Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-02-05
fContinucd From Yesterday

Stew ana nunC COOtiSS. IA"s AeNAA
was always on, and they Increased
SO fast that a closed season was un-
necessary. Having taken several
baths and washed my underclothes
/ thought friend cootie would re-
main away awhile.
But my comrades soon woke me
from this blissfully ignorant state,
as well as the cooties-sure It's
plural! Said they, you will gain
more here than anywhere else ana
1 did too, so much SO, that hunting
cooties came like dessert-alter
every meal. No matter how many
one killed at daybreak there was
sure to be some more at nightfali.
l hate to think how many there
would have been had I stopped hunt
ing for several days. Probably they
would have been so thick that ike
bees they would have swarmed in
order to hunt new home. 1t was
too crowded on my slender frame.
Fortunately, my punishment ulo
not last long, for the third day we
went on the road again, this time
bound for Germany on foot, seven
day march at the least. Oh, yes,
they had trains, but we were not
considered valuable enough to travel
in such a luxurious way.
Shoe Supply Exhausted
With such journey ahead of me,
made another demand for shoes but
there was nothing doing. They had
none. So they told me anyway. 1
could not march far in such shoes,
that was a certainty, so one of my
comrades hunted me up a pair OF
old Poilu shoes. They were not
mates, but they were an exact fit,
and although nearly worn out were
preferable to the wooden clogs. That
was the trouble, they fit too snug1y,
and after I had marched several
hours my feet made insistent de-
mands for more room. There wasn't
any more so 1 suffered.
1t was some walk, and as usual,
all the Frenchmen were loaded
down with baggage like commuter
on Xmas Eve. For such heavy loads
the Boche had provided small cart,
but like all kindnesses done by the
Boche 1T had string to it for the
men who put their bundles on had
to pull it. That was no small job,
especially going up hill, but they
did it.
We had been given no extra ra-
tions so we figured we better carry
something eatable along even If 1t
was only several turnips.
Russians Did Not Mind
The Russians. big husky fellows
that they were, each carried bushel
on their backs. They, for one, did
not suffer much from hunger dur
ing the journey. No soor.5 had
the rumor spread THAT we 60
ing to move again, than / l.. ew a
certain F'renchman aside and talked
over plans to escape. Sure, he was
willing but since it was long jour-
ney to the Dutch frontier, he ad-
vised marching with the Boche for
several days as they were going to
march through Belgium anyway.
We had no doubt about it being easy
TO escape, but when we started we
changed our mind.
1t looked as if it were going to be
little difficult, for a guard was as
signed to each four men. No, sir,
they were not taking any chances
on losing any of that precious bunch,
for they knew full we'll that the lack
of proper food and the disgusting
state of the barracks in which we
had been living would make one and
all determined to escape at the first
opportunity.
Arrives in Belgium -.
Fenced in by guards like this we
arrived late in the afternoon in Bel
GUM, no sooner had we crossed the
frontier between France and Bel
gium than I noticed the difference
between small villages in Belgium
and those in France.
Those in France may be pictur-
esque, but they sure are filthy. Real
ly, it's quite the custom for the
horses to dine in one room and the
family in the one alongside. In Bel
gium 1t was different altogether.
They were pretty, as well as pictur-
esque. Such spotlessly clean houses
l have never seen, and built of diff
ferent colored stones they made a
wonderful picture.
Bclgians Kind
had heard many stories about
the wonderful kindness of the Bel
GUM people to prisoners, especially
French ones so l was naturally cur
ious to see it proven. 1 was getting
hungry as well as footsore, and was
anxious to have this kindness take
eatable shape.
1t did, too, when we stopped in the
center of a small village to rest. Out
from all the houses came people,
women, children and old men, each
bearing some gift to the prisoners.
Some had bread, others potatoes,
others carrots and several even came
bearing coffee with milk.
That was too much for those half
starved prisoners, and guards not
withstanding they broke ranks and
ran to meet all these good things
for it had been so long since they
had seen coffee with milk and white
bread, that they wanted a taste to
make sure it was not a mirage.
They were not bit polite about
it, either, for anyone that showed up
with anything eatable Immediately,
because the center of a bowling,
fighting crowd. 1t was a survival of
the fittest and only the strongest got
anything. Many looked longingly
on the good things arriving, but re-
fused to enter the combat for them.
Hunger, it seemed. had driven most
of the prisoners wild, for such a
surging fighting mob around a small
MAIDEN oiselle" and a basket of
bread you never saw.
March Used Him Up
AS for me the march had COM
pletely used me up, and my feet
panied me so badly I could hardly
stand up. Rest to me was more i'm
portant than eating, hungry though
1 was, and no sooner was the order
given to rest than 1 sank down on
the ground and stayed there until
prodded up by a guard to continue
on my painful way.
We finally arrived at the village
where we were to spend the night
and were haltad in fba nanfar ~ 81, =