Bonin
Bellefonte, Pa., December 13, 1918.
Horses for
, France
By
Sergeant Arthur Guy
Empey .
Author of “Over the Top,”
“First Call,” Etc.
0-0-0
Mr. Empey’s Experi-
ences During HisSeven-
teen Months in theFirst
' Line Trenches of the
British Army in France
(Copyright, 1917, by The McClure Newspaper
(Copyright, oy Ts pape!
It was 1914, and the great world
war was on, and here was I in the
Dnited States and neutral. For thir-
teen years I had been soldiering but
had never been under fire. In my
imagination I could hear the guns
pooming on the western front. I ad-
mit I was a trifle afraid; nevertheless
I had a great desire to get into the mix-
up. How could I get over? I planned
out many ways, but none of them
were practical.
One day while walking down Green-
wich street, New York, I passed an
employment agency. Staring me in
the face was a great flaring sign,
«Horses for France” Under this
“Men Wanted.” Here was my chance.
Upon returning to my office I imme-
diately got in touch over the telephone
with two prominent men in New York
whom I knew to be distinctly pro-ally.
After outlining my desire, an appoint-
ment was made for me to meet a cer-
tain gentleman at the Hotel Astor at
four o'clock that afternoon. I met
him. He introduced me to a French-
man. At that time in my eyes a
Frenchman was a hero, a man to be
looked up to, a man fighting in the
@reat Cause. But now a Frenchman
to me is more than a hero. After
being introduced I went up into the
Frenchman's room and talked over
the matter of horses for France for
about twenty minutes.
Upon leaving the Frenchman I was
told to report to him three days later,
at the same time and place. I left,
bubbling over with enthusiasm and
anticipation.
During this interval of three days I
mapped out a story of my life to pre-
sent to him upon our second interview.
The eventful day at last came, and
once more I was closeted with him. I
started to tell him my story. He
interrupted me by waving his right
hand to the right and left. It re-
minded me of the butts on a target
range during rifle practice, when the
man marking the target wigwags a
miss to the firing line. My heart sank.
Then he spoke, and I was carried
from despondency to the greatest
height of expectation. His words:
“pardon me, monsieur, I already
know your life,” and in an amazingly
short time he told me more than I
knew about myself. I had been care-
fully investigated.
My instrvctions received from him
are confidential, so I will not go into
them. Anyway, he handed me an en-
velope and told me to follow out care-
fully all details as contained therein.
1 immediately went back to my of-
fice, opened the envelope and on a
typewritten sheet I read: “Report at
Goldsmith's Employment agency. No.
Greenwich street. Ship as an
ordinary horseman and during voyage
carefuily follow the verbal instruc-
tions received by you during our in-
terview, making careful note of all de-
tails immediately after happening. Be
cautions in deing this. Upon landing
in France renort to the prefecture of
potice, Bordeaux, and to the jetier
obey his instructions. Good luck.”
I went home and put-on my oldess
¢iothies - wn old black suit, olive drab
shir, : ir of heavy army shoes and
a woolen ¢ap. 1had let my beard grow
and ce nly looked rough.
In passing through City Hall park,
New York, one sees many derelicts
of the human race sitting on the
benches. I sat down between two of
these wrecks of humanity and en-
gaged them in conversation, trying to
blend into their atmosphere. About
ten minutes later a policeman came
past and told the three of us to move
on. I slouched away with the other
two. Telling them that I was going
out “panhandling,” I took my leave, but
not before one of them made an ap-
pealing and successful touch for a
nickel. The method used by him in se-
curing that nickel would have done
credit to the greatest financiers in the
country in putting through a deal in
volving millions.
Going down Greenwich street,
slouching along, looking at the ground,
I ran plump into & young lady of my
acquaintance. I had a feeling of af-
fection for this particular young lady,
but it soon died out upon hearing her
remark as I collided with her, “If you
cannot look where you are going, 1
will have you arrested.” Of course,
she did not recognize me and I took
no pains to argue the matter with her,
I was glad enough to slink by.
