Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-14
Joseph MURPHY, of Archibald

eJ corporal in Company A. One
Hundred and Ninth Infantry.
mad written a letter to his parents.
Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas Murphy. de-
seribing the part tn. Twenty-eighth
tPennsylvania) Division took in the
Alied offensive on the Marne. and
making 1t appear as though the
casualties of the One Hundred and
NINTH may have been far heavier
than the official dispatches have as
yet SHOWN. The letter just received
IRON Murphy. who is in a hospital
III france, reads as follows:
The battle began Sunday night
before midnight. The barrage they
sent over us was the worst anybody
mas experienced since the war began.
The Germans started the drive, and
we countered and gave them dose
Oh their own medicine. We let them
cross the Marine. and then moved
them down and followed them up
and drove them back a distance of
seven or eight miles upon a twenty
nVe-mile front. taking thousands of
prisoners. Our division was in sup
port, and their artillery surely did
cut up the support. l was gassed
three times. l wore a gas mask for
slx hours. 1 really don't know how
any of us came out of the barrage
alive.
Badly Cut Up
The boys were falling along side
of me, and l gave up all hopes OF
coming out alive. When morning
dawned all we could find of our
company was about forty men. The
sergeant gave the order for US all to
| take cover and be ready to assemble
at minutes notice. 1t was i'm
possible to take cover. for fire swept
every inch of our section. Just as the
sergeant finished speaking over
comes a shell and knocks off four of
the boys standing ten yards from
me.
I'VE couldn't do a thing only to
take all they gave us, so I told the
few that remained it was suicide to
stay there, and if they were willing
to follow me, l would take a chance
on getting them out I do not know
how we did 1t, as all the roads were
covered with the fire and strewn with
dead horses, but 1 managed to get
| through without losing a man.
Then I began to feel awfully
| weak, and the next thing I knew I
was in hospital. do not know if I
| will be able to get back to the lines
again, as this gas is awful stuff. A
person thinks he is all right. and
then all of a sudden falls over dead.
Stanley Neary, who is the best pal
I ever had, was wounded four times.
| We roomed together in Allentown
and were like brothers. His home
| is in Carbondale."
Jackawanna Men Down
Corporal Henry Wood. a Scranton
boy, reported killed in action, was
known as the youngest member of
the old Thirteenth Pennsylvania
| Regiment. He enlisted when only
fifteen years old. His mother, Mrs.
Gertrude Bierwirth, resides at 5S4
Forest court, Scranton.
That Raymond McGregor, of
Blakely, another member of the One
Hundred and Ninth Regiment, was
wounded in the Marine offensive, is
told in a letter received from Elmer
Leek. also of Blakely. Leek tells of
taking part in the battle and of hav-
ing McGregor brought to a base
hospital
Private George Richardson. nine
teen years old, of West Pittston. has
been reported gassed in action July
Is. He is in a base hospital. Rich
ardson was a member of the One
| Hundred and Ninth Artillery, but
| before he sailed for France was
transferred to Company F, One Hun
dred and Third United States En-
gineers. He served on the border
with Battery B, of Pittston.
William O'Donnell and Samuel
| Siglin, both of Avoca. have been
gassed in France. They were men,
| bers of Company E, One Hundred
and Third Engineers. Siglin enlisted
in Scranton last summer and is now
in a base hospital.
Altoona's Dead
Two Altoona boys have been killed
| in the fighting around Chateau
Thierry, so their parents have been
notified by the Adjutant Generals
office. Washington. Alton Chamber
lain Cole, nineteen years old, son of
Mr.. and Mrs. ]. Foster Cole, was a
private in Company A. Twenty-eight
Infantry. He was in the High school
when the United States entered the
war, and promptly enlisted April16,
1917. Six weeks. ago his parents re-
ceived letter from him saying that
his commander had asked for volun-
teers for dangerous work; that he
volunteered, went through with it,
and was cheered for his valor by his
comrades. His brother, Charles Ed
win Cole. is a member of Company
G, Seventh Infantry, now in France.
Donald Leroy Gearhart, nineteen
years old, killed in action, was a
son of Mr.. and Mrs. John F. Gear
hart. He enlisted in Company G,
| One Hundred and Tenth Infantry,
July 8, 1917, and came from a fam
| lily of soldiers. Two great-grandfa-
theirs were in the Union Army in the
Civil War, one being killed in battle
and the other dying in Anderson
vile prison. Ar uncle served in the
war with Spain and died in the Phil
| ippines. Nine days before leaving
Altoona for camp Gearhart married
Anna Maude Kearney.
York Boy Wounded
Mrs. Annie Strickland, of York,
was advised yesterday that her son,
| Charles II. Strickland, was severely
wounded in France July 23. He is
| 23 years old and a drummer. He
was employed at the Schmidt & Ault
| paper plant prior to his enlistment.
Word was also received by Mr.. and
| Mrs. David Ross, of Goldsboro, that
their son, Russell L. Ross, was bad
| ly injured at the same time Strickland
was wounded. both being members
of the Fourth Regiment of Infan-
| try. Ross is % years old and had
been employed by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at Goldsboro.
Warren Weller. the Boyertown SOL
| dier wounded in action is the son