THE SGMI-WEEKLY THIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
The Winning of
a D. C. M.
By
Sergeant Arthur Guy
Empey
Author of "Over the Top,"
"First Call," Etc.
O-O-O
Mr. Empey's Experi-encesDuringilisSeven-teeuMonths
in theFirst
Line Trenches of the
British Army in France
(UopIlglit, 1917, br Thn McClaro Nowppr
Our gun's crew, ns was Its wont, was
UttlngMin the Ktraw In the corner of
Mir billet, far from tlio rest of the sec
tion. 'Die previous night vp had been
relieved from the fire trench, and were
'resting" In rest billots. Our "dny'H
tent" hnd hcen occupied In digging a
kbmhlng trench, HiIh trench to he used
(or the purpose of breaking In would
e hoinherH.
Hungry Foxcroft won Hiking awny
Et a huge lnaf of hread, while on Ills
neo he was balancing a piece of "Is
lue" checBO. Ills Jack-knife was pretty
(till and the hread was hard, so every
row and then he would pause In his
tutting operation to take a large bite
trom the cheese.
Curly Wallace whispered to me:
"Three boh to a tanner, Yank, that ho
tats the cheese before ho finishes slic
ing that 'rooty. "
I whispered back:
"Nothing doing, Curly, you are
Bcotch, and did you ever see a Scots
man bet on anything unless It was a
lure winner?"
Ho answered In an undertone:
"Well, let's make It n pack of fags.
How about It, Yank?"
I acquiesced. (Curly won tho fags,)
Sailor Hill was sitting next to Curly,
tml had our mascot, Jim a sorry-look-lg
mut between Ills knees, and was
picking hard pieces of mud from Its
paws. Jim was wagging his stump of
ft tall and was Intently wutchlng Hun
try's operation on tho bread. Every
Ume Hungry reached for the cheese
Jim would follow the movement with
pis eyes, and Ills tall would wag faster.
Hungry, noting this look, bit off a
liraall piece of tho cheese and flipped
It in Jim's direction. Jim deftly caught
It In his mouth and then the fun be
(fan. Our mascot hated cheese. It was
fun to sec him spit it out and sneeze.
Ikcy llonney reached over, took the
candle, and started searching in his
pack, nmldst a chorus of growls from
Us at his rudeness in thus depriving us
of light. I was watching him closely
and suspected what was coming. Sure
enough, out came that hnrmonlcu and
I knew it was up to me to start tho
hall of conversation rolling before ho
began playing, becnuse, after he had
onco started, nothing short of a Gor
man "flvo-nlno" slicllburst would stop
him. So I slyly kicked Sailor Hill, who
Immediately got wise, and then I
broko tho lco with :
"Sailor, I hoard you say this nftcr
noon, while wo were building tlint
traverse, that It was your opinion that
flam few medals wcro really won ; that
It wns more or less an accident. Now,
Just becnuso your D. g. M. came up
with the rations, and, as you say, It
was wished on you, thero is no reason
In my mind to class every winner of
medal as being 'accidentally lucky.' "
This medal business was a soro point
with Sailor Kill, und ho camo right
back at mo with :
"Well, If any of you lubbers can tell
mo where a D. 0. M. truly came aboard
In u shipshape manner that Is, up
ho after gangplank then I will strike
ay colors and lay up on n lee shore for
flrydoek."
Ikey Honney had Just taken a long,
Indrawn breath, nnd his checks woro
puffed out llko n balloon, preparatory
to blowing It Into tho harmonica, which
he hud at his lips, hut paused, and, re
moving tho musical Instrument of tor
ture, bo exploded:
"Kllme me, I know of a bloke who
won a D. C. M and it wasn't acci
dental or lucky, either. I was right
out In front with him. Kllmo me, I
sure had tho wind up, but with French
It was 'business as usual.' Ho Just
currlod on."
We all chirped In, "Conio on, Ikey,
let's have tho story."
"I will if you'll Just let me play this
ono tune first," answered Ikey.
lie started In and was accompanied
by a dlsmnl, moaning howl from Jim.
Ikcy hnd been playing about a minute,
when tho orderly sergeant poked his
head in tho door of tho billet, saying:
"The captain says to stop that Infer
nal noise."
