Williston graphic., 1918-04-18

pension, or consulted to q sOidiers'
home for the rest Of his llfe-and still
the expense piles up. When you real-
lze that all the ambuiances, trains and
ships, not to mention the man power,
| used In transporting q wounded man,
could he used for supplies, ammunition
and re-enforcements for the troops at
the front, it will not appear strange
that from a strictly military stand
point, a dead man is sometimes better
than a live one (if wounded).
Not long after the first digging party,
our general decided, after careful
tour Of inspection of the communica-
tion trenches upon IAN ideal spot" as
he termed it. for machine-gun en-
placement; took his map, made a dot
on 1t, and as he was wont. wrote dig
here" and the next night we dug.
There were twenty in the party, my.
self included. Armed with picks,
shovels and empty sandbags we mr.
rived at the "ideal spot" and started
digging. The moon was very bright,
but We did not care as we were we'll
out of sight Of the German lines.
We had gotten about three feet
down. when the fellow next to me, aft
er mighty stroke with his pick, let 90
Of the handle, and pinched his nose
with his thumb and f0refinger, at the
same time letting out the explosion,
"Gott strafe me pink, I'm bloody we'll
gassed, not 'alf I amt" quickly
turned In his direction with an inquir-
ing look, at the same instant reaching
for my gus bag. l soon found out what
was ailing him. One Whit was enough
and lost no time In also pinching my
nose. The stencil was awful. The rest
Of the digging party dropped tneir
picks and shovels and beat 1t for the
weather side of that solitary pick The
officer came over and inquired why the
work had suddenly ceased, holding our
noses, we simply pointed in the direc-
tion Of the smell. He went over to the
pick, Immediately clapped his hand
over his nose, made an ''about turn"
and came back. Just then our cap
tain came along and Investigated. but
after about minute said we had bet
ter carry on with the digging, that he
did not see why We should have
stopped as the OdOr was very faint,
but II necessary he would allow US our
gas helmets while digging. He would
stay and see the thing through, but he
had to report back to brigade head
quarters Immediately. We wished that
we were captains and also had date
at brigade headquarters. With our gas
helmets on we again attacked that hole
and uncovered the decomposed body of
a German; the pick was sticking in his
chest. One of the men tainted. I was
that one. Upon this our lieutenant
halted proceedings and sent word back
to headquarters and word came back
that after we filled in the hole we could
knock off for the night. This was well
come tidings to us, because
Next day the general changed the
dot on his map and another emplace-
ment was completed the following
night.
The odor from the dug-up, decom-
posed human body has an effect which
is hard to describe. 1t first produces
a nauseating feeling, which, especially
after eating, causes vomiting. This re-
Neves YOU temporarily, but soon a
weakening sensation follows, which
leaves you limp as dishrag. Your
spirits are at their lowest ebb and you
feel sort Of hopelessness and mad
desire to escape it all, to get to the
open fields and the perfume of the flow.
crs in eighty. There is a sharp
Drckling sensation in the nostrils
which reminds one of breathing coal
gas through radiator in the floor, and
YOU want to sneeze, but cannot. This
was the effect on me, surmounted by a
vague horror Of the awfulness Of the
thing and an ever-recurring reflection
that, perhaps I, sooner or later, would
be in such state and be brought to
light by the blow q pick in the hands
OF some Tommy on a digging party.
Several times have experienced this
odor, but never could get used to it;
the enervating sensation was always
present. 1t made me hate war and
wonder why such things were counte-
nanced by civilization, and all the spice
and glory of the conflict would disap-
pear, leaving the grim reality. But
after leaving the spot and filling your
lungs with deep breaths of pure, fresh
air, you forget and once again want to
be "up and at them"
CHAPTER XIV.