
the communication trenches came
dixies or iron pots. filed with steam
Ing tea, which had two wooden stakes
through their handles, and were car
ried by two men. | filled my canteen
and drank the hot tea without taking
Ii from my lips. II was not long be-
fore was asleep in the mud on the
fire step.
My ambition had been attained! l
was In front-line trench on the west.
ern front and oh, how 1 wished were
back in Jersey City.
CHAPTER ".
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

My heart stopped beaung, ana uuckec
my head below the parapet. A soft
chuckle from my mate brought me to
my senses, and feebly asked, "For
heavens sake, what was that7"
He answered. "Only rat taking n
promenade along the sandbags." I
felt very sheeplsh.
About every twenty minutes the sen.
try In the next traverse would fire a
star shell from his flare pistol The
"plop" would give me n start of fright.
l never got used to this noise during
my service in the trenches.
/ would watch the arc described by
the star shell, and then stare into No
Mans Land waiting for II TO burst. In
Its lurid light the barbed wire and
stakes would be silhouetted against its
light like a latticed window. Then
darkness.
Once, out In front of our wire. |
heard Il noise and saw dark forms
moving. My rifle was lying across the
Sandbagged parapet reached for II.
and was taking aim to fire. when my
mate grasped my arm, and whispered.
Don't fire" lie challenged In low
voice. The reply came back instantly
from the dark forms:
"Shut your blnkin' mouth. YOU
bloomin' idiot; do you want us TO click
il from the Boches?"
Later we learned that the word "No
challenging or firing, wiring party out
in front" had been given to the sentry
on our right, but he had failed 20 pass
Ii down the trench. An officer had over.
heard our challenge and the reply. and
Immediately put the offending sentry
under arrest. The sentry clicked
twenty-one days on the wheel that U.s.
he received twenty-one days field pun
ishment No. l, or "crucfiXion," as
Tommy terms it,
This consists of being spread-eagled
on the wheel of II Timber two hours n
day for twenty-one days. regardless of
the weather. During this period, your
rations consist of bully beef, biscuits
and water.
A few months later met this sentry
"crucified." he had never failed to pass
the word down the trench when so or
dered. In view of the offense, the
above punishment was very light, in
that failing To pass the word down a
trench may mean the loss of many
lives, and the spelling of some lmpor-
tant enterprise in No Mans Land.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

Ito be continued.)
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
CHAPTER ~.
| Go to Church.

Upon enlistment we had identity
disks issued 10 US. These were small
disks of red fiber worn around the neck
by means of string Most of the Tom
mics also used little metal disk which
they wore around the left wrist by
means of Il chain. They had previous
ly figured ii out that If their heads
were blown Off, the disk on the left
wrist would identify them. If they lost
their left arm the disk around the neck
would serve the purpose, but If their
head and left arm We're blown off, no
one would care who they were, SO II
did not matter. On one side of the
disk was inscribed your rank, name,
number and battalion, while on the
other was stamped your religion.
Z. OF f.. meaning Church of Eng
land; X. c., Roman Catholic; W., Yves
leyan; r., Presbyterian but If you
happened to be an atheist they left 1t
blank. and just handed you pick and
shovel. On my disk was stamped C. of
Il. This Is how got It: The Iieuten-
ant who enlisted me asked my religion.
l was not sure of the religion of the
British army, so answered. ooh. any
old thing" and he promptly put down
c. of Il.
Now. just imagine my hard luck. Out
of five religions | was unlucky enough
to pick the only one where church
parade was compulsory
The next morning was Sunday.
was sitting in the billet writing home
TO my sister telling her of my wonder
full exploits while under fire-all re-
cruits do this. The sergeant major put
his head I'm the door of the billet and
shouted: &C. Of +. outside for church
parade!''
I kept on writing. Turning to me. in
loud voice, he asked, ''Empey, aren't
you G. Of E?"
answered. "Yep."
In an angry tone, he commanded,
"Don't you yep me. Say, Yes, SER
geant major"
81 did so. Somewhat Modified. he
ordered, "Outside for church parade"
I looked up and answered, ~ am
not going to church this morning"
He said, "Oh, yes, you are!"
l answered, "Oh, no, I'm not But
l went.
We lined up outside with rifles and
bayonets, 100 rounds of ammunition,
wearing our tin hats, and the march
to church began. After marching about
five kilos, we turned Off the road into
an open field. At one end of this field
the chaplain was standing in n timber,
We formed semicircle around him.
Overhead there was black speck cir
cling round and round in the sky. This
was a German Fokker. The chaplain
had book in his left hand-left eye
on the book-right eye on the alrplane.
We Tommies were lucky, we had no
books, so had both eyes on the air
plane.
After church parade we were
marched back to our billets, and played
fnnthn1I oil M
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
mnrCn neEnn.