Highly Insulted, Ikcy stopped, with:
"Somo pcoplo nvo no idea of niu
1c." W Agreed with him.
Somewhat mollified, ho started:
Corporal French Is tho snmo bloke
who Just returned from Kllghty nnd
Joined the Third section yosterduy."
(Authors Noto Tho Incident here re
lated U a true lmpnunlntr. Corporal
French won the I). C. M. In the manner
BeMcrlbod by Honney. 1 will not attempt
to u'lve H In tho cockney dialect.)
1 "Wr were holding n part of the lino
cp ITroiiieiles way, und were about
two hundred yurds from the Hermans.
This suro was a 'hot' section' of tho
fnVf Wo were against tho Prussians,
Mild it was a case, at night, of keeping
your cars and eyes open. No Man's
land tuu full of their patrols und 'ours,
and many fights took place between
them.
"One night wo would send over n
trench-raiding party and the next night
over would como Fritz.
"Thero was a certain part of our
trench nicknamed Dentil alley, and the
company which held It wns sure to
click It hard in casualties. In five
nights 'in' I clicked for three recon
nolterlng patrols.
"John French he wns n lnnco cor
poral then was in charge of our sec
tion. This was before I wont to ma
chine gunners' school and transferred
to this outfit. This French certainly
wus an artist when It came tw scout
ing In No Man's lain). Ho knew every
Inch of the ground out In front, and
wan like a cat he could see In the
dark.
"On the night that he won his IX C.
M. ho had been out 'n front with a pa
trol for two hours, and had Just re
turned to the lire Ireneh. A sentry
down on tho right of Death alley re-i
ported a suspicious noise out In front, '
and our captain gave orders for an
other patrol to go out and Investi
gate. "Corporal Hawkins was next on the ,
list for the Job, hut, bllme me, ho sure
had the wind up, and was shaking and
trembling like a dish of Jelly.
"A new leftenant, Ncwall by name,
had Just come out from Kllghty, and a
pretty flue olllcer, too. Now, don't you ,
chaps think because this chap was
killed that I say he was a good ofll- j
cer, because, dead or alive, you would j
have to go n bloomin' long way to get
another man like Ncwall. Tint this ,
young leftenant was nlf eagerness to I
get out In front. You see. It was his '
first time over the top. Ho noticed
that Hawkins wns shaky, and so did
French. French went up to the olll
cer and said : i
" 'Sir, Corporal Hawkins has been '
feeling queer for the last couple of
days, and I would deem It n favor If I
could go in his place.'
"Now, don't think that Hawkins was
n coward, because he was not, for the
best of us aro liable to get the 'shakes'
at times. You know, Hawkins was
killed at La Knssee .1 couple of months
ngo killed while going over the top.
"Thero were seven In tills patrol
Lef tonnnt Nownll, Corporal French, my
self and four more from K company.
"About sixty yards from Fritz's
trench an old ditch must hnve been
the bed of n creek, but at that time
was dry ran parallel with the Ger
man barbed wire. Lining the edge of
this ditch was a scrubby sort of hedge
which made a fine hiding place for
a patrol. Why Fritz had not sent out
a working party and done away with
this screen was a mystery to us.
"French leading, followed by Leften
ant Ncwall, myself third, and the rest
trailing behind, we ornwlcd through a
sap under our barbed wire leading out
to a listening post in No Man's land.
We each had three bombs. Ncwall
carried a revolver one of thoso
Yankee Colts and his cane. Kllme nie,
I believe that olllcer slept with that
cane. He never went without It. The
rest of us were armed with bombs and
rllles, bnyonets fixed. We had pre
viously blackened our buyonets so they
would not shine In the glare of a star
shell.
"Reaching tho listening post French
told us to wait about live minutes un
til ho returned from a little scooting
trip of his owfi. When he left, we,
with every nerve tense, listened for his
coming back. We could almost hear
each other's hearts pumping, hut not a
sound around tho listening post. Sud
ly a voice, about six feet on my right
whispered, 'AH right tho way Is clear; j
follow me and carry on.'
"My blood froze M my veins. It
wus uncanny the way French ap
proached us without being heard.
"Then, with backs bending low, out
of the listening post we went, In the
direction of the ditch In front of the
German barbed wire. We rvached the
scrubby hedge and lay down, about six
feet apart, to listen. French and tho
olllcer were on the right of our lino.
