El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-07-02
SAYS GERMANS
ARE EDWARDS
Heroism of French Told by
Decorated Officer in
His Diary.
By EPHREI BARTHELMT,
Who was awarded the French cross
for bravery on the battlefield.

" oOuSOchEL. H. H. July --A-oyH--
/ ing over my diary Of events while
I was serving in the French army. one
iontry stands out very prominently
iamong the entries. 1t recalls a most
tragic event, in which the heroism Of
our men and the cowardliness Of the
Germans was well contrasted.
1t was o'clock in the afternoon
when I spied several shadows lying
on the ground before our trench I
had an impulse TO pull the trigger o.
my rifle. But someone tugged at my
arm.
They are our men," he whispered.
As strained my eyes I could dis
| tinguish five figures crawling toward
J the German line. TIE ground was
/ muddy and it would have been diff
I cult for anyone 10 discover them. 7
{ soon noticed that the party was divid-
/ ing into two groups. one OF two men,
l the other OF three. The latter re-
NAMED moti0nless on the ground.
/ Suddenly I noticed UIne Of the first
I two retreatins. He was the foremost
7 Of the pair. His companion had been
[ killed by a bOche bullet The four re-
naming men were thereupon com
Z PEELED 10 retreat TO our line. I do not
know whether the party had succeeded Z
! IN accomplishing its errand.
Searching for the Body.
That night 20 Of our men started
out in search Of the body Of our own
missing man They were armed with z
bayOnets, and knew they were on I
dangerous mission
But they were determined to bring ]
their comrades body in though some /!
Of them lost their own lives in the +
task.
When the party returned with the
body of the dead soldier, the company
reported two OF its members as /
Next day the Germans crossed our
lines TO lombard a certain village. 10 3
XIII and murder. once more, women 3
and children, Notwithstanding the
laws OF war. II was then that I be-
gan to see the real work OF the boche.
7 did not have 10 see one TO know /
what "l1ultur' meant
Leaving the Trenches.
May 19-We have left the second I
line trenches, where we have been for
u days, 10 90 to another cantonmentI
situated about 500 meters from there.
This evening we sleep in the barracks
but tomorrow in the evening we VIII
be in the trenches Of the first line.
Now our six DAYS OF the duty in the
advanced trenches begin
NY brother has taken part in sew
eral murderOus c0mbats. He has de-
scribed them 10 me as being really
Lr4L4lAE- Al my request ne mas ~ l4Al- j
ised me TO 60 on pilgrimage TO
Lourdes II he comes out Of the war
safe and sound I hope we shall have
the pleasure Of making the journey
70 gether-
The regiment OF which my cousin,
Felix Barthelemy. IS a member has
passed Is days at the Eparges. He has
made numerous assaults with the bay
Cnet About half Of this regiment has
been incapacitated-
an= 8 H.-.
writes 20 me, have fallen at my side.
It was dreadful TO see that AS for
myself, have had nothing happen
TO me,
Home Eews-Good and Bad.
Another dear cousin, Augustine
Nenras. has received the fullest news
Of her boy. Peter. He suffered from
a pulmonary congestion He was able
to leave his bed on the 6th Of May
Nevertheless. he is not vet vigorous.
He has become white as snow and
thin as a rail He viii probably OBJ
tain a convalesceuts leave and VIII
be able TO 80 to Riols 70 recover his
health.
Ny cousin announces, in addition,
the death Of my two first cOunsins,
Henri and Pierre Menras. The first
was killed the It'll Of August and the
latter in February. Poor little cou-
sins. Poor aunt She has now left
one daughter n
trenches OF the first line.
During the night a patrol OF our
company has put to flight one OF the
enemy patrols The meeting took
place about three meters from our
network Of barbed wire A shower OF
bullets came, hitting the part Of the
trench occupied by SaussOi and my
self The boches are given explosive
bullets. But, thank God. we have
neither wounded nor killed TO regret
Of "a q. o.
two bOche airplanes appeared. I'M
mediately after we saw a French air
plane which bravely chased the two,
in spite OF a lively cannonade- At
least three or four hundred cannon
shot were fired at II. The aviator.
thanks 10 an Incompatible GOODNESS
and wonderful skill, came out unhurt-
At night We return TO our canton
ment in the woods"
An Eternity Of Waiting.
Next morning. we had gymnastic
exercise and then complete repose, in
honor Of Pentecost. At night we de-
rzrted for the advance line Of trench
es. A new patrol has gone TO recon
hotter the ground In the absence Or {
the sergeant and the corporal. who
make up part Of the party, I took !
command Of those who remain in the /
second half OF the trench.
suddenly, at 7:30," says my diary ;
"a lively fusillade. accompanied by
.
about our comrades? Are they fin diff J
nculty up there2 Are they in need OF (
aid2 Personally had no fear for my
friends who made up part Of the pa
troll Before going one OF them had +
coufided 10 me his wallet. At the end ]
Of about IS minutes the fusillade Z
Then, after some minutes our s
machine guns got INFO action but {
the patrol did not return. The later I
It was the greater became our appre- ]
NL ran q
guish fairly overwhelmed US.
after an eternity Of waiting our
comrades returned Everyone crowded 7
7bout and questioned them anXiously- I
Happily no one is missing or wounded {
n was almost a miracle. Our little !
natrol had faced a German patrol OF !
100 men. who at the first gun shot had z
hurled themselves on our men, bay 8
onets fixed, evidently 20 make them
Drfsouers. But they were cunning .
Not being able 10 win out against /
such odds. one against five they had y
waited until the enemy was hardly Z
more than a few meters from them, 20 7
meet him with a quick fusillade. They Z
rH-~--aa~ with the wHufUfrw 3