The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-07-18
N K o REAL
CHIPS OFF OLD BLOCK
American Troops In France Have Shown Their Superiority Over
Germans as F~ighters-The Yankee Knows He Is Up
Against the Biggest Game the World Ever Knew
and He 10 Eager to Do His Bit.

They know what II means to be sent
out to invade the territory Of the
envy at midnight. when a misstep
means death. They know what IL
means to sleep with gas masks on /;
what 1t means to march so miles In
mud half way to the knee and sleep
In barns, stables and In open wagons.
They don't know what pessimism is.
They don't know what fear Is. i
have seen them In their dugouts right
up within one thousand feet of the
enemy. rolling cigarettes, playing cas-
Working on the Levee," way Down
Yonder In the Corn Field" and other
melodies which lend themselves read
lily to simple ~modulations known as
barber Shops" writing letters home
by candle light or reading letters and
news from home. / have marveled at
their spirit. 1t is all new to them.
They have seen enough to realize
fully that war Is the most serious,
grim thing In the world and that its
toll Of death is very heavy.
In the hospitals the Yankees show
a spirit which amazes the surgeons.
There raj a young chap-a Russian
by ancestry-from Bridgeport, Conn,
who was terribly wounded In the affair
at Siecheprey. He furnished a most
wonderful example OF courage. He
was doomed from the start, but he
thought he would live. When he vas
finally told that his death was a mat
ter of but a short time, he dictated a
short letter to his sister, the conclud-
Ing sentence OF which was:
Il am sorry / can't see you any more.
but you are in a country where you
will have your rights"
Buried by Shell upheavai.
Then he told the nurse to thank the
Red Cross man who found him in No
Mans Land. That was the end of this
young Russian. He was buried by an
upheaval Of earth from a large shell
and was terribly injured. For two
days and two nights he lay with only
his head exposed, with no food or wa
~ WAN 0iACAAo UACahlhE aAOAh0 htAhi
and later with Germans-for he was
In territory held by them-constantly
passing him. The assumption appar.
emily was that he was dead, for his
head rested sldewise and he kept his
eyes closed. A hundred times he was
almost stepped on. Then on the third
day a Red Cross litter bearer, crawl
ing about in the land of death, found
him and dragged him to a receiving
station.
/ saw another case where a young
man had a badly shattered leg. II
amputated or not. He heard the dis
cussion, and with a smile said:
"Go ahead. take It off. I'll get q
wooden n and that will do me-"
The boys had their first big test at
the engagement of Siecheprey when
fifteen hundred picked shock troops in
vaded their lines In the wake of a flu
rious barrage. So fierce was the gale
of heavy shells that the boys could
not emerge from their trenches and
the assault Boche troops swept over
them.
Then there came h~and-to-hand fight
ing In the village and In two pieces of
woodland and the Americans showed
that In a h~and-to-hand conflict they
are far superior to the Hun, even when
the latter uses his shock troops. There
are scores of stories of individual bra
very told of this minor, but to the
Americans at that time, important,
clash. All show Enthusiastically that
the American soldier does not know
what fear is and that as soon as nc
gets acquainted with the subleties, Il
they may be called that, of war. h
will be just al dangerous a fighter a.
the BOche has yet faced.
AS with the Canadians and Austria
iians, the Americans may be handi
capped at the outset with too mucl
i~mpetuosity. but that. by the French
Is said TO be a most commendable faul
because II is quickly rectihed and s.
readily nodded into vital requisites o
war-persistence and fearlessness.
The American soldier is all right
He Is giving a good account of himsel
wherever he is placed. He worship
the French. He loves France. H
knows he is up against the bigges
game the world has ever played an,
he is ready and eager TO do his bit