The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-11-03
LOST DURING NIGHT
IN NO-MAN'S LAND
GRUESOME EXPERIENCE


.Atchison. Kans., Nov. 2.-Lost in
the dead OF night in the vide ex-
panse and desolation OF No Mans
Land OH the battlefront, the grue-
someness OF the experience being ac-
centuated by stumbling, at frequent
intervals, through soldier cemeteries
which the enemy had left in their
wake, was an incident OF Il thrill
ing "a hours adventure OF two Y. M.
c. a. men. One of them who re-
Gently wrote letter concerning his
experience was Ira ]. Beard, OF
Atchison, and his companion was
DR.. Henry Coc Culbertson, until a
year ago president OF the Ripon Col
lege, Ripon. Wisconsin, Incl
dentally this college president now
is doing his bit" serving the SOL
diers at the front in various capacit-
les from driving supply truck to
officiating as clergyman at soldier
burials.
Mr.. Beard says that on this trip
they stopped for dinner at once
thriving French city from which the
Germans recently had been driven
was alive with flags and generally
bore the resemblance of holiday
celebration.
I'VE found it rapidly filling up
again with French men returning
10 their families after four years OF
separation" writes Mr.. Beard. But
this home coming has one very dis
tressing phrase. We learned that
the young woman who cooked our
dinner was the mother of three Ger
man children and her case is typical
throughout the section from which
the Germans have just been driven
Mr.. Beard and DR.. Culbertson lett
the village supply station OF the y.
NJ. c. A. about ! o'clock in the aft
ernoon with truck load OF cam
teen supplies for one OF the regi-
ments that was moving up to the
front. The highway they found
choked with artillery moving for
ward, so in an effort to save time,
they started to make a detour. They
lost their way after nightfall, there
being strict ban on lights. Fin
ally the truck went into shell hole
six feet deep and stuck fast.
DIR. Culbertson and | Immediately
started back on foot writes Mr..
Beard. Our our way back took us
across No Mans Land sf four years
ago, most desolte region in day
light, but oppressively so in the dead
of night. At close intervals we
would come upon regularly laid out
cemeteries and they were isolated
graves everywhere. For about an
hour we had the creepy sensation
that we might be near enough to the
enemy lines to fall into the hands
OF a raiding party. A half dozen
burning villages off in the direction
of the retreating enemy added to the
weirdness of our nocturnal Jour
ney. We reached headquarters a
little after ! o'clock, having COW
cred eighteen or twenty miles"
After hurried breakfast, the let
ter states the two "Y' men started
out in an automobile, pulled the
truck out of the shell hole and pro-
ceeded to distribute the supplies
among the advancing regiments. To
men in the actual fighting line, the
~" distributes canteen supplies Tree
Mr.. Beard says.
"One village had been bombed by
the boche about an hour before we
got there the letter continues.
Three Of our soldiers had been
killed and about fifty wounded. We
spent two hours there helping in
the burial of the victims. There in,
little walled-in French grave
yard we laid away our own coun-
tryment, in about the only space lett.
so closely set was all the ground
with the graves OF fallen Germans
and French civilians"