The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1918-05-16

I nome 10 us on all sides that the
French were fighting at home close
TO their greatest source of supply, and
had excellent railroad connections at
their disposal. Further than that the
French maintained terrible artillery
fire from guns Of far greater caliber
than we believed they owned. This led
us to the conclusion that they were Oc-
cupying positions which had been pre-
pared for a long time. Yet we believed
that the picture painted by the artil-
leryman had been too black. We were
soon 10 know better.
As we approached the enemys
trenches, we were met with a heavy
machine gun fire. and in double-quick
step hurried to the temporary protec-
ton of hastily thrown up dugOuts. A
hard rain had set in. The field around
us was covered with dead and wound
| ed. Even our trench was filed with
wounded, which made its occupation
by the defenders difficult. Many OF
the wounded men were paralyzed from
! lying on the Shiny ground. All were
without HANDBAGS. They begged for
bread and wafer, but we had none for
ourselves. They pleaded piteously, just
! for n scrap Of bread Many of them
| had lain in this inferno for two DAYS,
without having eaten anything what.
ever.
We were scarcely established when
| the French attacked EN- maSSe. The &C.
! cupantS Of these trenches. whom we
had REINFORCED had already repulsed
several of these attacks. They urged
us to shoot and fired wildly themselves
into the ranks of the advancing masses.
We responded to the celebrations of
the infantry officers: Fire. fire hard
er. harderI"
We fired until the barrels Of our
guns became red-hOt. The enemy
turned. The victims % CIR fire. FL
ready lying in heaps in No Mans Land
between our lines and the enemy's
were increased by hundreds. The at
tack was repulsed.
1t is dark, and II rains and rains. All
about us In the darkness are heard
the wounded weeping, moaning, i'm
plOring. Their cries are augmented
by other wounded closer by. All called
for bandages, but we had none left. We
tore strips from our muddy shirts and
with them covered the gaping wounds.
Men are dying constantly. There are
no doctors, no bandageS, nothing. The
wounded must he assisted, but first the
French must be repulsed.
The rain falls harder constantly and
we are all wet to the skin. We shoot
blindly into the night. The fiuctuating
fire of musketry becomes strong, then
weaker, then strong again.
We pioneers are scattered among the
infantry. My neighbor touches me.
"Say," he calls.
"What do you want2" l ask. "Who
are your"
"COme here" he Kissed.
II Is eerie alone in this devils night.
''Why are you here? VIII you muir
der me like those over there. Soon
they will return from over there and
the fun will be on again. Do you hear
the others weep7"
And he laughed.
Suddenly he started again: 81 al
ways shoot at them until they stop
weeping. That Is fun"
And again he laughed, maniacally,
and louder than before.
realized finally that this man had
lost his reason. A man passed bring
ing ammunition and | asked him to
fetch the commander at once. The Of
ficer arrived, accompanied by an infan-
try lieutenant | met them and report
ed that my neighbor had been firing on
the wounded, talking nonsense, and
undoubtedly was insane. The lieuten-
ant stepped between us.
"Can you see anythingT he asked.
"Seel No. But hear them moan
ing and weeping. AS soon as hit enc
he is quiet for he sleeps!"
The lieutenant nodded to me. He
tried to take the gun from the man,
but the latter seized II quickly and
sprang back to cover. From there he
fred while standing among the wound
ed, until a moment later, he himself
fe4l, riddled by many bullets.
The drama had only a few specta-
tors. II was hardly over before It was
forgotten. Anything but sentiment.
The blind firing continued. The
cries Of the wounded became constant
ly louder.
Why2 These wounded lying be-
tween the two fighting lines are ex-
posed to the firing of both parties. No
one can help them for II would be in
sanity to venture into No Mans Land.
Ever louder and with more heart
rending pleadings, the wounded called
for the stretchers, for help, for water.
At the most a curse or an oath is the
only response.
Our trench was filled with several
inches of water and underneath that,
mud. In this mOrass lay dead and
wounded, thrown together. II became
necessary to make room and so the
dead we're thrown over the ramparts
Ar one o'clock In the night men car
with stretchers and took away soy
the wounded, but for those WrS
living In No Mans Land there w.
help. "
Continued en- page %