Arizona republican., 1919-04-23
AT FRONT 3O DAYS
 VAS EXPERIENCE IF
 ARIZONA SERGEANT

Sergeant Joseph R. Champagne of the 27th Mining Engineers has recently returned from the land of his fathers where something has been going on for the last four or five years. Sergeant Champagne has been connected with the Ray Consolidated Copper company at Hayden for the last five years. He tried to get into the war early, and finally succeeded in enlisting in the engineers.
 He felt a double enthusiasm, that of an American and that of a Frenchman by descent, yet filled with pride and sympathy for the country of his an- cestors. He does not boast of it, but the fact is that his family is that of the Beaugrands de Champagne. His people came to Boston 200 years ago and have lived in this country and Canada ever since.
 As he speaks Branch rather more fluently than he does English he had opportunities in France to see and hear things that escaped the attention of many of the other American and Brit ish soldiers. The camp where his con- tingent was settled before being taken to the front was only 20 miles from the castle of the Duke of Beaugrand de Champagne He visited it in the course of his stay and was warmly welcomed by the old duke who had lost his only son in the war.
 Sergeant Champagne brought home with him many mementoes of the war, He did not burden himself with German helmets which he understood were, be- ing shipped into this country by thou sands. The article of greatest interest i is a belt taken from a dead German caught in the timbers of a collapsing dugout and who was found there by the sergeant. That belt, broad leather one, became the basis for his collection which consists of buttons of various 1 kinds, some taken from the clothing of l dead Germans. some of them insignia and some of them buttons of the French 1 British and other contingents.
 i From one German uniform, that of a soldier of the Grown Princes guard 1 he took the insignia which had beer 1 sewed in the clothing and he attached that to the belt. He has the key of ar airplane, and a miniature beyonet anc scabbard made by blacksmith who : was also something of an artist.
 Sergent Champagne was only 2 1 IuOillil at llie lTDHt, III the AISODIe, Du 1 it was a month of continuous move ment and almost continuous uproar The slaughter was terrific. and judging from what took place within the ares under his observation he believes tha the American loss in battle will fal exceed the figures tha. have been giver out to date. The roar of the guns, h' said, was almost indescribable; in fac | if cannot 10 dnSprihod cn ho if h, quite understood. For hours at a tim the roar was so continuous, punctuatet several times a second by explosions so that it can. be best described as |; purring so loud as to be almost deafen ing. It was only when an explosion o a shell sent by the enemy took plac near one tha. the horried monotony 0 noise was broken.
 It was broken once for Sergean Champagne. He was off duty and ha, been gathering grass for his bed. A ne was climbing a hill he heard tn shell coming. He lay down; that i something one does not have to learn 1t comes to him instinctively; he doe It as well the first time as he does afte long and laborious practice. This she fell 70 feet from the sergeant, and afte the explosion he dug himself out. Hi nay bed was mixed with the sacre soil Of France, but that made no diff ference, for he wasn't sleepy.
 lie saw many touching things i France, or learned of them, because c his familiarity with the French Ian guage. He formed the acquaintanc of young Frenchman whose fathe and four brothers had fallen in the wa. He himself had served, but had bee ordered to return to the front. HI mother came to bid him goodbye. Sh embraced him dry-eyed and then sai, "Go!" pointing to the east. As sh turned-away, almost overcome by grie she cried, "Oh, God, take him tool"
 But the most touching thing was a incident on the boat as the continger to which Sergeant Champagne belonge was returning. A young soldier who's wife was in Philadelphia was the har piest man on the boat. He was show ing his wife's picture and those of tw handsome little girls to his companion saying that after an absence of : months he was about to see thel again. Two days out of New Tor
 he sent his wife wireless: Two da,
 out, we'll and happy; will sec you soon
 He said he expected his wife ar
 children to meet him when the bo;
 landed. A few minutes later Il
 soldier fell through an opening into u
 hold upon a lot of railroad iron ar
 was instantly killed. Immediately wireless was sent to the station O