May 6, 1949
THE SALEMITE
Page Nine
THE TOWN or SEVEN SABBATH
by George Melville
Eeeda, Germany, is a pretty
small town, and probably not many
of the boys that got through there
even remember it. If you’re look
ing at a map you’ll find it a little
above the heart of the country;
just east of Hannover.
It’s not the kind of a place you’d
expect to find in Germany now. A
lot of the towns were smashed up
pretty bad by the bombings of the
ground force’s artillery. Bheeda’s
one they missed. It wasn’t impor
tant enough to bomb, and the army
didn’t take it until the last big
drive of the war. Then they broke
through so fast that they didn’t
have time to work over the towns
like they did in the Rhine valley.
Eheeda’s not a hard place to de
scribe. You can find one like it
without going" very far in this coun
try. It’s the kind of a town that
would make any G. I. homesick if he
ever took a good look at it. I was
there in the spring, and I used to
like to go up on the roof of the
two-story building where I was
quartered and sunbathe. None of
the buildings in Rheeda are very
tall, and from there you could see
all over town. If you substitute
the Autobon highway that stretches
away to the north for the Ohio
River, you’d come pretty close to
having any little town in southern
Indiana. The country round about
is flat and green, and the little
farms are laid out so they don’t
waste much space. It looks a lot
like home.
The funny thing about Rheeda,
when I was there, was that it al
ways seemed so quiet. I guess the
people still weren’t used to the oc
cupation and kept pretty much in
side. You didn’t see the Automo
biles that we have over here, and
somehow the lack of' traffic and
the peace of the town made every
day seem like Sunday.
There 'wasn’t much there to re
mind you of the wmr. Maybe
you’d see a truckload of French
D. P.’s once in a while; sometimes
a flight of planes would pass over;
that’s about all unless you include
the dozen of so Russians that
stayed in the building next to us.
They made you remember the slave
labor the Germans had used.
The Russians really didn’t seem
as out of place to me as they might
have. I couldn’t. tell the difference
betwe'en their language and that of
the Germans, and as far as I was
concerned they might as well have
been the same. They seemed pretty
healthy and not at all unhappy.
Matter of fact they used to. get
out in front of the house after sup
per and dance and sing just like
they were at home.
I guess you’re wondering why
I’m saying so much about the Rus
sians when I’m trying to talk about
Rheeda, but to tell the truth, if it
enqrouinq CO.
hadn’t been for them I wouldn’t
remember the town nearly so well.
Maybe if I tell you about what
happened one day you’ll under
stand a little.
I remember I was just getting
off guard one morning and talking
to the boy that relieved me when
I saw one of the Russians coming
down the street. He was walking
slow and holding his side like he
was afraid he’d suddenly bend over
or something. I thought he had a
funny expression on his face, but
I didn’t realize he was hurt until
I saw the blood soaking through
his shirt. He had started to pass
us, but he’d gone as far as he
could. His arm seemed to sag
away from his side, and then you
could see that it really had been
holding him up. I guess it all
happened pretty quick, because
neither one of us was prepared to
catch him. I felt pretty stupid,
just standing there watching him
fold up like that, but I couldn’t
help it. »
We turned him over and opened
his shirt. I tried to press a hand
kerchief against the wound to stop
the blood, but it didn’t help. The
cut in his side started under the
elbow and ran diagonally across his
stomach to his chest. It looked
like somebody had tried to cut him
in two.
One of the Russians must have
seen him fall because, before I
knew it, they were all ganged
around trying to help. There wasn’t
much we could do for him. He lay
there with the blood flowing out
of him coloring the brick sidewalk
a deeper red. His face wasn’t
very pretty. I don’t guess I’ll ever
forget the whiteness of it, or the
way his eyes seemed to bulge out
when he tried to talk. He- finally
got a deep breath and managed to
gasp something that sounded like
Karl Freidrich—Karl Freidrich”
just before he died. I didn’t know
what he had tried to say, but the
Russians had. It was the name of
the man who’d tried to cut him.
