The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-07-11
SEES CHILDREN
BEHIND HUN LINE
FRENCH CITIZEN TRAINS NEWLY
ARRIVED AMERICANS.
LIEUT.. RICHARDS At THE FRONT
Former Kansas City Man Relates Ex-
perience-EIas Made Several Air
Ffiqhts-Enemy Poor Marksmen
Has Been Under Fire.
(By Frank ]. Taylor)

10y FIduh y. 10y iOi.y
With the American Army in France
July IO.-At a certain point in sec
tor taken over by the Americans, OBJ
servation posts overlook miles of
territory behind the German lines.
When the Americans took over the
sector the French loaned number
of their observers to train the newly
arrived Americans. One man the
French said was especially good, be-
cause he knew every inch of the
German territory under observation.
He had lived over the line before
the war, and his family was still
there. This man had escaped to
France to join The army when war
broke out From the observation po-
sition he could see on real clear days
his home over the line, and with the
aid of glasses he watched his wife
and two little Riddles" when they
were outside their home.
In good weather he saw them three
or four days out of the week, but in
bad weather he was fortunate if he
saw them once week. 1t was tan.
talizing TO see his children grow VI
when he could not reach them, vet
he was grateful for the chance to look
at them.
Caught Sight of Them Again.
One day shortly after the Americans
came, this man was broken hearted
He had seen his wife and the chill
( dren board train. For two days
he was almost without nope.
Then one of the Americans he had
been training suddenly shouted one
day, There they are. They're back.
= The Yankee was almost as excited as
{ the .Frenchman.
! This man doesn't measure time by
the end of the war" as most people
/ do. With him il is until the Ameri
cans drive the Germans beyond my
home over there" For him that will
be heaven.
/ He says there will be no end of the
war on Germany for him. For the
! hours of agony the Germans have
given him will never allow him to BIZ
at peace with a German. Further
more, ransom is on him for an up
rising he started before he escaped
/ to France The Americans will try
/ to keep hmm at his observation pos
until his home and family is won il
an advance.
How 1t Seems In Air.
( Lieutenant j. II. Richards Of Kansas
City relates his experiences thus:
Il have flown over the lines severa
times now. The sector is an easy
one to learn; landmarks are distinc
and there are enough of them to fl
a museum. You might be interested
to know how it looks and feels wher
Iup there. . .. ... .. ....
1 The trenches, line after line o.
them, are distinct, and between them
as well as back on both sides, tbs
earth is SCARED with she'll holes. M
/ Mans Land truly is a desolate look
ling bit of country Usually no move
ment of any sort can be seen. YOr
cannot imagine what satisfaction i
is really to see yourself accomplish
| ing work against the enemy.
ION a 'reguIage,' or artillery adj
! justment, one feels like patting him
self on the back when a shell lands
on given target. OF course, We
hear no sound of il. but smoke anC
flying debris is quite enough TO. show
we are getting results.
The first shot by the Arches
mostly caused surprise and desire
10 do something about it, BY follow
ing the well known tactics of chang
ing altitude and direction, we were
ing altitude and direction, sitting on
the muzzles of their guns as it is
called The sound of the shots, high
explosives with their black puffs is
rather a peculiar one. The resem
blance to that which a COW makes
when she suddenly draws her foot
out of the mud somehow impressed me
at the time. So far as know, that
is the first time / ever had people
shooting at me, and | find OF is not
50 disturbing after all On the
ground perhaps il would be different.
If shots come from a distance. and
they usually do, the feeling one has
for them is contempt Only one in
about nineteen thousand gets its
mark.
"Once when | was several kilome-
tiers over the line my motor began to
act queerly. but then settled down and
went like a dreaps Yet that caused
me more worry than, anything else.
although ] was high enough ~ glide
back Perhaps one should be
afraid, but the fact is. one is too busy
watching the altitude. listening to the
motor, avoiding the Arches and,
above all. keeping lookout for hos
tile planes"