marcn began.
II took us three days to reach re-
serve billets-each days march bring
ing the sound of the guns nearer and
nearer. At night, way Off In the dis
lance we could see their flashes. which
lighted up the sky with red glare.
Against the horizon we could see
numerous observation balloons or "sau-
sages" as they are called.
On the afternoon of the third days
march l witnessed my first airplane
being sbelled. A thrill ran through me
and l gazed In awe. The airplane was
making wide circles in the air, while
little puffs of white smoke were burst
ing all around It, These puffs appeared
like tiny balls of cotton while after
each burst could be heard dull
'plop." The sergeant of my platoon
Informed us that IL was n German air
plane and wondered how he could tell
from such n distance because the plane
seemed like n little black speck In the
sky. l expressed my doubt as to
whether II was English, French or Ger.
man. with look of contempt he fur
Their Informed us that the allied anti
aircraft shells when exploding emitted
white smoke while the German shells
gave forth black smoke. and ms he ex-
pressed 1t, at must he an Allemand be-
cause our pom-pomS are Smelling, and
| know our batteries are not off their
bally nappers and are certainly not
strafeing our own planes, and another
piece of advice-don't chuck your
weight about until you've been up the
line and learnt something"
I Immediately quit "chucking my
weight about" from that time on.
Just before reaching reserve bllets
we were marching along, laughing. and
singing one of TOlnny's trench dittles
want to go home. want to go home,
dont want TO go to the trenches no
more
Where sausages and whizz-bangs are ga
lore
Take me over the sea. Where the Allie
mand can't get at me,
oh. my. don't want TO die,
i want TO so home"
when overhead came "swish" through
the air, rapidly followed by three 9TH
ers. Then about two hundred yards to
our left In II large field four columns
OF black earth and smoke rose into the
air, and the ground trembled from the
repOrt--the explosion of four German
five-nine's. or "coalboxes." A sharp
whistle blast, Immediately followed by
two short ones. rang out from the head
of our column. This was To take up
artillery formation" We divided into
small squads and went into the fields
on the right and left of the road, and
crouchcd on the ground. No other
shells followed this salvo. II was our
first baptism by shell fire. From the
waist up was all enthusiasm, but from
there down. everything was missing. I
thought I should die with fright.
After awhile, we reformed into col
umns of fours. and proceeded on our
way.
About five that night. we reached the
ruined village of H. and I got my
first sight of the awful destruction
caused by German Kultur.
Marching down the main street we
came to the heart of the village. and
took up quarters in shellproof cellars
(shellproof until hit by shelly. Shells
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

were constantly whlstling over the vii
lage and bursting in our rear, search
Ing for our artillery.
These cellars We're cold, damp and
smelly and overrun with large rats
big black fellows. Most of the Tom
mics slept with their overcOats over
their faces. | did not. In the middle
of the night ] woke up In terror. The
cold, clammy feet of rat had passed
over my face. Immediately smoth-
cred myself in my overcoat, but could
not sleep for the rest of that night.
Next evening, we took over our sec
tor of the line. In single file we wend-
ed our way through n zlgZag com
municatiOn trench, six inches deep
with mud. This trench was called
whisky street" On our way up to
the front line an occasional flare ~
bursting shrapnel would light up the
sky and we could hear the fragments
slapplng the ground above us on our
right and left Then Fritz would
traverse back and forth with his "type-
writer" or machine gun. The bullets
made a sharp cracking noise overhead.
The boy i'm front Of me named Prem
lice crumplcd up without a word. A
piece of shell had gone through his
Shrapnclproof helmet. | felt sick and
weak.
In about thirty minutes we reached
the front line. II was dark as pitch.
Every now and then a German star
shell would pierce the backness out
in front with its silvery light. l was
trembling all over, and felt very lonely
and afraid An ORD were given i'm
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
MACHINE GUNNER SERVING N FRANCE

