Gilpin observer., 1918-01-10

being Just the width Of Q stretcher
handle and no more. We trod gently
from stretcher handle to stretcher ham
asleeD with the blessed morphia IN
their brains. others cheerily smiling,
others staring - wounded men do. All
who could move . hand had q ciga.
rette, now admitted to be the flrst
need Of all but the very dangerously
wounded.
Passing on. and using our electric
torch a. little a. possible. 20 ~ not
to disturb the sleepers, we came to
the main dressing room. Remember
It was all underground, all dark, and
that the oncOming wall Of approach.
ing shells, with immediate subsequent
explosions. was continuous.
I'm this main dressing room the
doctors, all young men, were washing
and bandaging. counted twenty-four
patients in that small chamber. We
crept onward and came to another
room where there were nine cases, and
again to a smaller one where lay the
more dangerously wounded.
Touching Sight
"These dressing rooms were protect,
ed by some four or five feet Of earth
above them. There was a small off,
GERS mess and q medical storeroom.
which were merely shielded by cor
rugated iron from shrapnel splinters.
a kitchen, an office. and that was about
all. An operation for tracheotomy was
taking place In one Of the rooms.
I'm all my many experiences abroad
have never seen more touching
sight than this little underground gath
ering Of some twenty men, devoted
doctors and assistants. waiting amidst
the incessant shelling until the over
crowded maze could be evacuated. Let
those who take their ease on a Sun
day afternoon. or any other afternoon,
realize that this same scene never
ceases. Let those who consider that
they are amply doing their bit by
keeping things going at home, be CRATE
full that their bit is not as that of
these young men. We cannot all Of
us share the danger, but we can every
one Of US admit the inequalities of our
lose no opportunity of tightening the
hard bit of those at the front as far
as lies in their power.
"Say this for me to the American
people: Think, all Of you who have
sons, husbands. brothers, either In the
ranks already or liable to be called
for service. think Of the soldier hit by
bullet or torn by shrapnel. shattered
BY bomb, mangled by high explosive,
or poisoned by the fumes Of horrible
gas. To be picked up promptly and
to receive careful treatment means
life. To be left lying a long time on
the battlefield means, II not death.
permanent mutilatiOn and disablement
Which IL 1t to bef That depends upon
you.
Help 70 Bring Victory.
'But that IL not all I would say tc
the American people. would say
also this: Bear In mind continually
remind yourselves night and morning
that when you subscribe to the Rec
Cross, You are doing your little BIZ
toward the victory Of your tropps. and
when you help to bring victory within
sight, you are helping to make your
home safe, whatever part Of the coun.
try you live in; helping to assert and
to justify the claim Of the American
people to live az they choose to live
not a. someone else wishes them tc
live.
"The war may seem a long way OF
from your home. You may find II
difficult to imagine any interference
by outsiders with the way Of life to
which you are accustomed. But thinh
Of Belgium. think Of Serbia, think OF
Roumania. Think Of the north Of
France and Poland and the western
provinces Of Russia. There the peo
pie have to live as Prussia orders
them to live. They cannot carry on
their businesses. They are not al
lowed to 60 out and come in as they
please. They are liable at any mo
ment to be carried of into Germany
and put to exhausting hard labor.
Think Of the people Of Alsace and
Lorraine before the war. They were
not able to live as they wished to
live. Think of the Danes in Schleswig.
Holstein who have been obliged to
struggle against PrussianizatiOn with
painful effort for fifty years. Think
Of the Inhabitants Of German Poland,
refused the right to have their chill
dren taught in their own language.
deprived Of their land, forced to sub
nit to being Germanized In very harsh
and abominable ways.
Would Control the World.
"Germany's aim is to control the
world. This aim has been avowed
over and over again by German writ
ers and speakers. 1t was made popu-
lar. II was taught in schools. No con-
sideration Of honor or Justice or hu-
manity was to be allowed to interfere
~.,ttt, tt Novimlltou Harfan odif0r