SHELLPROOF MACK
h' -1
II
A Common Soldiers
Recital ot Thrilling
Adventures in'the
Terrific Struggle for
World Democracy
By ARTHUR JAMES M'KAY.
Copyright. 111, by Small. Harnard A Co.,
.. -.. . Inc.)
Artk June McKsr. who woa the etibrl
met of "Shellproof Meek" thra be joined
k Prltleh regiment after the (inking of th
: Laeitania and wbea tho Vol ted Motet bad
MM to declare war Immediately, reaehed
tha front and wu wounded eereral tlmoa
tad aaod one.
" - Bo withdrew aa appllratloa for dlacharae,
accent of twin oa American eltlaen, when
told of hi need by the Knrlleh. The 1-
rtto battle of Melnee Hldre waa related
Mack In connection with the plan to
fenrw ay Hlil 00. Hark and comrade go
ear tho top when 1,000,000 ponnde of am-mi--
are exploded. They roaeh tho enemy
ti ear tin thronca a beery machine and rifle
Are. The Brltleh eaeualtlea were to per cent
mt teiei nea wbea who went over,
i n Tom rale war palnr a terro white
aawteaa with Bed Croea aifna painted oa
. awof am aide. tadleatln hoepltal, wbea
1 teMf face tremendous runflre. They
aeon tho treaeheroua ehanteaa and eap
: 4m aha Harmon therein roneealed.
i Week relate the aevera dUvlpllae of the
Eaa-jieh army and refer to an ineiance wnea
Br) faced the flrlnc eqaad beeanfte be re
4 t dtralffe Identity of comrade who
I -4 him in retting away to llt hli
;
"),. a Mat reet In the rear Xaek and
r "l tralM rtart op to to ar the
1 IhM troaehe. Burlnt the flmt IIt
i t there ar tlx attack mad by tho
.MM aaetl tearing windrow ef dead
f t M man lead. All attack war repnleed
U fd atyla by the Brltleh.
L.mt the bet attack Mack and hi "batt"
awwa ordered to the roar for U week1
, Two week of total reet were had by
i tired men, after which they were or
to the front to take orer the Una
ma Faeaehaeadel ridga. Tho flret air raid
aorieaeed by Mack and hi oomradee waa
while they wore earent to tho front.
3 g Bartered m niuei leey awwm
0 to take Orer too una iron m ureuroeu
CHAPTER XV.
Vt Mat an met and two men
Czzi in th norninr to pick tnt oest
to Railway wood, but they nevef
r" -nied, at all three were killed by a
i We atarted ont at 9 in the ere
t -3, without knowing exactly where
r. were going.
C-inf p the road we could aee
bursting ahead of u in large
-sr. tint we hurried, because we
' -ttd it oyer. And we walked right
. it -1 was plugging along with
. 1 other men, one a mate of mine
zi Higgins, who had been my pal
. r nearly two years, and another
. named Bott, that I thought a
' ;J deal of both of whom I have
.:dy spoken of and four stretcher
:ws that I diant Know oy name.
A thell burst right in the middle of
' v I was thrown down and rolled
the ditch and half knocked out
z'. aa I was getting up shell-
if still, for I wasn't marked and
: :t badly shaken another smashed
t- aame olace. I saw two of the
richer bearers who were just get
x :y to their feet bo down, and I lay
liw a while longer. Then I got out
ni looked. Poor old Hig had gone
t. smashed to bits. Bott had an
j off . and both legs smashed and
' :i to be dead. The four stretcher
were all dead. Strangely
1 X I afterwards ran across Bott
, , and. He stm nan tne arm
1 one leg missing, but he was oth
iae ablebodied. So you see a
i takes a lot of killing,
Veil, after I had counted what I
--seed were the dead I lit out
. :t lots towards where X could see
1 eld tree stumps. I wanted
r and wanted it bad. I was going
tp speed when I went into an
1 trench. 1 turned upside down,
1 like a pinwheel, hit the .water
1 first and started to trV to
x I got my feet under alter a
l ., tJid my head was still a yard or
c from the top and water up to my
t
x.
r
r
(
(
1
..
r
I
' 1
!
