MEN OF IDAHO
AND WASH.
IN361ST
a
OFFICER TELLS OF FIERCE RAT
TLES IN WHICH OUR BOAS 1AR
TICI FATED.
The first complete aud graphic de
scription of the terrific fighting north
west of Verdun, in which the hist di
vision, trained at Camp Lewis, to» k a
heroic part und suffered tragic losses,
is contained in a letter from Lieut.
Ernest K. Murray of Tacoma, to his
wife, which wus published iu Scuttle
palters recently.
Lieutenant Murray was with the
lictidquartcrs company of the 301st in
fantry regiment, made up principally
of Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane and north
Idaho men. it suffered heuvy losses.
Lieutenant Murray is the son of
John L. Murray, proprietor of the
Tourist hotel and Fierce county pio
neer. lie is a graduate of the Univer
sity of Washington and ut the time of
his enlistment for the First Fresldio
officers' training camp was a practic
ing attorney, with offices in the Bank
of California building.
The letter, dated October 17, says:
Since my last letter 1 have le»l a
most strenuous and hazardous life, and
though now very dirty, quite tired and
somewhat hungry (for it takes some
days to,catch up), I am still as whole
anil healthy as ever, thanks to mur
velous aud persistent luck.
On tlie morning of September 20
at 5:50 we went over the top. You
have undoubtedly r»*ad of our First
army's Argonne aud Meuse offensive
(north of Verdun, near where we have
been for three weeks).
In the St. Mlhiel offensive we were
reserves and lay urouud in the mud for'
three days, but were not needed and
»lid not crime under tira.
We left the vicinity of that light
and were Uropjieil about 50 kilometers
tfcvm here, whence we man-bed by
night moves, sending the days con
cealed in billets or woods.
Finally we lauded right behind tin
Hues and within range of the boche
guns. He used to drop a dozen or so
shells each night, but apparently did
not want to offend us, so he never pick
ed the spot where we were. I had
heard before of quiet sectors, hut never
lmd conceived of anything so lucking
of hostilities us was this place, before
that memorable morning.
On the night before zero our adjutant
and 1 walked ull over No Muu's Land
without interruption, seeing nothing
and h»*ariug nothing.
Well, the threq, days before the at
tack were busy ones, getting up sup
plies, ammunltiou and ull descriptions
of things needed for successful war
fare. There was no sleep for anyone
that night, and very little since. Our
quotu of trench mortars never cuine
(during the attack 1 mourned a hun
dred l»>st opiKirtunities to use them ef
fectively), and 1 was attached to regi
mental headquarters as a sort of aide
to the colonel. Spent that last night
arranging numerous details that our
lighting urguuiations might lie iu the
IKissibie working order.
We hail an immense artillery prep
aration, starting about 14 hours be
fore zero, und it ma»le you tlilug that
I he **iui of the world hud come. It was
Impossible to converse without shout
ing.
lies!
Well, just lx»fore z»*ro, the eolouel
told me to find out how the attack got
off and 1 hurri«*»l down (No Man's
Lantl was a sort of valley with w»hh1s
on each salt*) and went over the t»>p
with tlie first line and kiqit with tlii-m
for the first kilometer uial a half.
There was no opposition. A German
plane came flying low and shot at us
with its machine gun ; that was ali. I
dropped back and reixirted mid was
sent to tlie unit on our right with simi
lar results.
When the attack had progressed be
tw»*en three and four kilometers we
met our first serious opposition ma
chine gun and artillery tire. Found
our first wounded (two very seriously
ami two slightly) and met four gutirds
bringing in 30 prisoners. They were
the regiment's first human loot.
First Officer Killed.
The w»x>ds (Boiu de Cheppy) into
which we jumix'd off was about foui
kilometers deep, and at Its northern
edge (the attack was northerly) aud
from then on It was fight every inch,
with machine guns and artillery, aud
lots of tht»m. We forced on, und lx-fore
evening made four more kilometers,
stopping just south of Epmouvllle.
Here we lost our first officer (killed)
Lieut. Smith. However, our casual
ti»*s for tli»* day were light, ami it was
not until tilt* next day that we first
learned the real meaning of war.
