Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-14


The next two days were filed up with
the placing Of the guns in position TO
fire, laying Of telephone wires, carrying
of ammunition and countless other little
detail that must be attended to. This
work is done while the officers arc busy
getting the exact location of the guns,
the o.. =. observation post estab-
lished and the firing data computed. An
o. p. was chosen this time about mile
and half to the left of the battery in
the edge of woods on the summit of
hill. It was a point of extreme danger
and only approachable across she'll
swept fields unless wide dctour was
made.
1t was at this point that Sergeant
Beauvais Clark. son of DR.. Walton
Clark. vice president OF the L. G.. ]. and
brother of Captain Clark, performed his
net of bravery that later won him di-
vision citation. Sergeant Clark was in
charge of the telephone detail and or
dered to lay line to the q. L. Instead
of taking the more circutous but safe
route. which would have ncccssitated u
delay while waiting for more. wire. he
W SD ulTVNllN HtIOSS luF nNlUS,
He did this successfully, laying the
most hazardous positions himself rather
than allow his men to advance into the
danger points.
shortly after noon Of August II all
was completed. Sergeant Stephen Bol.
gers gun loaded and with Edward j.
Barrett. Jr.. as number one man he
who pulls the lanyard-the order was
given and amid cheers Battery F had
sent its first messenger hustliug to the
lines of the Germans.
Now that firing had really commenced
the real responsibility . fell upon the
men at the o. +. observation post,
from where the bursting shells could be
seen. This work was done by different
men. Corporals George {. Taylor and
Frederick II. Stewart being the first
In regards to his experiences at this
particularly dangerous post Corporal
Stewart who by the way is teacher
in Carney Public School. says, after
the o. 7. was established I received
orders about Q p. m. to report with ra
tions to the others already there under
Corporal Taylor. No one seemed able
to give me exact directions how to get
get to them. but the general directions
were pointed out aud it was necessary
to make the whole trip across the oren
fields. The last hill to climb proved to
be the worst of all. was carrying my
pack. bag full of iron rations' and
four cantcens full Of coffee. 1t was
pitch dark and the whole hillside was
pitted with shallow dugouts and studded
with the carcasses of dead horses. Half
way up and Fritz let loose. They
seemed to land everywhere at once. No
single location seemed the object so
after ducking and running and falling
and stumbling I finally reached the
o. p. Just as dawn was breaking.
'If ever place was hell on earth.
that was. for it lay directly in front
of battery of 75's and near a road
Jerry was always trying for one or the
other and most of them fell closer TO us
than to their intended target.
''Onc morning when left there alone.
an ,airplanc few over and Jerry tried
to bracket on the battery behind me,
but he didn't, he brackctcd on me
He finally started in TO fire for de
molition and I had lively half hour
of it. I crouched down in a small dug
out and soon was covered with Jumps of
dirt. but fortunately was uninjured.
After dark Corporal Taylor came with
orders to go back as a new o. p. had
been established. but the fields were
being shclled so badly he advised wait
ing till morning.
''If you stay you'll get it worse.
warned. They gave me a good time