Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-05-10
,TEUTONS SHELL
U. S. CIVILIANS
RED CROSS MISSIONS TRAIN
CROSSES UKRAINE UNDER
FIRE.

london, May THE members o.
the American Red Cross mission tt
RumaAia were fired upon by German
battery in the Ukraine, north Of
OdS6sa, when on their circuitous way
oY of Rumania. They arrived safely
n London this week.
The German shells fell about half 8
mile from the moving train without do
ing damage, but several members Of
the mission were glad to have the bonn
bardment stopped after about five min
utes which had seemed like hours.
For the first hundred miles, or 80 out
Of Odessa the train travelled over a
new railway which had been complet
ed only short time before by Rus
sian military engineers.
SHELLS FALL SHORT
On the second day, when the train
bearing the Americans was about 200
miles north of Odessa, one of the doc
tors, saw a flash Of fire away off on
the horizon. It was quickly followed
by aloud explosion and a great geyser
of earth and rocks as shell burst in
a field about halt a mile from the NOV
ing train. The ffrst shell was followed
byfmany others, the bombardment con.
tinufng for I'VE minutes.
Nobody knew what was going on
but the aeneral belief was that the
train had come within sight Of dis
tants German observation post which
wasSrytng to direct the fire Of its bat
teriss On the railway track. Military
men on board declared, the shells we're
SO inch or larger. The shells appeared
total ma regularslipe Is II the gun,
ners had the railroad carefully regis
tered The range was a little too
great Tor the German guns, however,
and on the shells fell short.
eot4EMiANes DESERT KAISER
x At,Kursk Observation-Disclosures
ed enthusiastically by several thou,
sand Bohemian troops, who. originally
had been prisoners captured from the
Germans, but lately had been fighting
with the Russsans against theicentral
power4. Most Of these troops had Of
feyed themselvessfor service IN Manoe
The mission arrived In Moscow on
March 10. The trip porthward oi'the
MourmaHk coast and thence TO Eng.
land was without danger Of German
intsRtsrence.
PREPARED, FoRssEtoE-
TAeAAmertcsn Red, Cross left4onstheI
t1itd of sir trains which carried the
Allied mission from, Jassy.. The first
tr1in left at noon MarchEs9 and the
other trains followed at Intervals OF
NO orsthree hours.
Each trainxwAs provided with food
for a.month. There was no dining car
and, the toodswas cooked in two mill
tary food Kitchens abandoned by Rus
stan. troops which were carried on q,
freight car at the. end of the train.
Three other freight cars loaded with
rails, ties and railway iron also were
carried so that, the road could be re-
paired quickly IN case Of accident OF
II the Germans had torn up the line.
The engine dated, back to 1879 and
burned wood which was picked up
along the way. The engineer matched
the engine. He was an elderly Rus
sian Of bolsheviki4 opinion and had to
be fed with rubles and cognac' almost
as frequently as the engine required
wood. He carried his family with
him tn box car next to the engine
and whenever meals or other domestic
affairs required his attention he
stopped, the train and went "home'" to.
HIS boz can
ENGINEER, A6AhDoN0r TRAM
Just outside Odessa the engineer
became dissatisfied with the flow OF
rnbles. and 9ognac apd went ON al
strike. The. Hrepch somcers tried to
reason with hfm hut was obdurate