Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-12-05

amazed at the amount of abuse the
body will stand. They'll give him
morphine 10 ease the pain, although
there is no chance of his pulling
through. Then they'll bury him, shell
fragment and all. in memory OF his
part in order. that "enever again may
brute force sit on the throne OF JUS
tice to WELD the sceptre OF right
The bit being by Lloyd George in
1911. in behalf of the VIGOROUSLY eff
icient British propaganda machine,
After overnight first aid, the
wounded are sent back to a base
hospital. They've got to move fast
Quarters are cramped and every day
$4,000 come in freshly wounded. One
heavily bandaged lad at the railroad
station in Rheims asked for water.
He was refused. "Ill get it myself
the lad replied. and he learned
for the first time that two stumps
had replaced his legs. At a hospital
in Alsace a soldier was treated for
smashed shoulder, but he didn't re-
gain consciousness. Doctor finally
found a potato-sized chunk of shrap-
mel imbedded in his lower spine
which they had overlooked during
the first operation.
These scene are not pleasant to
relate. nor We're they recalled with
relish by veterans. When a fire.
cracker a char your face, you can
imagine the handiwork of nee
trated tri1nitrotoluene supplemented
by gunpowder and sent spinning in
armored shell with power to fatten
solid masonry in no time.
The ghastliest part of the last war
was conceded to be the ordeal of bur
ying the dead. II became a weird GER
emony to gather loose heads, feet.
arms. bones. buttocks, scalps, fng-
ers, eyes and ears in advanced stag
es of decomposition and vermin-con-
shovel them in wheelbar-
rows and dump into a pit. While the
eyes would close, nostrils got the full
effect of nauseating whiffs that are
still remembered.
The last war furnished interesting
sidelights. not all amusing. Troops
on Champagne under a
pouring rain became aware of an in
'%ufferably foul stencil. Someone
a bayonet in the slush and
lnearthed a German corpse. his dis
integrating body blown to twice it's
size by the rains. The war cemetery
was found to contain dozens of swol-
len bodies brought heal the surface
by continual rains.
A veteran of the German army told
me of French Sengalese troops at
Rheims who had broken the necks
and gouged the eyes of two German
sentries, filling the sockets with mud.
have no reason to. doubt this state
of this neighbor in our COM
munity, who saw service from 1914
Is.
Lice, Rats, Gas
Another veteran told me of the
daily ceremony of reading your
shirt"-that solemn ritual in which
shirt and undershirt were rid of lice
"We were always lousy with
he said. They were far
than bed+bugs and it was inn
possible to sleep with patches of
sucking blood. Once in a great
while they'd send us to a d~elousing
plant. The rats in the trenches were
bigger than cats" he went on. THE
wounded had a hard time with them.
One good thing about rats - when
Tou saw them s%currying you knew
hat gas was coming. And the only
rood thing about gas" he added was
that it killed the rats. The -
into your food and ate your
and soap"
Mustard gas placed 1,1OO,1 1000 on
he casualty lists. 1t hung low in
lamp wealth and penetrated clothing
upon slight contact. 1t caused terrific
Dlights particularly around moist ~
sions of the privates. 1t tore at the
vocal cords. 1t scorched the lung
membranes. You spat blood. You
vrithed in agony. 1t killed with the
-orment of the blue flame.
Mustard, ~phosgene, chlorpicrin, ar
sine, chlorine, Lewisite and lachry-
Were among the gasses used.
One part of p%hosgene in a million of
air proved fatal. Ninetylthree per-
cent of the victims died within two
lays, characterized by commissions
which turned the face to a deep red
OF the mustard gas 800 die0
In two days, while SSW Of fatalities
extended to the 25th day and the end
amid narrowing tortures that
every war monger ought to be COM
PEELED to witness.
Grass was turned yellow within
three hours. Buttons and amruni-
ton turned to villainous green. Yon
can imagine the c~orroding effects on
the delicate respiratory tract and
evaluate the extent of the glory and
s~acredness of humaneness of modern
warfare.
The war chapter by no means ends
on the battlefield.
For two million formerly vigorous
males a lingering death goes on ev-
cry day. Visit the veterans hospitals
and sit down with the tubercular,
and those with lungs partially
scorched. Each is dying a slow, mock
ing death. Each who caught the bis
tering fire of shrapnel and grenade
lies abed-20 years after-with ver-
tebrae that refused to heal. These are
the lost battalions" that the public
is prohibited from viewing.
Ask to see the basket cases.
lman with Logs and arms amnutatad