The sun. [volume], November 12, 1916, SECTION 5 SPECIAL FEATURE SUPPLEMENT, Page 2, Image 48

About The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920

Image provided by: The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundation

                
THE SUN, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 191G.
RUNNING A GANTLET
American Ambulance Driver, Winner
of French War Medal, Tells of
Service at Fighting Front
Br WILLIAM T. MARTIN.
William T. Martin writes from
personal knowledge of the heroism
- A I f . '
r xne Americans vno are unving
amtamobile ambulances at the front.
Ha has himself served as an ambu
lamee driver and so distinguished
himself as to win the French war
watdat. A series of articles in which
ba described his experiences ap
peared in The Sun last winter. Since
then ha baa done another tour of
fluty at the front and the article
ptfated here is hased on material he
eallected.
THE overlong train of a score of
conches mov almost Imper
ceptibly llo the lone shed of
Va Paris station, do noiseless and
"tow la the motion that, except for
the red light on the 'end coach glow
tatf nearer and the wavy shadows
along the other side of tho shed, the
a train might be standing still. It seems
to be floating; In.
Standing on the platform alongside
to a group of officers watching the
aw approach. From their white
aprons and velvoted caps several of
them are evidently doctors or sur
geons. Directly In their rear, on the
left of a wide gangwny, half n hun
dred soldiers are lined up, waiting.
Over their shoulders hang long strips
of canvas material with loops at the
end.
On the right, along the other side, In
uniforms of khaki that contrasts with
the blue of the French soldiers, stand
about forty men In rows of four.
The train Is filled with wounded, one
at a. number running down from evac
uating hospitals alone the front and
likely to come Into tho station day or
tight on short notice, and the young
Mti In khaki are of the American Am-
balance. They nre volunteers for the
errlce In Paris and have come to take
taa wounded from tho cars.
A the coaches of the train pass by
M by olio they seem It, distinct In the
41m light and are defined rather by the
contrast of the tricolor flags and largo
red crosses painted on the sides. There
Is Bo sound except the measured puff
lag of the engine.
Finally, after several slight Jerks,
the (train stops. For a moment all is
stillness. Then doors along' the sides
at the coaches are rolled slowly open
from within. An officer on the plr.t
fana gives a signal and suddenly the
Us nee la broken by the shuffle of
Many feet as the Americans in pairs
at la groups of three branch out In
both directions along the platform and
enter the cars.
The soldiers with the straps over
taetr shoulders, brancardlers, move
abaut ready to carry away the first
Stretchers as the Americans within
tka care carefully lift the wounded
through the doors. All the wounded
easing Into Paris are sent to this sta
tion and only the Americans aro al
lewed in the ears.
In the third car to the right a
ample of Americans fumble about in
the dimness. More by Instinct than
by actual sight they make out the
long tiers of bunks running two deep,
lengthwise, along each side of the car
With only a break for the door. Then,
a their eyes become accustomed
m the flicker of a murky lamp hang
laT from the celling, the soldier at
tendant leads them up to the far end
at the coach, te a wounded man in nn
ttpper bunk, While the two Americans
held a stretcher high, slowly and with
many attempts the wounded man with
the help of the attendant moves over
It
"Verdun or the Somme?" asks one
at the Americans in French. His nc
eat Is foreign, for he has been over
bat two months. For nine years he
Was city editor of a paper at home,
"Verdun, of course, old top," quickly
bat feebly coms the answer In Eng
Man. It Is from the man on the
Stretcher. He is looking up Into the
ether's face as he Is being let down
to the floor, "now Is everything In
Paris, anyway? Don't you know me?"
It fa an American accent.
His bearers stare down at him stu
Mly and without recognition. Clad
la a French soldier's uniform with his
Cam and neck swollen and bandaged
aa that little more than an eye looks
at, they are at a losi, An American
la the Foreign Legion, perhaps.
"Oldshue, don't you know me?" he
Sntlnues nnd slowly draws a' card
from a pocket. It bears his photo
graph. "I'm Itoberts. Are you Jok
lag? Look!"
