Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-02

~ Denu tnelr ieBS from StiilISS5.
They would wobble down the gang
plank and stand trembling on the
dock In about a minute or so they
would stretch their necks way up
into the air and seem to be taking
long breaths of the pure air. Then
they started to whinny. They were
calling backward and forward to
each other. Even though l did not
understand horse language, 1 knew
exactly what they were saying. They
were thanking their horse God for
their deliverance from that He'll
Ship, and were looking forward to
green pastures and a good roll in
the dirt. Pretty soon you could see
them bend their forelegs and lie
down on the dock; then try to roll
over. 1t was pitiful; some of them
did not have the strength to turn
over and they feebly kicked. Pretty
soon the whole dock was a mass of
rolling horses, the Frenchmen jump
ing around, gesticulating and jabber-
ing.
After getting the horses up, they
were divided into classes according
to their height and weight. Then
each horse was led into rink chalk
ed out on the dock and the army in
spectors examined it. Very few were
rejected. From this ring of chalk
they were led into a portable stall
and branded. You could hear the
sing-song voice of the brander shout
ing out what sounded like "Battry
Loo" AS he yelled this, a French
private would come over, get the
horse which had been branded, and
lead it away. 1 got in conversation
with an interpreter and he informed
me that the average life of these
horses in the French Army was three
days. so these poor horses had only
left that He'll Ship to go into a worse
He'll of bursting shells and cracking
bullets.
1. after passing a rigid examina-
tion as to my nationality, and being
issued a cattleman's passport, in
quired my way to the Prefecture of
Police. l delivered to him a sealed
envelope which 1 had received in
New York. Upon opening it, he was
very gracious to me and l went into
a rear room. where an interpreter
put me through grilling examina-
ton. From there 1 was taken to
a hotel, and the next morning, in
the company of Sergeant and a
Private, got into a little matchbox
compartment on the funniest look
ing train / ever saw. The track
seemed to be about three feet wide;
the wheels of the cars looked like
huge cogwheels on an engine minus
the cogs.> After humping, stopping,
and sometimes sliding backwards, in
twenty-siX hours we reached a lit
tie town. Supplies were piled up as
high as houses. Officers and en-
listed men were hurrying to and fro.
and 1 could see long trains of sup
ply wagons and artillery limbers al
ways moving in the same direction.
l was ushered into the presence of
a French officer who, 1 later found
out, was a Brigadier General of the
QuartermaSter Corps. l could hear
a distant booming, and upon inquir-
ing found out that it was the guns
of France, striving to hold back the
German invaders. 1 trembled all
over with excitement, and a feeling
that 1 cannot describe rushed over
me. 1 was listening to my first sound
of the guns on the Western Front.
Two days after
ward again |
Home, but rea d Bor-
deaux, and ship
Dissatisfied ped to New York |
on the French |
Liner Rocham-
beauX. Upon arriving in New York |
/ reported to the Frenchman who |
had sent me over. He was very
courteous, and as 1 reached out to |
both hands on my shoulders and |
kissed me on the right and left |
cheek. l was dumfounded, blushed |
all over, and after receiving the pay |
that was due me, left.
l think l could have borne an
other trip across with horses, but
that being kissed upon my return |
completely got my goat.
| went back to the routine of my
office, but everything had lost color
and appeared monotonous. 1 believe |
l had left my heart in France, and !
| felt mean and small, eating three |
square meals day and sleeping on
q soft bed, when the armies on the |
other side were making the worlds !
Sometimes when sleeping I would
have a horrible nightmare; 1 could
see those horses being boiled alive
in steam.
Several times later I passed that
sign on Greenwich Street." Horses
for France, Men Wanted" and the
picture of the second foreman drop
ping the pasty- faced doctor would
loom before my eyes. 1 do not know
to this day what became of that
nervy wreck of humanity, who had
the temerity to tell our foreman
where he got off at, 1 know hei
did not make the passage with us.
ITO be Continued.l
Copyright, 1917. by The Mcclure