When I came to the agency there
was a long line of bums, two and three
deep, trying to ship as horsemen foi
France. 3
It would be impossible to get 9
rougher and more unkempt gathering
of men. It looked as if some hugs
giant had taken a fine comb and care
fully combed the gutters of New
York.
I fell into this line and waited mj
turn. Upon arriving at the desk, in
front of me sat a little fat, greasj
Jew. To deseribe his manner of han
dling the men as being impolite would
be a great exaggeration. The way he
handled that line of human cattle
would do the kaiser's heart good.
It came my turn, and this conversa
tion ensued:
“What do you know about horses?"
I answered : “Six years in the United
States cavalry.”
The Agent: “What regiments?”
“Rleventh and Twelfth.” :
“You're a liar. You never saw the
cavalry.”
I felt like punching him on the nese
but did not do so. I wanted to shit
as a horseman. I showed him my
discharges. He said: “They're faked,
What did you do, desert or were you
kicked out?”
I was getting sore and answered:
“Deserted the Twelfth; kicked out of
the Eleventh.”
“What's your name?”
“Arthur Guy Empey.”
“You're a German.”
This was too much even for me
and I answered: “You're a damned
liar” I saw my chances of shipping
vanishing in smoke.
The Jew grinned and rubbed his
hands and said: “You're all right
Go into that room and get a card made
out, and come back at two o'clock.”
I received a card and went to a
beanery across the street and had a
wonderful meal of corned beef hash,’
muddy coffee and huge slices of bread,
minus butter.
cents.
At two o'clock I reported back, and
with seventy-two others was herded
like cattle, and in a long, straggling
line, flanked by three of the employees
of the agency, we marched to the!
This cost me fifteen
ferry and landed “somewhere in New |
Jersey.”
The ship, a huge three-stacker, was
lying alongside. We were shoved into
single file, ready to go up the gang.
plank. Then our real examination
took place. At the foot of the gang-
plank were a group of men around a
long table. They certainly put us
through a third degree to find out if
there was any German blood in wus.
Several men were turned down. Luck-!
ily, I got through and signed for the |
voyage, and went on board. i
At the head of the gangplank stood |
the toughest specimen of humanity 3
have ever seen. He looked like a huge
gorilla, and had a big, crescent-shaped, |
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livid scar running from his left ear
under his chin up to his right eye.
Every time he spoke the edges of the
sear seemed to grow white. His nose
was broken and he had huge, shaggy
eyebrows. !
the rail of the ship. It looked like a |
ham, and inwardly I figured out what !
would happen to me if that ham-like |
fist ever came in contact with the |
point of my jaw. As we passed him
he showered us with a few compli-
mentary remarks, such as “Of all the
lousy scum I have seen, this bunch of
lubbers is the worst, and this is what
they give me to take thirteen hundred
horses over to Bordeaux.” Later on
1 found this individual was foreman of
the horse gang.
We were ordered aft and sat on the
after hatch. The fellow on my right
was a huge, blue-gummed negro. He
was continually scratching himself.
I unconsciously eased away from him
and bumped into the fellow sitting on
my left. After a good look at him I
eased back again in the direction of
the negro. I don’t think that he had
taken a hath since escaping from the
cradle. Right then my uppermost
thought was how I could duck this
trip to France. The general conversa-
tion among the horse gang was:
“When do we eat?”
We must have sat there about twenty
minutes, when the second foremait
came aft. I took fifteen guesses at his
nationality, and at last came to the
conclusion that he was a cross betwee!
a Chinaman and a Mexican. He was
thin, about six feet tall, and wore a
huge sombrero. His skin was tanned
the color of leather. Every time Be
smiled I had the impression that the
next minute he would plant a stiletto
in my back. His name was Pinero.
