The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-08-30

ledTn udTHeSS milking, IuecHdulcd
drawing, telegraphy, gardening, poul-
try raising, typewriting, bookkeeping
and the men teach the nurses how to
make canes out of shell cases, and
rings of aluminium, and slippers and
gloves out of blankets.
The nurses certainly work hard.
They always have more to- do than
they ought to, but they never complain,
and are always cheerful and ready to
play games when they have the time,
or read to some poilu. And their work
is pretty dirty too: l would not like
to have to do it. They say there We're
lots of French society ladies working
as nurses, but you never heard much
about society, or any talk about Lord
Helpus, or Count Whosis, or pink teas
or anything like that from these
nurses.
A few shells landed near our hos
pital, while was there, but no patient
was hit. They knocked shrine of Our
Lady to splinters, though, and bowled
over q big crucifix. The kitchen was
near by, and it was just the chefs luck
| that he had walked over to our ward
to see pal of his, when a shell landed
| plumb in the center of the kitchen,
and all you could see all over the bar
racks was stew.
That was a regular eatless day for
us, until they rugged up bogies and got
some more dixies, and mixed up some
cornmeal for us. The chef made up
for it the next day, though. The chef
was great little guy. He was a
''blesse' himself, and 1 guess his stom-
ach sympathized with ours.
There was a Frenchman in the bed
next to me who had the whole side of
his face torn Off He told me he had
been next to a bomber, who had just
lit a fuse and did not think it was
burning fast enough, so he blew on it.
1t burned fast enough after that, and
there he was.
There was a Belgian in one of the
other wards, whom l got to know pretty
well, and he would often come over
and visit me. He asked many ques-
lions about Dfxmude, for he had had
relatives there, though he had lost |
track of them. He often tried to de- |
scribe the house they had lived in, so |
that 1 might tell him whether it was |
still standing or not, but l could not
remember the place he spoke of. Dur
ing our talks, he told me about many
atrocities. Some of the things he told
me l had heard before, and some of
them l heard of afterward. Here are
some things that he either saw or
heard of from victims:
He said that when the Germans en-
tered the town of st. Quentin, they
started firing into the windows as they
passed along. First, after they had oc-
cupied the town, they bayoneted every
they could find. Then
they took about half of the children
that they could find, and killed them
with their musket butts. After this,
they marched the remainder of the chill
1ren and the women to the square,
where they had lined up a row of male
citizens against wall. The women
and children were told that if they
moved, they would all be shot. An
,ther file of men was brought up, and
made to kneeI in front of the other
men against the wall
The women and children began to
)eg for the lives of the men, and many :
If them were knocked in the head with {
Jun butts before they stopped.
Then the Germans fired at the double l
ank of men. After three volleys, there o
we're eighty-four dead and twenty
Most of the wounded they
hen killed with axes, but somehow, q
hree or four escaped by hiding under [
he bodies of others and playing dead i
hough the officers walked up and
own firing their revolvers into the q
lies of bodies. $
The next day the Germans went =
trough the.wine cellars, and shot all II
he inhabitants they found hiding "
here A lot of people, who had taken
efuge in factory over night, decided v
} come out with white flag. They u
ere allowed to think that the white u
ag would be respected, but no sooner =
ere they all out than they were seized u
nd the women publicly violated in the "
luare, after which the men were shot. VI
paralytic was shot as he sat in his
and boy of fourteen was ~
ken by the legs and pulled apart. ~
At one place, man was tied by the
ms to the ceiling of his room and set g
ire. His trunk was completely car =, -
,nized, but his head and arms were -
At the same. place, the -
,dy of a ffteen-year-old boy was I.
'und, pierced by more than twenty II
lyonet thrusts. Other dead were II
und with their hands still in the air, II
aiming up against walls. II
At another place the Germans II
lelled the town for a day, and then II
tered and sacked it. The women II
I'd children were turned loose, with II
it being allowed to take anything II
Lth them, and forced to leave the
wn. Nearly five hundred men were II
,ported to Germany. Three, who u
IRE almost exhausted by hunger, tried
escape. They 1erc bayoneted and
1bbed to death. Twelve men, who
d taken refuge In a farm, we're tied flu