The evening world. Newspaper, October 31, 1918, Page 16

—_—— / “from German 77s were falling on and THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, Eight Months _ With the American Army 1918 at the Front BEFORE AND AFTER AT LUCY-LE-BOCAGE What Artillery Bombardment Means to a Com- munity Is Illustrated in the Case of Lucy-le- Bocage, the Worst Wreck in France Outside of Flanders—Martin Green Saw This Town Before and After a Forty Day Intense Bombardment by the German Artillery, and Graphically De- scribes What Happened There. By Martin Green ‘ (Staff Correspondent of The Evening World.) va Copyright, 191 |. by The Press Publishing Co, (The New York Wrening World) O™ those who have been in the pitiful ruins of French towns and villages which have suffered desolation and depression of war, the cruelty of miles northeast of the fire of German guns can {evl the the scene, Photograpas convey but @ feeble impression of the completeness of destruction. And only those who have been in a town when it was whole and populated and have returned to it after it had been reduced to piles of shattered and powdered stone have @ real conception of the ruinous property waste of war to non-combatants, the irreplace. ble economic loss of armed combat. Out of hundreds of blasted French towns in the war zone Lucy-le-Bocage, which is probably about forty Paris and a few miles north of the . great highway between Paris and Metz, gives to me the sant ment means to a Bocage before the Germans saelled dest means of illustration of what artillery bombard. community, for I was in Lucy-le- it, and I was there again after the bombardment was terminated by German defeat. Perhaps I can produce ii. words an understanding of the change wrought. The interval between my visits was fifty-one days, and during that time the town was under “bombardment, of various degrees of intensity, for about forty days. Lucy- Je-Bocage is probably the worst wreck in France, outside of Flanders. . On Friday, May 31, scouting for news along the Marne terrain toward ‘which the Germans were approach- ing, I entered Chateau-Thierry. The civilian population was leaving and «the streets were full of French troops. airplanes were overhead tuk- ing observations for artillery direc- _ tion and shells were dropping on the hheights north of the town. 1 made the mistake of visiting the French commandant, who cordially invited me to leave. He said my automobile was bdiocking, traffic, ‘which was kind of him, inasmuch as T was in & French combat sone with- outa French pass. Loaving Chatest- | ‘Thierry by the Paris road north of the Marne, we rode to Charly, and from there we headed north. The roads were a tangle of traffic, for the French were coming out and g0- ing in, There were few American ‘Aroops in the sector at that time, but they were on their way and clone by, @estined soon to give @ glorivus Ac: count of themselves and strike the initial blow cf the series delivered since then which has wiped Ger- many off the map as @ military power, . ‘The air throbbed with the booming of big guns, but the intensity of fire appeared to be centred at a point east by northeast, and we shaped our course in that direction, making de- tours into side roads at times to avold the congestion on the main highway. On our devious route we passed ‘through the village called Mary, and Jater in the day we encountered an- ether village called Lizy. Soldiers of the 24 Division when they come back ‘after the war will refer facetiously to their meeting on the battle front with “Charlie, Lucy, Lizzie and Mary.” At Lucy-lo-Bocage we found that “we were as close to the battle front “as we could get that day, and it was “Yate. afternoon. To the east was Bouresches, to the north Belleau ‘Wood, both of which will shine on the pages of the history of the Marine Corps. There were American officers in Lucy-le-Bocage, but by @ freak of “warfare, the town was, for the time being, quite free of military trafic ‘The Americans were establishing headquarters and secking billets for +troops, and it was moving day for the French residents of Lucy-le-Bocage. ‘The French troops were falling back deyond Belleau Wood and Bouresches and the Germans were hustling up light artillery and shell- ing the back areas, High explosives about the roads to the east and north 4nd, occasionally, we could hear the fearing explosion of a shell landing lose to the town. But for the infro- quent shell bursts and the steady “booming of cannon in the distance “we would not have known of the des- “perate struggle so near to us. Perhaps it