Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-02-20

srn negroes One starts thinking the
proposition over Il the lines 81 color
sd donghboys swing down the seyca-
more lined roadways of France IN the
disk 81 the eYening. singing n that
auavering. srident. haIf-moaning
voice that surely has the elements both
On primitiyenesa and originality
a long line OF colored troopers was
marching along hillside IL the zone
81 operations one evening ~ We came
upon them Long before we met up
With them the melody Of some old
plantation song could be recognized.
is We approached them the words
could be distinguished
cts me, q LaWd, standin' in tn
need o. prayer
It'e me, IsaWd, standins In th need
b prayer
Their a high-pitcheds Quayering
piercing voice ne leader rose above
I the noise of many heavy boots on the
Eohbiestone road
Moi my mother. not my sister, and
then the whole company IN great
Derferyid primitive prayer
Its me, 0 LaWd, sandin in the
d prayer
Its me. o Lawd. s;andin IN the
D. prayer."
Again the high-pitcehd voice Of the
leader
Not the elder, not the chaplain
and then the whole company
Its me, q LaWd, stsndin in th
need D. prayer.
has swing to It that cannot be
deacribed without the notes Lieuten-
ant Sonny twhlte}, q Plattsburg and
Harvard man. who had charge Of this
company told me that he couidnl pos
siDiy have finer lot OF soldiers under
him than these negro boys He en-
c0uragsd thin TO use their plantation
songs and kept them at ii for months,
until they have no fear OF Huns or
death or anything ii the world II
only their hearts can give voice to the
stirring melodies,
In connection with this one melody
they tell good story. The negro boys
themselves enjoy story of this kind
told on one Of their own troopers. and
while some may be d bit skeptical az
10 the yeracity of tt, they lie back and
shake With laughter when II Is
sprung
A platoon Of Georgia boys, 20 the
story runs. we're digging trench not
many miles behind No Mans Land
one afternoon The sun was shining
down pretty warm and they threw OF
their helmets The dirt was flying
ever their heads and lie low hnmnfins
voices blended beautifully
Its me. o I4awd. standing In til
need q prayer
Fritz. with load of aerial bombg. /
nosed his Gothia In the direction Of
this platoon and was over them before
they noticed him. He ret drop 4 cou-
pie os bombs that fell uncomfortably /
near the trench Then he swooped I
down and unIlmbared his machine gun
with that put put put accompaniment
that induces one TO hunt for the dug
out.
Just one man III the platoon lost his /
bearings for the moment. He was a (
Georgian about Is feet inches tall.
lean an ,anky. but cry powerful He
leaped out or the trench. 40 the boys
say, and legged Il over the hillside IN /
mighty Jumps. He didn't wait To re-
cover his helmet. but held the shovel /
over his head as he departed, and with
nearly every jump. they heard him
shout:
oh Lawd. keep EN- high!
70 Lawd. keep en- high!
And hack In the trench the platoon
was hurting dirt over their heads as
dirt never before was cooped up in
shOyels and accompanied BIZ the hum
ming voices. now little louder and
wi b sort of accelerated and stac-
cato punctuation
It's me. b Lawd. standin Iii the
need d prayer
This same squad between songs has
another story they think Is all right
One OF the boys had been up the
front and gone over the top couple
oE times When he Was sent back for
q rest a brother colorsd soldier from
Mississippi edged up to him. showed
two perfectly fine rows of perfectly
white teeth and inquired;
Say. boss, what 20 all mean BY dis
.ober de top stun e
The boy who had experienced fl,e
sensation looked at him seriously for
a moment and replied
Say, hoy, when dem orders do came,
and dat zero hour am struck. and days
gwine nbsr das top. i Just am g ~
night, world good n1awnin pearly
Gates
One If he;r mus popular marching
songs. that has swing 10 It that Is
irresis .ible that must ease up the
muscles In their legs like .AIexander's
Rag does to Chicagoan Of the Cau-
casian breed. deals with the mourner
II requires leader with that high
sas<.R.ad sltautarsv4g tHwsl13xsxF sxy,.sexs ~. II