The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-06-15
OVID TIL TOD
81
AN ANIERICAN SOLDIER
VITO WENT q 3
GUYEfpEY
GUNNER, SERVING N FRANc-

Wednesday and Sunday Of each week
were visiting days and were looked
forward 10 by the men, because they
meant parcels containing fruit, sweets
or flags. When a patient had a regular
visitor, he was generally kept well
supplied with these ~delicacies. Great
Jealousy is shown among the men as
to their visitors and many word wars
ensue after the visitors leave.
When a man is sent to a GONZALES
cent home, he generally turns over his
steady visitor to the man in the next
bed.
Most visitors have autograph albums
and bore Tommy to death by asking
him to write the particulars of his
wounding in same. Several Tommies
try to duck this unpleasant job by tell
ing the visitors that they cannot write,
but this never phases the owner Of the
album he or she, generally she. offers
to write it for them and Tommy is
stung into telling his experiences.
The questions asked Tommy by visi-
tors would make a clever joke book
to a military man.
Some kindly looking old lady viii
stop at your bed and in a sympathetic
voice address you: "You poor boy,
wounded by those terrible Germans.
You must be suffering frightful pain.
A bullet. did you say? Wen, tell me,
have always wanted to know, did it
hurt worse going in or coming out?'
Tommy generally replies that he did
not stop to figure it out when he was
hit.
One very ~nice-looking, ~overenthusi-
aside young thing, stopped at my bed
and asked, "What wounded you in the
faee7a
In a polite but bored tone 1 an
swered, "a rifle bullet"
With a look of disdain she passed
to the next bed, first calculating, "Ohl
Only a bullet? I thought it was a
shell" Why she should think a shell
wound was more Of a distinction beats
me. 1 don't see a whole lot of differ
ence myself.
The American Women's War hospi
tai was a heaven for wounded men
They were allowed every privilege pos
sibIe conducive with the rules and mill
tary discipline. The only fault wa;
that the mems passes were restricted
To get a pass required an act of par
lament. Tommy tried many tricks to
get out, but the commandant, an old
Boer war officer, was wise to them all,
and it took a new and clever u Isl to
make him afix his signature to the
coveted slip of paper.
As soon as it would get dark many a
patient climbed over the wall and went
ION his own" regardless of many signs
staring him in the face. "Out of bounds
for patients" Generally the nurses
were looking the other way when one
of these night raids started. l hope
this Information win get none of them
into trouble, but / cannot resist the
temptation to let the commandant
know that occasionally we put it yer
on him.
one afternoon I received a note,
through our underground channel, from
my female visitor, asking me to attend
a party at her house that night. I
answered that she could expect me and
to meet me at a certain place on the
road wen known by all patients, and
some visitors, as "over. the wall" 1
told her 1 would be on hand at seven
thirty,
About SEVENTEEN I sneaked my
overcoat and cap out Of the ward and
hid it in the bushes. Then / told the
nurse. a particular friend of mine, that
1 was going for a walk in the ros gar
den. She winked and I knew that ev-
erything was an right on her end.
Going ont Of the ward, I slipped into
! the bushes and made for the wall. 1t
was dark as pitch and 1 was cropping
through the underbrush, when sudden
Iy stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, a horrible bump,
and blackness. When I came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. / was lying against a circular
wall Of bricks, dripping with moisture,
and far away / could hear the trickling
of water. 1 had in the darkness fallen
into an old disused well. But why
wasn't ! wet? According to all rules
I should have been drowned. Perhaps
l was and didn't know it.
L AS the shock of my sudden stop
gradually wore Off it came to me that
/ was lying on a ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pre-
cipitate me to the bottom Of the we'll.
/ struck a match. In its faint glare
I saw that l was lying in a circular
hole about twelve feet deep-the we'll
had been filed i'm! The dripping / Id
heard came from a water pipe over on
my right.
With my wounded shoulder it was
impossible to shiany up the pipe. /
could not yell for help, because the
rescuer would want to know how the
accident happened, and l would be
hailed before the c0mmandant on
charges. lust had TO grin and bear