was because I saw Lucy- Eocage later, but whatever the on, I carry in my memory a pic- of one of the neatest and hom- Aittle towns I saw in France. "main roads run through the erossing in the place, or public from which gentle slopes w of tie square was a eburch with a square othe few churches I saw sions to be loaded into combersome two wheeled carts, or baby carriages, pr wheelbarrows, or little wagons drawn by donkeys or dogs. A few old men aided intermittently, but the old men spent most of their time question- ing a squad of French soldiers who were hustling up the evacuation of the place. Some shopkeepers on the square had announced their intention of ro- maining. Their places of business were closed and shuttered, and they were aiding their townsmen who had decided to join the great army of refu- geen. No outward manifestation of grief marked tho departure of these people from their homes, aithough it was their second migration. ‘They had been driven out by the Germans in 1914, but on that occasion the district had been spared. Preparing to move off to unknown, places the indomitable folk of Lucy-le-Bocage packed up silently and expeditiously. “C'est ia guerre,” they said, “It ie the war. ‘They left thelr flowers blooming in their gardens, their fires burning in thelr stoves. Premonition—news intuition—some- ‘thing made me feel as if I were ut- tending @ funeral at which the mourn- ers were controlling their feetings by an effort of witl, The sun showered the town and the green fields beyond with floods of warmth and cheer, but as I walked through the streets I felt chilled, It was indeed, as events proved, the funeral of Lucy-e-Bo- cage: For miles on the road back to Paris ‘we passed through maases of plod- ding refugees from Lucy-le-Bocage and villages along the route. Soon we were again enmeshed in lines of moving troops and artillery and sup- ply trains, but they were all moving one way, from the rallheads at Meaux and Trilport toward the front, toward the German advance. It was quite by accident that I visited Lucy-le-Bocage again on July 21. ‘The Germans had evacuated Chateau-Thierry that day and three of us rode from Chateau-Thierry on @ search for one of our high officers. From Charly we headed northward along the roads dotted with sholl holes. We finally found that our of- flcer was at a headquarters some dis- tance to the south, and on our way to him we approached what had once been a town. I didn't recognize it until we en- tered the public square, About half the main part of the church and part of two walls of the tower were stand- ing. Through the gaping church wall we could see, undamaged, a crucifix thirty feet high, before a shrine dis- mantled by shell fire. It was the only undamaged thing within the ed- ifice. All the rest of the town was level with the exception of remnants of walls of q few buildings on both sides of the north and south road, ‘The old outlines of the square were indistingulshable, for every building fronting it save the church had been blown to pieces. On the site of one inviting home I recalled trom my previous visit, which had displayed flower boxes in the windows, there was a hole in tho ground. No sign remained of the cozy building which jhad contained the town offices and |where I had talked with the Mayor, Soldier Pupils in Uncle Sam’s “Trade School tet CORNERS IN CLASS ROOMS AT LAKEWOOD, N. J., WHERE DISABLED “WAR HEROES” ARE BEING TURNED INTO REAL “INDUSTRIAL ASSETS.” _ACoorriaht Underwood & Underwond.) A *‘Runt’’ in the Army BY CANDIDATE ARTHUR (“BUGS”) BAER (18th Training Battery, F. A. C. 0. 'F there is anything that handicaps a candidate more than an ab- I breviated reach at mess, it is a lack of proper interval between ais shoes and his fedora. y When putting on the nose bag the embryo second loot is starting from scratch if he can’t stretch the regulation double octave at the food trough. By the time that the plates have reached him, or he has reached the plates, they are as empty as a picnic’ grounds on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. The boys with the long lunch hooks have annexed the works and there is notaing left to do but to tip the K. P. a thin dime to bring up an extra caisson load of forage. The half portion candidate not only draws half portions tn the food lottery, but he also grabs off blanks and double blanks in all the other raffles. All the birds who measure more than 5 foot 10 from their bunions to their army Saircuts are given orchestra seats mn the front of the battery. . Where do the five foot twoers and oners fit in? The