Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1918-10-04

time involved IN looking Tor Detter
underfOOting-whlch l might not have
found anyway used TO pole right
through the mud. Apart from the
discomfort OF this method OF travel
Ing and the slow time / made, there
was an added danger TO me In the fact
TINT the squash. squash" noise which
made might easily be overheard by
Belglans and Germans and give my
position away. Nobody would cross
swamp or marsh In that part OF the
country unless he was trying TO get
..way from somebody. and / realized
my danger but could not get around 1t.
II was q common sight In Belgium
to see a small donkey and common
ordinary mich COW hitched together,
pulling a wagon. When l first OBJ
served the unusual combination, l
thought II was u donkey and OK or
bull, but closer inspection revealed to
me that cows were being used for the
purpose.
From that / was able to observe
there must be very few horses left In
Belgium except those owned by the
Germans. Cows and donkeys are now
horses and mules. Altogether ] spent
nearly eight weeks wandering through
Belgium, and in all that time ! don't
believe l saw more than half a dozen
horses In the possession OF the native
population.
One Of the scarcest things in Ger
many. apparently, is rubber for l
noticed that their motor trucks, or lor-
ries, unlike our own. had no rubber
tires. Instead heavy iron bands were
employed. l could hear them come
rumbllng along the stone roads for
miles before they reached the spot
where I happened TO be In hiding.
When I saw these military roads In
Belgium for the first time, with their
heavy cObblestOnes that looked as II
they would last for centuries, / real
lied at once why II was that the Ger
mans had been able to make such
rapid advance into Belgium ut the
start Of the war.
noticed that the Belgians used
dogs to a considerable extent to pull
their carts, and l thought many times
that Il l could have stolen one or
those dogs II would have been a very
good companion for me and might, II
the occasion arose, help me out in a
fight. But had no way Of feeding 1t
and the animal would probably have
starved to death. / could live on veg
etables, which / could always depend
upon finding In the fields, but a dog
couldn't, and so gave up the idea.
The kn0ck of making fire with two
pieces of dry wood ! had often read
about, but had never put It to test
and for various reasons / concluded
that 1t would be unsafe for me to
build a fire even II / had matches. In
the first place, there was no absolute
need for 1t. didn't bave anything
to cook nor utensils to cook II in even
II ] had. While the air was getting
to be rather cool at night, / was usu-
ally on the 60 at that time and didn't
notice 1t. In the daytime, when l
was resting or sleeping, the sun was
usually out.
To have borrowed matches from
Ijelgian peasant would have been feas-
ible, but when l was willing to take
the chance Of approaching anyone, 1t
was just as easy to ask for food as
matches.
It the second place, 1t would have
been extremely dangerous to have
built q fire even II l had needed 1t.
You can't build a fire In Belgium,
which is the most thickly populated
country in Europe, without everyone
knowing it, and was far from anx-
ious to advertising my whereabouts.
The villages In that part Of Bel
GUM through which was making my
course were so close together that
there was hardly ever an hour passed
without my hearing some clock strike.
Every village has Its clock. Many
times / could hear the clocks striking
in two villages ut the same time.
But the hour had very little interest
to me. My program was to travel as
fast as l could from sunset to sunrise
and pay no attention TO the hours In
between, and in the daytime had
only two things to worry about: keep
concealed and get as much sleep as
possible.
The cabbage that got In Belgium
consisted Of the small heads that the
peasants had not cut. All the strength
had concentrated In these little heads
and they would be as bitter as gall. /
would have to he pretty hungry to-
day before l could ever eat cabbage
again and the same observation ap-
plies to carrots, turnips and sugar
beets-especlally sugar beets:
1t Is rather u remarkable thing that
today even q smell of turnlps, raw or
cooked, makes me sick, and yet q few
short months ago my life depended
upon them.
Night after night as / searched for
food, / was always in hopes that /
might come upon some tomatoes or
celery-vegetables which really
liked, but with the exception Of once,
when / found some celery, / was never
SO fortunate. ! ate SO much Of the
celery the night / came upon 1t that
l was sick for two days thereafter,
but / carried several lunches away
with me and used TO chew on Il as ]