The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1919-01-30
CHAPTER XIII.
Oespalr-and Freedom.

Oespalr-and Freedom.
| While 1 was working at the hos
pital conditions at my old barracks
had been getting worse and worse.
Very few Of the men were absolutely
right In the head. I guess. and almost
all had given up hepe Of ever getting
out alive. Though they put up a good
front to the Huns. they really did not
core a great deal what happened to
them. The only thing to think abouy
wns the minute they were living in.
The day I came back two English
men. who had suddenly gone mad
commenced to fight each other. 1t war
the most terrible fight 1 have ever
seen. 1t was some time before the
rest Of us could make them quit. be-
cause at first we did not know they
were crazy. When we had them down.
however, they were scratched and bit.
ten and pounded from head to foot.
Both Of them bled from the nose all
that night. and toward morning one
OF them became sane for few min
utes and then died. The other was
taken away by the Germans, still
crazy.
Another time an Australian came
Into our barracks and very seriously
told us that he had q drag with the
German officers and that he had been
to dinner with them, and had had tur-
key, potatoes. coffee, butter, eggs,
sugar in his coffee, and all the luxuries
you could think Of. We Just sat and
stared at him. It seemed impossible
that any Of our own men would have
the gall to torture US like that and yet
we could not possibly believe that 1t
had really happened. Finally, one
fellow could not stand it any longer.
He was nothing but skin and bones,
but he grabbed q dividing board and
there were Just two wallops: the
board hit the Australians head and
the head hit the aoor. Then half q
dozen more pounced onto him and
gave him a real licking. When he
came to he had forgotten all about
the wonderful dinner he did not have.
Not long after this the Russian doc
tors proved to the Germans that there
was no black typhus in our barracks
and we were allowed the freedom of
the camp except that we could not
visit the Russian barracks. That was
no hardship to me nor to the rest Of
us. except one chap from the Cambrian
Range. who had a special pal among
the Russians that he wanted to see.
And. Of course. when It was verboten,
he wanted to see him all the more.
A day or two after the order was
standing outside the barracks door
when saw this fellow come out with
a dividing board in his hand. thought
he was going to smash somebody with
1t. 80 I stood by. But he stopped over
and 1ammed one end Of the board
against the threshold Of the door,
scratched the ground with the farther
end of the board and measured again.
He kept this up. length by length, in
the direction Of the Russian barracks.
The sentry in the yard stopped and
stared at him. but the fellow kept
right on, paying no attention to any.
body. Pretty soon he was right by the
sentry's feet and thought any minute
the sentry would give him the butt,
but he just stared a while and let him
pass. That lad measured the whole
distance to the Russian barracks, went
Inside, stayed a while and calmly
strolled back with the board under his
arm. When he reached our barracks
again he told US he had found a vino
mine. What he had found was some
thing not 80 unusual-a bonehead ded
German.
(To Be Continued)