short goofs are the heel of the battery. The B. C. hides 'em away down near the caudal appendage of the outfit where the inspection officers can’t spot ‘em. A short candidate is a heel and nothing more. He's in the bat- tery for just the same reason that they put deuces in a poker deck. Nobody wants ‘em, but you've got to have ‘em in the pack to make it official. ” When the old mess whistle warbles its sociable carol, waat be- in that field or right around here all through the bombardment, and believe me, the Germans threw over some of the biggest boluses they had in stock. In the daytime she used to lie in a brook down by the edge of the woods and along in the afternoon she would come out and graze. They dropped shells all around her and she ought to be shell-shocked to a fare you well, but she doesn't show it, about it was that during the bom- bardment which reduced this pretty town to worthless atoms one of the units of the United States Army had maintained @ headquarters there. Hiding in cellars and dugouts, some of our men had heard the place blown away over thetr heads, We found a few soldiers around a camp kitchen in a field south of the town getting ready to follow the front “We were going to kill that cow and eat her,” the non-com, confided, “but we've talked it over and concluded to let her stick around until the people that own her come back. You see wo kind of figure that she is a hero—thut old cow.” which was moving in the general di- rection of Germany, They had noth- ing to eat, and gladly accepted two jars of sausage and & loaf of bread which we had in our car. The field was pitted with shell ho! “See that cow out there?” asked the non-com. in charge of the kitchen out- fit, pointing across tne field We saw a cow out there, grazing. As we spun down the road through the long shadows cast by 4 gorgeous sunset we looked back and saw a poss The whole area of Lucy-le-Bocage old women and ng women and thelr posses of debris. The almost unbelievable Was @ succession of chasms and piles | and sausage, thing know about that old cow? She was oo ace RP TOTEM ES WIERD IT a 4 Sing NOE |The non-com., between bites of bread] the levelled prospect that had once went on. been Lucy-le-Bocage the jagged akeie- “Well,” he asked, “what do you! + > of the square tower of the church at the corner of the public square, th Die sag? ee pres agen AD 26 ob a laa NIE i T.8., Camp Zachary Taylor, Ky.) comes of the heel? Some tall acting B. C, yodels, “Right face, column right,” and the heel is the last bird into the mess conservatory, He is just in time to be too late. The Q. M. shoots out the clothing by height. The six footers grab off the gravy and when the list is down among the kewpies in section “H” there ain't enough clothing left to make ear muffs for an influenzy germ, And guard duty? Yea, bo! That's where the shrimps get the work good and plenty. The six footers ease into the first and second reliefs and the birds who ain't tall enough to whistle “Yankee Doodle” without blowing dust into their own ears are popped into the third relief, Anybody who Das tossed off a sentry go on the third relief, knows that ain't any more relief than having an ingrown hair. You may like that flavor, but we prefer sarsaparilla. The poor lob who is so short that he can walk under a bed with a higa hat on is sure getting his when they dish out the details. When the B, wants a chest of tools, blackboard or load of books carried, he just ambles down to the heel of the battery and knocks off 4 squad of short birds for the work. They never pick details from the head of the battery, That would spoil the contour. It sure is tough to be so short that you can walk under a dachs- hund without bending your neck. A kewpie candidate certainly catches hades in cadence and by the numbers, ¢ The only time when hé, heads the list in anytaing is when they are dishing up the inoculations. Then they shoot the short birds first so that the doc can get some practice before he starts in on the real sections of the battery. And when it comes to power of command, who's going to jump for a voice that sounds like a mouse being nipped by a ten-cent trap? ‘Who's going to obey a kewpie who looks like a mule kicked him and folded him up like an accordion? More power to us! You sald it, In order to grab off a commish a short candidate has to be dot-dot-dot-dot dash-dotted good, waatever that means in Mr, Morse’s code. i And the only consolation that we kewpies have is that a lot of us short babies are doing it. * KEPT TAB ON THEM. WALL STRMET man tells thi story of a well known financte noted alike for his persploacity and his close-fistedness: ‘kivo promoters once called on him to try to arouse his interest in a cer- tain scheme of theirs. They talked to him about an hour, Then they took their leave, having been told that he would jet them kaow his decision in @ few days, uptown. “I don’t know,” said the other, seems very suspicious.” “Suspicious,” echoed “What picio the “how he counted his fingers aft had shaken h Argonaut, JR PO SI i RT —_—————————— “I believe we've got him,” said the first promoter hopefully, on the way “He first, makes you think he Is sus hal ee i a Ee COE 2 ei Ge eee eee “Didn't you notice," was the reply, is with him?"