They recognize him now an ambu
lance driver with one of tho American
sections at the front. He was wounded
two weeks before, caught by a shell
that exploded before his car, Badly
Wounded about the head, reports said
ia had only a slight chance for life.
How to see him bark like this Is
surprise and his mends nsk many
ueatlnns at once, It Is with eyes
well filled, for It It Impossible to see
aim as the fine fp.it tired young fellow
Who left Paris for the front a couple
f months before.
"I had a narrow one," he Is saying
They got Bellly, He was on the
eat beside me and It blew his whole
bead off. They certainly treated me
brell there, gave me every attention,
and the train. It's alt rlrht.
mo ,lnn nn It " I
He Is etl'.l talking as they carry htm
Into' the station with the others. "He
ln the crown prince didn't help me
after all, did It?" he says. They had i
nicknamed him that because of a cap i
he wore.
"It surely Is hot up there at Ver- 1
dun now," hi nasi. "As It Is wee
had all kinds of luck. You should
see how some df tho cars aro shot
u'u."
"While the Americans work away in
Paris, the Wav Office asks the Am
bulance for a new section of twenty
ambulances at the front. Weeks ago
tho old sections were moved, one by
on?, to points where the battle rngee
the fiercest. They are places where
before the wounded were carried back
on stretchers and the renuest for more
ambulances Is a tribute to the services !
of the Americans.
Tho chads' are already. In Paris.
The new recruits from America have
i lostly reen coming up from Bor
deaux, where they landed from the
hnntff from !Crv VnrU. A tew hnv
come over by the way of England. '
For some davs back thev hove been '
working like suptrbelngs. making
riad.. By the time the last man ar
rives workmen In the big establish
ment have finished the framework of
the bodies for the chnssl, nnd the out
lines of the ambulances. rpresetitlng
over two years experience In con
struction, have taken shape.
The new men come from many parts
of the I'nltcil States. Prartfrally ah
are young men, of good families and j
full of enthusiasm for the work. Kach I
duy they go over to the factory nnd
loe themselves with the workmen to
hasten, as much an possible, the de
parture of the section.
In this section the little compact cars
represent the hlzhest point In effi
ciency knowledge gained In hard work
at the front since the beginning. The
small, snug bodies have placet for
three stretchers. In a few seconds the
Interiors can be converted to accom-
modato sitting caes, half a dozen men
and their equipment, with places for
s.-veral more In the front with the
driver. This Is over the worst sort of
roads. For cold wenther there Is a de
vice to heat tho car by warmth from
the exhaust.
The diy lofore the morning stt for
departure comes and the last touches
aro done feverishly hero and there.
By now most of the men have become
ardently attached to their cars, so there
is much friendly competition and some
Joking.
Karly the next morning before most
of the men In the Paris sen-Ice are
awake down tho long lino tho men aro
at their wheels. There Is the throb of
many motors as they await the final
order to pull out.
It might bo a ship departing for a
foreign country. There is the giving
of many good-bye as friends of the de
parting men flock around the cars, en
treaties to write the news, the asking
of laat favors and the wishing of good
luck while cameras click. Across the
sldca of each of the cars In big letters
are the words: "American Ambu
lance." Once off, there will be no turn
ing back.
Over remarkably well kept roads,
through a picturesque region of state
ly chateaux and quaint villages, a
countryside fresh and sweet from the
much recent rain, the convoy goes. It
travels northward bearing to the east.
They are In the war zone now. All
travel Is done by paused. At bridges
anil railroad crossings they stop to
.show their permits while sentinels
frequently bob up at unexpected
places and question there.
Things now take on a decidedly
military aspect. Peasants still work
in the fields as before and all the land
Is tilled. Here and there are rows of
trenchea. Sometimes the convoy passes
bodies of soldiers at target or grenade
practice, or mampuvrlhg. The actual
trenches are still far away. Now and
then they think they hear the sound of
guns.
Evening finds them at last In a small
town with hardly a civilian In sight,
They aro to stop here to await further
orders. The cars are neatly lined up In
a barnyard arter much manoeuvring.