His hand was resting on
. stench was awful.
| deep, with filthy and lousy mattresses
‘ on them, were set into the sides of the
, ship.
' hole turned my stomach and I was
“men of humanity,
' years old. To me this man appeared
His introduction to us was very brief:
“Get up off of that blankety blank
hatch and line up against the rail.”
We did as ordered. Then he com-
manded: “All the niggers line up
alongside of the port rail.” I guess a
lot of them did not know what he
meant by the “port rail” because they
looked very much bewildered. With
an oath he snapped out. “You blank-
ety blank idiots. The port rail is that
rail over there. Come on. Move or
T'l soon move you.” He looked well
able to do this and the niggers prompt-
ly shuffled over to the place designat-
ed. He quickly divided us into squads
of twelve men, then ordered; “All of
you who are deserters from the army
or who have seen service in tne cav-
alry step out in front.” Four others
besides myself stepped out. The first
man he came to he informed: “You're
a straw boss. Do you know what a
straw boss is?’ This man meekly
answered. “No, sir”? With another
oath, the second foreman said: “All
right, you're not a straw boss; fall |
back” I got the cue immediately. |
My turn came next.
“Do you know what a straw boss
1s?” !
I said: “Sure.” i
He said: “All right, you're a straw |
boss.” |
I had not the least idea of what
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he was talking about, but made up
my mind that it would not take me
long to find out. Then he passed |
down the line, picking out straw |
bosses. TI asked one of the men in my
| was indescribable.
gang what were the duties of a straw
boss. He had been over with horses !
before, and told me that a straw boss
meant to be in charge of the gang to
feed the horses and to draw and keep |
careful check on the straw, hay, oats
and bron. Having served in the eav-
alry, this job, as I figured, would be
regular pie for me.
In about an hour and a half’s time
Pinero had selected his straw bosses
and divided the men into gangs, and
assigned us to our quarters on the
ship. These quarters were between
decks and very much crowded: the
Iron bunks, three
The atmosphere in that dirty
longing for the fresh air of the deck.
A dirty bum, with tobacco running
. out of the corner of his mouth, turned
to me and asked: “Do the graybacks
bother you much, matey?’ A shud-
der ran through me as I answered :
«Not much.” Bu. I figured out that
as soon as I got them, which I knew
' would occur in a very short time, they
certainly would bother me, but I had
to keep a stiff upper lip if I wanted
to retain their respect and my author-
ity as a straw boss.
One old fellow in my gang was a
trouble maker. He must have heen
about forty years old and looked as
hard as nails.
He was having an argu-
ment with a pasty-faced looking speci-
about twenty-six
to be in the last stages of consumption.
I told the old fellow to cut out his
argument and leave the other fellow
| alone. Upon hearing this he squirted
a well-directed stream of tobacco juice
| through his front teeth, which landed
on my shoe. I inwardly admired and
respected his accuracy. I saw my au-
| thority waning and knew that 1 would
have to answer this insult quickly. I
| took two or three quick steps forward
RD
Wyrm “
fed
Swung on His Jaw With My Fist.
and swung on his jaw with my fist.
His head went up against the iron
punk with a sickening sound and he
crumpled up and fell on the deck, the
blood pouring from the cut in his head.
I felt sick and faint thinking that he
had been killed, but it would not do
to show these signs of weakness on
my part, so without even moving to-
ward him I ordered one of the mer to
look him over and see if he was all
right. He soon came around. From
that time on he was the most faithful
man in the section and greatly respect-
ed me. The rest of the men growled
and mumbled and I thought I was in
for a terrible beating. Idying close at
hand was an Iron spike about eighteen
inches long. Grasping this, I turned to
the rest, trying to be as tough as 1
possibly could:
“If any of the rest of you bums
think they are boss around here, start
something, and I will sink this into
his head.” Although I was quailing
underneath, still I got away with it.