—The THURSDAY, ment after America entered the war. covers @ block, located in the heart the Lakewood region famous. There are about 800 men now in the hospital, in all stages of convalesence. Some still carry in their bodies frag- mént of shrapnel to be extracted by the surgeons. Others lack a hand or foot. Many hobble about on crutches and canes. Still others are suffering from heart or other organic disease acquired in warfare. The “medical” and “surgical” cases are about evenly divided. But whether “surgical” or “predical,” each of these men is a veteran who has known the fierce thrill of bom- bardment or going over the top with bayonet fixed, to advance the Stars and Stripes across some fire-swept field. jl And each of them ts a separate problem for the United States to solve. The careless bestowal of a pension—always inadequate—or the pathetic Old Soldiers’ Home, been the answer in former wars. But a method more fair to the men themselves who have made the sacri- fice must be found this time. It is being found at several Base Hos- pitals, of which Lakewood is one of the most striking examples. Major Fred P. Reagie and Lieut. R. T Johnston of the Sanitary Corps were given the task of working out the problem at Lakewood. They | were given an appropriation of $3,000 and a free hand. It is not much money for a shifting population of 800 men, coming in on stretchers and going out, handicapped, to “go over the top” in the fierce competition of modern business without any flags waving or bugles blowing. But it was enough to make a show- ing and assure larger appropriations, ‘The work starts the moment « man is carried in on his stretcher. As soon as the surgeons have made their physical examination, one of three Educational Aides—Miss Crimmins, Miss Gowing or Miss Wilson—goes to the patient's bedside, There is a heart to heart talk and a present of some knitted work, leather purse or belt, or similar work done by other patients. The new arrival is told he can learn to make similar things ‘while bedfast. This includes “Made in America” toys, weaving and basket work. Invariably the soldier ig interested. He expresses a wish to make presents for the folks “back home.” He be- comes @ pupil of the aide assigned to him, ‘ By the time the soldier is allowed to leave his ward he has become accus- tomed to light work of some kind, He then is taken in hand by one of a corps of “survey men” who find out about his previous occupation, whether he wishes to return to it, and if he cannot or does not wish to, 1s offered instruction in any work of which he is physically capable. There is a scientific farm of ten How to Send Xmas Boxes To Our Sailors ACKAGES intended for officers and men on vessels in home waters and abroad, or at for- eign shore stations, should be packed and forwarded ip the following man- ner: All packages must be plainly marked with the name and address of the sender, together with a nota- tion indicating the nature of con- tents, such as “Christmas Box,” and the name and address of the man to whom the package is sent. All packages shipped by " parcel post or express must be forwarded in care of the Supply Officer, Fleet Sup- ply Base, 29th Street and Third Ave- nue, South Brooklyn, N. Y. Packages forwarded by parcel post must comply with postal regulatio! regarding the different zones, aad should be packed in wooden boxe fitted with hinged or screw top co ers. Packages shipped by express are limited to twenty pounds tot weight; should measure not more than two cubic feet in volume; be of wood, well strapped, and have a hinged or screw top cover to fa tate opening and’ inspecting. No perishable food products other than those inclosed in cans or glass jary should be included in any packaso Shipments of Christmas packages for ves abroad or foreign shuve stations should be made im timo ty reach the Fleet Supply ‘Base, 29/}, Street and Third Avenue, Sov: Brooklyn, N..