About twenty minutes bad elapsed
when suddenly, directly In front of tho
German wire wo could see dark, shad-
Jim Was Wadding Hla Stump of a Tail
and Watching Intently.
owy forms rise from the ground and
nlovo along tho wire. Silhouetted
ngalnst the skyline these forms looked
like huge giants, and took on horrible
shapes. My heart almost stopped beat
ing. I counted s'xty-two In all, as the
last form faded Into tho blackness on
my left.
"A whlEjer camo to my ears:
"'Don't movo or make a sound, n
strong German raiding party Is going
across. It was French's voice. I did
not hoar hlin approach nie, nor leave.
Yank, ho must have got hla training
with the Indians on your great plains
of America 1
"I could hear a slight scraping noise
on my right and left. Pretty soon tho
whole reeoiinoUerlng patrol was ly
ing In u circle, heads In. French had,
In his noiseless way, given orders for
them to close in on me, and await In
structions. "Leftenant Newnll's voice, in a very
low whisper, camo to us:
"'Keys, tlio men in our trendies
have received orders not to lire on ac
count of our reconnoltering patrol be
ing out In front. A strong German
raiding party has Just circled our left,
and is making for our trench. It's up
to us to send word back. We can't
all go, because we might make too
much noise and warn the German par
ty, so It's up to ono of us to carry tho
newH hack to the trench that the raid-
Ing party Is on Its wny. With this
information it will be quite easy for
our boys to wipe them out. Kut Its
up to the rest of us to stick out here,
and If we go west we have done our
duty In a noble cause. Corporal
French, you hud better take the news
hnck, because you aro too valuable a
man to Sacrifice.'
"French, under Ills breath, an
swered :
" 'Sir, I've been out since Mens, nnd
this is the first time thnt I've ever
been insulted by an oflieer. If this
patrol Is going to click It, I'm going to
click It too. If we come out of this
you can try me for disobedience of or
ders, but here I stick, and I'll be
damned if I go In, olllcer or no olll
cer.' "Newall, in a voice husky with emo
tion, answered :
" 'French, It's men llko you that
make It possible for "our Little Island"
to withstand the world. You are a
true KHton. and I'm proud of you.'
"I was hoping that he would detail
me to go baelc, but he didn't. Hender
son was picked for the Job. When
Henderson left Newall shook hands
all around. I felt queer and lonely.
"You see, fellows, It was this way:
Henderson wns to tell the men In tho
trench that wo had returned and that
It was all right for them to turn loose
on the raiding party with their rifle
and machine guntlre, without us click
ing their tire. Leftenant Newall sure
was a lad. not 'arf he weren't.
"That next twenty minutes of wait
ing was hell. Then, from out of the
blackness, over toward our trench,
rang that old familiar ' 'Alt, who goes
there?' We hugged the ground. We
knew what was coming. Then, a vol
ley from our trench, and four 'type
writers' (machine guns) turned loose.
Kullets cracked right over our heads.
One lilt the ground about a foot from
me, ricocheted, and went moaning and
sighing over the German lines.
"Leftenant Newall .sobbed under his
breath :
"'God, we're in direct line of our
own lire. The trench-raiding party
must have circled us.'
"Our boys In our trench sure were
doing themselves proud. The bullets
were cracking and biting the ground
all (.round us.
"In between our trench and oU"
party, curses rang out in German as
the Kochcs clicked the lire from the
English trench. Star shells were
shooting Into the air and dropping In
No Man's laud. It was a great but
terrible sight which met our eyes.
Fritz's raiding party was sure being
wiped out.
"Ten or fifteen dark forms, the rem
nants of the German raiding party,
dashed past us in tlio direction of tho
German trench. We hugged the
ground. It was our only chance. Wo
knew that It would only be a few
seconds before Fritz turned loose. If
we had legged It for our trench we
would have been wiped out by our
own lire. You see, our 'boys thought
we were safely in.
"Then, up went Fritz's star lights,
turning night Into day, and hell cut
loose. Their bullets were snipping
twigs from the hedge over our heads.
"Suddenly the fellow on my left,
MucCauloy by name, emitted a muf
fled groan, and started kicking the
ground; then silence. He had gone
wust. A bullet through the napper, I
suppose. There were now five of us
left.
