The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-12-30

-. Stanton, n. D., Dec. IS, 1913.
Editor Tribune.
Bismarck, n. D.
Dear Sir: You will remember tmt
some time since l sent you all article
from the pei, of one Lieut. Mahle. a
German boy, whose early environments
were about the same as III any German
settlement and went into the service a
pro-. Well. the cause of his complete
conversion to genuine ,Amerlcanfsm
was so strongly and clearly given that
we called it good STUFF and l appre-
ciate and thank you for giving it space.
! 1 am enclosing another from his pen,
just before entering battle, which if
YOU can use It, will be appreciated. l
wish to add that the young lieutenant
was wounded in the battle. l get this
by letter from n friend. : *r.'>.
= Yours truly,
J. A. HARRIS.
A letter written by Lieutenant Earl
Il. Mahle of Blooming Grove, to, his
uncle, Rev. w. F.. Mahle. and published
some weeks aEo in the Journal Chron-
the country and was recently repuO-
lished in fun by the Literary Digest
with exceedingly complimentary NEIL
ton by that publication. Lieutenant
Mahle recently wrote another letter to
his uncle which is equally interesting
in that 1t reveals the philosophy which
has grown out of his participation in
some of the bitter battles of war. The
letter follows:
Oct. 1G, 1918.
Dear Uncle:
Your letter of August came to me
some several weeks ago. / noticed
particularly that you said you knew
l was doing my. duty as a good soldier
should, and that without murmur or
complaint. That has been the chief
aim toward which l have directed ev.
cry thought and effort. I have always
deemed that a thing worthy Of one
who has the privilege Of being born
and reared lii the most blessed coul-
try%On earth, 4 country which many OF
us, lam sorry to say, had little appre
citation of before this awful emergency
arose.
This may be the last letter that +
shall ever be able to write to you. In
a short time I am going into the lines
in section. which an officer just des-
ignated as the 'last place God made"
you. of course. can readily understand
the meaning he wished to convey.
cannot tell you any more about the
place. you will understand. but I can
assure you that not all will come out
OF it alive. 1T is Not the first time
that have gone into similar places.
have seen death. have seen men pay
the full price. It has not been asked
OF me yet. Il still possess my every
faculty and physically am more
heshy than ever wasJ and the fact
that I have been able to endure the
hardships of a number of campaigns
shows that my health has hardly been
impaired. may continue to avoid
death. However. I realize that some
must pay the, full price, and may he
the next one. al "
Not long ago received a letter in
which the writer said in part. II know,
Earl. that God has been good and has
spared your life" There used to be
a time when looked mt my relation
to God in practically that way. But
the more 1 see Of this war the more
am convinced that God has nothing
to do with It. This war has been
caused by man himself. He has sown
the seeds Of it. and now he is reaping
the harvest in horrors. For this bad
seed sown by the hands of man all
Cling to find his way out of vile
are responsible for the wrong that has
been done, but where can you find
those who in some way do not suffer.
l A - - I.