The Benson signal., 1919-03-22

IHeu, VIII are drTlVluS III washington
from the other side are afflicted, If af-
Fiction is the right word, with the de-
sire to continue ito get move on" If
one dared use the Hun expression,
even in translation, this would be
called wanderlust. Every soldier who
saw service abroad has it, and hun
dreds Of thousands Of those who saw
service only in the camps Of the United
States have it.
I met a brigadier general of the
United States army on the street day
or two ago. The last time had seen
him was on the edge of the Argonne
forest in early November last, where
he was in command Of his brigade.
When 1 met him in Washington l
asked him how he felt.
"Well," he said, II feel as if I must
do something. I cannot stand still.
Last night in my dreams l climbed
Mount Faucom again and this morn
ing feel as If should like to repeat
the operation in reality"
I have asked soldier after soldier
how it affected him to get back into
the humdrum Of American life, or rath-
er to get back into the approaches
to such a life, for many Of these SOL
diers are still undischarged. From
their answers one knows that they
all feel as if they must 'hike" some
where or throw a few hand grenades
in order to work off the surplus en-
ergy which was stored up OF the
Meuse, in the Argonne or on the
Vesle.
Taking Magazine Men to the Front.
1 went to France in the early sum-
mer Of 1918 as a major in the gas
and flame service. In France I was
assigned to duties which for a con-
siderable time detached me from ac-
tive participation in anything which
the gas service was doing. One day
orders came from Chaumont detail
ing me to the work of taking a party
of American magazine editors to the
front north Of st. Mihiel.
Among the visiting magazine editors
were Edward w. Box, editor Of the
Ladies' Home Journal; Ellery Sedg-
wick, editor Of the Atlantic Monthly;
Charles Hanson Towne, editor Of Nc
Clure's Magazine; DR.. Albert Shaw,
editor of the American Review Of Re
views, and Alfred Holman, editor of
the San Francisco Argonaut. There
we're two newspaper men in the party,
Lucius w. Nieman of the Milwaukee
Journal and F. w. Kellogg Of the San
Francisco Call.
It was quickly discovered that edi-
tors of magazines are just as keen for
news and impressions as any reporter
in this land Of ours. They insisted on
getting into the details Of everything
and in three days they must have
secured material enough for scores
upon scores of articles. They saw
everything in that part Of the Ameri-
can sector which they visited, from
the birthplace of Joan Of Arc at Dom
remy to Hatton-Chatel from which
they viewed the artillery battle be-
tween the Americans and the Huns.
It is not my intention to steal any
of the magazine editors stuff. Let
them write it as they will, but there
are a few things upon which they will
not touch and which from the psyche
logical point Of view are worth recital.
On the day of the visit to the i'm
mediate front we motored into Flirey
in the st. Mihiel sector. At this de-
molished village two roads crossed and
as American traffic along the roads
fn
particular attention to that point.
All Cool Under Fire.
The editors were in little hut,
hastily erected, watching two women,
Miss Scott, daughter of Gen. Hugh L.
Scott Of the United States army, and
Mrs. Walter Farwell of Chicago, In
their beneficent work of dealing out
hot chocolate and doughnuts to the
American soldiers coming out from or
going into the line. All at once /
heard O sound which was familiar to
my ears from previous experience. l
knew that German shell had burst
close to us. The two women present
knew 1t also, for they were equally
familiar with the noises Of such lit
tie disturbances
The editors may or may not have
known what that noise was, but they
learned soon enough, for somebody
told them. Flirey was under bonn
bardment. Instead of showing a sign
of tremor the magazine editors and
the brace Of newspaper men with them
seemed moved only by the idea that
here was something really worth
while. One Of our batteries was sta
toned hundred yards or so in front
Of the hut. It opened in reply TO the
Germans. The magazine editors were
getting a touch Of real war on the
American sector, just as they had been
given a touch Of the same thing on
the British and French fronts.
It is not my intention to tell very
much more right here of the expert
ence of that day at the immediate
front, but that night when we had
returned to the American guest house