. and from that time on I was boss of .
my section. {
Now every man was smoking or
chewing; iobacco. Pretty soon the hold
became thick with smoke, and I was
gasping for breath, when the voice of |
the foreman came down the compan-
ionway:
“Turn out on deck and give a hand
loading the horses. Look alive or I'll
come down there and rouse you out |
pretty —— —— quick.”
We needed no second invitation and
lined up on the deck. I looked over
the rail. On the dock were hundreds '
of the sorriest looking specimens of
horse flesh I have ever laid eyes on.
These horses were in groups of ten
or twelve, being held by horsemen from
the New Jersey stockyards. A lot of
the men who had shipped as horse- |
men had never led a horse in their life, |
and it was pitiful to see their fear. |
The foreman let out a volley of oaths
for them to move quickly, and they de-
cided to accept the lesser evil and take
a chance with the horses. >
Then the work of loading com-
mence 1. |
I have been in a cavalry regiment
when hurry-up orders were received to |
entrain for the Mexican border and
| heiped to load eleven hundred horses |
on trains. The confusion on that dock
The horses were
louded by three runways. My gang
and I were detailed on the after run-
way. The foreman was leaning over
the rail, glaring down upon us and
now and then giving instructions mixed
with horrible oaths. He had a huge
marlinspike in his hand. On the dock
was the second foreman, in his large
sombrero, a red neckerchief around
his neck, wearing a blue shirt with the
sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and
in his right hand a coiled lariat. It
did one’s heart good to see him rope
the horses which broke loose. Upon
watching his first performance I knew :
1 was correct when I figured him as
having Mexican blood in his veins.
A bleary-eyed drunk was trying to
lead a horse by the halter up our run.
He was looking back at the horse, at
' the same time tugging and jerking op
. the halter.
You could see the white
in the horse’s eyes, and I knew right
away, from my experience with horses,
that this was a bad one, or, as we
"would term him in the cavalry, an |
“outlaw.” The drunk was cursing and
swearing and kicking up at the horse's
head. The foreman saw this and di-
rected his barrage at the offender.
“How in h—I1 do you expect to lead
a horse while looking at him? Turn
your back to him, you lousy bum. You
are blocking the whole run. Turn
your back to him, I say. You can’t
lead him that way. If I come down
there to you, I'll soon show you how
to get him aboard.”
The bleary-eved one became bewil-
dered and in his excitement lost his
footing on the slippery runway and fell
underneath the horse. at the same time
loosening his hold on the halter chain.
The horse jerked his head loose, reared
up, turned around and made a break
for the deck. The man on the gangway
tried to scramble out of the way. The
horse, in wheeling, let fly with both
heels and caught him below the right
ear with his near hind foot. With a
piercing shriek the drunk clasped both
hands to his head, fell gver backward
and rolled down to the fost of the gang-
plank, and lay there in a crumpled
heap, the blood pouring from his nose,
mouth and the wound below his ear.
Upon hearing this shriek several of
the men leading their horses, in their
fright turned them loose, and there was
a mad stampede on the deck.
The pasty-faced horseman, whom I
had helped out a little while before in
the argument about his bunk was
standing near the runway, holding on
to a horse. He turned his horse loose
and rushed to the bloody mass, which
was twitching with convulsive shud-
ders. The foreman. on seeing this ac-
cident, snapped out @ long string of !
curses, which almost froze my heart.
“What did I tell you? Didn’t I tell
you ngt to look at him? I knew you
would get it, and a damned good job, !
70; blocking that run with your fool
tricks.”
Then he noticed
horseman stooping over the bleeding
man.
“Get im by the heels, you cross be-
tween a corpse and mummy, and drag ,
him out af the way. We've bloody well |
got to get this ship loaded to catch
the tide.”
The pale-faced man kept on with his
examination without paying any atten-
tion to the foreman’s instructions. The
foreman got blue in the face and bub-
bled over with rage.
