Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-10-11
With the Yanks at the Front
Stars and Stripes, Published in France.

he dHkee troops WIZ PiaySu sh'aA Jul
eminently satisfactory part in the early stages
of the third battle of the Somme have, as it hap
pens, spent the greater part OF their soldering
in France in close comradeship with the soldiers
who volunteered for this war from under the
Southern Cross. If the feelings and experiences
of this group are any guide, it may be said now
that Aussie and Yank are, and until the end OF
the war will be, thicker than thieves.
Visit any American colonel's dugout during
a lull in the hosttes and you will find some
Australian officer has dropped-or rather
crawled-in for tea. Visit any sheltered haunt
of the enlisted men after pay day and you will
find the Yanks stalking the residue from his in
surance and Liberty bonds on the breathless
hazards Of "two-up." the Aussies favorte game.
They even favor the same terms of rough Ian
guage. They have a bond in the use of the
same favorite cuss word.
"Yank, says Aussie, refectively removing
his pipe for an historic utterance, you're
dinkum bloke. That's Australian for "regu-
lar guy.'I Iank, you're a wonderful soldier.
Why, doggone it, you're as good soldier as
am"
While the units that had been engaged in
the recent fighting were bissfully enjoying
well-earned rest, 135 members of the first COM
pany OF railway engineers to arrive in France
celebrated that victory by establishing what is
believed to be new track-laying record com
dieting 2.69 miles of narrow gauge railway in
jeven hours and three minutes
The work marked the completion of an i'm
portant railway line from one French town to
another, upon which the company had been
working for several weeks. Officers present
when the record was made were outspoken in
their conviction that the gang could have easily
completed four miles during the full working
day of II hours had there been further track to
lay in that sector.
A captain and lieutenant were in charge of
the detail. All necessary materials for the job
had to be brought up from behind two 90 EN-.
steam locomotives pushing the rail cars forward
as soon as section OF track was spiked down.
Two motor trucks were used for hauling ties.
The amount of material handled gives more
than hint OF the magnitude of the task and the
tremendous amount of labor involved-approx-
imately los tons of steel rails, 7,l00 ties, 1880
pairs of hshplates, eight kegs of bolts and 81
A platoon of Americans were advancing on
a machine gun nest near the banks of the Vesle
The advance was being made in an open field
where the Germans had planted their machine
guns on high bit of ground which enabled
them to deliver sweeping fire on the Amer
leans. Try as they might, the Yanks could not
selves the best they could and waited in hopes
that they would get a pot shot at Fritz and then
they would continue their advance.
But Fritz was not inclined to expose himself
to, pot shots and kept his gun working
Say, sergeant, gimme that gat of yours"
said Corporal Browne.
The sergeant handed it over
Corporal Browne drew his own pistol and,
with an automatic in each hand, he got up on
his hands and knees and took peep at Fritzl
Say, boys tell the wife for me that l was
one game guy! So long to all of you guys!"
After saying all of that Corporal Browne
went out after the boches. He got them, too
four of them and perfectly good machine gum
When his comrades came up Corporal Browne
had loaded the machine gun on uo his back and
was. ready to go On. All four boches were dead
in the pit.
How'd you do it," someone asked him
after it was all over.
"Darned if l know" he answered at was
awfully easy; kind of surprised myself, in fact"
He had been pretty badly bunged up up on
through. He wouldn't have pulled through at
all If it hadn't been for the devoted efforts of
certain nurse in the base hospital, Finally he
won out and it was happy and smiling boy
who sat attention" in bed as his captain came
in to see him and congratulate him. As they
were talking in came the nurse, with his hourly
ration of medicine He looked up and grinned
a. Ntles DIAM, nc Sdiu, tHlS is my captain
Captain, this is Miss Blank She's an awful
mean glril-she cheated my poor family out of
$4,000 life insurance"
Pat and 1gnatius were lying on the green
sward reading daily papers account Of the
fighting of the day before. Pat, reading out
loud, got as fat. as The French troops under
the command of General Mangin-." Then he
stopped and scratched his head
"Mangin? Mangin?' he repeated. "Say
lgnatius, phwat thhell license has man with
Harp name like that got commandin til
Frinch?"
Even in war there is such a thing as poetic
justice. Witness the case of the Hun aviator
who bombed an American funeral party not far
behind the lines Not long afterward that same
aviator was brought down and himself buried
in that same cemetery. not so feet from where
his first bomb had dropped.
Dimes and Snowtlaks
The snowflake is a little thing but II malice