The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-11-09
ge Matthew Adams Service


anything else picked up along the
front.
When they are getting well. the men
learn harness making, mechanical
drawing, telegraphy, gardening, poul-
try raising, typewriting, bookkeeping
and the men teach the nurses how to
make canes out Of shell cases, and
rings of aluminium, and slippers and
gloves out of blankets.
The nurses certainly work hard.
They always have more to do than
they ought to, but they never complain,
and are always cheerful and ready to
play games when they have the time,
or read to some poilu. And their work
is pretty dirty too: would not like
to have to do it. They say there we're
lots of French society ladies working
as nurses, but you never heard much
about society, or any talk about Lord
Helpus, or Count Whosis, or pink teas
or anything like that from these
nurses.
A few shells landed near our hos
pital, while was there, but no patient
was hit. They knocked a shrine Of Our
Lady to splinters, though, and bowled
over a big crucifix. The kitchen was
near by, and it was just the chefs luck
that he had walked over to our ward
to see pal of his, when a shell landed
plumb in the center of the kitchen,
and all you could see all over the bar
racks. was stew.
That was regular eatless day for
us, until they rugged up bogies and got
some more dixies, and mixed up some
cornmeal for us. The chef made up
for it the next day, though. The chef
was a great little guy. He was a
'blesse" himself, and / guess his stom-
ach sympathized with ours.
There was Frenchman in the bed
next to me who had the whole side of
his face torn off. He told me he had
been next to bomber, who had just
lit a fuse and did not think it was
burning fast enough, so he blew on it.
1t burned fast enough after that, and
there he was.
There was Belgian in one OF the
other wards, whom got to know pretty
well, and he would often come over
and visit me. He asked many Ques-
tons about Dixmude, for he had had
relatives there, though he had lost
track of them. He often tried de-
scribe the house they had 1fyed d, SO
that I might tell him whether it was
still standing or not, but I could not
remember the place he spoke of. Dur
ing our talks, he told me about many
atrocities. Some Of the things he told
me had heard before, and some of
them I heard Of afterward. Here are
some things that he either saw or
heard of from victims:
He said that when the Germans en-
tered the town of st. Quentin, they
started firing into the windows as they
passed along. First, after they had oc-
cupied the town, they bayoneted every
workingman they could find. Then
they took about half of the children
that they could find, and killed them
with their musket butts. After this,
they marched the remainder of the chill
dren and the women to the square,
where they had lined up row of male
citizens against q wall. The women
and children were told that If they
moved, they would all be shot, An
other file of men was brought up, and
made to kneel in front Of the other
men against the wall.
The women and children began to
beg for the lives of the men, and many
of them were knocked in the head with
gun butts before they stopped.
Then the Germans fired at the double
rank of men. After three volleys, there
were eighty-four dead and twenty
wounded. Most Of the wounded they
then killed with axes, but somehow,
three or four escaped by hiding under
the bodies Of others and playing dead,
though the officers walked up and
down firing their revolvers into the
piles of bodies.
The next day the Germans went
through the wine cellars, and shot all
the inhabitants they found hiding
there. A lot Of people. who had taken
refuge In a factory over night, decided
to come out with a white flag. They
were allowed to think that the white
flag would be respected, but no sooner
were they all out than they were seized
and the women publicly violated in the
square, after which the men were shot.
A paralytic was shot as he sat in his
armchair, and a boy Of fourteen was
taken by the legs and pulled apart.
At one place, man was tied by the
arms to the ceiling of his room and set
afire. His trunk was completely car
bombed, but his head and arms were
unburned. At the same. place, the
body of a fifteen-year-old boy was
found, pierced by more than twenty
bayonet thrusts. Other dead were
found with their hands still In the air,
leaning up against walls.
At another place the Germans
shelled the town for a day, and then
entered and sacked it. The women
and children were turned loose, with
out being allowed to take anything
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