Evening star., 1918-06-07
WHEN u|FE|S RATED
WORTH A NICKEL
Experience Of Correspondent
With American Expedition
ary Force in France.
MEN BRAVE AND CHEERFUL

NEW YORK. juno 7-Experiences
under flre and difficulties faced by
correspondents In the battle zone in
France are told In a letter Just re-
ceived by the Associated Press from
ono Of its correspondents with the
American expeditionary force. He
also tells Of the fine morale of the
American troops.
"The conditions in the north (re-
ferring to the oise district) were quite
exciting for correspondents" he
writes. when I was there was liv-
ing in a town so close to the lines
that six-inch shells came in on US. A
| number of shrapnel broke right over
my house. breaking off the bricklike
shingles. A Carnegie bowler (steel
helmet) was my best friend. There is
nothing quite so upsetting as to be
writing a piece for the papers and
hear that whistle Of a shell coming
your way, hear 1t break almost over
head and hear the whistle that shrap-
mel makes as 1t shoots downward. The
incessant racket kept up day and
night.
Worse at Night, Preventing Sleep.
Nights 1t was worse; absolutely
! preventing sleep. There were the
rumble and roar Of French and Ger
man guns nearer the line, the crash of
| a French heavy about a block away.
| the whistle of shells going out and
| coming in and the c-r-r-r-r-ump of
| boche HE. shells exploding. When
you finally drop of to sleep. about
n h0 mn Inc a q on
great. but you never know whether
you will wake up in the bed where
you went to sleep. hospital bed or
whether the next thing you hear will
you to wipe the mud off your boots
before entering.
Added to other troubles, probably
l have small quantity of gas in me.
I got whiff about three weeks or so
ago. It wasn't enough to do any
once and making my eyes and throat
smart. The throat is still little
sore. did not get enough, luckily.
to make me go to hospital or even
see a doctor. But l am glad I had
| only one small whiff instead of a
| couple OF big ones.
Full to Brim With Excitement.
But the whole business is full to
the brim with excitement, bred by
uncertainty. and quite the most inter-
esting thing in the world. l would
not have missed a single one of the
experiences I have had for million
dollars. Any front, I think. is prob
ably the most cheerful place on earth,
although nobody would ever think SO.
The farther you get away from the
lines the more gloom there is But
where shells fly and life is worth
about a nickel nothing matters to
anybody. A laugh and a smile Is the
thing. I suppose this is because the
average American soldier goes into
battle or into the front firmly con-
vinced that he'll get only a wound IL
the luck Is right. and at the same time
determined to forget all about it and
enjoy life.
II have heard more funny stories
and moro laughter among our men in
the line in ono night than 1 have
heard in all the rest Of the time that
l have been in Europe.
Great Crowd Of Fighters.
! "And they are a great crowd, these
| fighters of ours, whether they do
their fighting on the ground or in the
air. They are game to the core,
cheerful. happy. and have one thought
only. That is: Kill Germans And
they never overlook a chance You
can't beat an army that sails into an
enemy with a grin on its face and a
chuckle in its heart"