The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-08-23
CHAPTER XIV-continued.


II man Is killed he is buried, and
the responsibility OF the government
ceases, excepting for the fact that his
people receive pension. But If 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-ald post. Here he Is
attended by doctor, perhaps assist
ed by two r. A. NJ. G. men. Then he Is
put Into motor ambulance, manned
by crew Of two or three. At the field
hospital, where he generally goes un-
der an anesthetic, either to have his
wounds cleaned or to be operated on,
he requires 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
bulance train, another corps of doc
tors, II. A. NJ. G. men, Red Cross nurses
and the trains crew. From the train
he enters the base hospital or casualty
clearing station, where a good-siZed
corps of doctors, nurses etc, are kept
busy. Another ambulance journey is
next In order-tlr,s time to the hospital
ship. He crosses the channel, arrives
In Bllghty-more ambulances and per-
haps a ride for five hours on an 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
er, in this hospital. From here he is
sent TO a cOnvalescent home for six
weeks.
If by wounds he Is untitled for fur
ther service, he Is discharged, given a
pension, or committed to soldiers
home for the rest Of his life-and still
the expense piles up. When you real
lze that all the ambulances, trains and
ships, not to mention the man power
used in transporting a wounded man,
could he used for supplies, ammunition
and re-enfOrcements for the troops at
the front, it will not appear strange
that from strictly military stand
point, Il dead man is sometimes better
than live one (if wounded).
Not long after the first digging party,
pur general decided, after careful
tour Of inspection Of the communica-
ton trenches, upon ian ideal spot" as
he termed it, for machine-gun en-
placement; took his map, made a 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.
shovels 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
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 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 'aIf I amt" I quickly |
turned in his direction with an inquir- |
ing look, at the same instant reaching |
for my gas bag. I soon found out what |
was ailing him. One Whit was enough |
and lost no time in also pinchlng my
nose. The stencil was awful. The rest
Of the digging party dropped their
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-
ton 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 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
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. was
that one. Upon this our lieutenant {
halted proceedings and sent word back
to headquarters and word came back S
that after we filed in the hole we could
knock off for the night. This was vel /
come tidings to us, because
Next day the general changed the I
dot on his map and another emplace- c
ment was completed the following /
night. G
The odor from the dug-up, decom-
posed human body has an effect which I
Is hard to describe. 1t first produces /
q nauseating feeling, which, especially r
after eating, causes vomiting. This re- S
lieves you temporarily, but soon a G
weakening sensation follows, which
leaves you limp as a dishrag. Your e
spirits are at their lowest ebb and you t
feel a sort Of hopelessness and a mad b
desire to escape it all, to get to the
open fields and the perfume Of the flow Ii
ers in Blighty. There is a sharp, t
prlckling sensation in the nOstrils, t
which reminds one of breathing coal n
yas through Il radiator in the floor and