The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-26


! the Red Cross recreation room and
watched the lads moving about, laugh
ing at the entertainment: talking u
their visitors, one saw face sad amid
all the merriment. and below It jus;
! the poor wreck of a body--one leg
gone. two legs, or n leg and an arm
Yet these helpless ones sat calamity
upright in their wheeled chairs and
responded valiantly to the efforts made
10 amuse them.
BY table. restlessly turning over
| the leaves OF a scrapbook and evil
! IDENTIFY not seeing one OF the pictures
! in It, sat a strong faced, middle aged
man In n wheeled chair. No, he wasn't
| badly hurt. he said-he had beer
| gassed several times and the Boche
got him with their guns once and he was
nervous from shell shock. and he had
trench rheumatism, which made him
rather helpless
But I'd be all right II 1 coul3 hear
from my folks he said. I'm from
Minneapolis and I've got mother
and sister and wife and little daugh-
ter years old out there; and I
haven't heard from them in six
months. The mails were awful in
France. The Red Cross has taken it
up now and I'm in hopes of getting c
telegram. l just came over on the
George Washington. the ship that took
President Wilson to France. 1t would
be merry enough Christmas IL =
could just hear from my folks
No Mercy for "Poor Germans
But I've had enough war: it's all
out OF me now. ] was in the National
Guard; / was down on the border, and
went TO France early. was with the
Rainbow Division and fought at Yer
dun. Those Germans are dirty devils,
they don't fight fair. They ought TO
be cleaned off the face of the earth.
We seldom took prisoners. we finished
them up. II the returning soldiers,
the men who know what those Ger
mans did TO the civilians in the towns
they took, hear any of this be merciful
to the poor Germans talk over here.
! they'll soon stop IT,"
The old National Guardsman re-
ferred proudly to the fact that he
came over In the ship that took Presf-
uenl wilson 10 france.
THE soldiers are all crazy ahou;
President Wilson," he said, his strong
dark face lighting up Hes got a
wonderful personality. The French
! are crazy about him. was Just COM
/ ing into Brest when he reached there.
/ He's doing a wonderful thing COINS
over there. telling those people about
his league of nations plan. It's poll
tics and jealousy that makes some
! Americans oppose II. II was Just the
! same way with Lincoln-my father
was civil war veteran. and many
times he has told me the fight Lincoln
had"
: Even in the midst of the Christmas
festivities the wounded men showed a
touching sort of readiness TO talk with
whoever stopped by their chairs-as
II they couldn't get enough Of the
good familiar American speech. Some
o. them wanted to get away from the
war. 1T was dreadful you never can
know over here how dreadful It was.
they would say, and hurry 10 other
! subjects.
Revealing in "Reminiscences.
| But the younger ones revelied in
"reminiscences, even when they were
Just talking among themselves. Three
blond young Southetners--there seem
to be number OF Southerners in No
Sat in the shadow of the Christmas
! tree surrounded with candy. &c, and
! Obvious to all in the JOY of telling
how many chaps they had seen shot up.
! n In h., .,
mad part Of himself shot away."
| ora"led one. "Ah was sleepin' one
night and a bomb burst and killed the
man/neXt me. But they was fellah,
somt part OF him was shot off. All
reckon it was his heel. and you ought
to heard him yell. Shoot me right
here; most of mes gone: shoot me.
he yelled. Hour later he was walkin'
round. But my buddy, he's in hospital
/ over there, with a runnin sore in his
! leg they cayn't heal up. Seems too bad
! Ike"
And so the talk ran on, stories of
I battles the like of which the world has
/ never known, and over IL and under
/ 1t the Christmas merriment, the fell
lows who could play drumming rag
/ time on the piano. vlctrolas sounding
and Red Cross nurses fitting TO and
/ FRO with gifts and little services and
candy and more candy; and why those
| boys didn't die of sugar surfeiting no
mortal can tell. The adjutant was
clearly fearful that they'd have some
terrible tummyaches before morning.
Gifts for BeInted Arrivals.
i've laid In a supply of medicine
he said soiemnly. He is a canny young
man, that adjutant. Pointing 10 some
impressive piles of boxes in his office
he Informed the reporter in q stage
whisper that said boxes contained
smokes and sweets and so on donated
by generous public, and he was keep
ing them for future consumption.
What's the use OF opening every
| thing now, when the men have toe
much already" he inquired. I'll just
keep those, and next week when fell
lows come along who missed out on
the Christmas celebration we'll Just
hand these things out to them. The
! New York people have been very gem
erous. This telephone has been kept
! busy answering folks who wanted to
entertain men at their homes.
I'VE didn't try to arrange for in.
dividual soldiers visiting individual
homes. We. tried that THANKSGIVING
and it swamped us. So to-day we just