L have taken bath and nut on
brand-new underwear; I'm fact. n com
plete change of uniform, and then
turned in for the night The next morn.
ing my shirt would be full of them. II
is common sight to see eight or ten
soldiers sitting under Il tree with their
shirts over their knees engaging in n
"shirt hunt"
At night about half an hour before
flights out" you can see the Tommles
grouped around candle. trying. i'm its
dim light, to rid their underwear Of
the vermin. A popular and very quick
method Is to take your shirt and draw
ers, and run the seams back and for
ward In the flame from candle and
burn them out. This practice Is dam
gerous, because you are liable to burn
holes in the garments If you are not
careful.
Recruits generally sent to Blighty
for brand of insect powder adver-
tised as Good for body lice" The adj
vertisement is quite right the powder
Is good for "cooties;" they simply
thrive on II.
The older men of our battalion were
wiser and made scratchers out of
wood. These were rubbed smooth with
bit of stone or sand to prevent splln-
tiers. They were about eighteen inches
long, and Tommy guarantees that a
scratcher of this length will reach
any part of the body which may be at
tackled. Some of the fellows were lazy
and only made their scratchers twelve
inches, but many night when on
guard, looking over the top from the
fire step of the front-lne trench they
would have given thousand "quid"
for the other six inches.
Once while we were in rest blllets an
irish Hussar regiment camped in an
open field opposite our billet. After
they had picketed and fed their horses,
general shirt hunt took place. The
troopers ignored the call Dinner up"
and kept on with their search for big
game. They had curious method of
procedure. They hung their shirts over
hedge and beat them with their en-
trenching tool handles.
t oShVu ohC VI tItiu WHY tut. ulup
pick them Off by hand, and he an
'swered, eve haven't had bath for
nine weeks or change Of cabber If
i tried to pick the coolies off my shirt,
1 would be here for duration of war"
After taking close look at his shirt, /
agreed with him; it was alive.
The greatest shock recruit gets
when he arrives at his battalion in
France Is to see the men engaging in a
"cOotie" hunt. With an air of con-
tempt and disgust he avoids the COM
pany of the older men, until couple
of days later, in torment of itching,
he also has to resort to n shirt hunt.
or spend many sleepless night OF
misery. During these hunts there are
lots of pertinent remarks banded back
and forth among the explorers, such
las, "Say, Bill, I'll swap you two little
ones for n big one" or. 1--WE got a
black one here that looks like Kaiser
Bill"
One sunny day In the front-llne
trench, / saw three officers sitting out
side of their dugOut ("cooties" are no
respecters of rank have even noticed
IA suspicious uneasinesS about Il certain
well-known generaD, one of them was
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
CHAPTER VI.
"Back Of the Line"