Tho men sleep on stretcher! In
side them and go to bed by the light
of lanterns. They llnd they are but a
dozen miles from tho actual front,
The next day they are told they will
work here for a period. But two days
later they are taken up to posts just
behind the third line of trenchea
They are pushed up in a devastated
section In a region under shell flre,
That afternoon the Hermans send
over some ga shelli. One happens to
explodn near two of the ambulances
One of the drivers, fixing something
at the rear of his car, suddenly keels
over aftor the excitement and Is car
ried nway on a Btretcher, In the
meantime cars working In other sec
tions have escapes from bursting
shells.
Tho one who has succumbed to the
gas Is on his feet ngaln by tho evening
nnd Is talking of his experience. That
nlcht. In their tut e town In the rear.
tho men sit nrnund their cara before
going to bod. They have had n good
day'a work, Now they talk of their
escapes with something of the air of
veteran. The experience of the first
In tho crown prince didn't help mt SHip . JL" VHT' ChBTTVkwv BJl32WBBtSr.l 'asUawVlar I?
nfter did he any. They had , IM aTml iJP BawsaaaanEsiplTw
him because a cap i .' -i" M-kjimSp aaa9aiSKaaaas
nas.UP,,Ae'it hVwe'te . fewaaaw'C 'lJrl9.;jliBKrai ibi a I JdIKjVmBIKJP '
iiOTaSap jk&J ff" '""If W Iff r-
luMini I I rL.-vSi JWvm i TJal K iT TaMafaaaMaTaT I IT ! I 1 V aT ' Til I
111 J T W ! I l IH ' II fc I i a w T-UII
Haa
" pUUlNEW AMERICAN SECTION OF FINISHED
time under shell flre has Its novelty,
Following days bring more such ex-,
perlences. At the end of a week the
men are etnnch friends of the troops i
Tl ey have worked hard nnd have
made a good Impirflon on the French
authorities, for they are told they will
be niowd shortly to harder service.
It Is over In the fiercest of the fight
ing. From the present place the can
nonadlng Is heard nil day and night
until the ears receive the humdrum of
It In subconscious fashion.
Three days later th'ilr work Is
turned over to a French section nnd
they move off I:i the direction of the
Incessant firing.
Among a little roup of buildings a
few miles south 3f a enlletit of the
great drive the sctlon has Its new'
ase. They are to work out from here
to the various pot along the. trenches, I
bringing back the wnunded to the
evacuating hospitals, In n comparative!
sense, out of flre. Kvorybndy sets to I
work with enthiiHl.ipm malting things'
as comfortable n possible.
o. A big shed 1
.1.. ...".
near by hns been taken ov
Alf.An.1i tlm ,ii,,linntn t (I,. ...,!,.,. , '
hnH n InifnlhA- l,U nln.lnl nn.l u
- HI. "I ,to ,1,11..-. IU HIIU
at work on repairs.
It Is a din which never censes, a
terrific pounding of cannon nnd the
fearsome shrieks and crashes of tear
ing shells heemlngly on nil sides with
out letup. The earth shakes day and
night. In spite of the rains the nlr
chokes. Breath ciiiii:h In Jerks, while
the head rings.
An overwhelming force grips mind
and nerves Into a perspective npart
from the world without. All els.i
seems memory, individuality Is lost
In the pulse of the fighting that con
sumes everything, And tlw drive con
tinues.
Several days Inter the men nre es
tablished. They work day and night
HERE IS
USUALLY there Isn't a grent
deal to get excited about In
tho Innumerable persons who
nppear each day In newspaper offices
looking for advice, sympathy or aid.
Kdltors get blusc nnd hard hearted
about them, for they are mostly of
the same,,sort.
"Btarvlng to death, haven't eaten
elnoe yesterday." "Just the price of
n one way ticket to Bridgeport, (lot
a Job there sure." "My husband has
deserted mo and I want you to llnd
him." "I wanner sny this guy Wilson
ain't got t.ho chance of a ono eyed
bird dog In a delicatessen."