K
(
l
i
i i
' f
i
- -
So I knew it was aa old
in trench. No Britisher would
r dig ao deep. I fished up the
1 tad tried to climb out . -.
. col Too slippery. So I started
'. mader along the trench. I had
gone a little way when I ran
man who covered me with an
;r-ttic and called to mo to halt I
1. It was my company platoon of
.7. He didn't say how he came
rf. but I sunoose the same wav I
1. We cot out of the trench and
! i what was left of the comoanr.
) (bells were flying over by now,
1 r plodded along without further
until we found tor place in
. zt front line I It was a throw
; ta the old days of the"Wioen.'
the Canadians were living like
rats, or even to the days of 1916
w tky village, when our own batt
J Tuning that they were mud tur
v :. However, there was no kick
( ";z, because there was an excuse
1 tt this time.
J--rkg 1917 the British had been
jg on pretty fast and there
-t been much chance to dig in;
5 r-body eared. We were oa the
' ta Berlin.
. 1 Boche had discarded trenches
Cis oart of the line, too, but he
r iid it because he had something
--the pill-boxes. I'll tell about
1 in just about a minute.
L Jt line was a narrow trench about
; r feet deeo and two wide, with
t j thin parapet of sand bags and
r cramunication trenches. We turn
I . ia and wedged ourselves down
' Che bottom of this crack in the
t ..x We were some surprised when
tyere told that we were not to
y this trench, but were to move
1 uto some shell holes a few yards
, . was still dark when we took
' the holes. From four to eight
. were atsigned to a hole. Our
1 were about like this: "There
: ale on there with four men in
-en yards out Take vour A
end run for it at the word. All
now. Carry on."
t on we did. The hole
1 l tad the prescribed four men in
1 tney lert witriout waiting to
the toss or even for a lull in
enine run fire., which was aw.
.2 bullets were cracking and
X overhead in a torrent that
tor a few seconds now and
knt on the whole might be
1 continuous. We had ducked
1 m one of the ouiet soelli.
" ; day broke it was easy to see
.s men we had relieved had
1 each t nurry.
1 holes were absolutely the
- stiferous spots that I ever
Toe new pill-boxes were es
: i m a row at a point about
JS away, and were raking us.
' .lytime it you stuck a finger
: vould take the top off. I
lay in my first shell hole two days
and saw only the gray, wet sky over
head, and once during a short lull in
the fire 1 peeped and had a glimpse
of a torn and tortured terrain of
mud, with here and there black
stumps, and over there in the mist
the low yellow wafers that we knew
were the pill boxes.
The smell in these holes was dread
ful. TJiere were hundreds of bodies
all about, lying unburied in the mug
gy August warmth. Bluebottle flies
by the million settled over every
thing and bit like Jersey mosquitoes.
When we went into the holes we
took with us rations for two days.
Each man had two rashers of bacon,
about two pounds of cold roast beef
and a half loaf of bread. For each
four men there was a tin of jam, a
tin of condensed milk, two cans of
baked beans, plenty of tea and sugar,
and a Tommy's cooker. We had our
water bottles filled and took along
a petrol can with two gallons of
water. The cooker was a spirit lamp
affair for making tea and frying
bacon.
We had no overcoats, and while the
days were warm and sticky and sick
ening, the nights got awfully cold.
Two days were as much as any man
could stand in these1 places. Lying
there all day looking up at a gray sky
and breathing the foul air, soaking in
ihe filthy mud and unable to move
about at all, was enough to put the
huskiest lommy nearly out ot business.
When we were relieved, at the end
of two days, we went back into the
support trenches, about 90 per cent
of the men 'had temperatures of over
100 and were out and out sick. Scores
wanted to report sick, but the M. O.
was at Railway wood, and it would
have been Impossible to get back
tnere, so we naa to suck 11 our ana
go into the holes again a day later.
we were to so over the top on tne
morning of August 21, and we did,
four battalions of men, more than
half of whom were fit subjects tor
the hospital.
CHAPTER XVI.
t . Taking the Pill-Boxes.
