Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1918-08-09


All this time. "lsst you forget" We
had no shoes. and no clothIns-onIy
What had once been our underwear.
u h sil right 70 b. q coney Island
snowbIrd and pose around In your
bathing suit In the drifts. because you
ere In good condition, and last but not
least, because you DO not have 10 10
n. Figure out the other sde Of II
for yourself. 1f4r
They marched ~ into q field where
there was nothing much but guns and
ammunition and snow. and Get ~ up
10 something like skirmIsh formation.
We stood there for some time. and
then we saw lot Of Huns with the
new long rifles coming toward ut.
yelling just an they did In battle, and
we thought sure we were being used
for practice targets. II IL . good
thing they halted and stopped yelling
when they did. or we would have
started for them 10 fight II out, for
We were not the kind that likes TO be
butchered with hands In the air. and
We would have been glad for q chance
TO get a few OF them before they got
us. But they did halt. and then sur
rounded us, and drilled ~ away
through swamps and woods and shal.
low water or slush. The women fol-
lowed. too. and there were plenty Of
bricks and spit left. Women as well
an men are the same the world over.
they say. I wonderf You can Just
picture the women OF. say. Rocklnnd.
Me-. following crowd OF German
prisoners that way. can't your NotI
But Of course the women OF Rockland
are pretty crude--no kultur at ALL
and Gott never commissioned Presi-
dent Wilson 10 take the I'D OF the
strnfe pot for him. y..,
They drilled us along the docks. and
II looked Ms though the whole German
navy was tied up ut Swinemunde.
We saw many Of the ships we had
henrd about, among them being the
famous Vulcan. the mother-ship for
submarines. There were many sail-
ors loaiing along the docks. and they
gnve the women hand with their
days work. They were no better with
brick. but they had more ammunition
when II came TO splitting. One OF them
trIpped n young boy by the name Of
Kelly. and as you would never doubt.
Kelly picked up rock and crashed
the sailor with II. He was then bay
oneted twice In the left leg. We he.
gan singing then, our popular favorite.
"Pack up your troubles" etc. and
when they heard us. how the swine
stnredi
Then they drilled us past the Ger.
mnn soldiers quarters. The men were
at rifle practice. and ! guess all OF US
thought how handy we would be as
targets. But when we got near them.
they quit practlcing and crowded
around us yelling; "'Raus Zuruck r
Finally we got to the top of the
hill. and were halted near the bar
racks while an officer read the mar
tial law OF Germany 10 us. AT least
we thought maybe 'that was II.
Finally they let us into the bar
racks. and tile FIRST thing we saw was
great pile Of hay. That looked good
10 us, and we mndc rush and dlved
into II. But the Huns told us to take
the hay and throw II In the middle OF
the rond. They had to use force be-
fore we would do It. Finally we gave
In. however. aud started 10 carry II
out. Some of the young boys were
crying, and do not blame them
much.
But one of the boys tried TO hide
some OF the hay behind box and was
caught doing IL. and two sentries
clouted him from one end OF the bar
racks 10 the other. His nose was
broken and his fnce mashed 70 n Jelly.
But there wns nothing we could do.
so we Just wandered up and down the
barracks. about MS we did between
decks on the Moewe, trying to keep
warm.
While this marathon was on we
heard n whistle blown very loudly,
and when we looked out we saw a
wagon piled up with old tin cans.
Then we we're told 70 form single file,
walk out to the wagon and each get a
can for himself. Each man had to
take the first can he laid his hands
on. and many Of us got rusty ones with
holes In them. SO that about hnlf an
hour later, when we received barley
coffee, and all we had to drink It from
was the cans, lots of the men had to
drink theirs almost in one gulp or lose
half Of It.
The barracks were very dirty and
smelled horribly, and the men were
still not even half clothed. We all
looked filthy and smelled that way,
and where the coal dust had rubbed
or, we We're very pale. And all of us
We're starved looking.
About eleven o'clock that morning
the whistle blew again, and we came
out and were given an aluminium
spoon and a dish apiece. Then we
cheered up and saw corned beef and
cabbage for ourselves. An hour lates
they drilled us through the snow to
the kuche. When we got there we
stood In line until at least half.past
twelve and then Tho Gnrmnns shnut-