The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1918-06-29
CAUSE AIDED
BY ANZAC
OFFICER
INGS STAMP CAMPAIGN
IN SPEECH

Captain w. X. Harris of the Brit
ish army spoke Saturday night in
the Exchange theater and the war
veteran proved the best and most
interesting speaker yet sent to Gold
field by the government. His long
period of active service made him
an unusually instructive talker Ind
he held the interest Of a large audi
ence while he recounted his expert
ences.
In telling how the Tommies notch
their guns to indicate the number of
Germans they have killed. the cap
tain failed to say that he disposed of
81 of the enemy. He. said he had
killed quite a few" Twenty-sev-
en- Germans "sent west" by one man
is considered not a bad record.
The captain said he had been
wounded three times slightly and
once severely, in addition to re-
reiving a drenching with mustard
gas, the latter making him COM
pletely blind and speechless for
nearly one week.
He spoke of the famous Flanders
mud and said that in many attacks
by the British the mud had account
ed for practically all the casualties,
the troops falling into shell holes
from which they were unable to ex-
tricate themselves and many of them
being SO tired when they fell dur
ing an attack they had not strength
enough left to regain their feet and
smothered to death. He also told
of the rats and lice that prevent the
men from sleeping and of the means
used to combat them.
He said going over the top vas
not particularly horrible after the
first Is minutes, during which it
vas "hell with the lid off," All
men went into an attack, he declar-
ed, feeling certain they would not
be hit and they always express great
surprise when they stop a German
bullet.
The hour before the Zero" hour
was, he said, the trying one and ev-
cry man went over in an attack
smoking a cigarette, as a German
can be killed ever so much easier if
the Tommie has a cigarette stuck
in his face" He spoke of the uni
versal use of cigarettes and said that
he had not smoked before the war
or since, but that conditions in the
trenches made cigarettes a necess
ity.
In a number of attacks he was
officer in command of a party of
'moppers up" whose duty it was to
dispose of Germans found remain
ing in the trenches and dugouts
after the first attacking waves had
passed. He said this was the most
interesting work of all in an attack
and that you get more fun, kill
more Germans and generally have a
much more interesting time than
anyone else.
He referred to the low morale of
the German troops and said he
thought they practiced holding their
hands up and yelling mercy, kane
rad" while they were at rest and
the officers were o looking, as
they were ready to give themselves
$40 - tho .l;rI+ooA oua,c0
Captain Harris said all stories told
of German atrocities were true and
that he had seen French and Bel
gian civilians horribly mutilated by
the Germans in the early days of
the war, including little girls with
both hands cut off and hundreds of
old men with both eyes gouged out.
During the course of his speech
the captain praised the work of the
American Red Cross highly and in
opening his speech he paid a compli-
ment to the wal spirit of the Ameri-
can people by saying that before he
came to this country he thought the
war was all being fought on the
west front, but that since he came
here he saw there was also an
american front"
Rio Cattle Chinrnant