Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1919-01-24
{ monument Of beauty, bui as

shattered wreck a heap Of stones,
Presently we are passing thru No
Mans Land. 1t is well named,
for it is the span between our own
and the enemy's lines. In places
shells have struck and cut off large
trees, which are along the road at
regular intervals. AT one place
saw a large steel railroad bridge
which had been struck by a she'll.
One end was on the ground, while
the other end remained on the abut-
fment. 1 have a splendid picture OF
this 1t didn't take long. to cross
mo Mans Land, and then we pass
ed the enemy entanglements, and
then their trenches. Some OF their
living quarters were built of con-
crete, underground, indicating that
they regarded them as permanent.
Soon we were In the territory occu-
MED by the Boche at the time the
armistice was signed. Along the
road from here on were scores OF
German helmets and other things
left by them.
We came in convoy of some Z or8
auto trucks in addition to several
trailers, and stopped several times en-
route. Once we had our picture tax
en-. And just here l must detail a
rather uncanny joke on myself. A
negro soldier along the way had got
ten on our truck to ride to where he
was going. Presently the truck
stopped. One of the fellows saw
something which looked like
brass shell beside the road, so I told
the negro to hand it up. He did so.
and just as I got it in my. hands
saw that it was an unexploded she'll,
weighing probably 40 or SO pounds.
AT the same time the truck started.
could not throw itdown, as to have
done so would have knocked it off
and have blown our machine across
the Atlantic ocean. So had to
s'kep company with the thing until
the truck stopped or until l could
throw it in river Happily, we
passed over a bridge in a short time
and I threw it acros.
We'll, we came on to the village of
Iercg-I e-Haute, now scantily popu-
lated, but not shot up. 1t had been
coupled by the Boche ever since the
early days of the war, and it was
evacuated by them Sunday-just
three days (nearly) before we were
entering it.. Our own troops are on
ahead of us and we are leaving for
point on the famous river Rhine to-
mrrow morning. BY the way, the
Boche had one of their aviation
fields here, and number of their
3mashed planes are still her. I have
few souvenirs from them. This
village is very old, some of the build
ings having been built in 1880. The
village itself dates back to 500 years.
Most of the buildings have the dates
!. of their erectionover the door; all of
, them are built of stone. In fact, I
have not seen building in France
not built of stone.
The people, hat is the civilians,
here have been under the control of
the Boche until this past week, and
during this time they have had to
work for them long hours every day
, of the week, and in addition they
had to divide their eggs vegetables
n and other things with them. This
present condition is pitifuL I shall
give an instance, which, instead of
being an extreme case, is really not
as distressing as the majority that
have come under my observation.
(Of course, this does not apply to the
French back of our lines). Our Of
fee, "pro tempum," is in a part of a
large private dwelling, wherein re-
side very old couple and their son.
Some of our fellows sleep in some OF
the various offices, others in barns
while Silver and myself are fortunate
in getting a room with a stove and
two beds in the same house as our Of
flee is in, The next day after I got
here 1 gave this young man one OF
my razors, some clothes, and other
things. And to the old folks gave
some canned "eats' which I happen
ed to have and can of coffee. They
seemed to appreciate it TREMENDOUSLY,
and so prvailed upon me to have din
lner with them. So I did. Poor
souls, they had for their meal, and
were thankful for it, the following
Iscanty rations: Potatoes, fried,
without any grease or seasoning.
Bread, brown, with bran in it. Very
dry and hard. Coffee, made Of roast
ed barley, left behind by the Ger
mans, and no sugar.
ate of it just as heartily as they,
and then I procured some other
things and gave them to afford them
a real meal beside their usual meal.
stole some Of these things that these