The Arizona copper camp., 1918-09-14


though. whether they were Turkish or
French or British I do not know.
A few days after the rain stopped
was going along the road to the
docks at 'V'' beach when I saw some
examples Of the freakishness of shells.
There was long string of mules go-
ing back to the trenches with water
and supplies of various kinds. We
drew up to one side to let them pass.
Two or three mules away from us
was an old-timer with only one ear,
and that very gray, loaded to the gum
wales with bags Of water. He had had
his troubles, that old boy, but they
were just about over, for there was
flash and the next instant you could
not see'a thing left of Old Missouri.
He just vanished. But two Of the
water bags were not even touched,
and another one had only little hole
in it. There they lay on the ground.
just as though you had taken the mule
out from under them. The mules next
him, fore and aft, were knocked down
by, the concussion but unharmed; but
the third mule behind had one ear
cut to shreds, and the man behind
him was badly shot up and stunned.
| A little farther on shell had struck
the road and plowed furrow two or
three feet wide, and just as straight
as an arrow for three of four yards:
it then turned off at almost a
right angle and continued for a yard
or two more before it burst and made
big hole. That Turk gunner must
have put lot of English on that shell
when he fired it. He got somebody's
number with that shot, too, and the
lad paid pretty high, for there was
blood around the hole, not quite dry
when we got to 1t.
! Coming back along the same.road we
halted to let another convoy of mules
go past, and an officer of the Royal
naval division came up and began
talking to our officers. He was telling
them how he and his men had landed
at "X'' beach, and how they had to
wade ashore through barbed wire.
"And, you know" he said in a sur
prised way, as If he himself could
hardly believe it, "the beggars were
actually firing on us!' That is Just
like the Limeys, though. Their idea
IS not to appear excited about any
thing at any time, but to act as though
they were playing cricket-standing
around on lawn with paddles in their
hands, half asleep. The Limeys are
certainly cool under fire, though, and
I think that because the Anzacs did
so well at Gallipoli people have not
given enough credit to the British
regulars and r. N. DIS, who were
there too, and did their share of the
work, and did it as well as any men
could.
After while this officer started on
his way again, and as he cut across
the road a French officer came up.
The Limey wore a monocle, which
caused the French officer to stare at
him a minute before he saluted. After
the Englishman had passed him the
Frenchman took large French penny
out Of his pocket, screwed it into his
eye and turned toward us so that we
could see it, but the Limey could not.
That was not the right thing to do,
especially before enlisted men, so our
officers did not laugh, but the men did,
and so loud that Limey turned around
and caught sight of the Frenchman.
He started back toward him and
thought sure there would be a fight,
or that, more likely, the Limey would
! report him. Our officers should have
placed the Frenchman under arrest,
at that.
The Frenchman expected trouble,
too, for he pulled up very straight and
stiff, but he left the penny in his eye.
The Limey came up to him, halted
few PAGES off and, without saying
a word, took the monocle out of his
eye, twibbled it three or four feet in
the air and caught it in his other eye
when it came down.
'Do that, you blighter," he said and
faced about and was on his way down
the road. They had it on the French
man after that.
This Philippe Pierre, Of whom 1
have spoken, told me a story about
two Limey officers that hardly be-
lieved, yet Philippe swore it was the
truth. He had been in America before
the war, and he said he had seen one
Of the officers that the story is about
many times in New York.
He said there were two Limey offi-
GERS going along the road arguing
about the German shells which che
Turks We're using. One of the officers
said they were no good because they
did not burst. Just about that time
shell came along and they picked
themselves up quite distance from
where they had been standing. An
other shell whizzed by and landed fiat
on the side of the road. The officer
walked over dug it out of the ground,
ind took away the detonator and fuse
to prove that they did not explode!
The only thing that would make
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