Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-22

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sorry soon after. because we had
made the mistake OF being on time.
And Frenchmen don't work chat
way as rule. If they don't happen
to be ready on schedule. we'll and
good, anytime after that is good en-
/ ough. So we waited around, then
for two hours while the mechanics
thawed the engine out. By the time
the engine was warmed up we were
ready to have the same thing done
to us. Glory, but 1t was cold! Good
thing We had no thermometer. else
we might have suffered more.
Real Thing in Cold Feet
Judging from the feeling In my
feet, the mercury was frozen. The
said part of It was there was no fire
to look forward to. since, as my
French comrade explained to me in
his broken English, it was impos-
| slole to have fire in a room with
the dead body. Naturally, after this
cheerful news. did not enjoy the
auto ride much to town. My feet
| got colder also. So when l got off
at the hospital, l felt as if 1 was
walking on stills, for all the feeling
left in my feet. The Frenchman did
all the hunting around for informa-
ton as to where the "morgue" was,
and he finally was told it was behind
the chapelle. So in the chapelle we
went, me right behind my French
guide ready to go or do what ever
he did, for I had no idea what was
expected of me. 1 got the first mo-
ton all right, which was to remove
the hat as soon as entering this
small-siZed church, but he was too
fast with the next move, and any
way, L being a Protestant saw no
need to cross myself. Right after
that 1 lost all interest in comrade,
the dead, church, and everything
else, for down in the far corner was
a stove-with fire in it. 1 was so
cold l was nearly numb, and dead
or no church l was going to get
warm, so 1 draws up a chair as if l
were going to camp there for the
rest of the winter.
Shocked Freuchman
To say that Frenchman looked
shocked would be putting it mildly,
for heremarked in a shocked, awed
way, You can't stay here! Fearing
a second shock would cause him
heart failure. 1 had the good sense
not to ask 'Pourguoi" (Why?) and
went along with him to a little Of
fee where we were told to wait until
some stout gentleman found the key
to the morgue. There was another
fire in this office. which 1 made good
use of few moments / was there,
so good in fact, that 1 forgot to sa-
lutte a captain sitting nearby. He
didn't say anything though, and 1
wouldn't have given hang if he
had, for that matter. Then came
the fat man and through the chap
ellie we went again, with me looking
longingly at the fire as we passed
through, and on out the back door,
to the morgue. The body of the
dead pilot lay in a small room which
looked like dungeon and was just
about as cold as the ones you read
about. Why, doggone it! 1t was SO
cold in there the holy water was
frozen.
That surprised me considerably,
since 1 always presumed that was
free from natural laws. There was
a small bushy bough frozen in this
holy water, used for sprinkling holy
water on the deceased, 1 suppose, for
that was the first thing the French
man tried to do. Seeing that the
pressure system wasn't working and
no water came he went through the
motions of making a cross with it,
and then horrors of horrors, gave
it to me. I didn't know what to do
with the darn thing, so dipped some
imaginary water up and initiated his
motions-with such little success
that l no doubt shocked him some
more and then began our lonely
vigil, for after lifting the cover and
seeing how badly he was bunged up,
there was nothing else interesting TO
do but sit there and freeze. (The
pilot was killed by falling into a
'vrille" from 500 meters, probably
had hxr fha GOLD
stayed for three long hours and the
Frenchrnan kept his hat off all this
time, and I naturally followed suit.
In order to keep our feet warm he
walked up and down on one side of
the bed and l on the other, and as
1 walked up and down, up and down,
I was thankful 1 was not bald head
ed. Even with thick head of hair
my brain was beginning to feel the
climate.
Relief Delayed
Orders said we were only to stay
there until 10 A. NJ. when two others
would relieve us, but 10 O'Clock came
and no relief. There was nothing
to it but stay and watch, for the
the F'renchman said we had to
until others came to take our places.
Another hour passed, slowly and the
corpse hadn't moved yet-neither
had relief come and we nearly had
a path worn in the stone tagging
where We had walked up and down
in a vain attempt to keep warm.
About this time. 1 was beginning to
wish Sherman's definition of war
was literally correct. At least, it
would be warm anyway. Another
fact was also forcibly impressed on
me, and that was that hobnailed
shoes may save leather and prevent
slipping, but for quick conductors of
cold you can't beat them. They are
as quick conductors of cold as cleo
tricity-heat also, for I've had one
foot nearly in the fire for the last
five minutes and got few of these
rivets red hot. 1t gave me an idea
as Eell as a burnt toe. Tomorrow
morning I'll heat all the hobnails
before going to work. And so an
other hour passed and then the
Frenchmans hunger overcame his
respect for dead and duty, and he
suggested we phone to camp and
see what was the matter with the re-
serves, and then go eat, for he was
so hungry that his head ached. The
suggestion was good. and l assured
him L would see that the body
wasn't spirited away while he phon-
ed. He soon returned with the in
formation that the "Commandant''
said ii was too perfect a day to spare
any pilots for watch duty, which
was about the most sensible thing
have yet heard from Frenchmen;
for this watch" custom struck me
as very useless and unnecessary and
it made me wonder if they did It
when whole regiment died at once.