The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-05-29
LBERT N. DEPEW
oep,.ieAs. nm. ~ many a. s...ao. o..

81 osps,as,
Observation-Disclosures
CHAPTER Continued.
A. We went ashore. the lombard
ment began. and We were not only
under IRE Of spit, II you could call 1t
that, but also Of rocks and bottles and
sticks and most anything that could
be thrown.
Al this time. TEST you forget" we
had no Shoes, and NO clothing-only
what had once been our underwear.
It 10 all right to b . Coney Island
snowbird and pose around In your
bathing suit In the drifts, because you
are In good condition. and last but not
least, because you do not have to do
1t. Figure out the other side Of 1t
for yourself.
They marched N Into . field where
there was nothing much but guns and
In something like skirmish formation.
We stood there for some time. and
then we saw q lot Of Huns with the
new long rifles coming toward MS.
yelling just ~ they did in battle. and
We thought sure We were being used
for practice targets. It II q good
thing they halted and stopped yelling
when they did. or We would have
started for them to fight 1t out, for
70 were not the kind that likes to BE-
butchered with hands in the air, and
We would have been glad for . chance
to get . few Of them before they got
a.. But they did halt. and then sur
rounded n, and drilled NJ away
through swamps and woods and shall
low water or slush. Tho women fol-
lowed. too. and there were plenty Of
bricks and spit left. Women ~ well
~ men are the same the world over.
they say. I wonderl You can Just
picture the women Of. say. Rockland.
Me-. following Q crowd Of German
prisoners that way, can't your Noti
But Of course the women Of Rockland
are pretty crude-no kultur at all
and Colt never commissioned Presi-
dent Wilson to take the lid OF the
strafe pot for him.
They drilled rs along the docks. and
It looked n though the whole German
navy was tied up at Swinemunde.
We saw many Of the ships we had
heard about. among them being the
famous Vulcan. the mother-ship for
submarines. There were many sail
ors loanng along the docks. and they
gave the women q hand with their
days work. They were no better with
. brick. but they had more ammunition
when It came to splitting. One Of them
tripped . young boy by the name Of
Kelly, and ~ you would never doubt,
Kelly picked up q rock and crashed
the sailor with It He was then bay
koneted twice In the left leg. We be-
gan singing then. our popular favorite,
Pack up your troubles," etc. and
when they heard N, how the swine
staredi
Then they drilled Us past the Ger
man soldiers quarters. The men were
at rife practice. and guess all Of MS
thought how handy we would be as
targets. But when we got near them.
they quit practicing and crowded
around N yelling: "'Raus! Zuruck I"
Finally we got to the top Of the
racks while an oflicer read the mar
tial law Of Germany to Us. At least
We thought maybe that was 1t.
Finally they let US into the bar
racks. and the first thing we saw was
q great pile Of hay. Tint looked good
to us. and we made rush and dived
into 1t. But the Huns told us to take
the hay and throw 1t In the middle of
the road. They had to use force be-
fore we would do 1t. Finally we gave
In. however, and started to carry 1t
out. Some Of the young boys were
crying. and do not blame them
much.
But one Of the boys tried to hide
some Of the hay behind box and was
caught doing 1t. and two sentries
clouted him from one end Of the bar
racks to the other. His nose was
broken and his face mashed to q Jelly.
But there was nothing We could do.
20 we just wandered up and down the
barracks, about ~ We did between
decks ON the Noewe. trying to keep
warm.
While this marathon was ON We
heard . whistle blown very loudly.
and when We looked out we saw q
wagon piled up with old tin cans.
Then we were told to form single die,
walk out to the wagon and each get .
can for himself. Each man had to
take the first can he laid his hands
ON. and many Of us got rusty ones with
holes in them. So thdt about half an
hour later. when we received barley
coffee. and all we had to drink 1t from
was the cans. lots Of the men had to