davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-02-14
Letter From a Soldier

This week Mrs. William Fam Afee showed t>s a long letter from Aer son, s. Kendall Paul. who is Aow stationed in Oklahoma. The letter contained lengthy descrip- tion of the ScEoo4 of fire and much sther Information. This part of tlae letter, although not intended aor publications would make inter- tetiag reading but owing to our ggsqited facilities we cannot devote tAe space necessary to reproduce the letter. However, we are gorng 50 publish the opening paragraph m which Mr. Paul refers to the pleasure of receiving cEeery, en- touraging letters.
 If there is an nything that will make a soldier sore" 1t is to open up a letter from the nome folk and find il full of sob stuff.
 The following from NIT. Paul $ letter indicates that Mrs. Tamaree in writing to hee son has the good Judgment not to refer to anything of a dolorous tature.
 Battery "C,' First Field Artillery,
 Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
 January 20, IoI8. Dearest Mother;
 The last letter I received from sou was dated December 4th. It vent all the way to Fort Schofeld, ], Hawaii, but left before 1t got shere,. SO it followed me all the Way back here. ! can't tell you Now proud I ara4 of you for the way You take mt enlistment fs the Arnlp. I have children of my own, 4Ad' even thoayh am a man, l kao@ With Whaf heart burning and bs9iaa Id, see them enter upon s,Act' l seraic9 as ias4fa@: have sems idea of how you feei' and ! 4,4A glad yo,a are onc' of those mothers who. are wHing to. make the hardest and nobiest sacrifice tAat can be made if the country s, good requires it. It is not hard to stafld hardship and physical dis
The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-02-14
Department of the Interior Unted States Land Office
 Juneau. Alaska.
December ,, IoI7.

December ;, 1917. Notice is hereby given that Josephine II. Mason, widow oi Iulius A. Mason, dead, of Wran- gell, Alaska, has filed in this office notice of intention to make final five year proof to establish her claim under the pro. visions of the Act of May IA, 1898, as amended March }, 1903, (32 Stat. 1o2S) to the land embraced in U. $. Survey 1926, situate on the East side of WrangefI Narrows. NIitkof Island, Lat. 56 34 N., Long. 1922 57 w.. and more par tfcularly described as follows:
 Beginning at Cor. No. I, M. C., on line of ordinary high tide, Wrangell Narrows, whence U. $. L. NJ. bears $. se0 10 37' E. 8.o2 chs, thence meanderng ou line oi ordinary high tide (D s. 27
 o6' E. 3.Ig chs. Co s. 60
 o4 E., 3.57 chs. (3) $. 6
 % W. 2.26 chs. (D $. 13
 ST E., 2. 32 chs. (5) $. 28' s6' F., 2.o7 chs. (6) $. 23
 25 W. 4.o8 chs. o $. 8 5 ". 4.13 chs. (s) $. 2 o3
 w. r.64 chs. (o) s. / 52 E. 5.oa chs. (1o) s. 4 5S E., 6.os chs. (1I) s. o 48 w. 4.25 chs. to Cor. No. 2, M. C. whence ". c. bears E. o.7o chs, thence E. 34.99 chs. to Cor. No. 5, thence N. 36.A9 chs. to Cor. No.4, thence w. 4o.oo chs. to Cor. NO. I, the place of beginning, con- taining an area of I2o.SS. acres, Mag. Var. 30 45 E. Said proof will be established by he testimony of said Josephine H. Mason before the U. s. Com missioner C. E. Weber, at his office at Wrangell, Alaska, ,n the first day of May, 1918, at ;en o'clock a. m., and by the tes- ;imony of two of the following viz: Frederick E. Brown, William G. Thomas, John J. Grant, Leo C. Patenaude, al. of Wrangell, Alaska.
 C. B. WALKER,
 Register.
The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-02-14

A member of the Red Cross will be in the town hall between } and 4 o'clock Friday afternoon to receive donations for the work.
The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-02-14
NOTICE

All bills due for professional ser vices rendered by me have been assigned to William Patterson. Same are now payable to him at St Michaels Trading Co.
 DR. 5. C. SHURICK.
The Wrangell sentinel., 1918-02-14

