Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-04-23
Continued from last Issue)
CHAPTER w
IN HE hospital in which found
myself on the morning after my

I OF hrlCk, very low ana ulFlNr dliu AiON
| at all adapted for use as hospital. IL
had evidently been used but few
days on account Of the big push that
/ was taking place a that time Of the
year and in all probability would be
| abandoned as soon As they had found
/ a better place
| In ali, the house contained four rooms
and a stable which was by far the
/ largest of all Although ] never looked
| into this wing" of the hospital, | was
| told that it. too. was Tiled with pa
I tients lying on beds OF straw around
on the ground. ] do not know whether
| they, TOO, were officers or privates.
The room in which } found myself
contained eight beds, three of which
/ were occupied by wounded German Of
| dcers. The outer rooms, I imagined, had
/ about the same number of beds as mine.
| There were no Red Cross nurses in at
| tendance just orderlies, for this was
only an emergency hospital, and too
near the firing line for nurses.
The orderlies were not old men nor
very young boys. as ! had expected to
| find, but young men in the prime of
| life who evidently had been medical
students. One or two of them / discov-
cred were able to talk English, but for
some reason they would not talk. Per-
/ haps they were forbidden by the officer
| in charge to do so.
In addition to the bullet wound in
| my mouth, / had swelling from my
| forehead to the back of my head al
most as big as my shoe-and that is
I saying considerable. L couldn't move
an inch without suffering intense pain,
and when the doctor told me that 1 had
no bones broken 1 wondered how a fell
/ low would feel who had.
Alive by a Miracle
German officers visited me that morn
inC and tnld me- that m machine
down in a spinning nose dive from a
height Of between 5000 and 5000 feet,
and they had the surprise of their lives
when they discovered that I had not
been dashed to pieces. They had to cut
me out of my machine, which was rid
died with shots and shattered to bits.
German doctor removed the bullet
from my throat and the first thing
he said to me when I came to was,
You are an American!"
There was no use denying it, because
the metal Identification disk on my
wrist bore the inscription:
"P OBJ,
L. S. A.
r. r. c."
Although was suffering intense
agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect
English, insisted upon conversing with
me.
You may be all right as a sports
man. he declared, but you are a
damned murderer just the same for be-
ing here. You Americans who got into
this>thing before America came into the
war are no better than common muir
derers and you ought to be treated the
same way!"
The wound in my mouth made it i'm
possible for me to answer him, and /
was suffering too much pain to be hurt
very much by anything he could say.
pie! l could Just as easily have eaten
( brick.
When he got no answers out Of me
he walked away disgustedly.
You don't have to worry any more"
he-declared as parting shot. For you
the war is over"
Helmet Split by Bullet
was given a little broth later in
the day, and as 1 begun to collect my
thoughts 1 wondered what had happen
ed to my comrades in the battle which
had resulted so disastrously to me- AS
began to realize my plight | worried
| less about my physical condition than
the fact that, as the doctor had point
ed out, for me the war was practically
over. I had been in it but short time,
and now l would be a prisoner for the
duration of the war.
The next day some German flying
officers visited me, and / must say they
treated me with great consideration.
They told me of the man / had brought
down. They said he was a Bavarian
and fairly good pilot. They gave me
his hat as souvenir and compIimented
me on the night / had put up.
My helmet, which was of soft leath-
/ er, was split from front to back by d
bullet from machine gun, and they
examined it with great interest. When
they brought me my uniform | founI
o hos n
been on my right shoulder strap. had
been shot off clean. The one on NV
left shoulder strap they asked me for
as a souvenir, as also my r. f. G.
badges, which / gave them. They al.
lowed me TO keep my wings" which |
more on mi left breast. because they
were aware that this is the proudest
possession of British flying officer
I think / am right in saying that the
only chivalry in this war on the Ger
man side of the trenches has been dis
played by the officers of the German
flying corps, which comprises the pick
Of Germany. They pointed out to me
that | and my comrades were fighting
purely for the love of il, whereas they
were fighting in defense of their coun-
/ try, but still, they said they admired
US for our craftsmanship / had a no
| ton to ask them if dropping bombs on
London and killing so many inno-
cent people was in defense OF their coun-
| try, but / was in no position or cond!-
! tion TO pick a quarrel at that time.
That SAINT day a Germ; officer was
I brought !nto the hospital and put in the
/ bunk next to mine. OF course, 1 casual
! ly looked at him, but did not pay any
/ particular attention to him at that time.
! He lay there for three or four hours
| before 1 did take a real good look at
/ him. was positive that he could not
speak English, and naturally I did not
! say anything to him.
NNCE when / looked over in his di-
rection his eyes were on me, and
- TO my surprise he said, very Sar
/ castically, What the hell are you look
/ ing at?" and then smiled. At this time
/ was just beginning to say a few
! words as my wound had prevented me
| from talking. but ] said enough to let
/ him know what l was doing there and
! how i happened to be there. He evil
! IDENTIFY had heard my story from some
/ of the others. though, because he said it
was too bad ] had not broken my neck;
! that he did net have much sympathy
| ,.-ith tho pOrDS