So It goes, Interminably. But Just
the other day came a ray of light.
On the printed form provided for such
purposes appeared the namo "John
It. ," and under the heading
"Business," the niiinn of a penlten
tlary In western Pennsylvania, That
brought attention.
"I've been out Just threo weeks."
said the rather good looking, slim
young man of 2!i yenrH or ho, In the
waiting room. "I did three yeara for
forgery and I came out nnd wanted
to go strnlght, but now I'm down nnd
out and I tell you If something doesn't
break my way pretty soon I'll go off
the straight quick again."
Ho luid gone to Philadelphia on his
relense, ho said, hnd got n Job on his
own resources and was getting along
nil right when tho police, discovering
ho was an cx-convlot, picked him up,
thrust him In a cell for a night and
OF FIRE TO SUCCOR
. wrv-- rf?i-HW r
now In shifts. A? the cars bring down I
the wounded In an endless string i
empty nmtm.anccs return to bring
down more.
It Is a land of death. It ncms every
trip safely made Is .1 f,.,it. From llio
bui-o the road lends among Innumer
able Micll holes, As they are tilled up
by troops fp'sli ones nre made. Shells
of nil Mzes burst In front of the cars,
behind and on both sides. So far 110
one In the section has been hit. Often
they ownpH as though by miracle.
The semblance of the road lends to
"pontes seeouij." about fortification
as near as potMhle to the actual light
ing. There nre no trenche. for In the
crash of bursting met il ami the tear
of high explosives they cannot ' elst.
So the soldiers lie about ill shell holes
or In parts of ditches. Here they at
and succumb to sleep nt It Is possible
and Miulrm In their advance fmin hole
to hole.
A couple of miles In the ri-nr the
road travelled by the ambulances takes
a sharp turn. It l.s sheltered partly by
,x cnll)ll, ,lf tmi-.tings that, through 11
freak of chance, still stick up from n
Village
otherwise levelled, Soldiers
warn the men that It Is "tres mauvnls"
hero, very bad, and they say to go
very fast.
At this point "hells drop continually.
Amid the unsettled smoke and dust
men are at work tilling In tho holes,
Mure shells tear down, take their toll
of life; tear open more hobs. Tho
patch of road looks like n sieve.
Further on, down around .1 curve
where thu Germans can see their
range. Is another spot shelled Inces
santly. Troop and equipment coming
up In the night go through It. The
ambulances pass through It also. So
far they have all come out of It safely
Hut the other night while one of the
cars stopped In tho road with tho pro-
ONE WHO
In thp morning set htm free but told
him to leave ton'n nt once.
, "That's the way It's been every
where," ho continued, "I've had many
n Job, but everywhere as soon ns
they found out I'd done tlmo tho
cops pinched me and drove mo nut.
"You know Now York, Pennsyl
vania nnd Ni w Jersey ovohimgei re-cords
nnd I suppose every department
In the threo Slates has my descrip
tion, so I hnwu't a ohanco to stick
anywhere. I've had half a dozen
Jobs In throe works and each time It
has been 'move on.'
"Men nre scarce these dnys nnd It's
a clnch to get work, 1 le-nrned the
textile trade In prison nnd textile
workers are scarcer every day be
causa so many aro In tho munition
factories.
"But to get back to It. what am 1
going to do? 1 wn pinched In New
ark only yesterday nnd driven out
when they let mo no this morning, I
haven't had anything to eat and I
haven't got n nickel. I tell you I'm
getting pretty desperate, Mvorywhere
I go It's a tap 011 the shoulder, u night
In Jail nnd nut of town on tho run In
tho morning."
