Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-03-24

of war hardly dared to enter yet in
how everything 6was changed within
the heart Of Ruth Macdonald and she
Hooked about4on all the familiar
places with new eyes. What right
had she to be living here in all this
luxury while over there men were
dying every day that she might live
4 3# ".
The sun .shone blindly over the
broad dusty drill fie1d. The men
marched and wheeled. about-faccd
and counter-marchcd in their ne&
'olive-drab uniforms and thought of
think about. Some who did not
thought of a home that might have
been if this war had not happened. !,
T. There were times when their souls
could rise to the great occasion and
their enthusiasm against. the foe
could carry them to all lengths of
joyful sacrifice, but this vas not n
of the times. 1t was q breathless In
dian summer morning, and the dust
was inches thick. 1t rose like a soft
yellow mist yer the mushroom city
of forty thousand men, brought into
being at the command Of a Nations
leader. Dust lay like a fine yellow
powder over everything. An APP
preaching, company looked like a
cloud as 1t drew near One could
scarcely see the men nea by for the
cloud Of yellow. dust everywhere.
The water vas bad this morning
when every man was thirsty. 1t had
been boiled for safety and was serv-
ed warm and tasted Of disinfectants.
The breakfast a been oatmeal and
salty bacon swimming in concealed
grease. The "boy'' in the soldiers
body was very low indeed that morn
ing. The man" with his disillusion-
ed eyes had come to the front. OF
course this was nothing like the
hardships they would have to endure
later. but it was enough for the pres
.ent to their unaccustomed minds; and
harder because they were doing Moth
ing that seemed worth while-just
marching about and doing sordid du-
ties when they were all eager for the
fray and to- have it over with. They
had begun to 9 that they We're go
ing to have to- l~earnSto wait and be
patient, to obey blindly; they-who
never had brookedb commands from
any one. most Of ,themnnot even from
their own parents. They had. been
free, as air, and they had never been
tied down to certain company. Here
they were all MIXED up, college men
and foreign l%aborers. rich and poor,
filed. and 1t went pretty hard with
them all. They had come, a bundle
Of p~rejudices and wills, and they had
first to learn that ;Severy prejudice
they had been born with or cultivat-
ed, must be given up sor laid aside.
They were not their own. They be-
longedst to a great machine. The great
perfect conception of: the army as a
whole had not yet dawned upon
them. They were occupied with un-
pleasant details in the first expert
mental stages. At first the discom-
forts seemed to rise and obliteraie
even the great object for which they
had come and discomfort sat upon
their faces. 80
LOFT beyond the drill-fieldi which
eyer way they looked. there were
BARRACKS jsthe color of the. dust, and
long stark roads, new. and rough, the
color of the barracks, with -jitneys
trucks and men like ants crawl
ing furiously back and forth upon
them all animated blythe same great
necessity that had brought the men
here. Even the sky seemed yellow
like the dust: The trees We're gone
exceptsat the edgsHeof tho camp cut
down to make way for more bar
racks, in rel ranks like men.
Out beyond the barracks mimic
trenches were being dug, and pup
pets hung in long lines for mock
enemies. There 5were skeleton
bridges to walls to scale. e,ii-
bankmentss to jump over. ana an
everything, was that awful o~live-drab
color till the souls OF the new-fnade
soldiers cried out within them Tor 4
stSuch OF scarlet or green 8 + blue I'd
relieve the dreary monofony. sweat
and dust and Crime. weariness, home
hur1bied pride. these were
the tales AZ the irst days of sthose
mel gathered from all quarters who
were pioneers in the arstScan,pss
CORPORAL Cameron marched his
awkward squad back and forth,
through all the various manoeuvres'.
againsand again. giving his orders in
short sharp tones. his face set. hjs
heart tortured with the thought 81
the long monfhs ana yeara 81 this
that might be before him. The.
world Eeer1ed nj unfriendiy Il
him fhNae sdaya. mt ahaI &C.,