Part 28

P. S. I am enclosing a little souvenir, one of Fritz's field cards. I was amusing myself on the back of it with a few verses.

[Illustration: THIS IS THE SIDE OF THE POSTCARD TAKEN BY MR. HILL THAT WAS INTENDED FOR THE ADDRESS]

[Illustration: THE IMPRESSIONS OF AN AMERICAN BOY WHO DID NOT WAIT Laban Hill, No. 1,054,147, Fourteenth Canadian Battery, on "Going Over the Top" in August, 1917. Written to a Friend on a Postcard Taken From a Dead German Soldier]

[Transcribed text from the postcard:]

Over The Top

1 "Did you ever go over the top?" he said, "Did you ever go over the top? Did you sweep along an unbroken line, With bayonets gleaming, and eyes ashine And a feeling that went to your head like wine, The time you went over the top?"

2 "Did you ever go over the top?" he said, "Did you ever go over the top? Did the flarelights shine on a glorious sight As they pierced the dawn in the changing light; Did you thrill with a feeling of savage delight, The time you went over the top?"

3 "Did you ever go over the top?" he said, "Did you ever go over the top? Oh, tell me" he said "how you held up your head Of the things that you thought and the things that you said, Of your glorious pride as with the men you sped Far away over the top."

4 "Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said, "You bet I've been over the top. But I felt alone in the flare-lights glare. And Mauser bullets were singeing my hair, And my knees were knocking together for fair, The night I went over the top."

5 "Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said, "You bet I've been over the top. But it's lonesome out there in no man's land And you miss the crowd and you miss the band And your feet take root in the place you stand, The night you go over the top."

6 "Oh yes, I've been over the top There was yards of wire got attached to my clothes And how I got out of it God only knows A secret I fear he will never disclose Till I'm finally "over the top."

7 "Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said, "You bet I've been over the top. The artillery raised a continuous roar-- They'd been at it, it seemed for a week or more-- And old man I was sweating at every pore The night I went over the top."

8 "Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said, "You bet I've been over the top. The noise and confusion, the shouts and the groans Had paralysed action and frozen my bones When a fellow went past me,--I think it was Jones, He was headed back over the top."

9 "Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said, You bet I've been over the top And since Jones has a blighty and wasn't napoo, If they're handing them out "I thought" me for one too. And blest if I didn't--in fact I got two, The night I went over the top.

New York isn't the only place people hustle

THE SINKING OF THE "PROVENCE II"

_Told by M. Bokanowski, Deputy of the Department of the Seine_

The French auxiliary cruiser _La Provence II_, formerly a passenger liner, was sunk by a submarine in the eastern end of the Mediterranean while serving as a troop transport. Nearly 4,000 men are said to have been on board, of whom only 870 were saved. One of the survivors, M. Bokanowski, wrote this thrilling description to President Poincaré of France:

MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT: You are doubtless familiar, in all its details, with the fate of the _Provence II_. I should like to describe to you--to assuage in a measure the grief of France--the noble behaviour of those who made ready at that moment, between sea and sky, to die for their country.

We had on board a battalion and some detachments of the Third Colonial Regiment of Infantry. At the moment of the explosion I was on the bridge, with the commander of the ship, his second in command, and several of the higher officers. We directed the steps to be taken, distributing lifebelts, superintending the launching of boats and liferafts. Not an outcry, not a complaint, not the slightest sign of panic--only the dignified tranquillity of men who long ago had consecrated their lives to the sublime cause that had put arms in their hands.

Everybody would have been saved had it depended only on officers and crew. Unfortunately the ship sank rapidly. The water soon found its way into the boilers. When they began to explode, about ten minutes past 5, I jumped into the sea and swam as fast as I could in order to get beyond the radius of suction. A few moments later there were several deafening explosions. I turned and saw the end. The ship was going down stern foremost. Captain Vesco, still standing on the bridge, cried in a voice above the uproar: "Vive la France!" The survivors, swimming about the ship, or safe on boats and rafts, saw the _Provence_ make a sudden plunge, her forward deck standing perpendicular in the air. They, in their turn, saluted with a cry of "Vive la France!" It was a quarter past 5.