Stir we'll the sugar you put into your coffee or tea.
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

fourth man, in this case, myself, has to keep the company commander, (captain) in liaison with the battalion headquarters. It was my sacred duty to know just where battalion head quarters were at all stages of our ad- vance so that I could take a messa Ge there at once, and also acquant them with the position oi the company.
 Let me assure you that this is no easy proposition, when on the firing lines When on maneuVers l did all my communicating with signal flags, but here it had to be done on foot, and sometimes when exposed to Ger man observation balloons on my stomach, as the mere waving of @ wig Wag flag would bring shells from every enemy battery on the line.
 After the captain and his four agents comes the company usually de- ployed at various distances, depend ing upon the enemy shell fire. My captain never did believe in taking chances so he had us deploy from the beginning at twenty-five yard inter- vals. We walked along this way, quietly, until we came to a stretch of woods which screened our view from the front lines.
 The instant we left the shelter of the woods, we came in full view of a German observation balloon. EXperi- ence had taught us that an enemy observation balloon and a barrage go together and we sure were not dis appointed this time. l have known their observers to direct a whole bat tery fire at one soldier walking along. We therefore knew what to expect when a whole company is seen ad vancing. We had to go through a ten acre field, in full view of the enemy lines, in order to be able to get to our battalion's left flank which we had to protect with our machine guns We had no more than showed our selves in the open when the barrage came It seemed to us that every gun on the whole German front opened up on us. They shot shrapnel and high explosives with @ liberal sprinklng of mustard gas shells at us Though not the first by any means, still it was the worst our company had to face yet in the line of barrages. But on we went until ordered by the captain to take cover; when every man fell fiat on his stomach, crawling to a nearby shell hole.
 While the company was under cover, the captain, followed by us four headquarters men, craWled ahead slowly. AS long as we kept down, we were out of sight of the German ob- servers, and their fire was then kept well distributed over the whole field 1 but the minute one of us stood up for a second the fire would become con- 1 centrated on our immediate vicinity l and believe me, we kept down.
 After crawling for a considerable 1 distance, we found ourselves along a ] bank covered with shrubbery and 1 from which a full view of the German 1 lines could be had. Our captain de 1 cided to establish our position there. l and signalled for the company 10 1 come up at once. The barra ga Was l still on, more intense if anything, and
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

prised with the suddenness of It. But the Germans must have suffered a greater surprise, because at that close range their bullets went way over our heads.
 As We dropped we knew their sights would cover the place we dropped iii, and were ready to let fly again the instant we got up. But we ObIiqued right and left for a few yards and then got up to run for the protection of a nearby bank, while their bullets WhiStled right between us. We had performed our mission, we had found an enemy machine gun on our side of the river, and therefore returned with the news, as the chances were there were more than one hidden there
 'Weu Nat I could fill pages with what happened for the next few days, but | am afraid I have written too much already l will only tell a few main facts. The next day we put up a barrage that lasted four hours, af- ter which we crossed the river which was our objective, establishing our lines well beyond. The engineers found it impossible to erect a bridge across, as the enemy put up terrible barrage on them. But we crossed any way, on trees we fellcd across 1t in shallow parts. Crossing the river alone would fill whole book.
 we had barely established our new lines, when their counter barrage opened on us preparatory for their counter attack. Through that b2I- rage I made many a visit to battalion headquarters. They had established it in the town that we passed through in our little scouting expedition the night before. The Germans literally levelled the walls of that town with that barrage. As I ran through tho town time after time I had to leap sideways to escape the crumbltng walls of houses that had been hit by shells. Frankly speaking 1t was rather exhilirating and I began to enjoy it after a while.
 "It was through that barrage that the major commended me and a bat taliOn agent that happened to come in together in his P. c. Men he said, you are doing fine. l am proud of you. His staff was there and as I saw their approving glances I felt rather proud of myself too. You see we had been there twice in fifteen minutes, through the most intense part of the barrage.
 "An hour later the captain told me we must have some ammunition brought at once. The enemy's coun- ter attack had failed, but he might try again. My instructions were brief Use whatever means you think hest. Also bring all stragglers to help man our guns" It was a rather tough proposition, as the field through which I had to bring it, a distance of two miles was shell swept, while the stragglers are usually men who lost their nerve, and as such would strenuously refuse to return to the firing line.
 "As it was, my luck was with me and I succeeded again. I used two ammunition carts, drawn by two mules, accompanied by fourteen stragglers that I picked up on the
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

