Newspapers / Gastonia Daily Gazette (Gastonia, … / Dec. 23, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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MOHDAT, DECEMBEB 23, 1SIJL 44C2 TWO. 'f H GASTOJtIA GAZETTE. THEIR L5TTEI2S IIOHE SrW ofli -net -untfuv tlWnv n tAe -ycaw cmcUmtt tKe qcirwi dcunv cf tfte ourv, and tn tftc mcinwuj "We &memfCv trW." From Corporal Roy Gilley. Following is a letter which Mrs. C. J. Storey recently receive. I from Corporal Eoy (Jilley, of Buttery 1. 10 F. A., who was statione.l ut Camp Chronicle: Fran.-. Nov. in. 1!H. Dear Mrs. Storey: Am in a ramp " southern Frame waiting to le sent hark to my regiment. I have not yet seen your son Carl, though he is at this ramp, I suppose you saw in the "Stars ami Stripes" that our division was in the Chateau Thierry ilrive last summer, so I suppose we ran also say we were there. We left our training groun.ls in south ern Frame the last part of July. After a two or three day trip in "Oievaux s Hoiutuers, 40," which took us arouml the outskirts of 1'aris, we arrived at the rail bead" which was then in the still burning eity of Chateau Thierry. The city was in ruins, not a house but what had some sort of a hole from the bombardment. The Germans were in full retreat and, during the night, they kept shelling a road about a half mile from where we were with their long-range guns. That was our first experience with hostile shell fire. We thought we would have a day or two to rest ourselves and our horses After our long trip, but the next day, .arhile we were down by the road watch . ing the ceaseless stream of Allied traffic To 4n3 from the front, we received one of those sudden orders to move. We were told to take our packs and leave our bar rack bags there and we havn't seen them since; in fact, we never expect to see them again. It was optional whether we took our slickers and overcoats though it frag the middle of summer and very hot. I had noticed that nearly all the French passing on the road had their ot,-,h;i!, so I took mine and my slicker too. That was one of the wisest things I ever did, and even though my overcoat was nearly torn to shreds later by shell fire, it was still warm and comfortable. If you take a look at the map you will see that the Marne flows through Cha teau Thierry. We crossed the Marne on a poontoon bridge made of canal boats. The stone bridge had leeii blown up. They told us that the Marne was choked with dead bodies but we saw only a few dead horses floating peacefully along. We hiked and hiked and hiked, and made eamp about midnight in a woods near some long-range guns that were firing on the Germans. All along the roads there were miles and miles of camouflage net ting set up by the Germans to cover their . retreat, also tons of impedimenta left 'along the road, everything a retreating army could throw away. There were thousands of shells of all sizes ami hun dreds of cases of ammunition, grenades, clothes, rifles, helmets and a host of oth er things. It was dark as pitch when we made camp that night. You cannot show a light of any kind at night for miles hack of the front, and that is the only time we work, so our labor must mostly be done by touch. The cook gave us some thing to eat in the dark and another man and I pitched tents where it felt as if it was reasonably free from rocks. The next morning we found we had been sleenintr beside a newly made Cerinan grave, but we went over to the kitchen and made a more interesting discovery. We found that the ration wagon had been left in a shallow ditch. In this ditch was a mound of fresh dirt. Under the mound was a body, presumably German, the weight of the wagon had pressed the blood out and it oozing down the ditch in an evil jjinelling mess so we threw some more dirt over it before we had break- fast. This camp bad just Ix-en aban doned by the Germans so we found lot of strange equipment and more grue some things farther in the woods. Do you remember reading in the pa ers last spring about an immense lung distance gun that the Germans used to fire on Paris? Some thought at the time, and others still think, that the gun was a myth. It was during the drive that 1 saw the mountings, the tube itself being abandoned farther along the track by the Germans. It was located on a railroad from Chateau Thierry to Hheims. The Germans knew the l'xatinn far better than I do. There w a clearly camou- All along the truck were little dugouts where the Germans had made a stand and there were yards and yards