Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-03-19

preciate il. also your Kindness.
He told me his name was carr
Schmidt. OF the SiXty-siXth BaNariah
Light infantry: that he had lived SIN
years in New York (knew the city bet
ter than | did). had been 10 cone!
island and many of our ball games
He was regular fan. | couldn't max
him believe that Hans Wagner WASH
the best ball player in the world
From New York he had gone to Lon
don. where he worked as a waiter III
the Hotel Russell. Just before the wal
he went home TO Germany to see HIS
parents, the war came and he was
consCripted.
He told me he was very sorry 10
hear that London was in ruins from
the Zeppelin raids. ! could not con-
vince him otherwise, for hadn't NJ
seen moving pictures in one OF the
German cities of st. Pauls cathedraI
in ruins?
changed the subject because ne
was so stubborn In his belief. II was
my intention to try and pump him lot
as to the methods OF the
German snipcrs. who had been cahs-
ing us trouble in the last few days.
| broachcd the subject and hc smut
up like clam. After few minutes
he very innocently said:
German snipers get paid rewards
for killing the English"
| eagerly asked, What are they:
For killing or wounding an Engllsh
private the sniper gets one marx. for
killing or wounding an English officer
he gets five marks, but if he Kills Il
Red Cap or English general, the snip
or gets twenty one days tied to inc
wheel Of Il timber as punishment i"r
his carclessncss.
Then he paused, waiting for me 10
hite, | suppose.
| bit all right and asked him why
the sniper was punished for killing an
English general. With smile he re-
piled:
well, you see, if all the Engilsh
generals were killed, there would pe
no one left to make costly mistakes.
| shut him up, he was getting TO"
fresh for Il prisoner. After while he
winkcd at me and | winkcd back, theh
the escort came to take the prisoners
TO the rear. | shook hands and wished
him The best OF luck and safe jour
ncy to Blighty."
1 liked that prisoner, he was hne
fellow, had an Iron Cross, too. | ad-
vised him to keep it out Of sight. or
some Tommy would be sending II
home to his girl in Blighty as a
One dark and rainy night while on
guard we were looking over the. .top
from the fire step snfs pg5Sn 4s
trench. WIEN W
49, 81 J
Halt. who comes there?" and brought
his rifle to aim. His challenge was
in German. A captain in the
next traverse climbed upon the stand
basccd parapet TO investigated brave
but foolhardy decd-"Crack went q
bullet and he tunbled back into the
trench with hole through his stom-
ach and died few minutes later. y
lance corporal in the next platoon was
so cnragcd at the captains death that
he chuckcd Mills bomb In the direc-
ton of the noise with the shouted
warning 10 us: Duck your nappers, my
lucky lads" \ sharp dynamic report. Il
flare in front OF us and then silence.
We Immediately sent up two star
shells, and in their light could see two
dark forms lying on the ground close
to our wire. A sergeant and four
bearers went out in front
and soon returned, carrying two limp
bodies. Down in the dugout, in the
light of three candles. we
saw that they were two German OFF,
GERS, one q captain and the other an
''unteroifizier," rank one grade high
er than q sergeant general, but below
the grade of lieutenant.
The captains face had been almost
torn away by the bombs
explosion. The unterotlizier was alive.
with difficulty. In 4 few
he opened his eyes and blink
I'd in the glare of the candles.
The pair had evidently been drink
ing heavily, for the alcohol fumes were
and completely pcrvaded the
,lugout. turned away in disgust,
hating to see man cross the Great
Divide full of booze.
One of our officers could speak Ger
man and he questioned the dying man.
In a faint voice interrupted by fire.
quent hiccoughs. the officer told his
story.
There had been q drinking bout
among the officers in one of the Ger
man dugouts, the main beverage being
champagne. With q drunken leer he
informed us that champagne was plen-
tiful on their side and that it did not
cost them anything either. About Z
that night the conversation had turn
ed to the contemplate" English. and
the captain had made wager that he
would hang his cap on the English
barbed wire to show his contempt for
the English sentries. The wager was
accepted. At eight o'clock the captain
and he had crept out into No Mans
and to carry out this wager.
They had gotten about halfway
across when the drink took effect and
the captain fell asleep. After about
two hours Of vain attempts the unter-
offizier had at last succeeded in wax
ing the captain, reminded him Of his
bet, and warned him that he would be
the laughing stock Of the officers mess
II he did not accomplish his object, but
the captain was trembling all over and
insisted on returning to the German
lines. In the darkness they lost their
bearings and crawled toward the Eng
lish trenches. They reached the barbed
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