Evening star., 1918-07-24
SHRAPNEL
Sideights on the War
-BY- S
OLIVER OWEN KUHN.

The kaiser believes that he COM
bines the valor OF the soldier with
rare literary genius. He now II pre-
parins q history Of the war. Hack
literary men are compiling the events
of the war IA chronological order and
highly skilled literary men arc weav-
ing the words about the skeleton.
That Premier Cletnenceau foresaw
the trouble which might come with
Germany 10 indicated by an incident
that occurred In 1908:
In April. -Clemenceau. then. rs now,
prime minister. attended in London
the. funeral Of q British prime min
funeral he asked Sir Edward Grey
what England would do when the Ger
mans should bolt through Belgium
into Fr&nce, seek to seize the channel
ports and capture Paris before re-
sistance could be organised.
1T would make q great stir IN Eng
land" was the answer.
''Stiri We shall want help. not .
STIR" returned Clemenceau. "One hun
drsd thousand British soldiers across
stop the rush- Two hundred and nifty
thousand would stop 1t. Five hundred
thousand would help US to turn It
back You have not even $4,000.
You must get them.and remember.
that II mon can be improvissd. you
cannot improviss rifles. ammunition
and artillery"
Not all men like to plunge back
into the nshtins after having spent
Surgeons weed out the men every
week and those who are able to once
moro shoulder the rifle do 80. Some
hold back and try to mimic sickness.
The doctors invariably spot these men
The physicians In charge OF the weed.
ing process are known as "owls"
among American soldiers.
Tho following bit of verse, entitled
Crosses" and written by q private
ing:
Each lifs must havs Its crosses
And . soldier gsts his share.
From Q trip across the ocean
To the enyted e<otx Dc guefre-
TAsrs are crosses By the censor.
Far TO many. @ It seems; %
From the giriis Of bis dreams.
TAus's cross that's worn hy heroes
Who have faced q storm Of lead,
Ihers's Q cross when he 10 wounded.
Thefs's cross when he u dead.
Ihsrsss IN fsun cross awardsd
Tor mufdex and for rape;
MS The emblem Of the devil
IT'S the cross Of sin and hita.
There's ne little cross Of mercy.
Fer soldier It 10 second
n the cross Of God alonA.
M eross that's worn By women
When We $50 It We believe
We can recognise IN angel
by tbs rcd cross on her slssve.
n 10 . singular fact. but the Sem
galese soldiers operating. with the
allies ON the western front dislike
we're their wounds. Not infrequently
they battle nurses and doctors to
prevent the dressing Of their wounds,
and doctors often dnd 1t necessary to
jab hypodermics into the bodies Of
the eengalsss In their soufles in or
der that they may become quiet
Some Of the greatest haroes on the
bettlsnelds are DOCTORS This story
70 told Of one american medical ON
seven men were blinded and choked
with Q tearshell one pitch-black night.
Only q doctor and his orderly were
in the advanced aid post in the line.
the dressing station being some three
miles behind. To have kept the blind.
break wa. aa imposs,bie. . . as sIs, By that hat time
the fumes from their clothing would
have gassed tho others. To leave
them outside was equally impossible.
The doctor took the lead Tho first
s1ght1ess man placed his hands on
the "doc'1 shoulders, the others fol-
lowed suit, the orderly bringing up
the rear. and In single file the nine
started their ghastly three-milo walk
in that inky, shell-strewn area.
At times the duok-boarding had been
blown away. yet one dare not risk q
gleam OF light for guidance. Stun
Bling In mud and darkness, It took
this tragic little party an hour to
crawl around one shell hole, seven of
them. crying, choking, blinded mon.
clinSfng to each other for dear life,
trusting to the man who led.
They started away at 10 at niKht
II was o'clock next morning when
the doctor staggered back, soaked
with rain and mud. to his pill box" in
the lima. >
One company Of American engineers
In France has q flne COW, which fur
nishes milk rations to the men, They
have to keep the cow under constant
guard. however, for It 10 feared The
men Of some other company will
'.swipe" the cow, and thereby supply
themselves with four quarters Of
beef
Two soldiers Of the Dixie Division
viii serve thirty years each At the
disciplinary barracks at Fort Ieaven-
worth, Kan, for desertion. Thev ara
Private Omer L. Avery, Brockwood'
Ala and Private David "A Thn,n.SS