"Suddenly Leftenant Newall, In a
faint, choking voice, exclaimed:
"'They've got me, French; It's
through the lung,' and then fainter
'you're In command. See that '
His voice died away. Pretty soon he
started moaning loudly. The Germans
must have heard these moans, beciuiso
they Immediately turned their fire on
us. French called to me:
"'Honney, come here, my lad, our
olllcer has clicked it.'
"I crawled over to him. He was
sitting on the ground with the lcftm
ant's head resting in his lap, and wns
getting out his tlrst-ald packet. I
told htm to get low or ho would eli. k
It. He answered:
"Since when does a blooiulu' Inm-o
corporal take orders from a moody pri
vate? You tell the rest or tlio boys. If
they've not as yet gone west, to leg It
back to our trench at the double und
get n stretcher, and you go with them.
This lad of ours has got to get medic il
attention, and damned quick, too, if we
1 want to stop (his bleeding I
"Just then a German star shell land
ed about ten feet from us. and In Its
white, ghostly light I could see French
sitting like a bloomiu' statue, his hands
covered with blood, trying to make a
tourniquet out of a bandage and his
, lmvwnn
l "I told tho rest to get in and get the
stretcher. They needed no second
urging, and soon French wns left there
alone, sitting on the ground, holding
ills dying olllcer's head In his lap. A
pretty picture, I call It. Ho sure una
a man, was French with tho bullets
! cracking overhead and kicking up tho
j dirt around him."
Just then Happy butted in with:
I "Were you ono of the men who went
In for the stretcher?"
Ikey uuswered: "None of your d
business. If yon blokes want to hcai
this story through, don't lntern.pt."
Happy vouchsafed no answer.
"About ten minutes after the fellowi
left for the stretcher. French got a bul
let through tho left arm."
Sailor Kill Interrupted here:
"How do you know it was ten min
utes?" Ikey blushed nnd answered :
"French told me when he got hnck
to the trench. You see, he carried the
olllcer back through that Arc, be
cause the stretcher bearers took tor
i long In coming out."
' I asked Ikey how Corpornl French,
being wounded himself, could carry
l Leftenant Ncwall In, because " knew
Lefrcnnnt Newall to be n six-footer
' and no lightweight. You see, he had
at one time been in command of my
platoon at the training depot in Eng
land. . Ikey answered :
"Well, you blokes give me the proper
pip. and you can all bloomin' well go
to h ," and he shut up like a elnrn.
Hungry Foxcroft goj up and silently
withdrew from our circle. In about
ten minutes he returned, followed by
a tall, fair-haired corporal who wore
a Utile strip of gold braid on the left
sleeve of his tunic, denoting that he
had been once wounded, and also wore
a little blue and red ribllon on the left
breast of his tunic, the Held Insignia of
the Distinguished Conduct medal.
Hungry, in triumph. brought him
Into our circle nnd handed him a fag,
which lie lighted In the flame from the
candle on the mess tin, and then nun
gry Introduced him to us:
"Keys, I want you to meet Corporal
French."
He shook bunds with nil the boys.
Ikey got red and wi trying to ease
out of the candle light, when Sailor
Holding His Dying Officer's Head.
KIM grabbed him by the tunic and held
him.
Then Hungry Foxcroft carried on:
"French, I'm going to nsk you n
mighty personal question, and I know
you'll aHswer It. How in h did you,
lilt In the left arm, bring Leftenant
Newall back from that reconnoiterinp
putrol?"
French grew n little red, and an
swered :
"Well, you see, boys, It wns this way.
Honney. and I stuck out there with
him, nnd, taking the slings from out
rifles, Honney mndo a sort of rope
which he. put around my shoulder and
under tho arm of the leftenant, nnd
Honney, getting the leftenant by the
legs, we managed to get him Into the
trench. You know, I got a D. C. M. out
of the affair, because 1 was the cor
poral in charge. Damned unfair, I
call it, because they only handed Hon
ney the Military medal, but If tho true
facts were known he was the bloke
who deserved, not a D. C. M., but a V.
0. (Victoria Cross)."
We all turned In Honney's direction.
Kill, in ills Interest, hnd released his
hold on Honney's tunic nnd nonney
had disappeared.