of belts of machine gun bullets strewn over the tracks as well lis other material. We walked uite ;i ways and met some more Krem I men who .:ti.l the gun was i.loiuc' 1J kilometer ins'ead of deux so we liik ed bark to hit regiment as (juick as we could. We I, ad no business to leave in the tirt l:o '. I he Germans knew 'hi place would be well visited si they thoughtfully bombarded it at regular in tervals. la these woods then' was a German grave. There wen' plenty of graves a round but this one deserves special men tion. It was under a shell shattered birch tree. There was a cross of inlaid wood at the lead of the grave and a feme of carved wood arouml the sides. On the top of the cross was his tin hat, at the foot of the grave was his gas mask, grinning like n skull. On the cross in the German language was the notice, "He rests in God. " Then it went on with the characteristic German thorough ness, to give the date, hour he fell and all the minute particulars. He died some time in April, ISMS, tut they held this territory quite a while. Around the grave was a deep path made by thous ands of curious Americans, coming to look at the work of the cross, yet no one had even taken the hat, as a souvenir. That is the way the Germans do. When ever they have any time, they erect a fine cross to their fallen, comrades which nearly always has this inscription, "He rests in God " ( Hier Ruch un Gott ) . It is something I cannot fathom. Though they continue to lay France waste and murder our wounded whenever they get a chance, they have a childish belief that we will respect their dead. Talking a bout graves is a morbid subject, but an i.iterestiug one because this is a land ot r.;u s. In the olden days primitive man had his weapons buried with him ami modern man, on the battlefields of Ku rope, seems to have reverted to the primi tive in more ways than one. When a man is buried by his comrades, they put his tin hat at the head of his grave, gas tnask at the foot and often his rihV with the bayonet still fixed, across the middle of the grave. In the battles of 1!14, the Trench buried their dead wherever they fell. Some lie almost in the ballast id' the railroad tracks, some beside the roads, some in the woods, while others lie scattered in the open fields. Kach grave is adorned, with a red, white, and blue target similar to the insignia the French use on their aeroplanes. ? a novice would think numberless aviators had been bur ied there. This was my impression. Kach grave has a frail little fence a round it and if it is in a field, the French very carefully plow around it. I was in some practice battles this summer in a sector that had been a battlefield a few years ago, so there were plenty of graves scattered over the landscape. Affixed to the target on many of the French graves was this inscription, "111 snhlat I' ran cais Sans outre indie teiir. II mort pour la France." (A French soldier without other identification. He died for France.) Then, on the outskirts id' a lit tie town. I s:iu three graves surrounded by tie same fence. Two were French and on the cross of the third was thi. "I'n inconin Allemand," (an unknown German. ( Notwithstanding what the Germans have done to France, the French bury the Germans with their own dead and put a cross over them. Another time I naw a French made German grave with a cross over It, "I'n inconnu Allemand.'' After marching every night, chasing up the retreating Germans, we came into contact with them on a certain river where they had dug in to make a line. We bucked them there for over l't days and then were relieved. I cannot be more explicit now, much as I would like to, though I can say that there we re ceived our "lapteme de feu." I i 1 we stand the 'gaff .' Pershing seemed to think so because he cited us for gallant rv and coolness in action. You know we were green troops and had fought a I gainst the l russiaii iiiianl, (n-rmany best. We had an observation pot in the wine cellar of an old ruin overlooking the Ger- had been a few hives flaeed switch running ii.t the woods 1 nerve the nun. There w-is an en-Tino'is ! "tan lines. flu turrett on ball !earings . lo". I think :i i '' bees then', but when the Germans re big as my head. This turret was made I treated, just before we arrived, they de- of armor plate nlxiut six inci.es thi.