Inquiry brought out the fact thnt , coat without n word, he showcil a
tho young man, fearing every minute wiiini gray sweater. Then out of his
ho would be picked up In New Ymk I pocket ho look a letter anil two tlck
nnd ousted, hnd walked from the ferry I ets, ono on the subway nnd the other
to Thomas Mott Osborne's lii'nilquur- j a one way ticket to Olens Falls,
tern nt nn uptown hotel, only to (lnd Then:
Osborne In Osslnlng, which wan too "Well," ho said, "I've got a Job. I
much of a walk. Thence he had come ' went to that plnce you told me nnd
AMBULANCES READY FOR THE FRONT
trudtng end of a wagon Jammed Into
Its radiator, In the blackness of the
' night shells wiped out a post In front j
1 of the iwisslng line of vehicles n '
things were being adjusted,
darkness tho wounded were
In the
from the dead, and the ambulance was
tilled.
Hero everything roundibout Is lev
elled, The only relief Is found In num
bers of ilttle hills here and there. 011
the sheltered sides troops take refuge
as they go along. Two lonely buildings
half shot down stand out together and
alone also left through chame. The
road has almost been shot away.
T!.o cars Piss big batteries that
(Ire Incessantly. The
and suffocating with
air Is hazy
the smoke.
Along a stretch a row of T5mm. '- i me.,.,. k
,.mh point their nose over the n themnw.iy or bury them. Sol
toad. Some of the guns p0nt "lr wh.. wu.t'd bury their .enmrades
i... ........ ii,n ,.r,m,i wi. ihev i mild not rntch up with the work, for
1 about to flre soldiers run out and stop
tho nmbiilntices until the guns have
ceaod. As they tiro It Is hard to dis
tinguish tho sound from that of shells
bulling at close range.
To the left, dug Into the eround, Is
one of the posts for tho wounded. The
cars puss on their way up and call on
tho return trip for the wounded Hero
the "boynux" comment u and suddenly
the land becomes a maze of trenche.s
ami connecting treiv lies leading up to j ambulances ptoceed through tho piles
where the men nre lighting In holes 1 of stone where evidently there had
nrlil ditches. ! been a gate. A short distance on they
Through them nnd on runs tho road, 'go through another gate where slight
It Is a steep hll! No military vehicle My more Is left of .111 Inner wall. The
are allowed to go further. The only 'gate, or part of It, 4i.mgs from a hinge
cars now permitted to proceed nre the to 11 column ami a lock still sticks
ambulances of the Americans, They on it.
go up the hill on low gear. Their Through the gate Is a sort of draw
progress Is slow nnd laborious bridge Over this the oars pass. The
As they sneak along soldiers In the ! bridge Is shot down frequently and an
trenches on both eldes who wish to other one built In Its place, Within
cross tho road Jump out here and there, numbers of small mounds have tho up
run hurriedly acro.ss the road and bur- pearanro of henps of dirt ploughed up
ticdly dive Into the corresponding from the surrounding ground, Ma-
- DID COME BACK
down to see Dr. Knthnrlno B. Dnvls,
f'emmlsslnner of t'orrertlon. Miss
Davis was out West 011 tho women's
train electioneering for Hughes. Then
he determined lo go to a newspaper
oinco and pro If ho could get some In
formation as Jo whom to appeal to
next.
There aren't many plnres whero ex
convlcts ge't much s.ym:hthy, but tho
ailvlie given this one was to try n man
uptown who lias done something In
the way of such work. Tho visitor
took tho car faro offered him (this Is
unusual, It should be noted, that Ij, tho
offering, not tho taking) and departed,
while the 0110 with whom he had boon
tnlklng went back to work, to bo
laughed at by Hint hearted editors.
Three or four hours later, when the
Incident had bpon almost forgotten,
them appeared again the namo "John
It. " on a slip, this time, however,
no mention bring made of prison af
filiations. Insti-ad thero was written,
"To report an Interesting story of suc
cess," Out In tho hnll wns the same ex
convlct and yet not the samo. Ho
wore
, was
the same clothes but the look
illfforent, Throwing open his
trenches on the other side. They scam
per ncross like rats. But the ambu-lan-es
proceed up the hill exposed to
I uiu inc.
At the tup a level sfetvh runs by
sortdi"onie battcri-s that tlr- oont.nu.itly.
