The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1918-06-11

zsTHE HIN s
hyLIEuTFNANT
81 PAT 0'BR|EN.
G ys ~ -sxTL-lx ozazcy

TAs.se iiff3e 6itches. however, were
ses narrow 70 SWIM and Toe wide 70
5urrr. They hx1 perhaps ivO fest g.
water ia them ard three feet 81 pad,
and il WAS almost invariably 3 case q
wading through Sgrne - ThcIa, no
dcrht. coald have jumped Il had
been IN decent shape. hut with had
ankle and II lie weakened condition
in which ! was, Z, was almost &C. q
ths Quest.on-
! One night ! came 10 ditch sAoUt
eight or nine feet wide. ] ih0usht ]
vss strong enough To 9unT II and II
WIS worth trying as The discomfort
suffered after w21ing these aa'ehes
was considerable. Taking lo1s rr1.
] Jumped as hard as ] could, tuf
missed il hy four or I've inches au1
landed In about two feet @. water and
three OF mud. Getting cut ot l4Ai
mess was quite 3oh. The water Was
too dirty and TOO scanty 10 enable ne
10 wash Of the mud with which was
covered and II was TOO vet 70 scraI'e
OF. just had 10 wait until Il dried
ard scrspe il OF then
In nany sections of Belgium through
which ! had 10 pass encountered
large areas Of swamp and marsay
ground and rather than waste iae
tine involved IL looking tdr better
nderfooiing-Nhieh ] might u1i have
Y
through the mud Apart from ihe
discomfort ot this method q travel
Ing and the slow time ! made. there
was an addcd danger 10 ne In ihs fact
that the squash. SOUS 81 Doise which
/ usde might easily be overheard ~
Belgisns and Germans and give ny
position sway. Nobody would cross
a swamp or marsh in that part q The
country unless be was irving 10 -et
..way from somebody. and ] renired
my danger hu. could not Get around H.
II was a common s. lrht in Belgium
10 see a small donkey and common
ordinary mich COW hiichcl t0rtiher,
pulling 3 wagon. When ] first ot-
served the unusual combination, !
thought IL was g donkey and OK CT
huh. hut ciossr Inspection revealed TO
me thai COWS were being used for the
purpose.
From that ! WIS able 70 observe
there musi be very few horses left n
Belgium except those oWnc1 ~ ihe
Germans. Cows and donkegs are BOW
horses and mules Altogether ] spent
nearly eight weeks wandering through
Bcigiur. and in all that time J Don't
believe l saw more shan haf dozen
horses in The possession q the native
population
one q the sczrcesf things il Ger
MANY. apparently. j. ruhht- ~
noticed that their motor trucks. OF lo-.
rses, unlike our ovn. had DO ruthe
stres Instead heavy iron hands were
employed could hear thew onrne
rurnhiinr slonr The stone rads fnr
riiles before fhev reached fhe sp0.
where ! happened ~ hs in hilc1r
When ! SAN these military rnads in
Belgium fo- the frs tine, Vlfh thf.r
heavy c1ihlcstones fAl- iposea ST. f
they would las; ~ centuries I ft.l
iSed sf once shy Il was INST ihe Ger
mans had been able % rake such 3
rapid advance into II gum az The
start a TIE war
noticed tha; RE = '-isns used
dogs n a considerable extent - pun
their carts. and ! thought many tines
thai i could have ssoien ooe .
those dogs Il would have been very
good companion Tor me and might Z
the occasion arose. help me out Ia q
fghf. Bu; had no way q fe-dlr- i
and ihe snirnas would probably have
sfsrre1 70 death. ! could Ike Cl veg
eishies which ] could always deIeui
upon finding IN tie teits. tut q oo-
cori6n't. @zi - gave " tie idea.
Tie krack q making IRE with two
pieces of dry wood ! had ot;ca read
about hut had never PIT i - test
and for various reasons ! clrc. ude-
tbs; {. would te unsafe - me %
tuiid a FIRE eveu u tad matches T.
the frst place. there was % shsa.1-e
need for IT, I diln't have anything
10 cook nor utensils 20 cock Il ia even
II had. While tie ali was rs-tir-r
10 he rather cool e. hight. w. usv-
ally on TIE 20 q; thst tine s1d d-l-'t
notice II II the daytime. vhe1 I
vas resflnr CT sieering. tie s-n vas
usually out
To have borrowed matches fru-n 3
nslxiaa fe1sznt would have bes1 tess-
ihie. but when ] was villrr 20 take
the chance Of eVr-ozchi1r srTo1e. i
vss Just as easy 70 ssk fc- food as
matches
II the sec0od Place. Il vouid have
heen extremely dzlEer01s 10 hare
tuIlf Q fre eTea Il ! hsd -eeied T.
You can't build q fre Ia BeiEiu1s
which Is the noss thickly pcTuiEted
country In Europe. vl-hCut evsryo1e
knowing IL and ! Vas far frC-r e-lx-
iocs 70 advertising NJ whereehists-
The villages in thsf par1 q Be-
riuu through Which ] u1s r7akl-r NJ
course were - ciose torstter ttst
there Was hardly ever a. bcEr Izsse1
v1fhoux NJ hezxzzk pS1e clock strike