Happy asked French If the leftennnt
had died in No Man's land.
French, with tears In his eyes, nn
Bwcred :
"No, but the poor lad went west
nftcr we got him to the flrst-nld dress
Ing station, and next day we burled
him in the little cemetery at Fromel
les. He suro done his bit, all right,
bllme me, and hero I am, bloomin' well
Bwnnkln' with a ribbon on my chest."
A dead silence fell on the crowd.
Each one of us wns admiring the mod
esty of those two real men, French
and llonney.
Kut such is the way In the English
army the man who wins the medal al
ways says that tho other fellow do
sorved It.
And Germany Is still wondering why
they cannot sninsh through tlio Eng
lish lines.
Canterbury's Famous Ghost.
Of course, Canterbury cathedral has
Its ghosts. If rumor be true the ghost
of the murdered Thomas a Kecket is
periodically to seen engaged in thnt
lust dendly struggle of his with the
four miscreant knights nt the foot of
the altar, and groans and other queer
noises are reputed to bo heard on tho
nnnlvemiry of his death. The crime
was committed on December 20, 1170,
and tho stulns of his blood aro believed
to be In evidence ; no amount of wash
ing over having effaced them. Pear
son's Weekly.
True Education.
Education Is not lemming; It Is tho
exercise and development of the pow
ers of the mind. There aro two great
methods by which this end tnuy be ac
complished; It muy ho done In the
halls of learning or in tho conflicts of
life. Prluceton ltevlow.
ROAD
BUILDING
BUILD SPLIT-LOG ROAD DRAG
Main Point to Remember Is That De
vice Should Be Faced With a
Strip of Old Iron.
Everybody knows about the split
log road drag and the cut hore shown
Is so clear that it needs little explan
ation. The main points to bo remem
bered are that a part of the front por
tion of the drag should be faced with
n strip of iron (nn old wagon tire will
do) and the hitch so arranged that the
drag will move along at an nngle
always pushing the loose dirt townrd
A Road Drag.
tlio center of tho road. Tlio occasion
al use of this drug on any road will
certainly improve It nnd no farmer
will make a mistake In constructing
one and using it on the highways that
puss through his farm.
FARMER NEEDS GOOD ROADS
Motor Has Extended His Sphere of
Operation Until 100 Miles Doesn't
Worry Him.
Thero is a reason for American
tardiness in road building. We need
not be utterly downcast when we hear
our highways unfavorably compared
with the fine, smooth roads of Europe.
We must remember that Europenn
highways were hundreds of years in
the making nnd in periods when roads
were the sole means of transportation,
both civil nnd military. There were
no railroads, no electric lines, no wire
communication. Kond building was
tho essence of commercial life nnd
communication.
America started almost with the
railroad and the steamboat. Compar
ator ty r. few years Inter we had the
telegraph. Our roads were neglected
becnuse they were only locnl In char
acter. Our railroads and telegraph
enabled us to leap the centuries. Kut
now we nre confronted by a new need.
It is the need for better local trans
portation', snys Chicago Tribune.
Where formerly the farmer was con
tent with a few miles of dirt roads for
his local trnfile, ho now requires hun
dreds of miles, for his area hns ex
panded with tho advent of gasoline.
A few yenrs back there was the
protest that good roads was merely
the argument of tho nutomobilist, n
species restricted chiefly to metropol
itan districts. A pnrt of that argu
ment still obtains that good roads
Is the demnntl of tho nutomobilist;
but the nutomobilist Is the farmer.
The motor has extended his sphere of
operation until 100 miles Is of no more
concern to him than wns ten before.
FOR GOOD SPRING HIGHWAYS
One Big Item In Preparedness Pro
gram Is to Clean Outside Ditches
During Autumn.
Winter wcntherlng may be great for
the farmers' Holds, but It's hard on
the road.
The best way to prevent extreme
weathering of the rond is to clenn out
tlio side ditches before freezing weath
er sets In nnd to keep the road sur
face In condition so that it will freeze
up in a well-dragged condition.
Cleaning the side ditches will allow
the water to run off and avoid the
possibility of the road freezing In n
saturated condition. Drngglng the
road to a smooth surface will elim
inate posslblo wntcr pockets and al
low the water to escape In the side
ditches.