Our tour In the front.llne trench
lasted four days, and then we were
relieved by the - brigade.
Going down the communication
trench we were in II merry mood, al
though we were cold and wet, and
every bone in our bodies ached. 1t
makes lot of difference whether you
are going in" or going out"
At the end of the communication
trench, limbers were waiting on the
road for us. thought we were going
to ride back to rest billets, but soon
found out that the only time an in
fantryman rides Is when he Is
wounded and Is bound for the base or
Blighty. These limbers carried our
reserve ammunition and rations. Our
march to rest billets was thoroughly
enjoyed by me. 1t seemed as If l
were on furough, and was leaving be-
hind everything that was disagree
able and horrible. Every recruit feels
this way after being relieved from the
trenches.
We marched eight kilos and then
halted In front of II French estamlnet.
The captain gave the order to turn
out on each side of the road and wait
his return. Pretty soon he came back
and told company TO occupy billets
III, 11S and 10. Billet III was an
old stable which had previously been
occupied by cows. About four feet in
front of the entrance was huge ma.
nure pile, and the odor from IL was
anything but pleasant. Using my
flashllght / stumbled through the door
Just before entering | observed
white sign reading: Sitting 80, lying
90" but, Mt the time, It's significance
did not strike me. Next morning
asked the sergeant major what 1t
meant. He nonchalnntly answered.:
"That's some of the work of the r.
A. NJ. G. Royal Army Medical CORPSE.
1t simply means that In case of an at
tack, this billet will accommodate
fifty wounded who are able to sit up
and take notice, or twenty stretcher
cases"
1t was not long after thls that l was
one of the 400 lying"
soon hit the hay and was fast
asleep. even my friends the "cooties"
failed to disturb me.
The next morning at about six
o'clock ! was awakened by the lance
corporal of our section, informing me
that / had been detailed as mess or
DERBY, and to report to the cook and
a I 10.
the fire, carry water from an old well,
and fry the bacon. Lids of dixles arc
used 10 cook the bacon In. After
breakfast was cooked, | carried dixie
of hot tea and the lid full of bacon 10
our section, and told the corporal that
breakfast was ready. He looked Mt me
In contempt, ana then shouted, Break,
fast up, come ana get itw | immedl.
ately got wise TO the trench parlunce,
and never again Informed that Break
fast was served"
1t didn't take long for the Tommles
to answer this call. Half dressed,
they lined up with their canteens and
! dlshed out the tel Each Tommy
carried in his hand n thick slice of
bread which had been issued with the
rations the night before. Then ] had
the pleasure of seeing them dig into
the bacon with their dirty fingers The
allowance was one slice per man. The
late ones received very small slices.
AS each Tommy got his share he inn
mediately disappeared into the billet,
Pretty soon about fifteen OF them made
a rush to the cookhouse, each carrying
huge slice Of bread. These slices
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

a major, two of them were exploring
1 their shirts, paying no attention to the
occasional shells which passed over
head. The major was writing letter;
every now and then he would lay aside
his wrlting-pad, search his shirt for
few minutes, get an inspiration, and
then resume writing. AT last he fin
ished his letter and gave IL TO his run
ner." / wai.curlous to see whether he
was writing to an insect firm so when
the runner passed me l engaged him
In conversation and got glimpse at
the address on the envelope. II was
addressed to Miss Alice Somebody, in
London. The runner" informed me
that Miss Somebody was the majors
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
DO You Enjoy Life?

A man in good physical condition
is almost certain to enjoy life, while
the bilious and dyspeptic are despond-
ent, do not enjoy their meals and feel
miserable a good share of the time.
This i'll feeling is nearly always un-
necessary. A few doses Of Chamber
laln's Tablets to tone up the stomach,
improve the digestion and tone up tho
bowels is all that is needed. Try il
adv.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10
CHAPTER ~.
"lnto the Trench"

The next morning the draft was In.
spected by our general and we were
assigned to different companies. The
boys In the brigade had nicknamed
this general old Pepper, ana he GER
tainly earned the sobrlquet was as
signed 10 b company with another
American named Stewart
For the next ten days we crested"
repairing roads for the Trenches, drill
ing, and digging bombing trenches.
One morning we were Informed that
We were going up the line, and our
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-05-10

| @iS7 eY
lARIhuR GUN tnHyl

sweetheart ana That ne wrote To ncr
every day. Just imagine it, writing II
love letter during "cootie" hunt but
such is the creed of the trenches.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-19
Goethals's Reorganization
OF OuorterxauSfeY Generals
Department Is Completed

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19.-Reorgani-
zation Of the quartemaster generals
department along the lines proposed
by Major General Goethals soon after
he took charge as acting Quartcrmaster
general has been completed.
General Goethals has relieved Briga-
der General Chauncey b. Baker. chief
of army cmbarkatior, from that post,
and has placed the entire embarkaton
section under Joseph f. Lilly, a New
York shipping expert, who recently be-
came chief adviser to the acting quar-
termaster general in all matters per-
tanning to shipping. General Baker
will be placed in charge of new sec
ton having supervision over manufact-
ure of motor vehicles for the army.
The cantonment division. formerly
attached to the Office of the quarter
master general of the army, has been
transferred to the Office Of the As
sistant Secretary of War, and it's fut-
ure status probably will be that Of a
separate division of the general staff.
The entire direction. under the as
slstant secretary Of construction work.
now is in the hands of Lieutenant
Colonel Marshall, Brigadier General
Llttell having been relieved
New-York tribune., 1918-02-19
Fighting Increases on
Whole Italian ront
Renewed Operations ON Big
Scale Indicated as the
Weather Improves