After we got the body out of the
way, I the Russians went into the
house and came back out ^ with
knives. Several of the boys in my
outfit had come out by then to see
what was going on. We all just
stood there, watching them go off
down the street. We could have
stopped them. I don’t why we
didn’t. I guess we figured it wasn’t
any of our business.
Anyway they didn’t go far. Not
long after they got out of sight
we heard a woman scream and sev
eral men shouting. Then every-
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thing seemed to get quiet again.
About a half a dozen of us loaded
in a jeep to go see what had hap
pened. We passed the Russians as
they were coming back. They
didn’t even act like they saw us.
They just kept -sValking; talking
among themselves as if nothing had
happened.
We found the German about a
block up the street. He was lying
in the yard of his home cut to
pieces. He wasn’t very old. A
woman who must have been his
wife was kneeling beside him, and
something in the way she sobbed
and clung to his bloody body re
minded me of a child that’s seen
his dog run over in the street. .A
couple of the boys led her into the
house. I made a quick check to
see if he was still alive, but he
wmsn’t.
That’s about all that .happened.
I never found out why the German
killed the Russian. Maybe he had
a good reason; I don’t know. But
anyway that’s why I remember
Rheeda. It wasn’t just seeing the
two men killed though; plenty of
men were killed in the war. But
somehow I always thought it was
a dirty trick to drag a man out of
his house and kill him in front of
his wife; especially when he lived
in a town like Rheeda, where every
day seemed like Sunday.
Society
Miss Lila Fretwell was half-
drowned last Saturday night while
attempting to hit high 0 under a
steady stream of water from a Cle-
well shower. Her many friends will
be glad to know that Miss Helen
Creamer, her friend and roommate,
administered one-armed First Aid
and she is now doing nicely.
Mrs. Sue Durham and Miss Mary
Newlin have refused to be nymphs
in the forthcoming May Day be
cause Dr. Pfhol would not consent
to be a centaur (Union, you know).
Miss Mary Porter Evans was
caught smoking an Old Gold in the
George Washington Spring House
at 3:15 a. m. Sunday morning. She
was reported by the night watch
man to Miss Essie, who reported
it to Miss Reed who reported it
to Ruth Lenkoski who reported it
to Peggy Davis at the Campus
Merchandizing Bureau who reported
it to the president of Liggett and
Myers. She will be stripped of the
honor of being Representative of
the Month, and court martialed
immediately. After the harrowing
episode, she has been seen foaming
at the mouth, smoking ten lighted
Chesterfields, and babbling “Al-
■ways Smoke Chestorfields ’ ’.
Miss Patsy Moser -^vas last seen
at Montaldo’s buying a practical
Adrian model with the money that
she cleverly made off with from
collecting senior dues. She laugh
ingly admits that there was noth
ing to it.
Miss Marian Reed and Mrs.
Ho'ward Jordan caused considerable
turmoil in the dining room when
they made lengthy announcements
and sang naughty songs all during
lunch. Dr. Jordan tried to quiet
them and was promptly slashed in
the wrist with dull dinner knives.
This is another reason why Miss
Newlin and Mrs. Durham cannot
be nymphs in May Day. They are
glad to report that he is well on
the road to recovery.
Miss Mary Patience McFall,
Miss Bitsy Green and Miss Eaton
Seville plan to publish a new book
on “The Relationship Between Cal
culus and Flower Gardening’’. Miss
Catherine Moore will also be a
collaborator. '
Miss Peggy Watkins has, after
much work, been able to have “All
the Way With Your A. A.’’ prin
ted in ten-foot gold letters across
the front of Main Hall. There will
be a statue of Miss Helen Stout
erected on either side of the en
trance. In the statue’s hand will
fee placed a bowl which will con
tain bird seed.
During the summer Mr. Self
ridge’s office will be converted into
a bird sanctuary for the yellow-
throated throstle and the lap wing
of Labrador.
How much lovelier can a girl look?
n’»r‘MISS FASHION PIATE OF 1949"
ANNE MCKENZIE
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