¥., by Nov. 16, Chrte mas packages intended for vessels home waters should reach the F’ Supply Base by Dee. 1, Charges must be paid only to Broo\ lyn, N. Y, All packages must be sout 4s gtated above and be inspected here, No other inspection will suffice. have OCTOBER 31, How Our Disabled Fighters Are Being Trained to Fill Better Jobs Than They Quit Vocational Classes Conducted at Base Hospital No. 9, Lakewood, N. J., Demonstrate America’s “After the War” Plans for Our Soldiers Upon Whom War Has Left a Physical Mark. By Stanley Mitchell Copyright, 1918, by The Press Publishing Co, (The New York Wrening World.) MERICA’S “after the war” plans for disabled fighting men‘are being demonstrated at Base Hospital No. 9, Lakewood, N. J., where hun- dreds of heroes sent home from overseas are being equipped to fill better jobs than they quit to join the colors. ’ The Sospital is the old Lakewood Hotel, taken over by the Govern- 1918 It is a well appointed building and of the forest of pines that has madé acres, that is actually a commergial succe: open to those who wish to study agficulture. They are givep Practical and technical courses. ‘The instructors have been surprised by the number of men who have been farmers, but Gemand instruction in bookkeeping, s(enography or other of- fice work. The reverse is true ot men who have worked in offices and wish to take up farming. The war has opened the door to many “square pegs in round holes" who now have an opportunity to follow their nut+ ural dent. ‘ For the typewriting class manu- facturers loaned the necessary ma- chines. Shoe machine makers loaned their machines. Lynotype manufac- turers supplied the necessary equip- ment. Motor truck and tractor man+ ufacturers gave trucks and motors, An old printing plant used by the hotel for menus was brought to light and became the nucleus of the print- ing school. ‘ Thus each department was devel- oped, in many cases drawing the in- stryctors from among the patients themselves, Porches were covered and built in for class rooms and the school ceased to be an experimént and became an established factor. Much of the hospital furniture, all of the printing, shoe repairing and tail- oring of the institution is done in the school rooms, Most of the departments would pay on @ commercial basis if the output were marketed instead of being turned over for Government use, Among the instructors are G. J. Altman, R. R. Rothacker and T. A. McGarr, farming;, J. Merlino, tailor- ing; R. D. Lethbridge, art; Ralph Matthews and T. J. Coonan, printing; J. B. Vavalo, furniture and uphol- stering; G. B. Van Buhren, auto me- chanics; L. D, Stage, L. L. Tenley, and W. H, O'Dell, wood working; T 8. Funk, Max Stern, Abraham Deutsch, H. L. Saul, R. H. Mahoney academics; G. Cooper, C. D. Coffeen, W. B, Latting and Sergt. Ellison, sur- vey. Sergt. Coffeen is in charge of this department, which is charge with selection of the vocation by the patient and advising him, ———— The Flags of the Allied Nations By T. L. Sanborn No. 19—RUSSIA, HERD 1s some doubt at present as to Just what oan be regarded as th Russian national flag. The old tricolor was discarded by the Bolsheviki when they seized control, and they adopted a plain red flag with a long Russian inscrip- tion. The red flag symbol of revolu- Russia is the common tion, The old Russian flag consists of three horizontal stripes, the top stripe being white, the middle blue, and the bottom red. The famous Czar, Peter the Great, devised this flag. Having spent some time in Holland learn- ing shipbuilding, he took a liking to the Dutch flag, which was and Is three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue, the red at the top and the blue at the bottom, and turning this Dutch ensign upside down so that the blue stripe was atthe top and the red at the bottom, Peter made It the national flag of Russia, Some of his subjects protested at this, say- ing that such a great empire as the Cuar’s should have a more fitting banner than the Dutch flag reversed —& signal of distress at sea, Peter placed upon,the middle white stripe of the Russian flag a blue X, representing the cross of St. Andrew, Russia's patron saint, But this flag, too, lacked distinction, so Czar Peter made @ final change and placed the white stripe at the top, omitting the biue X, and the blue stripe in the middle, in which form the flag hag come down through the centuries, ———.___ NO HOPE, (From the Buffalo Expres.) Steward—We're held up by a subma- Seasick Passenger. 1 hap rine, sir, ‘Good! darn pirate relieves this ship" of bee roll!