-k. The Germans tried to blow it up when i they left but succeeded in blowing ,t np in only two places. Lying nearby was an enormous chain. I could not begin to get mv two hands around the links and there were other tools of corresponding j dimensions lying scattered about. On I of the first things I noticed was that in j the direction ot l aris. the trees were dead and devoid of limbs and they were also blackened by the gas fumes of the gun. I was' talking to one of the French men guarding the place and he told me that Paris was about 105 kilometers a way and that the Germans had dismount ed the tube of the gun and tried to take back to Germany with them. but the Allied aviators beat them to it by blow ing up an intervening railroad bridge so the tube has been abandoned and lies near the bridge. I asked him bow far away the tube was and he told me (deux 2 kilometres, at least, I thought he said deux, but found out later he said (douze 12. The man with me and I started down the tratk to see the gun. strayed the hives to get the honey. The bees were not to be daunted, however. They swarmed in a tree in the yard and started making comb from a branch. The first time I was up there I saw the comb and it certainly looked gooL be cause we had not had anything sweet in a long time. We skulked out into the yard down so low so as to be out of sight of German snipers and took a pole and knocked dowii a big chunk of honey, which we promptly ate. We were stung a few times, but that was to Ite expected. I had hope4- to tap our stx-k of sweets again soon, but the liees did not build it up very fast, and then we were relieved. At the front there is a liason detail up with the infantry. This is a group of men who act as runners or bearers of messages, between the infantry ami ar tillery. The men are taken from the B. C. details of the different batteries and are relieved every few days because it is a very trying job. It came my turn in the first battle of ours and we left un der heavy shell fire in charge of an offi cer. We arrived at our destination at dusk. (Mir destination in this case was a narrow rocky gully sloping down towardd the German lines. This gully was cram med with soldiers, (doughbovs) going in- i to the front lines and our first lookout was to find shelter for the night. The ! best we could do was a piece of sheet iron propped up under which the three of us crowded. During the night, the Ger mans kept shelling the place. Great shells would fall in the field close by u and make the earth tremble. One com forting thing about it was the shells were "duds" that is they did not ex plode. The doughboys kept trying to crawl uinler our shelter, just as if a piece of tin would ward off shells. Then huge enemy bombing planes flew arround low and dropped bombs in likely places. Eventually the night passed away as all nights must do, though some times at the front it seems as if daylight never will come again. In the morning the usual toll of wounded was brought in and fix ed up as well as possible before being sent to the rear. All movement" on our part was frowned on by the officers, be cause they did not want the snipers, or enemy planes to locate us. So we lay a round all day fighting flies and eating corned Willie at meal times. All day there never was a sound of a shot along the front. You cannot imagine how tense the silence was unless you are in a like place and realise that thousands of unseen men in the shimmering heat a head of you are spying out the position of other thousands. In the afternoon we heard that this doughboy regiment was to Is" relieved that night. That was good news. We had lots rather bo farther back ami with our own regiment. T h e rumor proved to lie true and we started back at dusk, just as the opposing arm ies were waking up to their nightly death grapple. First a machine gun would go "put, put, put, put," then another far ther down the line would wake up, three or four would start in their riveter's cho rus at once. Above the sound of the ma chine guns you could hear the rattle of rifle fire and as we were climing the hill going back, 1 looked back and thought what a Hell 's kettle it was down there in the valley. The machine guns and ri ties of each side were firing at each other and the artillery of both sides was throw ing a hurricane of bursting shells into the valley. Rockets were going up, chain rockets, green rockets, chenille rockets, red rockets, the latter I knew was our own side calling for a barrage. Kadi side was sending up fiery light lighting up the whole valley and the clamor was gVowing stronger all the time. We were mighty glad to get away and did not lose any time in putting as much