Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-10-01
NO. 10

. price" The doctors seemed even more
. annoyed about this incident than they
J did about the actual bombs, which. as
ers. was only what one had TO expect
II one went to war with the Boche.
BY a singular coincident. three OF
the members OF the medical
stan happened to be on special detail
at casualty clearing station just be-
hind the fighting lines. That very
night the station was severely bombed
and all three OF the American surge
ons had an extremely narrow escape.
\ huge 200 pound bomb. OF the "fy-
,inSp pig" type. exploded right in the
middle Of the sleeping tents. but by
most merciful coincidence. the doc
tors had gathered in the mess tent
about thirty yards away where they
were holding meeting Of the local
hospital medical society. The discus
sion proved absorbing and 30 protract-
ed that, at about lis a. m, one Of the
participating members stepped to the
L
across TO DR.. N (who had had very
hard day in the operating room and
had retired to his cot) urgently invit-
ing him TO return. saying that refresh
ments were TO he served, or at least
that n pot OF some kind Was about TO
he opened. and didn't he want 10 get
In 1t, which sounds confusing. But
then army language is always very
strange. The recumbent doctor. who
had not yet fallen asleep. protested
fcebly. but upon being urged that he
was really needed ito take n hand
probably assist in some special sur
gical operauon-he grumblingly rose
and tottcred across TO the main mess
tent. Hardly had he gotten inside the
door when there was a flash, trem-
endous bang, a "Whoosh." that nearly
tiattcned the mess tent. and when the
members OF the medical society pick
ed themselves up. and went to see
where that one hit. they found In the
place Of the tent and cot which had
just been vacated by DR.. ". a hole
in the ground large enough to have
buried an elephant in. and not one
scrap or fragment OF the tent. the cot.
found anywhere,
The following morning Dr. N-made
n careful search over all that region
Of the camp. With the assistance of
his friends he succeeded In recov-
ering a sufficient number OF the frag-
ments OF his clothing. kit. and person
al belongings to about half All his steel
helmet--a piece OF razor. the heel OF
one Of his shoes half q collar. a silver
of his shaving glass-and these. with
the clothing he had on when he walk
ell across to the mess tent constituted
his entire earthly possessions.
Another curious feature about this
particular attack was that a new type
of bomb was dropped, in addition to
the flying pigs" which instead OF ex-
ploding upward and driving out its
fragments In the direction OF the sticks
of a fan, exploded horizontally and
sent his fragments fiendishly whizzing
along about six inches above the sur
face of the ground. The surgeons
told me that. in several Of the tents.
the boots and shoes which were on the
floor were cut into pieces, and tent
pegs were shattered into kindling
wood. while objects a foot or more
above the ground were unhurt and
untouched. In this particular tent.
nearly a hundred feet away from the
site Of the explosion. the legs were
cut right from under a couple
Of cots. dropping the canvas and
blankets on the floor untorn and un-
marked. Some of them said that the
bomb appeared to be a boomerang or
whirling knife-bladed propeller kind
of contraption. having the power when
exploded to send its parts skating or
planning fifty, sixty, or even a hum
dred feet away from the site OF the
explosion.