“Do you hear what I tell you? Get
‘im out of the way.
to be loaded or I'll go down there and
pound some obedience into you.”
The man still paid no attention. The !
foreman was speechless. In a few sec-
onds the stooping man straightened up, |
and looking the foreman straight in
the eye, calmly replied: “He’s dead.”
This did not seem to fease the fore-
man in the least and he bellowed out:
“How do you know he is dead?” The
man answered simply: “I'm a doctor.”
Then the foreman once again explod-
ed: “A doctor! Blawst my deadlights,
a doctor! Well, if youre a doctor,
what in h—1 are you doing on a horse
ship? You ought fo he rolling pills
for the highbrows.”
The doctor never took his piercing
look from the eye of the foreman. The
foreman was now like an enraged bull.
Spitting all over himself, he blustered
out: “Well, if he’s dead, there is no
dector that can do him any good. A
ecuple o’ you black skunks over there
(addressing two negroes who were al-
most blanched to a bluish white and
who were {rembling near by), get
ahold of in and drag im out of the
way.’ . of ihe negroes, with a
leeering grin, replied: “I shipped on
this here ship to handle hosses, and
I don’t allow nohow that it’s my work
to tote corpses around.”
Just then the second foreman rushed
over, gave the negro a push out of the
way, and, grabbing the heels of the
dead man, pulled him away from the
run. I turned away, sickened with
disgust. The foreman then took an
empty oat sack and spread it over the
bloody head.
Just then the clanging bell of an am-
bulance was heard and a white-clothed
doctor, followed by two men with a
stretcher, pushed their way through
the crowd of horses and horsemen.
| They were accompanied by 2a police-
man. The body was put into the am-
bulance and taken away, while the po-
lice-officer went on board the ship.
The pasty-faced doctor was holding
onto the rail of the runway and cough-
ing. I thought each gasp would be his
last. The second foreman was talking
to him. The doctor paid no attention.
Going up behind the doctor, the fore-
man coolly measured his distance and
swung on the point of his jaw. The
doctor crumpled up and fell on the
dock. At this cowardly and dastard-
ly act, I saw red and made a leap
at the foreman. An onrushing light
flashed in front of me and a huge lo-
comotive, going 60 miles an hour, hit
me between the eyes; then blackness.
When I came to, I was lying in my
bunk in the hold. I had an awful
headache. Then everything came
back to me with a flash. I could hear
the gurgling of water on the ship's
side and knew we were under way.
Right then and there I decided never
again, especially while aboard ship, to
interfere with the foreman. Among
that gang of human wrecks and cut-
throats it was every man for himself,
and the survival of the fittest. I had
the pasty-faced |
This ship has got |
' two beautiful black eyes, and, ny nose
| feit like a football.
I went up on deck. The moon and
stars were out and the twinkling lights
“of New York harbor were gradually
fading into the distance. Leaning over
the rail were the foreman and the
! veterinarian, “Doc” Casey. by name,
| The foreman was talking. Snatches
| of his conversation reached my ears:
“load horses? Why, that bunch of
scum they wished on me couldn't load
lump sugar, one lump at a time. How
Brown expects me to deliver 1,300
i horses into Bordeaux with this scurvy
"outfit, I don’t know. We're lucky, I'm
thinkin’, if five hundred o’ them don’t
die. Why, there’s not one o’ the
blighters knows which end of a horse
eats hay. I tell you, Doe, your work
is cut out for you. If, in a few days,
you don’t have a couple of hundred
cases of colic on your hands, then I'm
a hloomin’ liar.”
“Doe,” Casey answered:
“Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Goorty, this
is my third trip over and I have seen
some tough bunches, but this one is
{he limit, and I sure have a job on my
hands. It's too bad that Pinero let out
on that young fellow, because, in my
mind, that was a pretty cowardly blow.
He seemed to know how to handle
horses. What do you say if I give him
the job of assistant veterinarian? He's
hud six years’ cavalry experience.”