distame as possible between ourselves and the front line. It was as well that we did because Jerry started shelling the fields we had just passed through. When I g .t back to my battery that night. I found that several of the boys had been killed luring my absence. Life never sei tns so much worth wi ile :is it does when you come back from the front. When we were relieved, we hiked night alter night through ruined France, and finally on the first day we rested, we came to whole France and it seemed very beautiful. The houses were whole. the forests and fields were not wrecked with s' -ll firo. and the whole countryside seem ed to be very peaceful. I had a little money left, and was able to buy a whole canteen full of fresh milk for rn cen times. Then we stole some green plums and had a bath in a creek and had a fine time generally. The French peasants saw my blouse all torn to tatters by shellfire and kept asking me, "etiez wous blessef" and I knew what they were asking me but could not tell them that I had left my coat in my dugout when it was hit. After making more hikes, this time during the day, through smiling France, we entrained way below Chateau Thier ry. We had a long railroad journey, de trained immediately and started off on another hike with never a rest. This (Continued page 3.) There Is more Catarrh In this section of the country than all other diseases put together, and for years ft was sup posed to be Incurable. Doctors pre scribed local remedies, and by constant ly failing' to cure with local treatment, f (renounced It Incurable. Catarrh Is a ocal disease, sjTeatly Influenced by con stitutional conditions and therefore re quires constitutional treatment Hall's Catarrh Cure, manufactured by F. J. Cheney A Co, Toledo, Ohio, Is a consti tutional remedy, is taken Internally - and acts thru the Blood on the Mucous Surfaces of the System. One Hundred Dollars reward is offered for any case that Hall's Catarrh Cure fails to cure. Send for circulars and testimonials. F. J. CHENET CO., Toledo. Ohio. Sold by Druggists. 75c. Hall'a rami! y Pills for constipation. For Christmas Full line of all kinds of Fruits and Candies for the holiday trade. Good apples, per bag 65 and 75 cents; oranges -'10 and 4' cents per dozen. Special prices in quantities for Christmas trees and entertainments. Be sure to see us before buying. Our goods are the best and our pri ces are right. JOHN FARRIS Wholesale and Retail 105 East Main Are. GASTONIA, N. C. TTTTTrl m AN TODAY MONDAY R0SC0E (FATTY) ARBUCKLE in "THE SHERIFF" A Laugh from Start to Finish and ENRICO CARUSO The World's Greatest Tenor in "MY COUSIN" (An Artcraft Picture) TUESDAY Return Engagement CHARLIE CHAPLIN in "A DOG'S LIFE" and HALE HAMILTON in 'FIVE THOUSAND AN HOUR" (Metro) WEDNESDAY Keturn Engagement CHARLIE CHAPLIN N in "WORK" and HARRY CAREY in "HELL BENT" l Big Western Feature) THURSDAY BILLY BURKE in "THE MAKE-BELIEVE WIFE" (Paramount Picture) Many an innocent man has been hang ed and many an innocent-husband has been suspected by his wife but what would you say of the fellow who was caught with the goods (silk at that) right in his arms A Pretty Hefty Explanation is Needed, HUH? FRIDAY BRYANT WASHBURN in "THE GYPSY TRAIL" Some girls prefer a man who always behaves like a gentleman ; other girls pre fer a man who gets out of control once in a while. There's a sample of both in this lively picture. SATURDAY Return Engagement CHARLIE CHAPLIN in "SHOULDER ARMS" and First Chapter of "THE LURE OF THE CIRCUS" Featuring Daring, Dashing, Reckless EDDIE POLO A BIG SHOW EVERY DAY THIS WEEK AT THE THE G AST ONI AN Enjoy Christmas by Spending a few Hours With Us. OPEN THIS WEEK DAILY 10 A. M. THE GASTONIAN THEATRE wishes one and all a Merry Christmas arid a Happy New Year. Fruits audi Candies For The Christmas Holidays We have a complete line of Fruits, Nuts and Candies for the Holiday trade. We do both a wholesale and retail brsiness and would be glad to have your orders. We can furnish you Oranges Apples Bananas Malaga Grapes Raisins Figs Mixed Nuts English Walnuts Brazil Nuts Almonds Etc. Etc. All kinds of Candies in bulklor in"small quan tities. The best and freshest at the most reas onable prices. Phone us at No. 27 and tell us your wants P.P. Leveife Co. Wholesale and Retail Phone 27 j 'T ' " """
Gastonia Daily Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.)
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Dec. 23, 1918, edition 1
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