The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1918-09-10
MIRACLE OF BATTLEFIELD BURNS ~>I
ALL SELF-THOUGHT OUT OF YANKS
Boiled Boys Dropped Into the Furnace of War; Come 0t
With the Dross Burned Away, SeE-SacriTcing Heroes
Hold Back in Suffering for One in Greater Suffer. sk
ing to Be Cared for First. TAl
av CLARENCE BURLINGTON KELuANp.

hot blasc of the great battle-tnose
bows of a certain division now famous
throughout France and one day to be
famous throughout the world. They
were not coming back because they
wanted to. nor because they had had
enough Of it; they were being crougnr
on stretchers, wounded, gassed, she'll
shocked. to an advanced dressing sta
ton. Some of them seemed just boys.
One could see them grit their teeth
TO hold back the moan Of pain.
"Hard luck, palw said doctor In
terrogatively, as the bearers set down
a stretcher in the courtyard.
The boy shrugged his shoulders, act
ually shrugged them as well as ne
could, bundled n that stretcner'
and grinned wanly.
"Comin' fine, If I can get you fei-
lers to save that foot. She's smashed
plenty. If you can't-all the same"
aWe1l run you right IN"
aNix. bo, not me. I'm gettin' past
all right. nothin' but my foot. You
lest lemme be here and git busy with
them guys that's hurt. I'm ON the
,waitin' list"
That was one boy. He belonged to
an outfit that bears name far and
wide for being boiled hard. Tough
birds. Nyou hear them called. rough
talking boys with the crust outermost.
If you had seen them q month before
or two months before when they had
not had their purifying in blood and
fire, you would not have prophesfed
that they would hold back in suffering
to wait for one in greater suffering to
be cared for first. It was an attribute
that was not apparent to the casual
eye. Hard-boiled, you would have
agreed, and you might have felt trifie
sorry for the enemy that had to en-
counter them. But you would not have
stood by with tears in your eyes-not
in your eyes, but rolling down your
cheeks-and have .muttered again and
again: "Here are men!"
pross Burned Away.
But now they have felt the scorch-
ing, breath Of war. Suddenly they
had been dropped into the furnace and
had come out with dross burned away.
Something had happened. They were
still hard-bc.led. Their language was
made up Of the. same words, but the
words had taken on new meaning,
their very faces had taken on new as
pect. In spite Of blood and CRIME, and
the discoloration and burn Of gas, you
could sse that something was present
there which had been absent before
-ust;l you could not see at all for the
flooding Of your eyes,
.l-got mine No use-sport
Can't do-nothin' for-me
Git-busy with some Of them
boys-you kin-help."
That was the spirit. That was the
thing that had been burned into their
souls by the hot breath Of war. They
had forgotten themselves. Jim was
not thinking Of Jim but Of Mike. Nike
was not thinking of Mike, but Of Jack.
Each passed Il on.
The dressing station was small and
many must lie outside until the men
who we're taken in first could be evac-
uated. You heard groans, but amid
the groans you heard CHEEKY, gritty
words. "Oow, that d leg !.
How's Charlie maxim it? Anybody
know? Iseen him git it :. Dow
arhey just took Charlie in. He
wasn't sayin' much"
"say, them stretcher bearers ougt,SS
to- git the Croy de Gerr, them hirds
ought to. See 'em fetch me back with
them shells Dustin Hket ut was rainin'?
And would they hurry? Not d
bit. hollered to them to git move
on or they'd git busted on the dome'
but that little shrimp says for me to
mind nv own business, he was carryin'
that stretcher :. Afraid if he
hustled he'd shake me up and hurt
me some. Can you beat that? :.
Ooowi" !"
Hout of Luck Nothing"
you're next, son." said lieutenant
doctor. "Where'd you get it,"
L 'Leg and chunk somewhere in the
chest"
"out Of luck"
"out of luck nothin'. Didn't bay
onet three Of them Germans before
they got me? Eh?. LuckT
The story goes that this division
was called upon to stop the rush OF
FIVE times it's number. The story goes
farther, and says they not only
stopped the rush but caused a
movement in the other direction. 1t
was not an affair of hours but Of days,
days of constant, bitter, hand-to-hand
fighting. with horrors added by the
Hun that no American soldier has
ever been called upon to face. But
they had damned the food; had even
e,,an+ n hack, for little and they