The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1918-02-19


but 1t is fact, nevertheless that from
II military standpoint it is better for a
man to be killed than wounded.
If n man is killed he is buried and
\ the responsibility Of the government
ceases, eSepting for the fact tat his
+ people receive pension But II a man
IS wounded 1t takes three men from
The firing line, the wounded man and
two men to carry him to the rear to
the advanced firSt-aid post. Here he IS
attended by a doctor perhaps assist
ed by two r. A, NJ. c. men. Then he is
Imt into motor ambulance. manned
by a crew Of two or three. At the field
hospital. where he generally goes uIe-
der an anesthctic either to have his
wounds cleaned or TO be operated on,
he e'quireS the services Of about three
to five persons. From this point an
other ambulance ride impresseS more
men In his service, and then at the am
hulance train, another corps Of doc
tors, II. A. NJ c. men, Red Cross nurses
and the trains crew. From the train
he enters the base hospital or casualty
clearing station where goodsized
corps Of doctors, nurses, etc. are kept
busy. Another ambulance journey is
next in ordcr-this time to the hospital
ship. He crosses the channel arrives
in Blighty-more anibulanccS and per-
hapS a ride for five hours ON in Eng
liSh Red Cross train with its crew Of
Red Cross workers, and at last he
reaches the hospital. Generally he
stays from two to six months. or long
cr, in this hospital From here he is
sent to a ConyaleScent home for six
weeks.
If by wounds he is untitled for fur
ther service, he is discharged, given
pension. or committed to soldiers
home for the rest of his llfc-and Still
the expense piles up. When YOU real
ize that all the amhulanccS, trains and
ships, not to mention the man power.
used In transporting n wounded man,
could be used for supplies ammunition
and rc-cnfOrccmcntS for the troops et
the front, it will not appear strange
that from strictly military stand
point, dead man is sometimes better
than a live one Gf wounded).
Not long after the first digging party,
our general decided, after careful
tour Of inspection Of the communca-
tion trenches, upon "an ideal spot" as
he termed It. for a machine gun cm-
placement took his map, made dot
on it, 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.
ehovels and empty sandbags we ar
rived at the "ideal spot" and started
digging. The moon was very bright,
but we did not care as we were well
ont 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 go
of the handle, and pinched his nose
with his thumb and forefinger, at the
same time letting out the explosion,
"Gott strafe me pink, I'm bloody well
gaSSed, not 'alf ! amt" | quickly
turned in his direNtion with an inQulr-
ing look at the same instant reaching
for my gas bag. soon found out what
was ailing him. One Whiff was enough
and lost no time in also pinching my
nose. The stencil was awful. The rest
OF the digging party dropped their
picks and ShOvels and beat it 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-
ton of the smell. He went over to the
pick, Immediately clapped his hand
over his nose made an 'about turf"
and came back. Just then our cap
tain came along and investigated. but
after about a 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 If 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
ut brigade headquarters. With our gas
helmets on we again attacked that hole
and uncovered the decompoScd body OF
Il German; the pick was sticking in hi.
chest. One of the men tainted. I was
that one. Upon this our lieutenant
halted proceedings and sent word bacE
TO headquarters and word came hacl
that after we filed in the hole we coulC
knock off for the night. This was vel
come tidings to us, because
Next day the general changed tn,
dot on his map and another cmpace
mcnt was completed the followin,
night
The odor from the dug-up decom
, posed human body has an effect whicl
IS hard to describe. 1t first produce
a nauseating feeling, which, especiall,
after eating, causes vomiting. This re
lieves YOU temporarily. but soon
, weakening sensation follows, whlcl
leaves YOU limp as a dishrag. You
spirits are at their lowest ebb and yo,
feel a sort of hopelessness and a ma,
desire to escape it all. to get to tn
open fields and the perfume of the flow
ers in Eighty, There is SHARP
prickIlng sensation in the nostIils
| Which remindS one Of hreathinr con