The foreman answered:
“Throw him over the side, if you
want—I don’t care. But I guess you'll
need someone to help you out, so go to
in
I was overjoyed. Just then Pinero
came aft. The horse doctor turned to
him and said: “Look here, Pinero,
I've se®n lots of dirty work in my life,
but that exhibition of yours on the
dock is about the filthiest I've seen in
a long time. Now, just take a tip
from me. That young fellow from now
on is working for me, and you lay your
hands off of him. If I find you med-
dling with him, I'll push that silly grin
of yours down your throat until it
chokes you. Now, that’s all I got to
say. lay off of him. Do you under-
stand ?”
Pinero started to mumble excuses,
put the doctor shut him up with, “I
, don’t want to hear any more. I'm off
o’ you for life, but remember what I
tell you. Steer clear from the two 0
, us, sabe?”
I guess the second foreman “sabied”
‘all right, because he vouchsafed no
answer. My heart warmed to “Doc”
| Casey and I slipped away unobserved.
The next morning the doctor fixed
me up with court plaster and I was
installed as assistant veterinarian at
' $30 for the trip. I was to sleep in
| had his medicine stock, but before en- |
| tering the room “Doc? told me, “Take
| this bucket of water; put a few drops
; hatch and take a good bath, and throw
| your underwear away.”
| Tasked him what for. He answered:
“When you take your shirt off, take a
ia good look at it and you'll see why.”
| nutely followed his instructions.
Upon taking my shirt off, one look
| was enough. It was alive, and over
the rail it went.
white suit and took charge of my
outer clothing. What he did with
| them I don’t know, but that afternoon
shrunk a size smaller, but were clean.
I was satisfied. So was Doc.
Five days out we ran into a squall
and our work was cut out for us. We
even had horses on the decks in
wooden stalls. The ship was lurching
and pitching, and huge seas would
burst over the gunwales.
Several of the wooden stalls gave
way and the horses were loose on the
deck. With every lurch of the ship
a couple of horses would fall, and,
kicking and snorting, would slide down
the inclined deck, hitting
winches and the hatchway, scraping
their hides off. It was worth a man’s
life to get into that mess.
Then I had more or less respect for
Into the midst of that struggling and
sisted pn? Doc Casey.
horses received broken legs, and Pin-
ero, instead of shooting them,
their throats with a sharp dagger he
carried.
One of the negroes irom the lower
hold staggered to the upper deck with
Staggered to the Upper Deck With His
Face Blanched Almost White.
his face blanched almost white, and
his eyes popping out of his head. Be-
tween gasps he informed us that a
whole section of stalls, 24 in all, had
been carried away between decks, and
that the horses were loose. He said
three negroes in his gang were caught
in this stampede.
‘manner.
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The foreman mustered most of the
men, and dividing them into three
groups, in charge of himseif, the sec-
ond foreman and Doe Casey, they went
below. I followed. An awful sight met
my eyes.
The ship was lurching in a horrible
All I could see was, one
minute a pile of kicking horse~,
smashed-up planks and the three ne-
groes piled up in one corner of the
compartment, and then, with a lurch
of the ship, they would slide into the
other. Nothing could be done by us.
It was madness to attempt anything.
The three negroes were dead.
That night and the following day
was a perfect hell on the ship for men
and horses. The ship rode through
the squall, and when it became calm
we all got busy. Out of the 24 horsés
petween decks we had to shoot 17 on
account of injuries. Besides the 17
2 had died from broken necks. The
4 remaining horses were sfill alive
put hardly had a square foot of hide
left. They were a pitiful sight.
The next day the three negroes
were buried at sea without a word of
prayer.
For the next couple of {lays noth-
ing of importance happened.