way or routed out of dugouts. l5inaC my hardest work with them as Ifhac to hold my automatic in plain View right along as a gentle persuasion td go ahead or they would have bolteq for the woods, every time a shell struck near us. In this manner \ brought twenty thousand rounds o7 ammunition right up to the fr1na line, without the loss of a man o1 animal. My captain sure did ap7 preciate it.
 'The next night we were rel lieved, sadly depleted but happy lot. We had again gained our obj jective. A day later we lost ouT captain. He was made major, and given a whole battalion to command but not before he told four of us, in cluding myself, before the company to wear two chevrons on our r1gh1 sleeve hereafter for good work done on the firing line. And this ends the story of my second time lover the tOp."
 Your loving brother,
 Corp. HARRY BERSON''
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

have to cross a field like that again. 1 had only gone a short distance, when a shell dropped directly in back of me, it's concussion lifted my helmet right off my head. 1 stopped quickly to pick it up before the shower of dirt and stones came down, causing the men in my company to think l was hit. After that I crawled no more. 1 got up and ran for d big hole that sheltered platoon of Infantry on our way Up. 1 entered that hole with head first dive, and got out again. For the life of me couldn't remain in there for over a minutes rest. You see a shell had just struck that hole in the very center where the doughboys sat wait ing for the barrage to lift The never saw that, or any other barrage, lift.
 As 1 ran on l passed man after man of our company either lying badly wounded or slowly walking to- wards the first aid station. Some called me by name to help them. There was very little I could do with my first aid pouch. Besides I had some important work on hand. Therefore I had to pass them with a simple "Hard luck, old man, will send the first Red Cross man I come across.' But l knew it would take many an hour, possibly not until the next day, before they would get help, as our Red Cross was having it's hands full right then. It was then that l saw Sergeant Smith the only New Britain man in my company 1~- sides myself being brought in gassed. I think he told me his home is on Franklin street.
 Finally I reached the wood just in time to see the major with his staff commanding the battalion, move over to another wood a few hundred yards away as his former place was being badly shelled. I reported to the major at once, told him where the company was, where our guns were located and wanted to return immediately but was advised by the major to stay until they Were located in the new place so I would find them without any trouble at night
 Herman Landmark.
 ''They established themselves in the middle of the strip of woods. It was already dark when l left. and 1 had hard work finding my way to the clearing again. After I succeeded in finding my way out of the woods again l stopped before walking on towards my company, to impress some landmark on my mind, so I would know the next time just where to enter the woods. There was no mark there that I could see the trees being all alike. Time was precious, but still I had to leave some sign for future reference there as the German lines were not too far away down that way and a man easily rnisjudGes distances in the dark A little ways off I could make out two silent forms stretched out in the grass. I quickly dragged one over to the edge of the woods then the other one. Still I wasn't satisfied as two
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

dead soldiers could be found any where around there. I stopped down again pulled them a yard apart and stretched their hands out towards each other making it appear as if they were shaking hands. That satisfied me and I left quickly on my return trip.
 "A few minutes later I met an of fcor in charge of an ammunition de- tail looking for battalion head quarters. I told him to skirt the woods till he came across two dead men shaking hands, then enter the WOOds and he would find the head quarters a few hundred yards to the left. He looked at me suspiciously making up his mind that I must be shell shocked, but a few more words convinced him 1 was still there and he walked off looking for two dead men shaking hands
 'As I walked on they began shoot ing mustard gas at us more than any thing else There is a certain snap in the sound of a gas shell coming oVer that makes it easily distin- GuishabIC. There was no wind what eyer, so that a shell had to make direct hit almost to cause a casualty On the other hand the gas filled all shell holes, making it extremely dan 2erOus to take cover in one. I know personally of number of our men getting severely buraed by either taking cover in a shell hole, or lying down on the ground where the mus tard gas had settled. Although there was a strong smell Of gas in the air, I had my mask ov, although ,1I,, wasn't quite enough of it to prove serious, besides I didn't feel like talk ing any chance of stumbling in a shell hole full of gas, as it is hard to see at night with a mask on, especially where there is a shell hole at almost every yard of ground.
 "I found the company all asleep except the captain and one of our Heutenants. They sure needed the rest, for the next day would prove hard one. I reported to the captain, delivered certain instructions from the major, also explaining just where the major was, in case something happened to me and some one else had to be sent. l did well and the captain was well pleased.
 Everybody Surprised.
 "l wasn't particularly tired, and when the lieutenant asked me if 1 wanted to go on g. little scouting ex- peditiOn with him l eagerly agreed We knew our own men were on our right but could form no contact with any American troops on our left. Besides, what seemed a German ma chine gun was heard from that di- roction, and that sure needed look into GIr T carding everything but our gas masks and pistol belts. We had our auto- natics out and advanced quickly but quietly. We passed through a de- serted town that was reported full ot snipers, without any mishap. It was almost on the river bank that we walked almost on top of a German machine gun and crew. Although we expected it, We were greatly sur
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04
Shells Play Tag.