The second »lay we fought for 1-ip
ltiiinvlite, sa did till* lush»*, and \vi* had
a pretty hard light. We were »q,|M>s»*tl
hy Hu* famous ITussiuu guards, who
fought with nil tin* cleverness uial
courage that their four year
ienee and high es
them. .Just as w
ex|x*r
it de corps gavi*
were taking the
town our own artillery liegaa dropping
idK'lis slioi t (for the s,v< ;.»! time that
»lay », so tin* in»- i feil huck awl seatt»*r
»*<• and we bn! to dig in for tin* night
Opmonv "
southern pari
wrtli
ntftluMi, l»ut Hm»
IV lilM»2$.
oUi.il.
Shr
Men wC l.
without giving an !. a, but a few shells
of our own among them lias a »li*iuorul
iz'ng effect. Generally it takes a
couple of hours to gather them up nft»*r
Mich n e, siropb»*. They .•cutter uml
fall hack 1 ■ ail directions.
At the time of (he nlxiv»* occurrence
tin* front line with the
tl:i*»*»> .' hells made
orcli ing ns. I saw met*
over eml, some landing
dead and others uninjured.
It is a marvel how close a high ex
plosive hell can come to you and leave
you unhurt.
A direct hit Is almost rnxx-ssary. I
have lieeu ami have s»*»*n others cum
i-overed with ilirt thrown from
lli -ll hole and iiol a scratch from it
we ran completely
lin» fur lionrs
I was up »
colonel and the th
a triangi»
knocked end
ill
iitivu vice
away from our artillery and of course*
into that of the boche.
The third day we pushed through
ICpmouvilie and captured two woods to
the north, making an advance of three
kilometers. The last imint was taken
in a splendid charge.
ed
a
ly
Kind Unit Is Alone.
The next day the going was hard, but
a I mi ut noon we got an order to advance
at any eo«t.
The cost was awful and that night
we learned that the unit of our flank
had not advanced and we were there
alone with the boche on nil sides of
ns and we were ordered to full buck.
Hate to Retreat.
If nearly broke the men's hearts to
give up that ground so dearly gained
but It was the only thing to do under
the circumstance.,.
fine of our battalions that was in
support in the attack dug in on the
ridge about a kilometer in advance of
our morning isisition.
This marked the maximum of
our
advance, 12 kilometers, and for the
next four or live »lays we merely lay
there holding it. During the consolid
at ion of tlmi position, the <*ol<>nol sunt
m»> out wiyi instructions for Mujoi
Fnnvell. 1 found him severely wound
ed and sent him in on n strether which
a couple of men had that, were near hy.
He died a couple of hours later.
I went on to give my order to tin
senior captain and got a couple of
good mouthfute of gas and for a half
hour thought that I would have to go
to tin* hospital, hut It got O. K. at the
end of that time. I was glad, for a gai
casualty Is a very unsatisfactory kind
of casualty. You feel all there and do
not like to go ba»*k when you might be
all right.
Gets Sneezing Gas.
It is generally only a light concen
tration of gas that you meet on the
battlefield and your system is aide to
throw it off easily. I think tont X have
tast»*il every variety during those eight
days in the line. One night they treat
»*d ns to a dose of sneezing gas and we
had quite a party for a while, it doei
nothing but make you sneeze, but it
does that well.
The business of being with the col
on»*l was quite strenuous and I think
no one, not even himself, came under
more fire than I. He would walk out
into the front line and stand there
while every one else was hugging
mother <*arth and her every little fold
as »-lose as p»>ssible.
1 lielng with him, of course stood
up, too. Shells could break all around
and bullets whistle, hut he didn't seem
t»i notice them. 1 certainly gained a
r»»s|»eet for his nerve.
If there was n particular s|x>t where
snljiers were working, the colonel found
that sixit. and engaged me in conversa
tion. He certainly is a »»ol mnn.
The advance took us down through
a valley s|x>ttod with small hunches of
tret-s (machine gun havens) and
through the town of Gesnes (towns
are always hnrd to take as no one lives
In them. I haven't seen a civilian for
nearly three weeks. The towns are
merely *uins and offer a great deal of
shelter and concealment) and up a hill
into n forest.
JM&nt
DtammO^um
i
Quenette |
USEFUL
GIFTS
IllI'
ll
n
JS
I
1
T-rjr
f
—T
«H
n
u
i
ir*f
i\
/
v
LL
W 1
c]
S''
Clean Easily
and Quickly With a
HOTPOINT
Cleaner
nr
HOTPOINT OVENETTE
Ready in an Instant to Roast or
Bake at any Lamp Socket
GRANGEVILLE
ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER
COMPANY
-
;
1
§
*
(
.
üj
U I
A
r
Ten \
w:e.
