The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-03-21

,
It was 1914, and the great world
war was on, and here was l in the
United States and neutrnl.' For thlr-
teen years / had been soldering but
had never been under fire. In my
Imagination l could hear the guns
booming on the western front. ! ad-
nit / was trifie afraid; nevertheless
had great desire to get into the mix
up. How could / get over? / planned
out many ways, but none of them
were practical.
One day while walking down Green
witch street, New York, I passed an
employment agency. Staring me in
the face was great flarlng sign,
Horses for France" Under this
''Men Wanted" Here was my chance.
Upon returning to my Office mme-
dlately got in touch over the telephone
with two prominent men In New York
whom knew to be distinctly pro-ally.
After outlining my desire, an appoint
ment was made for me to meet q GER
tain gentleman at the Hotel Astor at
four o'clock that afternoon. l met
him. He introduced me to a French
man. At that time In my eyes a
Frenchman was a hero, man to be
looked up to, a man fighting in the
Great Cause. But now Frenchman
to me is more than hero. After
being introduced l went up into the
Frenchman's room and talked over
the matter of horses for France for
about twenty minutes.
Upon leaving the Frenchman 7 was
told to report to him three days later,
at the same time and place. l left,
bubbling over with enthusiasm and
anticipation.
During this interval of three days I
mapped out a story of my life to pre-
sent to him upon our second Interview.
The eventful day at last came, and
once more was closeted with him. /
started to tell him my story. He
interrupted me by waving his right
hand to the right and left. 1t re-
minded me of the butts on a target
range during rifle practice, when the
man marking the target wigwags a
miss to the firing line. My heart sank.
Then he spoke. and I was carried
from dependency to the greatest
height of expectation. His words:
pardon me, monsieur, already
know your life," and In an amazingly
short time he told me more than i
knew about myself. / had been care
fully investigated.
My instructions received from him
are confidential, so l will not go into
them. Anyway he handed me an en-
velope and told me to follow out care
fully all details as contained therein.
l Immediately went back to my Of
fee. opened the envelope and on a
typewriter sheet / read: Report at
Goldsmith's Employment agency. No.
- Greenwich street. Ship as an
ordinary horseman and during voyage
carefully follow the verbal instruc-
tons received by you during our in
terview, making careful note of all de-
tails Immediately after happening. Be
cautious In doing this. Upon landing
In France report to the prefecture of
police, Bordeaux, and to the letter
obey his instructions. Good luck"
l went home and put on my oldest
clotheS-an old black suit, olive drab
shirt, pair of heavy army shoes and
a wooden cap. / had let my beard grow
and certainly looked rough.
Going down Greenwich street,
slouching along. looking at the ground,
/ ran plump into a young lady of my
acquaintance. l had feeling of af-
lection for this particular young lady.
but it soon died out upon hearing her
remark as l collided with her, If you
cannot look where you are going, /
Will have you arrested" OF course.
she did not recognize me and / took
no pains to argue the matter with her.
l was glad enough to stink by.
When / came to the agency there
was long line of buns, two and three
deep, trying TO ship as horsemen for
France.
1t would be impossible TO get
rougher and more unkempt gathering
of men. 1t looked as if some huge
giant had taken a fine comb and care
fully combed the cutters of New
York.
| fell into this line and waited my
turn. Upon arriving at the desk, in
front of me sat a little fat. greasy
jew. To describe his manner of han
ding the men as being impolite would
be a great exaggeration. The way he
handled that line of human cattle
would do the kaisers heart good
IT came my turn, and this conversa-
don ensued.
"What do you know about horses?"
I answered: "Six years in the United
States cavalry"
The Agent: what regimentsT
Eleventh and Twelfth"
"You're liar. You never saw the
cavalry"
l felt like punching him on the nose
hut did not do so. / wanted to ship
as horseinan. l shaved him my