The big boxes in which the range finders are carried must have attract ed their attention. As the shells fol- lowed us up, we knew that we were the direct cause, and there after pro- ceeded from shell hole to shell hole After staying a few minutes in one we would go to the next, with shells bursting many a time only a yard away. It was only a miracle that we weren't all killed that day Once we all dropped in d big shell hole to- gether. A shell struck about a foot from the edge of our hole. sending a shower of dirt and stones down on us. We left it at once, in the nick of time, the next shell struck square in our last hiding place It took us three hours to make that trip With a shell coming every fifteen seconds aimed directly at us, and as it seemed to Us with our names writ ten all over it. That day I learned two things. One was to judge how far away the shell would land from where I was, by the noise it made coming on, and the other one was not to be afraid of them. because I told myself, if I was destined to die hy shell fire, I would have been killed richt there.
 "Anyway as T proceeded on my quest for battalion headouartors [ fal1ing all around me. had to pass directly across the field we came up on and I hope to God I will never
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04
MACHINE GUNNERS | GOING INTO ACTION
Harry Bors9n Describes Attack on
 the Enemy Lines.

S Harry BersOn, who is with the A American ENpcditionary Force in France, writes a letter to his brother, # othan, telling of his experiences Il nile under fire in the trenches. He #rys that a soldiers nap is disturbed # y little incidents such as shells burst Mk@ in his immediate vicinity. He #'rites as follows:
 MDcar Brother:
 3 Life is sweet but the realization of #slis never comes to you while you are @l danger It is only later when away # 'om the battlefield and death that #cu realize the danger you were in # ad how thankful to be for coming @ut of It in safety I am away back @f the lines now for a rest. Last night AA as the first night in over a month 3lat 1 slept on a cot in building. s# ftcr slCepiNG for a period of five 3 3eoks iu GugOutS, trenches, during @ @alny weather, besides having your 5 lIe nap disturbed by little incidents x 1ch as the bursting of shells and X oinbs in your immediate vicinity B Bell-after going through all that M .e will perhaps realize how l felt
 st night.
 By the way, when I began this @ ter it was with the intention of 3 ing you a complete account of my 3 e nd time over the top because l 3 n rather proud of the part l took in @ and when I come back home - N .s, funny as it may seem to you,
 gh all the death and destruction < gre, l still expect to come back,--I x ant to refer to this letter and there 8S re Waul you to save it for me. @ This time we went into action at
 80 D. 5n. August 9th. Our battalion x q already taken it's place on the
 ling line early that morning
 1t we didn't receive our orders
 go into action until the af-
 raoon. We proceeded towards the
 n.s line, tlkip~ advantage nf all < qafb}n cover. We had been suelled @ Iv li@htlq Until then, and were con
 ;tulafing cu1zclVe8 on that f:.t t ss ,pi1!4 our "l "lCcption would not prove A Hvclier until we took our posi- HRs IS antno".
 Going Into Action.
 Z Just a word about the way a ma
 inc gun cc?nrar,y goes into nction @ e captain goes first always on the S }zuul for eulantageous nAchire n cmplacements. He has with him s#M ere he can summon them immedi- @ ly. four zn1n Three of them are |a atoon agents, from three platoons 3 at form the company, while the
New Britain herald., 1918-10-04

