St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-07-13

ahoughtlessly, thereby interruptfng
communication with our bases. ran
directly into the trap set for US by the
French. Before the first ammunition
and other relief supplies reach US we
will all be killed."
Up TO this time we had trusted
blindly In the invincible strategy of our
great general staff. Now It was brought
home to is on all sides that the
French were fighting at home. close
to their greatest source of supply, and
had excellent railroad connections at
their disposal. Further than that the
French maintained a terrible artillery
fire from guns Of far greater caliber
than we believed they owned. This led
us to the conclusion that they we're oc-
cupying positions which had been pre-
pared for a long time. Yet we believed
that the picture painted by the artil-
leryman had been too black. We e.
Dor to know better.
As we approached the enemy's
trenches. we were met with a heavy
machine gun fire. and in double-Quiek
step hurried to the temporary protec-
ton of hastily thrown up dugouts. A
hard rain had set in. The field around
us was covered with dead and wound
ed. Even our trench was filled with
wounded. which made it's occupation
by the defenders difficult. Many of
the wounded men were paraiyZed from
lying on the Shiny ground. All were
without bandages. They begged for
bread and water, but we had none for
ourselves. They pleaded %piteously, just
for a scrap Of bread. Many of them
had lain In this inferno for two days.
without having eaten anything what.
ever.
We were scarcely established when
the French attacked en- masse. The oc-
cupants of these trenches, whom we
had REINFORCED had already repulsed
several of these attacks. They urged
us Il shoot and fired wildly themselves
into the ranks of the advancing masses.
We responded to the e~xhortations of
the infantry officers: Fire, fire hard
er, harder!"
We fred until the barrels of our
guns became red-hot. The enemy
turned. The victims of u fire al
ready lying in heaps in No Mans Land
between our lines and the enemy's
were increased By hundreds. The at
tack was repulsed.
1t is dark. and it rains and rains. All
about us in the darkness r heard
the wounded weeping, moaning, i'm
ploring. Their cries are augmented
by other wounded closer by. All called
for bandages, but we had none left. We
fore strips from cur muddy shirts and
with them covered the gaping wounds.
Men are dying constantly. There are
no doctors, no bandages, nothing. The
wounded must be assisted, but first the
French must be repulsed.
The rain falls harder constantly and
we are all wet to the skin. We shoot
blfndIy into the night. The fnctuating
FIRE OF musketry becomes strong, then
weaker. then strong again.
We pioneers are scattered among the
infantry. My neighbor touches me.
"Say," he calls.
"What do you want?" i ask. "Who
are youg"
aCome here" he Kissed.
1t is eerie, alone in this devil's night.
"Why are you here? Will you MUIR
der me like those over there. Soon
they will return from over there and
the fun will be on again. Do you hear
the others weepg"
And he laughed.
Suddenly he started again: Il al
ways shoot at them until they stop
weeping. That is. u
And again he laughed, ~maniacally,
and louder than before.
realized finally that this man had
lost his reason. A man passed bring
ing ammunition and | asked him to
fetch the commander at once. The Of
fcer arrived. accompanied by an infan-
try lieutenant. met them and report
ed that my neiglibor had been firing on
the wounded. talking nonsense, and
undoubtedly was insane. The lieuten-
ant stepped between us.
.sCan you see anything? he asked.
"See! No. But / hear them moan
ng and weeping. As soon as hit n
he is quiet for he sleepst"
The lieutenant nodded TO ne. He
tried to take the gun from the mar,
hut the latter seized It quickly and
snrang hack 10 cover. From there he
fred while standing among the wound
ed, until d moment later. he himself
fell. riddled by many bullets.
The drama had only a few speeta-
tors. 1t was hardly over before it was
forgotten. Anything but sentiment.
The blind firing continued. The
cries of the wounded became constant
~ louder.
Why? These wounded lying be-
tween the two fighting lines are ex-
posed to the firing of both parties. No
d can help them for 1t would be in
sanity to venture into No Mans Land.
Ever louder and with more heart
rending pleadings. the wounded called
for the stretchers, for help. for water.
Al the most a curse or IN oath is the
only response.
Our trench was filled with several
inches of water and underneath that.
mud. In this morass lay dead and
wounded. thrown together. It became
necessary TO make room and so the
dead were thrown over the ramparts.
Al one O'Clock in the night men came
with stretchers and took away some of
the wounded. hut for those wretches