Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-11

| *. f. &.
! Although 1 was suffering intense
agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect
English, insisted upon conversine
with me.
You may be all right as sports
| man, he declared, but you are a
| damned murderer just the same for
being here. You Americans who got
into this thing before America came
into the war are no better than COM
mon murderers and you ought to be
treated the same way"
The wound in my mouth made it
| impossible for me to answer him, and
l was suffering too much pain to be
hurt very much by anything he could
say.
He asked me if / would like an
apple! 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
l was given a little broth later in
the day, and as L began to collect my
thoughts l wondered what had hap
pened to my comrades in the battle
which had resulted so disastrously
to me. AS | began to realize my
plight l worried less about my physi-
cal condition than the fact that, as
the doctor had pointed out, for me
the war was practically over. 1 had
been in it short time, and now
would be prisoner for the duration
of the war.
The next day some German flying
oIflcerS visited me, and l must say
they treated me with great consider
atlon. They told me of the man | had
brought down. They said he was q
BaVarian and a fairly good pilot.
They gave me his hat as a souvenir
and complimented me on the fight 1
had put up.
My helmet, which was of soft
leather, was split from front to back
by bullet from a machine gun, and
they examined it with great interest.
When they brought me my uniform
L found that the star of my rank
which had been on my right shoulder
strap had been shot off clean. The
one on my left shoulder-strap they
/ asked ME for souvenir, as also
my r. f. c. badges, which l gave
wings which l wore on my left
breast, because they were aware that
this is the proudcst possession of a
British flying officer.
/ think 1 am right in saying that
the only chivalry in this war on the
German side of the trenches has been
! displayed by the officers of the Ger
man Flying Corps, which comprises
the pick of Germany. They pointed
out to me that L and my comrades
were lighting purely for the love OF
| 1t, whereas they were fighting in de-
Tense of their country, but still, they
| said, they admired us for our sports
manship. l had a notion to ask them
! If dropping bombs on London and
! killing so many innocent people was
in defense of their country, but
was in no position or condition tc
pick quarrel at that time.
That same day a German officer
was brought into the hospital and
put in the bunk next to mine. OF
course, l casually looked at him
/ but did not pay any particular at
! tention to him at that time. He lay
| there for three or four hours be-
fore 1 did take a real good look al
him. | was positive that he could
not speak English, and naturally ]
did not say anything to him.
! Once when looked over in his di-
rection his eyes were on me, and tC
my surprise he said, very sarcasti-
cally, What the hell are you look.
ing at?' and then smiled. At this
time l was just beginning to say a
| few words, as my wound had pre-
vented me from talking. but 1 said
enough to let him know what I was
doing there and how | happened to
be there. He evidently had heard
my story from some of the others
! though, because he said it was toe
bad l had not broken my neck; that
! he did not have much sympathy
with the Flying Corps anyway.
He asked me what part of Amer
lea l came from, and / told him,
California" After a few more
questions he learned that 1 hailed
from San Francisco, and then added
to my distress by saying, How
would you like to have a good, juicy
steak right out of the Hofbrau?"
Naturally L told him that it would
''hit the spot" but 1 hardly thought
my mouth was in shape just then to
eat. 1 Immediately asked. of course,
what he knew about the Hofbrau,
and he replied, Il was connected