This was not a big battle. There
were, as I have aaid, only four bat
talions engaged on our side. The
affair was more or less of an experi
ment The pill-boxes were a new
German defensive and had never
been thoroughly tried out. We were
the goats. ' The little forts were to
be given a chance to rake us and see
how we stood it.
It had been proved pretty clearly
already that the boxes were the most
effective defense ever devised. They
were simply fortified shell holes.
Now, for some strange reason,
shells rarely strike twice in the same
place. We had found that out when
we were lying in the holes. Shells
would urst all about us, but only
once in a hundred times would there
be a direct hit over an old hole.
It follows that if you fortify an old
hole so that it takes two or more hits
to dislodge the machine gun that you
have placed there, why, your machine
is going to be in commission and
dangerous ever under an extraordin
ary neavy and well directed shell fire,
and is going to be hard thing to take.
Well, on this attack, our orders
were very simple. They were to go
over and take those pill-boxes. , That
was an. ine boxes were m a row
about 300 yards away. They were in
groups of five, about 10 or IS yards
apart, and a gap of perhaps 50 yards
with 1 section of sap or trench.
Uur artillery commenced slam
ming them the night before and kept
t up hard and fast up to 7:30 in the
morning, when we were to go over.
About I took a look through the
periscope and atudied out the terrain
in front It was level and muddy and
pitted with shell holes, end away off
there the white steeples of Fasschen
daele showed dim against the haxe.
To the rear and to the left and nearer,
the jagged, black ruins of "Wipers"
broke the skyline.
in the fores-round the low boxes
were spitting fire regularly, unharmed
after a night of it Shells burst all
around them, tossing off lumpy clouds
of gray smoke with daubs of red
flame in the middle, and up above air
planes circled ready to chase the
Boche fliers if they should come out
to laxe a hand.
This was our first sro at tha nill.
boxes, and in our sick and discour
aged condition we tuny expected a
ted
washout The four of us, in ourMiole,
naa no otneer with us, but we ar
ranged our tactics ourselves. Two
of us were to bomb the box through
the gun slots. And two I was one
of these were to so around to the
rear, where we assumed there would
be a door, and prod the outcomlng
cocne in nis tenaerest parts.
The fact is we didn't any of us ex
pect to get halfway across. About
five minutes before sero starting
time our artillery laid down a smoke
barrage in front of us. When we
went over wa couldn't see the boxes
and they couldn't see us. It worked
beautifully. They raked the ground
with the machine guns, but they were
shootinsr in the dark. . Tha mud wa
kicked up all around us for ISO yards,
um uuuuuv waa mi, we advanced
slowly behind the barratre. Halfwav
across. Jackson, one of the bombers,
copped his, a piece of shell that took
his head nearly off, and he pitched
forward oesiae me, tace down. We
didn't stop. . ,
Then the barrage stopped and we
found that we were right on top of
the boxes. I saw Green throw a
bomb, but it didn't go in the gun
slots, and bounced off. The third
man and I dropped on our bellies to
get( under the gun fire and crawled
rapidly forward. Green threw a cou
ple more bombs which went over. By
this time I was right under the box
and I pulled the pin out of a bomb
with mv teeth and reached up and
dropped it in. It seemed to be the
(Continued on Opposite Page.)
"Terrible eaa of Kctemer-cootraeted
when a mere boy fought dleeu for ten
year, with half doer a ipecialtati. Both
leg in terrible condition. Almost a
nerroa wreck. It took juat S bottle to
dear up this diataet."
Thia I tha late tertimooy of a procalneot new-
Hi name and hi reajarKaMe ftory :
Baoer
in fall on request. We hero am ao aiaoy other
rufferen relierad by thia Btarreknai liqaid wah
that w freely otter yoo a bottle oa onr peraooal
aaorwaie. Try it today. tc ate tod tu.
nDo Bo BDo
for Slrin Diseaco
Shernua St MeCoaaall Drug Co,
Frei
CD!3 nrelf
nnD l
Mm
mm eaK - i-y.
Mi
pi
if
tliuH1
7.MI
Ml"
ll.
