Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-11-11

AeSh Hde SA8 bEt4laFy pafTaEo that
the German trenches and wire ELL
ENGAGEMENTS were completely wiped
out We did in four hours what the
French and English couldn't do in
four years. There was a big hill
there, and in 1915 the French and
English lost $4,000 men in 20 min
utes trying to take II. The Ger
mans have been there for four years
aud they sure had some dandy dug
outs, electric lights, and such.
Their position was still as strongly
fortified, but OF course they didn't
have as many men there this time
as three years ago. Our camoufiage
and concealments were SO good that
we took them completely by sur
prise.
Our brigade was cited for its
work and as q result our colors
were decorated. We followed them
up for a ways, but they went too
fast and got out of our range. and
they didn't stop until they reached
Metz
We then shot over to a position
west OF Verdun, and here we had a
real battie-this was in the Ar
SOAA-AN III SoNo W &c met Win d
strong resistance - the Germans
used artillery and machine guns,
and oh! how wicked they are, I'm
aglne if you can a gun in front OF
you popping 400 little steel death
pills at you a minute. 1t is enough
TO make anyone hesitate, but not
the American. Of course, it slowed
up our advance some. but these
liberty fighters eventually reach
their objective We stayed right
on their trail and fired at them all
the time. IT seemed that the woods
were full of artillery and we were
under German fire all the time
Every time we moved forward the
shells came thicker. We ate, tried
to sleep, and we worked with shells
bursting around US. We were lucky
in not having any killed. OF course,
We had men wounded and there are
same missing, but we can say we
were lucky.
We are still far away from civ
ilization and don't know yet what
is going on behind the lines"
Mechanic Harry ]. Rosenfeld,
who has arrived overseas, writes
his mother, Mrs. Katherine Rosen-
field, S25 Twenty-fourth street. as
follows:
I'VE arrived safely on this side
of the pond, after the most exciting
trip l was ever on in my life.
only hope they build a bridge
across the ocean by the time l am
- - A
i was sure sick for the first four
days on the water and fed more
than one fish, but was not alone by
far, as / think there was not a man
on the ship who did not help feed
the fishes. We came within a hairs
breadth of meeting our Waterloo
at sea. 1t rained every day after
we left Fort Sill and there was a
/ storm on the ocean every day. The
! last storm was beyond imagination.
I One of the crew of our boat said il
was the worst storm he had ever
! been in and he has been sailing on
/ the ocean for IS years. During
/ this storm we had a collision with
/ another ship and it came close TO
deciding either heaven or hell but
our ship proved to be the lucky
/ one. Words could not express the
! thoughts that ran through my
mind for about ten minutes at the
rate of a million a second. 1t was
/ a very sorry day for some of the
! boys. There are so many things
, about it, l would like to tell you
I but as you know, l can not go into
I detail so I guess l will have to wait
until the war is over and 1 get
I home
Il have seen more than one coun-
try since l left the U. S. A. At
landing in Eng and 81 q made rna y
mics on the funniest and queer 81
: rain i eve saw. The coaches are
divided into about eight room S
Each room viii hold six or seven
f people and there are two entrances
to every room.
England is a very clean and
pretty country but it is far behind
the United States. Every building
and house is made of brick or
( stone.
We stayed in a rest camp in
/ England for a few days. We are il
/ a rest camp in France now, not
very far from the fireworks.
1.-The other day we visited one Of
/ the Oldest and most beautiful
/ cathedrals in the world. 1t took
( 500 years to build it."
3
! Sweanfng Compound- ReardsIey's