el aQEally increasing as our iECD ad- Vttuced with the guns. It's hard lO crawl along Wi.h q heavy macaine Su1 in your hands They didn't. They just walked through it all My God! it was awful to see some of our comrades and best friends being torn to pieces right before your eyes. But on they came,-what was left of them, m,-untiI they struck the shelter of the bank where we lay, and pro- ceeded to set up their guns, and re- pay some of our losses at once.
 ''NoW it was up to me to get busy. The company was established for the time being, and it was up to me to go back through that shell swept field and try to locate battalion head quarters and tell them where we were located. As I crawled away from the bank. towards a wood to the right of uS thinking | migh t& find it there more than one of our men told me cOnfidentially that he wouldn't want my jOb I didn't doubt their word at all But somehow or other shell fire had no more terrOrs for me- The cause of it dates back to the 18th of July when we went over the first time. That afternoon four of us in cluding myself were returning to the company with range finders. We had chased them six miles that day and were just then resting in preparation for another trip lover" Range finders were needed and we went to get them. On our return the minute we left the town a German battery that must have halted on some road side in the retreat, opened fire on us 1 four.
The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1918-09-11
The world series is on.

The world series is on.
The players and magnates are
rcaping the coin.
Red Cross will get 10 per cent
maybe!
Red Sox will keep 30 per cent
maybe all.
Cubs Will hang on to nine
tenths. possibly more.
Red Cross will get 10 per cent
maybe,
Frazce and weeghman, club
owners. will split several thou
sand. 6o-4o.
But they'll split with Red
Cross, 90-10!
The National Baseball Commits
sion will get n hunk OF dough"
And n fine. merry time. too.
They'll give the Red Cross 10
per ccnt-maybe,
The umpires will get more for
an hours work than soldiers are
paid In a month.
They'll give the Red Cross 10
per cent-maybe!
Each winner viii get $4,000.
And he'll give the Red Cross
10 per cent--maybei
Each loser win get Sl.400.
And he'll give the Red Cross
10 per cent--maybe!
All this II velvet" to players.
magnates. umpires and national
commission.
They drew big salaries all sea
son. playing two or three hours
a day.
SO with n hundred and more
others.
The teams which finished sec
ond. third and fourth in both
leagues.
They "cut in" on the series
dough.
They. too. will give the Red
Cross 10 per cent--maybe!
They won't stir hand or
shake n leg in that series.
But they'll get 90 per cent if
They give the Red Cross 10
per cent?
And tho baseball kings don't
intend to
The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1918-09-11

Collect for the Red Cross at
the source.
They're going TO hand over the
world series swag and
Let the players pay tho Red
Cross-maybel
TEN PER CENT for the sol
dlers in France.
NINETY PER CENT for base
ball players, umpires. owners.
TO nurse the wounded-i0 per
centl-maybel
To fill the players and owners
and umpires' pockcts-90 per
cent--and maybe more.
They talked OF giving-bcforo
they were permitted to play.
They think OF keeping now
90 per cent. and maybe more.
For the boys who hght--1o
per cent. maybe.
For the boys who play-90 per
cent.
For the magnates-so per cent.
For the battlefield hospital
10 per cent,
For the umpires-eo per cent
For the wounded-1o per cent!
For the National Commission
30 per cent.
For the Red Cross-10 per
cent.
For the rragnate. player. UNI
pire II is 90 per cent--SURE!
For the Red Cross It Is 10 per
cent-MAYBE!
The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1918-09-11
Navy and Marines
Split Shoot Honors

CAMP PERRY. o.. Sept. 1.-THE
United States navy and the marine
corps divided honors in the second
day of the National Rife association
meet here Tuesday. both teams win
ming two matches.
In the rapid-fire matches. at 200
yards. % out OF l.oo2 contestants
turned in perfect scores. r. Stubs,
OF the navy, with so. so and 40. won
the shoot-off of the tie. Corporal
A. Bunkley. marine corps. was sec
ond. with SO. SO and 4s. and w. D.
Deverman. navy. was third. with SO.
SO and ~.