Dllllm ;
Himil'
III
WE ARE NOT SELLING OIL STOCK
WE ARE SELLING OIL LAND TO
RAISE DRILLING FUND
mm m m mam mmmw m mm p -w m - mmrnw-
fNe own approximately 1,000 acres of Land at High Island, Texas,
i Practically every county surrounding is a big oil field.
1(28,000,000 barrels of oil were produced in this district in 1917.
flU. S. Government' geological maps and reports on High Island convince us the great
mother pool exists on our property, and when we confirm the geologists' reports by
bringing in oil it should mean millions to be divided between our company and the
people who assist us in our great drilling campaign.
flWe offer you the opportunity of joining us in proving our property to be a great oil
field, and share in half our profits.
HERE IS OUR PLAN
JfWe have subdivided our holdings into i4-acre tracts, which we are offering for $30 each
Warranty Deed with each tract.
flWith money received from tract sales we guarantee to drill at least one well to prove up
this land, and at least one well on proven Humble lease.
flWhen we bring in oil from test wells, we would then naturally want to drill hundreds of wells.
f A small percentage of profits from each well brought in will be used for drilling additional wells.
fTract purchasers can never l)e assessed for any purpose whatsoever.
liEach tract puchaser receives Profit Sharing Contract, entitling him to share proportionately in
50 of net profits from all wells drilled at High Island, and proven Humble lease.
'Should our experts select your tract upon which to drill, you will receive a royalty of 1-10
in addition to your pro rata prof its. . 1
fiThe value of these !4-acre tracts should be enormous when we prove this High Island
property to be a great gusher oil field.
Quarter acre tracts in Famous Humble, Spindletop, Goose Creek and Sour Lake Fields, in
counties adjoining, have sold from $25,000 to $50,000 each.
fiThese tracts were purchased in the pioneer days of these great fields for small sums.
Open Letter From Hon. George D. Melklejohn
Vice President of this company, former' Lieutenant Governor and U. S. Congressman, State
of Nebraska:
To My Friends: '
After a thorough investigation of the officers, and property of the Gulf Coast Develop
ment Co., I invested in this company, and accepted the position of vice President.
I have examined the title of the High Island holdings, and find the company owns fee
title to this tract of approximately 1,000 acres, and a valuable lease in the heart of the Hum
ble Gusher oil field. . . .
I feel certain that we shall be successful in producing oil on our Humble lease; and I
have every confidence of seeing our High Island property developed into a remarkable gusher
oil field.
From the investigation which I have made, and from my study of the Government geo
logical reports, I do not hesitate to recommend the proposition of the company as a good,
sound investment, with reasonable possibilities of great profits.
You may rest assured that the agreements of the company will be executed with the ut
most fidelity. Yours sincerely,
GEO. D. MEIKLEJOHN.
AMERICAN TITLE GUARANTY COMPANY.
1 Capital $300,000.00 '
Union National Bank Bldg. '
j ; ' Houston, Texas, Mar. 13, 1918.
Railway Commission of State of Nebraska,
Lincoln, Neb.
Gentlemen: .
I have known Mr. H. R. Ellwood, President of the Gulf Coast Development Com
pany, of Houston, Texas, and Mr. W. E. Langley, Secretary and Treasurer of the Com
pany, many years and am intimately acquainted with Mr. Ellwood.
They are gentlemen of fine business ability, and would engage in no enterprise
not entirely legitimate and feasible. Yours respectfully, 1
GEO. H. BREAKER, Vice president.
Yowi are 1c.
a ioirtasiieiul
iroe-FoMirth
:Sfj.i ; T,r-
maHm M $Ht
r.
ut you sitg'
where; bljEQ
reaso
wtthrwondipl
H Your good judgment should tell sfou
selling our property and using proceeds
with our time and labor, unless we w t??
gusher oil field. z ' -
jj Our big profits are made from SQyb,
for us to make big money, we mur 7
.a
.1-'
We are operatiiijgtp
compliance with th d .
Phone :Tt:
740 First Ncticr.1:
orAUA, r:
Think What theValue off One-Quarter-Acre TractpJ
"mm
Villi
p
'"ft
ni'u!
if II
I-' :" ' V
3
2
1 f
- iiDiiWi. jiliii iil.iil
8
Op
n
si 4
