Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1918-04-11
| @IeG7 BY
lARIHuR GUY EhpfYl


was hot and Tommy danced.
The covering party was having a
rough time of it; they had no cover;
just had to take their medicine.
Word was passed down the line to
beat it for our trenches. We needed nc
urging; grabbing our tools and stoop-
ing low, we legged it across No Mans
Land. The covering party got away
to poor start but beat us in. They
must have had wings because we low
cred the record.
Painting and out of breath, we tum-
bled into our frOnt-line trench. 1 tore
my hands getting through our wire,
but, at the time, didn't notice 1t; my
! journey was too urgent.
When the roll was called we found
that we had gotten it in the nose for
SO casualties.
Our artillery put barrage on Fritz
front-line and communication trenches
and their machine-gun and rifle fire
suddenly ceased.
Upon the cessation of this fire,
stretcher bearers went out to look for
| killed and wounded. Next day we
! learned that q of our men had been
killed and 81 wounded. Five men were
missing; lost in the darkness, they
must have wandered over into the Ger
man lines, where they were either
killed or captured.
Speaking of stretcher bearers and
wounded, it is very hard for the aver
age civilian to comprehend the enOr-
nous cost of taking care Of wounded
and the war in general. He or she gets
so accustomed to seeing billions of dol
lars in print that the significance Of
the amount is passed over without
thought.
From an official statement published
In one of the London papers, 1t is
stated that it costs between six and
seven thousand pounds 100000 to $780,
0C0) to kill or wound a soldier. This
result was attained by taking the cost
of the war to date and dividing 1t by
the killed and wounded.
1t may sound heartless and inhuman,
but it is fact, nevertheless, that from
a military standpoint It is better for
man to be killed than wounded.
If man is killed he is buried, and
the responsibility Of the government
ceases, excepting for the fact that his
people receive pension. But If man
Is wounded 1t takes three men from
the firing line, the wounded man and
two men to carry him to the rear to
the advanced first-aid post. Here he Is
attended by doctor, perhaps assist
ed by two r. A. M. C. men. Then he is
nut into motor ambulance, manned
by q crew of two or three. At the field
hospital, where he generally goes I'M
der an anesthetic, either to have MS
wounds cleaned or to be operated on,
he requires the services of about three
to five persons. From this point an
other ambulance ride impresses more
men in his service, and then at the am
bulance train, another corps Of doc
tors, r. A. NJ. @. men, Red Cross nurses
and the trains crew. From the train
he enters the base hospital or Casualty
clearing station, where a good-slzeu
corns of doctors, nurses, etc, are kept
busy. Another ambulance journey Is
next in order-this time to the hospital
shin. He crosses the channel. arrives
in Blighty-more ambulances and per-
haps a ride for five hours on an Eng
lish Red Cross train Swith its crew OF
Red Cross worko :. and at last he
reaches the hospital. Generally ne
STAYS from two to six months, or long
or. in this hospital From here he is
sent to a cOnvalescent home for SIX
weeks.
If by wounds he is untitled for 1ur-
ther service. he is discharged, given
pension, or committed TO a soldiers
home for the rest of his life-and sui
the expense piles up. When you real
ize that all the ambulances, trains ana
sbips. not to mention the man power
used in transporting wounded man
could be used for supplies ammuhition
and re-enforcements for the troops at
the front. 1t will not appear strange
that from a strictly military stand
poInt. a dead man Is sometimes petter
than n live one IF wounded.
Not long after the first digging party
orr general decided, after carelui
tour of inspection of the communica-
ton trenches, upon ian ideal spot as
he termed It, for machine-gun eii-
placement: took his map, made a uol
on 1t. and as he was wont, wrote ue
here" and the next night we dug
There were twenty in the party my
self included. Armed with picAs'
sbovels and empty sandbags we az
rived at the "1deal spot" and starred
digging. The moon was very orlgnT,
hut we did not care as we were wen
out of sight of the German lines.
We had gotten about three 1eet
down. when the fellow next to me- arr
er a mighty stroke with his pick let 20
of the handle, and pInched his nose
with his thumb and forefinger' at .ne
same time letting out the eXIlosion,
scott strafe me pink. I'm bloody wen
eassed. not 'alf 1 amt" quichs