Mm
/
HOTPOINT RADIANT GRILL
iLfc
a ,
A THOR Will Put an End
to Wash Day Worries
Boils, Broils, Fries and
Toasts
(ft
V. W, >
ft
w
V
Rad^xtQrnl
Tl:r AAl
£
ed
oh,
I stood at the top of the* first hill
with the colonel and watched the whole
thing. I never expect to nee another
such sight. The hoches cut loose with
their machine guns and a shrapnel bar
rage which is the mistiest of all things
hut those men who were fighting theii
first fight went right through, with kill
ed and wounded falling everywhere
and took t'.int town and hill.
Artillery Targets.
From the end of the fourth day un
til the morning of the ninth we lay
around there, artillery targets for the
(iermnns, and they certainly practiced
continuously. They had us hx-ated to
a dot. Their airplane observation is a
marvel. A plane flies over you, very
low, and in a few minutes evil-intended
shells are dropping on you.
We were said to have "air suprem
acy," but it Is hard for the doughboy
to believe. They continuously raked
our area with fits*. Our i*nsunlties were
many. I would a thousand times rather
attack than lay • there being shot at
with no chance to hit back, it got bad
ly on tlie nerves of tin* men.
We were relieved on the morning of
the ninth day. I acted as a guide for
the incoming battalion, relieving our j
front line, and was the last to come j
buck. We are now several miles lie -1
hind the lines merely lying in reserve
Whether we go back again is a ques
tion which much higher authority must
answer.
M
.Many Are Lost.
We lost nearly 50 in*r rent of our of
fi».ers, lint fortunately only a few kill
ed. Our adjutant, ('apt. Smith, met
(lie latter fat»», ns did aiso Lieut. I sing.
Lieut. Kollos and Bloomquist were
slightly wounded. There were others,
hut
known to you.
Lieut. Betterton's fate Is a mystery
On th«* night of the Genes fight, he
Hubbell ami I went to gather up and
.bring hack to the ordered position the
somewhat disorganized outfit, and
When nearly through with our task we
left Betterton, who was to go after one
outfit while both Hubbell and I got an
other.
Germans were on three si»le of us
a mi lines very indefinite.
He had with him a corporal and
man. None was sren again. He likely
is captured or killed.
We now have no majors and only
»•ight captains. The wounded officers
are dropped from the rolls and may or
may not rejoin the regiment, depend
ing on whether th»*y have been raptured
or not In the meanwhile.
I think that during the eight days
I hail more varied and numerous lasks
than any other officer. I seemed to fill
in gaps and there were many. I con
tinually made front line reconnaissaiire
for the colonel, and visited units of <mr
flanks' once or twice a day.
Many Sorts of Work.
One night I got up rations for the
entire regiment on the line; another
time it was ammunition. One night I
saw that all the wounded were recov
ered. The meilical detachment was
overcome by casualttes.
I had the job of agent between the
regiment and artillery mill sp»»nt much
time in their forward observation post.
mention these as they were
I [Kiliced the battlefront for abandon
ed arms and equipment.
i handled runners, Incoming aud out
going messages, etc., aud certainly re
ceived the maximum of experience, and
oh, 1 know much, much more of war
than before!
It is a thing in which experience is
BEFORE YOU
BUY a FARM
LOOK INTO THESE OPPORTUNITIES
160 acres, 3 1-2 miles from Orangeville, well improved, price
$5,000. Reasonable Terms.
280 acres, 4 miles from Orangeville, 240 acres under cultiva
tion; well improved. Attractive terms.
440 acres, 300 acres under cultivation, with some sod yet to be
broken out. Terms.
320 acres, fine free soil, well improved; 180 acres under plow.
Terms.
693 acres, 360 under plow; fine free soil; well improved. Terms.
240 acres, 145 acres under plow. Fine free soil, well watered
with springs. One of tlie best hog and corn ranches in the
country. Price $8000 if taken within thirty days. Reason
able terms.
FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS SEE OR WRITE
GRANGEVILLE SAVINGS & TRUST CO.
Grangeville, Idaho
r r.
the onlv teacher. No words can con
vey its' actualities, and any one who
ha's not been through it is only a re
cruit.
Tin* hardships of cold and hunger
bad as the bullets. We left all
fighting equipment behind, and
I will go dif
are as
hut our
it rained a great deal
ferently equtpped into the next battle.
I have not time to tell you all that
I would like to because we just reci dv
ed orders to go forward again as „up.
l>ort. I do not know whether we aet
into line again or not.
(Continued on page 3.)