Near by ,s . w-u 1 the fiddlers call
"dcid men's woods.' Tho wood Is
H'lU rt-rl.ti ,1 by H vast patch of black-
iit.1 trunks of iters, stumps rather,
'tplintcrrd off nrnr the ground Occa
sionally one sticks up among some
l r.inclie.s from whb'h the ;nvrs havo
1-een s':ot away. Hound about tho earth
Is ploughed tit) In countless great dents,
as though cut In by a mighty plough
point that has Jumped hero und there
vrr uln crnunu.
I"ad men nnd horses are scattered
their numbers would be added to con
tinually. The road leads pn.t the wood. At
the further en.i is a fort. It Is here
that the last post Is located, The
mounds of the fort shelter the ambu
lation fiom the view of the Hermans,
for tho place Is within easy shot,
Surrounding tho fort nre the remains
of a mrssslvc. wall shot to pieces. Sol
diers move oboiit In trenches, hut the
tho man wasn't In, but a nice chap
theie sent mo down to a place right
near hero and thero I struck It It's
the Hmployment Bureau of the Na
tional I'ommltteo on Prisons,
"I told tin m what had happened to
mo ami they gave me this letter"
(It was an order to tho superintendent
of 11 textile, mill In Olens Falls to
gtvo tho bearer a Job and to deduct
the price of the tickets nnd a small
advance out of his first week's sal
nry)l "Also they give me a card which
enables mo to appeal to the authori
ties nnd get out If the police here
should pick mo up before I can get
out of town. And they gave me
money enough to buy this sweater
nnd for some food I've Just eaten
n 40 cent moal and best of nil they
gave me n few kind words, and that
prison begins to look far away again.
So I Just came back to toll you what
happened nnd to say much obliged
and to show you thnt I wns on the
level so that maybe If some chap like
1110 conies along again you can tell
him where to go.
"And so I AM much obliged.
Onsh, but I feel good for tho flrat
tlnio In over three years."
His shoulders, ono couldn't help
noticing as he stepped Into the
elevator, were thrust back and his
chest out and his eyes seemed to look
strnlght nt one, which hadn't been so
before
They, do come back.
THE WOUNDED
AUTOMOBILE CHASSIS IN PARIS FRESH FROM
AMERICA. READY FOR AMBULANCE BODIES FOR
NEW SECTION TO BE SENT TO THE1 FRONT.
Days Spent in a Land of Death Where
Every Trip Safely Made
Is a Feat
sonry Is scattered over all. It Is an
Indescribable scene of desolation and
death and the shells fall intermit
tently. The cam enter a tunnel. It Is just
loug enough to accommodate three
ambulances at a time. When the
driver finally arrlrea here he feels he
has reached safety with an overwhelm
ing sense of relief. Alt the way up It
has been hln consuming Idea to get
here. He now finds himself worrying
about how to get back.
The cars await their turn to be load
ed. The other end of the tunnel leads
In mrxri rtt nrtiirt v r1 Tlllrtv fppt
- , ,
acros anoiner lunnei upon ui. i urn
tunnel connects directly with the
trenchea.
Into It the wounded are brought.
Then they are brought across the yard
between shells, for this part Is shelled
Inceswntly. Fometimes while dashing
across the brancardlers are caught
with the
woundcJ and other brancur -
, dlers go out to their relief after the
smoke clears. It Is the Idea to get tne
wounded to tho tunnel where the nm-
bulanccs are waiting for the dush
down.
I Over In the other tunnel tho wound
1 ed are packed on stretchers side by
side. While the bearers draw from
the near end new cases are coming In
at the far end.
Tho doctors go from one man to
another methodically, hollow eyed with
the strain of the work. As they finish
the brancardlers, bending under Un
loads, nlso give evidence of their ex
hausted state. The bearers Just corn
Inn In d liver their chargis iird sonic
sink down They ure relieved by otheis
who depart Immediately.
The w lUinb-J men. with the forti
tude of French soldlt r suppress their
groans, wl.lle oil their fares. Is the
d.iz-d look of men frishly hurt.
