Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1918-04-11

about two hours, when suddenly hell
seemed to break loose in the form Of
machlne-gun and rife fire.
We dropped down on our bellies In
the shallow trench, bullets knocking
up the ground and swapping in the air.
Then shrapnel butted In. The music
was hot and Tommy danced
The covering party was having a
rough time Of It; they had no cover {;
just had to take their medicine.
Word was passed down the line to
beat it for our trenches. We needed no
urging; grabbing our tools and stOop-
Ing low, we legged it across No Mans
Land. The covering party got away
to poor start but beat us in. They
+ must have had wings because we low
cred the record.
Painting and out of breath, we tum-
bled into our front-line trench. tore
my hands getting through our wire,
but. at the time, didn't notice it; my
journey was too urgent.
When the roll was called we found
that we had gotten 1t in the nose for
63 casualties.
Our artillery put barrage on Fritz
front-line and communication trenches
and their machinegun and rifle fire
suddenly ceased.
Upon the cessation of this fire,
stretcher bearers went out to look for
killed and wounded. Next day we
learned that 81 of our men had been
killed and 81 wounded. Five men were
missing; lost In the darkness, they
must have wandered over into the Ger
man lines, where they were either
killed or captured.
Speaking Of stretcher bearers and
wounded ii Is very hard for the aver
age civilian to comprehend the enor-
nous cost of taking care of wounded
and the war In general. He or she gets
SO accustomed to seeing billions of dol
lars in print that the significance Of |
the amount is passed over without |
thought.
From an official statement published |
In one of the London papers, 1t is !
stated that 1t costs between six and |
seven thousand pounds ($30,00 to $685.
O0O) to kill or wound soldier. This
result was attained by taking the cost
of the war to date and dividing II by
the killed and wounded.
II may sound heartless and inhuman,
but II is fact, nevertheless that from
n military standpoint 1t is better for a
man to be killed than wounded.
If man is killed he is buried and
the responsibility of the government
ceases, excepting for the fact that his
people receive a pension. But If a 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 f1rst-aid post Here he is
attended by doctor, perhaps assist
ed by two r. A. M. @. men. Then he is
put into a motor ambulance, manned
by crew of two or three At the field
hospital, where he generally goes I'M
der an anesthetlc, 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 J
men In his service, and then at the am c
bulance train, another corps of doc /
tors, r. A. NJ. c. men, Red Cross nurses '
and the trains crew. From the train =
he enters the base hospital or casualty
clearing station, where good-sized r
corps Of doctors, nurses, etc. are kept
busy. Another ambulance journey is U
next in order-thls time to the hospital g
ship. He crosses the channel, arrives a
in Bllghty-more ambulances and per- n
haps a ride for five hours on an Eng c
Iish Red Cross train with Its crew Of v
Red Cross workers, and at last he q
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 5
weeks. v
If by wounds he is unified for fur II
Their service, he is discharged, given a n
pension, or committed to a soldiers
home for the rest of his life-and stnl 81
he expense piles up. When you real !,
re that all the smbulances. trains and :,
ships, net TO menfiop -ths Qan mower. :,