The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-07-04
|QUA|NT PICTURE
Of FRENCH LIFE
CLYDE WILLIAMS TELLS STORY
WITH NEW THRILLS
THE FATE OF AFLYlNG MACHINE
Incidents in the Daily Life Behind the
Lines. A, Personal Experience.
Confident Of the
Outcome.

Field Artillery located somewhere on
his father. ]. d. Williams, $40 Seventh
Avenue East, an interest contribution
b the communications of the day,
wgitten in good natured, lively style
that would indicate something near
10t per cent perfect in the morale of
the,troops of which he is a part. Clyde
sayS
My 81, 191S.-lt seems strange
thatII should be sitting quietly and
anndNpeaceful surroundings, writing,
and a the same time be fighting at
the frsnt in the greatest war of his
tory. The scene is undoubtedly peace
full. There is a little artillery fire in
the distance and an occasional aero
plane oter head but those are the
daily EVENTS and require special eff
fort of the attention to be noticed.
| am sitting with three other fell
lows who are also writing, in the yard
of French villager of the small town
where we are billeted. A group of our
fellows are nearby shooting craps
and a French boy off to my right is
cultivating his garden and the four
kiddies who i've in the downstairs OF
our billet are having grand time
with swing which they have put up
in one of the apple trees. An old man
who says that lie fought in the war of
1870 on this same front is across the
street Strengthening out some farm
tools. young gin across the street is
getting bucket Of water from one OF
the village springs, 1t is the quiet time
of the day when the sun is setting in
the west and fellow has that com
Portable quiet feeling which comes in
the hour which proceeds night fall on
an ideal day.
"Gas, Alert"
But still we are at war and | am
sure of it for only last night we were
called out three times with gas alert
and the Boche shells were cracking
wickedly all along our sector. Sever
al of our artillery men in one of the
batteries were gassed and all day the
I ambulances have been going through
with doughboys, gas casualties from
further up.
There are a good many evidences
that were all right. Today at moon we
We're sitting in the yard comfortably
eating our mess and 'razing" the fell
lows who were on the Mexican border
last year about their new service bars,
it being the most exciting thing we
could think of just then, when Boche
aeroplane came over. The anti air
craft guns opened up as usual but we
paid little attention to it until some
fellow yelled that the plane had been
hit. To see an aeroplane hit is always
some sight and we were on our toes
Immediately.
Fell in Flames.
By the ayiatOr's maneuVers it was
easy TO see that he was in trouble and
then his machine burst into flames. He
darted across the sky evidently search
ing the landscape for landing, seem
ed to lose control of his flaming ma
chine and dropped straight down seV-
eral hundred feet upside down, regain
ed control, darted again across the
sky, lost control again and dropped at
fearful rate, regained again and then
dropped out of sight to US behind a
hedge of trees, a cleaning blaze. Some
of us had an opportunity to view the
wreck The plane lay in woods, a
burning mass with the charred body
of the pilot pinned beneath. The OBJ
server had leaped from the machine
before it had crashed to the ground
and lay some distance away, limp and
lifeless.
Another Direct Hit.
OF course day by day our life is not
tragic and contains much of routine
hard work, Iightened by the never end
ing good humor. unselflshness and pa
triotism which prevails among the fel-
Iowa think my biggest thrill has not
come from bursting shells or gas or
falling planes. It came thusly: My
bunk is situated with it's head against
the wall OF our hay NOV billet. The
wall is perhaps ten feet high. from the
top of my bunk to the top Of the wall
on which the edge OF the roof rests.
Night before last | had gone to bed.
turned in, Iayed down, or whatever il
Is you do in the army when you go
TO sleep, about ten O'Clock p, m. and
was ripping OF the regular ration OF
sleep at my usual cadence. 1t seemed
hat ] had soldiered about half my
punk fatigue when was aroused from
ny heavy slumbers by an unusual
noise from over my head. / lay still
or few minutes, the noise having |
,eased, and began tothink that ii was
, false alarm and that eyes alert"
vas unnecessary. As my eyes began |
o close the noise began again and II
oiled over on my side in a strategic |
position TO observe any possible enc
ny without disclosing my emplace-i
nent. My move was well timed for
nrned over Just in time to see the
eayy end Of a rat falling directly al !
lla4esssf 500 Aais9 9s ~ feaw "a