Meanwhile oxnlodlng shells keep up
the continuous ro.ir. In the tunnel tilt-
explosions resemble those of giant tire-
cnuker.s In Uirrels. Shells tearing
down above burst nnd shako the place,
Some break directly without the tun
nel. Already seven of the ambulancis
have the woodwork of thrlr rear ends
icaved In by concussion, while the
bodies ale torn here and there by shell
fragments'.
Where tho wounded are the only
light Is from gasolene torches, The
close, smoky air permeated with the
heavy ord'T of anaesthetics and the
smell from unwashed, perspiring bodies
stltles Ul'sid Is everywhere and tho
forms, seen spectrelike through tlu
haze, cannot be forgotten.
"See," a surgeon remarks to ono of
the Anierlcnns In a listless tone with
out stopping In his work, "Dante falls
In his conception of hell."
Water Is very scarce, It Is greedily
taken for medical purposes. As new
cars come up soldiers entreat tho
drivers to let them driw from the to-
serve cans. If they can get enough to
moisten rags to wipe their faces H is a
groat luxury.
On the return an ambulnnce dirts
along through the dusk. By the time
I' reaches the plnco Kick on the roid
when- the ceaseless train eif supply
wagons from tho rear turn off and ills
si'tnlnnto It Is dark. The night Ning
cloudy, blackness covers everything.
Driving becomrs extremely illtllcult.
When It becomrs so that the driver can
barely see his hands on the steering
wheel driving Is done partly by In
stinct, partly by sound nnd the fre
quent ghastly green Hire of the rockets
along tho lino of the fighting.
The laden wagons of all sorts creak
ing up on one side of tho nnrrow road,
tho empty vehicles speeding down on
tho other, drawn ofttlmes by middoncd
horses as shells crash around, add a
new and threatening danger. The
driver goes as he can In l'tween, He
keeps a whistle In his mouth. It has a
sl.irp shriek that even penetrated the
din nnd It helps somewhat. Tho
French drivers understand and respect
tho ambulance.
Later the ambulance pulls up at n
hospital nyvay from tho er.ish nnd tear.
The driver descends, goes nrnund to
tho rear of the car and throws open the
lck end for tho "Inllnnlers" to unload
the wounded men.
One of tho wounded has the short,
straight stripe of an under lleutetinnt.
Ac they tako him out It Is nt first dif
ficult to tell from his clean, ruddy face
that he Is dead From drooping eyelids
ho seems to stare downward nnd smile.
A hand resting on his breast dutches
tho corner of n picture, It Is In n very
old fashioned fmmo nnd It Is the pho
tograph of a woman with a girl and a
boy at her side. Something Is. written
on the back, hut there Is no tlmo to
look nt It.
Ho wns smiling when they put him
In, hnd thnnked the men for tholr care
and now the smile Is still there. It h
all taken In at a ulance, There Is no
time to lose.
Several days later the post nt the
fort Is no more. Two SSOmni. shells
havo hit In the same place, a place di
rectly over the tunnel, and 1 Ml
wounded hnve been burled; together
with tho doctors and stretcher carriers,
So the men go to n new post dug
down nmong tho trenches further on
behind tho ndvance,
The Oermans send over many shells
of the same type In this neighborhood.
Thrown a score of miles the she! s
enrry over half a ton of high explo
sive. They make no sound as thsv
come over and their pieces carry a
mile.
Other American sections of the am.
bulnnce nre scattered over the front
not far off. The men meet each ether
occasionally at posts. They are doing
the same work. In a short while they
are carrying back all the wounded In
the fighting for miles on either aide.
French and Kngllsh sections carry
awny the wounded the American
bring down to them. About n hundred
I . . ..
i Americans irom tne amouiance are
here, and again as many from othtr
American sections.
Overhead thero are the dally con
flicts high In the clouds. Many of tli
graceful bird things that dart here
and thero nmong tho puffs of shrapnel
, ,r re im.mni, ;
or ofttlmes ure fighting single hand'd
1 1 ,,r V.V 1 .L V UU,J
hide, until It seems there Is no hop,
are piloted by Americans.
