Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-12-20
front, found out that the French

front, found out that the French
man in all his dealings is fair and
just.
Pretty soon the prisoners faded out
of sight and we came alongside the
dock at Bordeaux. was all eagerness
and strained my eyes SO as not to miss
the least thing. The dock was full of
French cavalrymen, hurrying to and
fro. Huge Turcos5 black as the ace
of spades, with white turbans on
their heads, were majestically strid-
ing about.
After we warped into the dock and
made fast, our work was over We had
nothing to Go with the unloading Of
the horses. The French cavalrymen
came aboard With a bunch of cavalry
halters hanging over their arms. 1t
was marvel to see with what ease
and efficiency that ship was unload
ed. The condition of the horses was
pitiful. They could hardly bend their
legs from stiffness. They would hob
Bile down the gangplank and stand
trembling on the dock. In about a
minute or so they would stretch their
necks way up into the air and seem
to be taking long breaths of the pure
air. Then they started to whinny.
They were calling backward and for
ward to each other Even though l
did not understand horse language, I
knew exactly what they were saying.
They were thanking the good Lord
for their deliverance from that hell
ship, and. were looking forward to
green pastures and a good roll in the
dirt. Pretty soon you could see them
bend their forelegs and lie down on
the dock; then try to roll over. 1t
was pitiful; some. of them did not
have the strength to turn over and
they feebly kicked. Pretty soon the
whole dock was mass of rolling
horses, the Frenchmen jumping
around, gesticulating and jabbering.
After getting the horses up, they
were divided into classes according to
their height and weight. Then each
horse was led into ring chalked out
on the dock and the army inspectors
examined it. Very few were reject
ed. From this ring Of chalk they
were led into portable stall and
branded. You could hear the sing
song voice of the brander shouting out
what sounded like "Battry Loo" AS
he yelled this, French private would
come over, get the horse which had
been branded, and lead It away.
got in conversation with an inter-
prefer and he Informed me that the
average life of these horses in the
French army was three days, so these
poor horses had only left that hell
ship to go into worse hell of bursting
shells and cracking bullets
I, after passing q rigid examination
as to my nationality, and being issued
cattleman's passport inquired my
way to the prefecture of police. I
deliverd to him q sealed envelope
which I had received in New York.
Upon opening it. he was very gracious
to me and / went into a rear room,
where the interpreter put me through
a grlling examination. From there
/ was taken to a hotel, and the next
morning in the company of a sergeant
and a private, got into little match
box compartment on the funniest look
ing train ever saw. The track seem
ed to be about three feet wide; the
wheels of the cars looked like huge
cogwheels on an engine minus the
cogs. After humping, stopping and
sometimes sliding backwards, in 20
hours we reached little town. Sup
plies were piled up as high as houses.
Officers and enlisted men were hurrying
to and fro, and / could see long trains
of supply wagons and artillery limberS
always moving in the same direction.
I was ushered into the presence of
q French officer, who, later found out,
was a brigadier general of the quar-
termaster coops. / could hear dis
tant booming, and upon inquiring
found out that it was the guns Of
France, striving to hold back the Ger
man invaders. [ trembled all over
with excitement and feeling that /
cannot describe rushed over me- | was
listening to my first sound of the guns
OH the western front.
Two days afterward again reached
Bordeaux, and shipped to New York
Oh the French liner RochambeauX.
Upon arriving in New York I reported
to the Frenchman who had sent me
over. He was very courteous, and as
/ reached out to shake hands with him,
he placed both hands on my shoulders
and kissed me on the right and left
cheek. I was dumfounded, blushed all
over, and after receiving the pay that
was due me, left.
l think / could have borne another
trip across with horses, but that being
kissed upon my return completely got
my goat.
] went back to the routine Of my
office, but everything had lost color and
appeared monotonous. believe / had
left my heart in France, and / felt
mean and small, eating three square
meals day and sleeping on soft
bed, when the armies on the other side
were making the worlds history.
Sometimes when sleeping I would