About four days out of Bordeaux
one of the large steam pipes in the
lower hold burst. In this hold there
were 64 horses. The engineer of
the ship tried to repair the break,
put it was almost worth a man’s
life to go down there in that hiss-
ing and scalding steam. The cries
of the horses went straight to my
heart. All we could do was to turn
streams of cold salt water from three
pairs of hose into the hold, thus try-
ing to keep the heat down and save
as many horses as possible.
Why the engineer did not shut off
the steam I don’t know. I noted this
fact in my report. After about four
hours the steam was shut off and the
two foremen, Doc Casey and myself,
followed by twelve other men, went
into the hold. I will never forget the
sight as long as I live. Nearly every
one of the horses was dead, and those
which still remained alive had to be
shot. Some of them were practically
boiled alive. The weather was hot,
and it was not long before the rotting
bodies of the horses made the stench
on board unbearable. We had to get
these bodies out. Long tackles were
rigged up, a chain around the neck of
a dead horse, and I worked the winch.
The bodies were snaked along the
passageways in the hold and up to the
hatch. Some of the bodies would not
hold together, and it was a common
sight to see a dead horse suspended
in the air by his hind leg drop sud-
“Doc” Casey's stateroom, where he _denly into the hold below, leaving his
leg hanging to the tackle.
Every horse sent to France is
. branded with a different brand. They
| of creosote in it, and go aft on the “have a system of indexing them. As
‘each dead horse was snaked to the
“upper deck, Doc had to stoop over
‘and make a note of the brand before
I began to feel itchy all over but mi-
the horse was thrown overboard.
As the dead horses were dropped
over the side, a resounding splash
could be heard and the water was
Doc loaned me 8 |
churned into a foamy white as the
body momentarily sank from view.
Then the bloated body of the horse
“would reappear and disappear in the
{he returned them to me. They were
wake of the ship, the seagulls hover-
ing and screaming around it.
The grub on that ship was awful,
and a day out of Bordeaux the gang
of horsemen refused to work. The
foreman mustered them on the main
deck, and standing on the bridge let
| out about twenty minutes of religion
and advice in their direction. The
' whole gang immediately got religious
against
and returned to their duties.
1 was heartily sick and disgusted
with the rest of the trip, because the
stench was awful, there being about
twelve dead horses that we could not
get out.
Just outside of the entrance of the
, river leading to Bordeaux, a small,
the foreman and second foreman.
cut |
pakish boat, flying the tri-color of
France, came alongside. We hove to
and up the gangplank came three
French officers. They were closeted
with t*e captain of the ship and our
' foreman, and after about twenty min-
kicking hunch of horses they went, as | yes, left and we continued on our
Four of the .
course.
Going up the river ‘in some places
the banks were only about twenty
feet away. We could see the French
women tilling their fields. As we
went by these workers stopped and
waved their hands in the air to us, and
we waved back. It was my first sight
| of France, and I was not in any way
. disappointed. It lived up to my expec-
tations.
A little farther up the river we came
to a large dock where ships were load-
. ing and unloading cargces, and a thrill
| passed through me as I saw my first
| batch of German prisoners at work.
| These were immense fellows, nearly
| every one being six feet or over. They
were guarded by little French soldiers,
averaging about five feet five inches,
with a long rifle, bayonet fixed. This
rifle, in comparison with the French-
man, looked like a telegraph pole. The
soldiers had on the old blue overcoats,
the tails buttoned back, pattern of
1871.
As we passed the German prisoners
they scowled at us, and we, feeling
quite safe on the deck, yelled back in-
sults at them. One big Irishman,
right near me, took great glee in jump-
ing up and down on the hatchway and
running his finger across his throat.
This seemed to enrage the prisoners
and they velled something in German.
The Irishman must have understood
it, beeause he let out a volley of curses
in roturn. The French sentries seem-
ed to enjoy this barrage of insults and
did not in any way attempt to curtail
the prisoners’ remarks. This, at the
timo, struck me as depicting a remark-
(Continued on page 7, Col. 2.)