Tho ambulances do much good
work, the French say. As they go
along the road soldiers cheer them, Bo
nach day, almost, tho drivers receive
some special token of commendation.
Ill view of assembled troops .-orne of
tho drivers are lined up to bo thanked
In tho name of France by the "mode
clu chef" of the division, the gi ner.il
of the division or the general of the
army. Sections und m 11 are dworated
They have had many escapes by a sec
ond or a foot or so. So f.ir the w und"
have not been many, for thus far luck
has been with them.
It Is the occasion of a big review of
troops in l'.rls. In honor of tho event
perm sioi.s fr.iin the front havo been
tiM t. plied All the d.iy before soldiers,
h.iiilv 110 ms from the trenches, have
I been arriving in town on tho varloul
trams All tlm town Is decorated for
H e v 'la event.
w nn 1110 sonnets come many or tne
Aim r.cuis, distinctive In uniform,
happy In expression, stnmmerlng oloni
in the tongue of the country, somt
hard to recognize for tan, dusty and
hardy, collars open at the throat, th
majority carrying bits of souvenirs
from the trenches.
With almost n single ncoord thty
make for their rooms, places wher
they can bathe; then to dig up linen,
clean shirts, white collars, for tht
great novelty of a few rlorlous hour
In "clvlls."
They Hock down town, see friend!
nnd enjoy life generally. In the eve
ning, there Is n big crowd nt "Hen
ry's." They sit nrnund laughing unl
Joking and exchanging expeilmces.
Civilization Is n novelty. Present sre
magazine ami newspaper writers who
liniig on most of what they s.iy
All of them can tell thrilling nnrl
In the group are several who hn
been wounded. One, with a bojish
face, has his arm In 11 sling. Two shell
splinters passed through It nt the
wrist.
"Orcnt stuff being wounded " he
says, "Look! See this?" and points
to ragged holes In his sleeve wlu'ie
the-pieces entered. "See this" W ' n .'
And see this? That's gore- n .il g re
Blesse! "
"Should seo Barber's car," s"iuo on
else is saying, "All shot t 1 rree
They can't oven move it ! ', lie
there for good, Somebodv criw'e.l In
side since. lie was wounled I k i'"
for he's dead nnd he's stii n '"ve
You should s 'o the old qi im rs Ml
shot up and now we're over at I
They shell tho road oil the time n w
They stnrted to rnlfo Cain af' r m
left. Fierce!"
And another, "Certainly glad -pr
Brown Isn't worse. Ho was craw
down the road when Harold i-aine iv
nnd picked him up Had his r.,' ' ,:'
of wounded, so ho propped htm up "n
tho running board They v l 'id
n piece of shell In hs l.-erl; a ' t o
your list. Just grazed bis k.tue i n
missed 11 lung' Some luck"'
Tho Harold refoned to is .1 h.e w
going fellow, who sits at ano'ho- 1
Ho h.ts had tinny escapes Sen, t
ago while ho wns lifting a !"d
soldier on a stretcher ; it t -bulnnce
an exploding shell n.
killed the man. Another t un
ite is stooping over a re ir w'
shel' pis-.-1'd oveihend, tlimoi-''
nnd exploded some distance aw iv
.1 a
bv l i
lug one of the wounded Inside
At another table two men are t- -a
friend of 11 mutual oxpenm n '
wore standing on n nnd ' 1
hundred feet apart when a - 1
crashed down between them 11 1
plodrd Knch man thought tb- t' "
Had been killed. When the st
cleared nway nnd they found ' '
were still llllhurt, they rolled i'er f
a ditch and waited until the s1 .' it
was over.
"When nre you going home!" "in"
one Is jsklng. "Hang around ut '1
liecembor. My time's up then
we'll go back on the same 101
There'll bo a big crowd on that ' '
"iii.Uil b- great." the other r ,
And a third- "It's n great life
"SolPo lire' "
"Wei! so long for the pn s. 1
another k snitlg as ho 'ems ir '
adds, "Sec j nn st dinner "'t'
Don't forgot. AnJ I'm Bolng to i I
up!"
4