Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-01
CAPTURED B0CHES
WITH RATTAN CANE
Thrilling Story of American Brav'
cry Told in Soldiers
Letter.

In letter To his friend, Arthur A.
Wilmot, Of this city, q. T.. Petty, an
American soldier, goes on To describe
some of the thrilling scenes he witnessed
In France. prior TO the signing Of the
armisticc.
In describing a barragc trc. he writes:
"Ono of the most awful barragCs that
| have ever imagined was commenced
Immediately by our artillery IL seemed
To me that tens of thousands of cannons
of all sizes and kinds were working. 80
heavy was IL, that there WAS no apprcciable
intermisslon between the shots-simply
a steady, awful roar and literally thou
sands of shells bursting on the steep
hillside that faced US and over which We
had To 90 Within five minutes from tho
time our guns commenced. their barragc
was returned, and then llcll-Uf YOU II
excuse the phrase. was all that could
describe il, In all of my fanciful flights
had never imagined anything like tins.
GLORIOUS ADVANCE.
In the midst of IL came the order TO
advance, and 1t brings tears To my eyes
when recall that sccnel With the same
step; with their heads up, and with not n
trcmor anywhere they started up the
slope. IL seemed 70 me that not more
than thirty wards had been covered,
when the machine gins-sovcn nests of
which faced our boys-opcncd up. The
angry, hornet-hke sounds of those small
messengers of death were intcrmingled
plcntifully with the heavy, nerve-raCking
dctonations of the high explosive shells.
We were facing the fsr-famed Prus-
sian Guards, and remembcr-we were
farmer boys, boys from the stores, and
bows from the school room; boys from
IL r A 4
dIcrs. whose tradition Is blood-lettlng at
the command Of an emperor who is bent
upon cnslaving mankind! Did they stop?
Not falter, not a hesitation; never IN all
their msncuvers IN which I've always
taken part did they march with any
hrmcr tread or moro certain resolution.
TO my left a shell exploded in a com
bat group. we were fighting now and
the most approved tactics were being
uscd) Seven or eight men were blown
INTO the air as leaves before a gale. A
short distance from me my dearest friend.
the boy that had slept on my arm many
nights, who called me dad and pal and
who loved me and whom ] loved, was
Int by a shell fragment only able 20
turn around couple OF times and then
was gone-and my heart Is wrenched with
pam.
y
Within seventeen minutes from the time
We had started, We had gained our OH
lectivc. and captured some three or four
hundred prisoners.
CAPTURED HUNS WITH CANE
II carried httlc rcd rattan cane
and have II still and the boys are tickled
20 tell how captured prisoners with 3
cane They are not hard 10 capture or
would not have been able tO DO II
Tor nine DAYS and nights ! went
without sleep and with only the scantiest
OF food supplies. For thrty-six hours
had only one sandwich; and for the last
three nights and DAYS ] assisted DR.
posey, from Grow Agency, Montana, and
We did an awful lot Of work. We were
gasscd twice while working and the won
der Is We were not killed. as the Germans
were shelling all the time I'm tagged
out but still alive and unwouDded But
YOU can imagine what ! have been
through when ! tell YOU that We lost
twenty five pounds IN nine DAYS.