Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-22

Ger in the army has to perform in
France, OF at any other seat of war,
there Is nothing to compare with that
Of the %censoring of hundreds OF let
ters written by the soldiers under his
command. The unfortunate platoon
commander is required to- have the
wisdom OF Solomon to cope with his
brings him. no glory and no thanks.
'In fact, IL he is not an amateur diplo-
matist Of a high order, he receives
only the friendly abuse Of his men.
The problems he is confronted with
are unending, and the censoring work
is done as a task after the performs
ance of other tasks. The soldier.
when he has nothing else to do, writes
letters to his mother. sisters, broth
ers. uncles, aunts, cousins, and to
every friend he can think of, telling
all about the war, all about the
try, all about the natives. all about
the food he eats, n a million 9TH
er things. Very often he writes practi-
cally the same letter to seven or eight
different people, and the letter Is
about six pages long. The unfortun-
ate officer, has to read through each
and every one in cas- there may be
something hidden away in any one
Of them which 1t is not desirable
should go forward: The soldier writes
his letters cheerfully in his spare
moments; the officer, alas, censors
them 4niserably in what should be
his spare moments.
What is the officer to do in such a
case as this? A soldier has two wives,
and writes to both on the same day!
Is it necessary for the company Off
cer to interfere? Another soldier.
who has just arrived in France, and
has never been within 20 miles Of
the firing line, writes home that the
sound of the guns is deafening, and
the bombs were bursting all around
La certain amount Of truth in the lat
ter statement, u he may have wit
messed an exhibition of bombing at
the practice ground, or assisted at a
bloodless battle in n Of the train
Ing fields. Another soldier, who
Graves for sympathy and gifts. writes
home to say that the life is hard and
the food is bad, very bad, indeed, and
cites and candies and a cake, ETC.,
etc. etc.?
writes, the greater the hardships he
endures, the more wonderful the ad-
ventures that occur to him. The dan
gers through which he passes (usu-
ally when he is still miles behind the
firing line) are simply tremendous.
The older and more experienced SOL
der who has been at 1t for u little
time does not write these MUNICH
ausen letters, but takes things as he
finds them and makes the best Of
them, realizing that he is engaged in
a war. the' greatest which has ever
occurred. and not in a Cooks Tour"
to Europe. He does not expect Pull
man-Palace cart when travelling on
the train, or parlor suites with bath
~" a separate table in the dining
salon when crossing the ocean, or
even Palace Hotel accommodation
when he gets to France. What he
he realizes that to do this he will
have to put up with all sorts OF con-
ditions which he never dreamt Of be-
fore becoming a soldier.
After he has -soldiered for a little
while, he also realizes the tremendous
efforts which are required to produce
his hot meals when on board ship or
in the trenches, the new socks when
the old ones are worn out, the am
Inunition which. he blazes away cheer.
fully at the boche. his letters and
and m~ysteriodsly in France Just az
they do at home. He knows that
there are hundreds Of ships from ali
parts Of the world continually plough
Ing the ocean to provide him with
the things he needs. to bring REIN
|forcements OF his feliow-countrymen
to help him, and also. when he Is
wounded or sick. to take him home
again.
These ships which. day BY dsv,
week by week, and month By month,
ARE crossing the Atlantic thron1h