Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1915 — THE BAPTISM OF FIRE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE

HERE is something in the tback recesses of our brains which makes us want to live. No man in his right mind wants to die, and only when the back part of his brain is impaired through grief, worry, sickness or some other profound cause, does he go about regardless* oi peril. One of these profound Influences is battle. It is said that men in battle will hug the bottom of the trenches because they are taught by military experts to do so, but after the baptism of fire they care for nothing, and will risk their lives to gain comfort. There are stories going the rounds of fighters in Europe who have left the trenches and walked through a hail of bullets and shells after an overcoat or after food. These men knew nothing about death. They did know a lot about discomfort. They knew when they were thirsty they were terribly uncomfortable. They knew when they were cold they suffered. When the German cruiser Koenigsberg was driven into a river on the African coast and bottled up there by si superior force of English ships, it is reported that the Germans threw up trenches in the vicinity of the Koenigeberg. from which they fought the British. Prom their place of security among the palm trees they kept landing force of marines from getting near them.

Although they were securely Intrenched they could not leave the trenches without great risk of life from the bullets of the British marines. Yet when the mosquitoes made night miserable in the trenches one cl the Germans left his trench and walked coolly through the hail of bullets to a neighboring trench, where'he gathered some pennyroyal, with which to fight the mosquitoes. Men under fire do not think of the consequences any more than men in the cities going to and,from work. A story is told of men high on the top of a skyscraper. One of the workmen felicitated with the other on his good luck in having a safe job on a girder several hundred feet above the street, while others had to risk their lives in Europe.

The majority of the soldiers Ip Europe would not have changed places with the man on the girder. Men working in the logging camps, where danger is constant, due to lack of inspection by state authorities, feel sorry for the men working in the steel mills amid the molten metal. Men on the sea are glad in time of hurricane that they are not on shore. For. on the sea, they are free to ride on the storm. The men on shore pity the poor devils of the sea.

| The recruit getting the baptism of lire is to be pitied. He is probably as brave as any of the other men, but he h»g not gotten accustomed to the situation, and in horror he hugs the bottom of the trench while the shells scream overhead. But the recruft in time learns not to fear. He becomes hardened to conditions, just as other men, and laughs with them as he fights.

There was a captain in a certain Northern army fighting in our Civil war who derided his company of.recruits for dodging the bullets. He explained it was too late to dodge after they had heard the bullets whizz over their heads, and besides they

might dodge their heads into itssecond bullet. Vv The men were hew to fighting, nowever, and they were not on the firing line. They had to sit idly back of the main firing line while the Southerners W'ere attacking their lines. Just then a big cannon shell burst above their heads. The captain dodged with the rest, bringing out a big laugh from the recruits, most of whom were not very well disciplined and had little respect for the greatness of their commahding officer. “Dodge the big ones," the captain shouted, as he admitted that even the seasoned men sometimes dodge an unexpected shot, it is the unexpectedness of the shooting that causes the men to dodge. When they become used to the noise of battle they can sleep riglit through a bombardment without being troubled. They fight and sleep in a sort of daze. Often they are on duty for so long that they cannot go to sleep when the fighting is over, but they sit in a stupor, not knowing what to do. Sometimes it requires more heroism to stand under fire than at other times. The real heroes are the recruits; for they stay at the front even though they get scared. The seasoned soldiers Jest as they fight Just as a gang of workmen jest and talk with each other. Fighting is occupation to them. It is told of a hero in the SpanishAmerican war who was commissioned a major in the American Volunteer army, although he had no previous military experience except at a military school, that as he was going into action at San Juan hill one of the regular army officers noticed the major’s white face and chattering teeth.

“Major, you are scared.” the regular said.

“I know it,” said the major. “If you were half as scared as I am you would be twenty miles from here.” It is not only the soldiers who showed heroism under fire in Europe. The civilians were heroes as well. In Belgium the farmers were in the midst of harvest when the uhlans crossed their frontier. The farmers continued harvesting their crops because they realized the armies would trample them under foot. Their only hope was in, completing the harvest before the armies crossed the country. They worked amid shot and shell without regard to the enemy. They were just as safe in the field at work as they were running and they bravely chose the wiser course.

War correspondents tell how they found French women knitting while the fighting was going on. There was nothing for them to do but knit. Then why run? As they knitted they commented on the shots which dropped around them. In Reims It is told how women near the cathedral counted the shells as they struck that edifice. There is a tale of a soldier in the

trenches who was known to every* body as a coward. He always would hug the bottom of the trench. It seemed he never could get over It. But he was passionately fond of cigarettes. One day while the bullets were whistling above his trench a soldier in a neighboring trench held up cigarettes to him. He jumped up, raced to the other trench and came back triumphantly with the cigarettes. He was unhurt. More officers are killed in battle in proportion to their numbers than any other class of men. That is due to the risks they insist on taking. That is particularly true in the English army, where the officers risk their lives needlessly. The Germans would be court-martialed for risking-their lives as much as the English officers do. The English say they do it tb steady their men and show they are " not afraid.

The same is true to a considerable extent in the American • army. The lqsses of officers in the Spanish-Ameri-can war was surprisingly great Of course the Spanish-American war was not on the proportions of this war and the sharpshooters figured extensively. An officer in our regular army who saw fighting in the Spanish war, pointed out the other day that most persons had a very wrong conception of how soldiers fight in modern battles. “Skirmish drills in times of peace have taught the troops how to act together, and it is amazing to see how quickly the men adapt themselves to thb conditions of actual battle. It is the corporals and sergeants who are the real steadying influences in a fight. They know the characteristics of the individual privates in a way that the commissioned officers can never know them and are prepared to give a calming word to this or that one when the emergency arises. In my own experience I have known a private who had served three enlistments to take charge of a company In a charge, and the officers and non-coms were very glad to leave it to him. After the scrap was over he became a private once more, but while that row was on, so far as actual influence with the men was concerned, he was of a great deal more importance than his captain. The way that man would wriggle Into cover was a revelation and he went ,through three campaigns without a ; scratch. His example ih the regiment was a big asset. ‘ * “There has been much discussion of bravery in battle since the war Started. According to my experience It is very much a matter of temperament. Some men,are carried along by & sort of ecstasy, others hold themselves to the work by sheer force of will, while others, and those are the best, go through a fight with a sort erf grim interest as if it was a highly amusing though somewhat dangerous sport they were engaged in, like polo or football."