The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1919-07-18
WAS IN THE PUSH.

Earl ifarkins arrived In Orovila ne,
friuay evening from San Francisco ana
s''ins win his sisters, Mrs. III. n
IGregg and Mrs. j. l.. Masters paoa,,i..
he returned to the United Statas -,
months service In France He is lookina
me ana lit. but glad he is that no lona
us ne required to duck high explosivas
ana dodge machine gun missiles. e'
Earl iiarkins grew up until well aIon,
u, n's teens at Loomis. and In the old
uSs wheh that camp was in the heydav
lot its prosperity he worked a shire on 49,
taiiher Mountain Prospector. long since
ueIuhct ana forgotten. He was n reljahIa
iad In those days and we felt certain Tho,
he would grow up to be the right kind of
man ana that is what years have done
for him. "o"c
from Loomis, young Harkins went ON,
INTO the world, or that part of II emhro''
leu III Northern Idaho and Washington
| trying the experience of trampine He
mad much experience that did NOT ANIMAL
10 him as being powerfully enjoynble hu,
lie AT last got back into the printing line
secured steady employment and became
an experienced and expert pressman That
branch of the business he was followino
IN San Francisco, when the draft caught
him. He passed the crucial examination
was sent to training camp and was as
s.sheu 10 20 l62nd Infantry. formerly
the oregon National Guard regiment
The regiment was assigned to the 41st
IuNisioh' ana in December, 1917. the Di-
vision was sent east toaCamp Mills. call
ing Tor France the latter part of the Same
month";
Mr. Harkins states that after reaching
| france the 41st Division was the most
busy salvage division in the A. E. F. All
kinds of hard work was wished off IN
! that unit from building warehouses to
building roads. and to end up bad, the D
vision, instead of being sent to the front
tentact, although one of the best drilled
bodies in the expeditionary force was
designated as a replacement division and
its organization torn into tatters Ali the
members except the officers and non
CONS. were scattered through the army
Filling up depleted ranks in other units
Mr.. Harkins was assigned to Company
G, 1olst Infantry, 26th Division one of
the crack shock divisions of the army.
and by drawing that prize was at once
headed into active service. While he did
not last long when once on the front he
saw all the war he cares to see the bal
ance of his life, even though that life
, might be prolonged a thousand years.
Laughing and joking in the office he
said he was just thinking of the contrast
between the present time and the ex-
citement that he was getting just ''ear
ago. and. somhow. he preferred this end
of the contrast. For 1t was just year ago
| that he was with his division at the front
WHERE tne very Idte OF the world hung
in the balance.
1t was on the Cheateau Thierry sector
| that the 26th was thrown in to relieve
the marines and the End and Bird divis-
ions, and II was year ago today, the
18th of July 1918, that the 26th went over
| the top and after the Huns for the first
: time. From the 18th to the 2lst Mr. Har-
kins was in the thick of it, snooping
| through barrages. hugging the earth to
escape the big shells. or facing the spray
of machine gun fire On the 21st he lost
all connection with further proceedings
in which, the 26th took part up to the
lsigning of the armistice
On the 21st in the afternoon. as he was
about to lie down In a dug out for little
rest after going over the top. a shred Of
sfrapnel struck 4dr. Harkins i'm the fleshy
part of the righ forearm. passing through,
fortunately, without breaking any bones.
Some large arteries We're cut and the
young man came near bleeding to death
before receiving first aid. He went into
hospital and did not recover the use of
the arm until after hostilities ceased.
But the wound i'm the arm not all
of his troubles A swelling developed on
Mr.. Harkins' right jaw. 1t finally super
ated and he was under treatment for
weeks before the injury healed. Under
| an X-ray it was discovered that the bone
had been fractured, the bone became in
fected and his condition was for a time
very serious The only way Mr.. HIa ''ins
could account for the fracture was an ac
cident that he met with one dark night
| while in the trenches. In trying to move
about. he struck his face violently
against post but aside from the mo-
| imentary pain that such IA blow would
NATURALLY cause he afterwards felt no i'll
effects. and would probably have forgot
ten the circumstance had not the sub
Isequent complications reminded him of
the incident. The swelling has not entire
Ily disappeared and he expects to undergo
further treatment after returning to San
Francisco.
After recovering from his wound Mr..
Harkins was assigned to the headquarters
1printing office, where he continued at
work until he took passage for home.
After being discharged he was given back
his old job in the large printing house in
which he was employed at the time he
was inducted into service. He will spend
some DAYS in Orovle and Loomis before
returning south.
| Mr.. Harkins active war experience was
|confined to a short period. but ne was
long enough under fire, saw enough nav
ioc as the result of modern warfare to
lconvince him that for things that are un-
tplea SAINT and uncomfortable war has hell
lpred out of the pit. His division was
Thrown against the German army when
Ithey were flushed with victory, with
IParis almost In sight with most rat
Itering prospect of reaching the French
Icapital and debating peace on such terms
las only the unrelenting Hun Is capable
lof formulating. 1t required superhuinan
leffort for the Germans to make the al,
lvance they did. and 1t was but naturaI
That they should fight desperately TO
Ihold and push forward their advantage.
I1he 26th saw it's first fighting I'm the ceie-
lbrated Belleau woods, over as dililcuit
Iground as even that of the Argonne' ana
In was In that wood that Mr.. Harkihs
lgot his The division was race 10 race
with the Prussian Guard. the shock
Itroops and the most efficient fighters In
Ithe German army and they did fight,
Tight hard and well. Mr.. Harkins saw no
lsigns OF cowardice in the Germans that
Iconfronted the division to when ne was
lattached They gave ground because .le
yankees would not be denied, but they
Idefended every yard and made the Ameri-
leans pay dearly for every foot OF ad-
Vance They rained high explosives, gas,
machine gun and rifle bullets upon une
,Americans. and they faced a return IRE
lof equal intensity, and though they went
back 1t was slowly and sullenly.
Mr.. Harkins described towns pulveriz-
cd under the effects of bombardment'
Ieyery house being wiped from the Iacs
J OF the earth. His regiment was stationeu
lin one of those small towns while IL was
Iha,ng disintregated and he says that II
there is anything that will cause man >
!, backbone to creep up under ms hsi. ~
. | is TO be under intense artillery llTe
: lcooped up in building that is graouamy ax
} crumbling to pieces. Another .rynns 81,
, nerience was when the regiment was call
ed S out in the night when it was so dark arr
that II was Impossible to distinguish tne
man at his elbow ordered to FIX oay9nets Hy,tneI
in preparation for an expeeted stins a'e guns
|, lAt every flash of the supPor'hs .,,inn
, uounp Harkins thought he saw miiiloh
t Huns breaking out of the fringe ot "oous
I Immediately in their front