Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-29
ONE MORE SOLDIER
TELLS HIS STORY
Off the Simple Life Forever Since
He's Back From
War.
Rv Fred ric J Haskir.

but which is always new, for each man has
n different reaction Ia wal.
This man was "A young merchant IN an
eastern city when he received draft sum
mons Ills qualifications Tor army me
were n good sense of humor, a iastidionS
appetite and an expert know ledge OF has
own particular mercantile line, which Was
yxpmen's lingerie and kimonoS.
Uis first reaction TO the army when nc
was sent TO a training camp was dlstlnctiy
unpleasant. lie hated being herded with
o MANY other men, he found II dith' UT
20 obey the orders when he was IN the habit
of dong the ordering hImscli, ana ms
appetite rebellcd against the piain army
food Then one day they appointed him
keeper OF the army mules. ana he nearly
deserted. The captain oi his company
,nteryened IN time, and he was gwen a
Job IN the supply DIVISION
In tins cspacIty hc went to Europe.
Graduallv-lt was on the way over, he
said ~, began 10 like the army ttlS
amishihtv won for hIm many friends IN
his division, and the military ltc began
10 appcal 10 HIM. Also, he began To he
yer, proui OF the fact that he was an Amer
iran They went across IN an thRhsI
vessel manned hv English sailors and
co,ks and they were surprised 10 find
that any pcoplc could be 81 uncnliehtcned
as the English
BRITISH CookFRY aNp srEfCH-
IN the first place thCy did not know
ho, 10 cook and IA the second place
thcv did NOT know how ~ talk. Private
J. will CIV, vow ms word hat he could not
understand them. and hc had great dlit-
rnltv m making them understand hlm
In Iaycrpnol. however, the men were
much IMPRESSED There we're 50 many
wounded British soldiers II seemed 80
them a. Al rvcrv man IN England had tccn
wounded When they got 70 the front
they found that this was because m tng-
llShman i- sent home rs soon rs NJ =
wounded whereas the Ercnch roman ~
rhc hospltal~ near he front and 70 back
"a the fighting q, soonas their wounds are
healed
Oncc IN France. Private J was placed
in a damp. cyll-~mcllng hoN-rar along
with thirtv-ninr other men and shipped
10 an unknown point which afterwards
turned out "a hc an American camp.
This vs. the irst time they had travelled
in 4 boN-car. Int the men accepted L
with their usual na,lve humor lNd
YOU hear them call ont hight horses
or forty men" asked Private = and
afterwards they never saw hoN-car that
the whole company did not shout Eight
horses or forty men
In the first camp the accommodations
were very gond The ground was dry
the tents did not leak and there was 4
good meal 10 h. had three times 4 day
=, the mess kitchen But there were
only a few shower baths and Private
Us division was sent away before II
got = chance TO use them. Once more
thev were showed into boN-car, and
started out for an unknown destination
which IL was whispered among the men
\ l..
while the supply company usually brought
up the rear Of every movement and Was
slwavs delegated 10 the last car on tho
tram, this particular day il WAS moved
w next 10 the englne-an erratIc change
IN pollcy that saved his lie
''soME" MARROW Esc,rE.
They had lust pulled ont from small
French town when the tram stopped.
II hsd been stationary only a few min
utes when suddenly there was terrible
crash. Private J. 5 train went forward
with q tremendous Jerk. and then stopped
again. One OF the men managed 10 got
the door open, and they saw that the
last eight cars of their tram had been
demolished by French express train.
The dead and wounded were being lifted
out Of the debris; packs, guns, boots and
human limb or two were scattered
WAS rising from one OF the burning cars
in the rear. The men In the supply car
groaned as they grabbed their frst-aid
packets 10 20 TO the assistance OF their
comrades.
On a pile OF blankets with half dozen
men stooping over hm. lay q young
sergeant who had been the pride OF tie
division. He had q splendid baritone
voice and could play on half-dozen
different musical instruments, and he
was always In good huInor Every
body loved hlnn--and he was lying IN
the midst OF a wreck miles from the
frnt, with both his legs torn of
When Private J reached the group
the sergeant was unconscious, and they
were waiting Tor All ambulance that
vas 10 bo sent out from ithe French town
suddenly the sergeant regained con
s~iousness He did not groau OF com
plain Instead ne began To sing The
ong that he sang was Smiles the
song that they had always made hlm
.sanc when they were feeling blue When
he reached the end OF the song he died
AT THE 'FRONT.'
When they reached the fronts point
near Metz the greatest test of their
endurance began. II was raining, 81
course. Private J. wa ia France for
y1vs months, ana during ilat time ne
SWEAT that the sun shone Just twice
He feels very sorry for the French people
because they have 10 live ia such q
country But, aside from the rain.
there was very little water The men
dared not wash IN nearby stream. for
fear II had been poisoned, and every
pit OF drinking water had 70 be passed by
q laboratory expert The rations. too
were reduced 70 q minimum They
consisted, inI fact OF a sort of greasy
meat soup which tho men called ''slum "
and hardtach Thus was served ty7ce
n dsy--ar eight IN the morning and al
four m the afternoon
Now that they were actualiy under the
ranse Of the German guns the mems
nerves became extremely sesnitiye and
the blue and honAesIck periods were
harder % d!sprl The STRAIN On the officers
was much greater They were compelled
10 forget their own troubles. and give ali
their energy TO keeping up the sDirIts Of
their men. No one spoke Of home for
~ the mention Of u two or three bows had
burst into tears. But al night the men
dreamed OF nothing but home They wol,Id
eat up IN their beds, their eyes wide and
staring, and call out the names Of their /
'noue folks Private J.s dreams were
always happy, and his disappointment was
always 50 much greater when he woke IN
-. al y. a l.