USE TAR AND HAY COVERING
Found to Wear Quite Satisfactorily
Over Almost Pure Sand Roads
in Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin there are several long
stretches of utmost pure sand rouds.
Considerable dlfllculty Is experienced
in passing over them either in dry
weather or in wet weather. Numerous
schemes liavo been tried In nn effort to
make them passable, the most promis
ing of which at present appears to bo
a covering of hay and tar. Last sum
mer several sections of sund rond wero
treated with this combination. After n
few weeks of usage it was found to
have withstood tho wear of trulllc and
n stretch over n mile In length was
given a similar application. So fur, It
Is suld, tho hny-and-tnr covering Is
wearing In n very nstlsfactory manner.
Pathfinder.
CLEAN ROADSIDES ARE BEST
Makes Road Look Much Prettier and
Takes Very Little Time Pay
ment Not In Cash.
Why not mow the wecdu nlong tho
roadside? now much prettier tho roud
will look. It only takes a few minutes.
No, It doesn't matter that you muy re
celve no cash payment for this servlco.
The knowledge that you have beauti
fied the world u bit Is pny. And wo
mi do our bit fh many wnys aside f rom
donating cash to worthv cnusaa.
ES
HHJL OUT
A small bottle of "Danderlne"
keeps hair thick, strong,
Deautiful.
Girls! Try thisl Doubles beauty
of your hair in a few
moments.
Within ten minutes after un appli
cation of Danderlne you can not find a
single trace of dandruff or falling hnlr
and your scalp will not Itch, but what
will please you most will be nfter a few
weeks' use, when you see new hair. Una
and downy nt first yes but really
new hair growing all over the scalp.
A little Danderlne Immediately dou
bles the beauty of your hulr. No dif
ference how dull, faded, brittle and
scraggy, Just moisten a cloth with Dan
derlne and carefully draw It through
your hair, taking one small strand at a
time. The effect is amazing your hair
will be light, fluffy and wavy, and have
nn appearance of abundance; an ln
compnrablo lustre, softness and luxu
riance. Get a small bottle of Knowlton'a
Danderlne for n few cents at any drug
store or toilet counter, and prove that
your hair Is as pretty and soft as any
that It has been neglected or Injured
by careless treatment Vint's nil you
surely can hnve beautiful hair and lota
of It if you will Just try a little Dan
derlne. Adv.
His Bluff Called.
"These $0 shoes suit me all right,"
said the young mnti who had enough
In to feel a bit guy. "I'll take two
pairs, size No. 0."
When they were wrapped up the
young man tendered him three $2 bills.
"Thnt will be $12, sir, if you please."
"Say, you're a poker player, aren't
you? Well, three of a klud beat two
pair."
"Yes, but they don't beat four
nines," snid the salesman. "Twelve
dollars, please." Koston Transcript
Not Much.
Recruiting Sergeant "Aro you sin
gle?" Wlll-Ke Kookle "Do I look like
twins?" Leatherneck.
A postnl card to Garfield Tea Co,
Krooklyn, N. Y asking for n sample
will repay you. Adv.
The first phonograph wns made 40
yenrs ago, but Its popularity is of
more recent date.
In 1848 Sir Arthur Garrod proyod
that in gout ( also truo in rheumatism)
there is deficient elimination on the
part of the kidneys and tho poison
within are not thrown off.
Prof. II. Strauss attributes a goutj
attack to the heaping up of poison
where thero is an abundance of urio
ncid which is precipitated in the joint
and sheaths, setting up Inflammation.
Before tho attack of gout or rheu
matism there is sometimes headache,
or what is thought to bo neuralgia, or
rheumatic conditions, such as lumbago,
pain in tho bnck of tho neck, or sciatica
As Prof. Strauss says, The excretion
of uric ncid we are able to effect bj
exciting diuresis." Drink copiously of
water, six or eight glasses per day, hot
water before meals, and obtain Anurlo
tablets, doublo strength, for 00 cts., at
the nearest drug store and take them
three tunes n day. If you want n trial
package send 10 cents to Dr. Pierce'i
Invalids' Hotel, Bufialo, N. Y.
"Anuric" (anti-uric) is a recent din
covery of Dr. Pierce and much more
potat than lithla, for it will dissolve
uric atiu us Uut tea dissolves suKar,
DANDRUFF