LONDON, Feb. 1S.-Great increase
Of activity all along the front in Italy
was noted by the Rome official com
munication to-day, rejecting the COM
ing OF better weather and the nossi-
bility OF renewed operations on grand
scale.
Remarkable enterprise. the commu-
nlque stated, was displayed by Italian
patrols between the Posina and Astico
There was a lively artillery battle i'm
the LaGh Basin, on the Asiago Plateau
and in the FrenZela and Brenta valleys.
The salient of Monte Solarolo was the
scene Of a hot big-gun duel
Italians crossed the Piave and har-
assed AustrO- German advance posts at
GRAY di Papadopolo
The enemy attempted to send small
parties forward toward Cortellazzo, in
the coastal region, protecting them by
heightened artillery fire. The sailors
defending the bridgehead drove back
the foe with hand grenades.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-19
Miss Neeser Wins
rench Decoration
Honored by Poincare for Her
Aid of Mon Soldat,
Staff Correspondence

WASHINGTON. Feb. President
Poincar@ Of France has conferred the
Nedaille dc la Reconnaissance Fran
caise, on Miss Elvne L. Neeser, a New
York woman, who has done valuable
work in connection with The order
known as "Mon Soldat, 1916" it was
announced here to-day.
The founder of the American branch
Of this order is Miss Nceser's brother,
Robert W. Nceser, the New York au-
thor, who wrote Of this work in a
book entitled "Mon Soldat, 1915" Mr.
Neeser has also been decorated for this
work by the French government.
"Mon Soldat. 1915" translated: "My
1859 was crganized to cheer
the French :oldcrs whose homes had
been i'll the invaded districts. Mem-
bers have each a soldier to comfort
Letters and gifts OF food, books. mag
aZlnes, etc, are sent to the soldiers
every two weeks through the head
quarters of the organization in Paris
and the soldiers thus benefiting re-
ply through the same channel.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-19
Germans Attack
Sector Where u. S.
Guns Are Aiding
Foe Seizes Parts of French
Line in Champagne,
but Is Elected
Allies Take Prisoners
Reports Do Not Say if Ameri-
can Infantry Shared
i'm Fight
Allies Take Prisoners

LONDON, Feb. 18.-Three thousand
Germans, led by shock troops, this
morning attacked the Champagne sec
tor, where American artillcrymcn are
supporting the French, seized certain
trenches and were Immediately thrown
back, with the loss Of thirty prisoners,
besides numerous killed and wounded,
Paris announced to-day.
In the afternoon .hc enemy attacked
again in the same place. The Franco
American artillery checked the charc-
ing foe before he reached the Allied
trenches,
1t is matter Of conjecture here
whether American infantry also might
have taken part in this affair. A dis
patch yesterday said soldiers from the
United States were mixed with the
French in the front inc on a famous
pockmarked battlefield, the dcscr,p-
ton fitting the Champagne fairly we'll.
The sector attacked is just south
west of Butte du Mesnil, where the
French, with an unstated number of
American gunncrs supporting them,
on February IS, wrecked the first three
German lines on 1.2OO-metre front,
took 1T prisoners aud established
themselves so securely that this is the
first serious attempt to dislodge them.
The Germans charged after heavy
artillery preparations this morning, the
French communique said The enemy
gained an initial success. But the
French were back again before the
positions could be consolidated, and as
a result not foot o. ground was lost.
Their second attempt, this afternoon,
was even more disastrous.
Berlin did not mention the engage
ment in to-day's statement, seemingly
tacit admission of lack of success
The official reports told of the usual
small raids, encounters between patrols
and artillery duels on certain sectors.
Paris said the big gun fighting was
'violent' near Mortier Wood and
Vauxaillon. Berlin asserted sixteen
Allied aeroplanes and two captive bal
looms had been brought down in two
days.