After swimming for half an hour I succeeded in reaching an overloaded raft, the occupants of which pulled me aboard. Night was falling, the wind was chill and nipped the flesh of the men, who were almost entirely naked. Throughout the endless night, not a whimper! My companions in misfortune had no words except to lament the fate of those who were drowned and to curse the Boche, who, neither before nor after his treacherous shot, had dared to appear and show his flag. In water up to the waist, with teeth chattering from the cold, but upheld by the desire to survive and be able to punish the villains, we were picked up eighteen hours later by a trawler. Several men had died from the cold on the rafts, and several others had lost their reason.

An English patrol and a French torpedo boat divided the survivors between them, some heading for Milo, others for Malta. I was among the latter, and we arrived here about 1 o'clock yesterday. Captain Vesco, who was in command of the _Provence II._; Lieutenant Besson, second in command; Colonel Duhalde, commanding the Third Colonial Regiment of Infantry, remained on the bridge until the very last second of the ship's life in the most noble spirit of self-sacrifice, giving with perfect calmness precise and effective orders for saving the passengers.

The gunners of the _Provence's_ stern gun, having loaded it when the torpedo struck, remained at their posts, trying to discover the hidden foe in order to repay him in his own coin.

Surgeon Navarre of the Third Colonial Regiment, being taken aboard a trawler nearly exhausted by his eighteen hours on a raft, refused to change his drenched clothing or to take any food until he had dressed the hurts of the wounded and looked after the sick. He was prostrated a long while after such superhuman labours.

And I must mention this other incident, which brings tears to my eyes:

Gauthier, Assistant Quartermaster of the _Provence_, having been taken on board a greatly overloaded raft, was hailed by a soldier asking for help; he jumped into the water to give him his place, saying: "A sailor's duty is to save the soldiers first of all."

He was picked up, twenty-one hours after the wreck, clinging to a plank.

I call attention also to the devotion and zeal--meriting our profound gratitude--of Lieutenant Sinclair Thompson, commanding the English patrol _Marguerite_, and of his officers and crew, by whose labours about 300 survivors were taken from the place of the wreck to Malta.

Pray pardon the form of this story, Monsieur le Président. I have written it hurriedly, with a bruised hand, and with a head still in a sad muddle. I wished, before my impending departure for Saloniki, to say to you with all my heart: "That is what these noble fellows did!"

BOKANOWSKI.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics were corrected.

Inconsistent hyphenation was made consisent.

Times normalized to A.M. and P.M.

P. 27: in lieu of this can be subtituted -> in lieu of this can be substituted.

P. 28: woman's hubsand -> woman's husband.

P. 51: in cosmos -> in the cosmos.

P. 79: Never was General -> Never was a General.

P. 81: municipal dgnitary -> municipal dignitary.

P. 103: mobilization of 1909 -> mobilization of 1914.

P. 114: THE ROMANCE OF THE EURASION -> THE ROMANCE OF THE EURASIAN.

P. 119: held out so vigourously -> held out so vigorously.

P. 120: klled fifty-two Boches -> killed fifty-two Boches.

P. 129: German Embassy in Berlin -> American Embassy in Berlin.

P. 151: BATTLE OF CHARLEROI -> THE BATTLE OF CHARLEROI.

P. 153: Sonzèe -> Somzée.

P. 196: left in the forcastle -> left in the forecastle.

P. 198: steered for the nothern coast -> steered for the northern coast.

P. 215: followed at a disstance -> followed at a distance.

P. 226: made by the priscope -> made by the periscope.

P. 255: pour my temptuous heart -> pour my tempestuous heart.

P. 263: U-boat lieutenand -> U-boat lieutenant.

P. 265: Jusé -> José.

P. 277: regarded themslves as beaten -> regarded themselves as beaten.

P. 278: Chalffour Quarry -> Chauffour Quarry.

P. 307: distince he covered -> distance he covered.

P. 314: ran in my head continualy -> ran in my head continually.

P. 319: animals were specialy fêted -> animals were specially fêted.

P. 338: any longed astern -> any longer astern.

P. 349: hamstring tendron -> hamstring tendon.

P. 358: N. Bokanowski -> M. Bokanowski.