Jackson County journal., 1919-02-14
CHAPTER XxIIi-Continued.

o.
1t certainly was hard, when the next
day came, to give up your whole ration
and go without that day. But l never
saw man hedge, or even speak of it.
And we did not have any food pirates
among us either: we were not captains
Of industry by any means.
There were times when some Of us
could not eat certain Of our ratiOns.
For instance, many and many a time
l was as hungry as anybody could be, !
and / wanted to eat my bread, but it
seemed as If / could not get it into
my mouth. Then I would trade it with
someone else for his shadow SOUP" or
his barley coffee.
We were dying every day in Bran
denburg and after each death the
senior men of that barracks would de-
tail twelve of their number to go out
for half an hour and dig the grave,
while others made little crosses, on
which they wrote or carved the mans
name, when he was captured, and his
regiment or ship. In the middle of
81
! r. I. P.-Rest in Peace.
One time we were ordered to report
to the German doctors for serum
treatment of some kind-to receive an
injection, in other words. There was
no choice about it this time, as we
were simply herded together to the
hospital barracks. Now, I knew what
\;
the German doctors were in giving an
injection, so I wanted to be the very
first man and not have to witness the
other men getting theirs.
SO / pushed up to the head of the
line, with the crew of Fl. NJ. S. Nomad,
who had been captured in the Jutland
battle, and by the time we got to the
hospital was the very first man in line
But the sentry threw me back and
there were several men ahead of me-
Each of them barred his chest and the
doctors SaShed them across the breast
with a very thin knife, SO you can see
that it was very painful. When i,
came to my turn they slashed me three
times in the shape of a triangle just tc
one side of the breast. And that wa:
all there was to it-no injection, moth
ing on the knife that could see
Now, | do not know what the ides
was. Every man of US was dizzy fO
the rest of the day and could not d,
anything but lay around the barracks
And hardly any of us bled drOI
though the gashes We're deep. l do no
think we had any blood in us to ruI
and that is the truth of it. 1t W.;
lust another German tIick that no ON
could explain.
One day a war correspondent name
Bennett, from a Chicago paper, cam
!. to the camp and went through all tn
q barracks. When he came to our ba
}. racks / told him l was an America
: and asked for the news. Instead {
answering he began to ask ali sOr1
= of questions. Finally, after l had tol
I him l had been in the French servic
s, l asked him if he could help me in al
o. way. He answered that had only m
>, self to blame and that it served II
right if I had been in one of the allie
n armies
he l did not like his looks much and
g. seemed unfriendly, but when he begs
Of smoking cigarette it almost drove n
crazy and / could not help asking f
one. He refused me and said / shOu
VI have stayed in my own country. whe
st l could have had plenty of cigarette
After a while he threw away Gig
"A rette stub and not only but three
four others who were near made a di
~ for It, A man named Kelley got it
ok crazy man who went around tryi
en- to eat wood and cloth and anythi
/ he could find.
.k When my three weeks were up a
"a had not heard from Mr.. Gerard W
just about ready to go down to
lake and pick ont a vacant spot a