Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-04-26

boys In the trenches would see the
emblem of the "land Of the free and
the home Of the brave" beside them
doing lts bit In this great war of civil
llzatlOn.
My wounds were very painful, and
several times at night would dream
that myrlads Of khakl'clothed figures
would pass my bed and each would
stop, bend over me, and whisper, "lhe
best Of luck, mate"
Soaked with persplratlon | would
awake with u cry, and the night nurse
would come over and hold my hand
This awakening got to be habit with
me until that particular nurse was
transferred to another ward,
In three weeks time, owing to the
careful treatment received, / was able
10 sit up and get my bearings. Our
ward contained seyenty'hye patients
90 per cent Of which were surgical
cases. At the head Of each bed hung
temperature chart and diagnosis
sheet. Across this sheet would be
written &c. s. W." or rs. w." the for
mer meaning gun shot wound and the
latter shell wound. Tho rs. W." pre-
dominated, especially among the Royal
Field artillery and Royal engineers.
About forty different regiments were
represented, and many arguments en-
sued as to the respective fighting abil-
ity Of each regiment, The rivalry was
wonderful. A Jock arguing with an
Irlshman, then a strong Cockney ac'
cent would butt In In favor of Lon
don regiment. Before long Welsh
man, followed by member Of n York
shire regiment and, perhaps, Cana
dian lntrude themselves and the argu'
ment wakes loud and furious. The
patients in the beds start bowling for
them to settle their dispute outside
and the ward is In an uproar. The
head sister comes along and with a
wave Of the hand completely routs the
doughty warriors and again silence
relps supreme.
Wednesday and Sunday Of each week
were visiting days and were looked
forward TO by the men, because they
meant parcels containing fruit, sweets
or flags. When n patient had regular
visitor he was generally kept well
supplied with these delicaCes. Great
Jealousy Is shown among the men as
to their visitors and many word wars
ensue after the visitors leave.
When man is sent to GONZALES
cent home, he generally turns over his
steady visitor to the man In the next
bed.
Most visitors have autograph albums
and bore Tommy to death by asking
him to write the particulars of his
woundlng in same. Several Tommles
try to duck this unpleasant job by tell
ing the visitors that they cannot write,
but this never phases the owner Of the
album; he or she, generally she, offers
to write 1t for them and Tommy Is
stung into telling his experiences.
The questions asked Tommy by vlsl-
tors would make a clever joke book
to a military man.
Some kindly looking old lady will
stop at your bed and In sympathetic
voice address you: "You poor boy,
wounded by those terrible Germans,
You must be suffering frlghtful pain.
A bullet, did you say? Well tell me,
I have always wanted to know, did 1t
hurt worse going in or coming outW
Tommy generally replies that he did
not stop to figure 1t out when he was
hit.
One very nlce-looking, overenthusl-
astc young thing, stopped at my bed
and asked, "What wounded you In the
face?"
In a polite but bored tone I an
swered, "a rifle bullet"
With look Of diSdain she passed
to the next bed, first calculating, "Oh
Only a bullet? l thought it was a
she'll" Why she should think shell
wound was more of distinction beats
me. l don't see whole lot of differ
ence myself.
The American Women's War hospi-
tai was a heaven for wounded men.
They were allowed every privilege pos
sble conducive with the rules and mill
tary discipline. The only fault was
that the mems passes were restricted.
To get a pass required an act of par
lament. Tommy tried many tricks to
get out, but the commandant, an old
BOer war officer, was wise to them all,
and it took a new and clever ruse to
make him affix his signature to the
coveted slip of paper.
AS soon as it would get dark many
patient climbed over the wall and went
ION his own" regardless of many signs
staring him in the face, "Out of bounds
for patients" Generally the nurses
were looking the other way when one
of these night raids started. l hope
this information will get none of them
into trouble, but l cannot resist the
temptation to let the commandant
know that occasionally we put 1t over
on him.
One afternoon l received a note,