美国国家公共电台 NPR The Unsung Equestrian Heroes Of World War I And The Plot To Poison Them

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

A hundred years ago today, the United States entered World War I. Congress voted to declare war on Germany. By the time it ended, there had been a staggering death toll¹ - more than 17 million people worldwide. The soldiers who did return often had horrific injuries and emotional trauma². As this year's anniversary approached, NPR's Sarah McCammon went to Newport News, Va. She wanted to find out what happened to the vital support animals that were deployed³ from the region to serve alongside the troops.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁴: Today, the waterfront in Newport News is full of condos, office buildings and shipyards. One hundred years ago, this was a bustling⁵ seaport⁶ serving the allied⁷ war effort.

CHRISTOPHER KOLAKOWSKI: You can get a sense here the immensity of the harbor and why this is such a desirable port.

MCCAMMON: Christopher Kolakowski is director of the MacArthur Memorial. He says Newport News was ideally situated⁸ on the east coast near rail lines and waterways.

KOLAKOWSKI: You're not quite as crowded as New York, so it's a tremendous asset.

MCCAMMON: At least a quarter million troops embarked⁹ from here during the war years and so did several hundred thousand horses and mules¹⁰. Animals were shipped to allies in Europe even before the U.S. entered the war. Lynn Rainville is a professor at Sweet Briar College. She says animals were usually the best option for moving people and supplies at a time when motorized vehicles were still in their infancy¹¹.

LYNN RAINVILLE: Non-mechanized animal beasts of burden were crucial for the very, very rough conditions of the roads and any transport routes that horses - or these four-legged animals - could maneuver¹² better than the then tanks and cars and trucks.

MCCAMMON: Horses and mules were so valuable, Rainville says, that Germans devised a plot to sicken some of them as they waited in the pens at Newport News. The plot to spread anthrax and a naturally occurring disease called glanders was developed by Anton Dilger, an American of German descent and a German sympathizer.

RAINVILLE: Anthrax and glanders are so virulent¹³ that if he could infect them before they loaded onto the ships that by the end of their journey, most if not all of the mules would probably be dead.

MCCAMMON: Dilger's plot, which came to light after the war, was not successful, says Robert Koenig, author of a book about Dilger. He says the weak link may have been dockworkers who were paid to secretly infect the animals but may not have followed through as instructed. Koenig says this early attempt at germ warfare¹⁴ was just one of several ways the Germans targeted animals.

ROBERT KOENIG: They actually tried blowing up a train at one point that was carrying horses. And they went out to various stockyards in the Midwest, but that didn't prove terribly effective.

MCCAMMON: Still, disease was a constant threat to the horses living in close quarters.

BILL BARKER: Let's see.

MCCAMMON: Bill Barker is an archivist at the Mariners¹⁵' Museum in Newport News. He's been sorting through a trove¹⁶ of letters from a soldier stationed here during the war, Joe Harlin, to his parents in Missouri. Barker reads from a yellowed letter from 1918.

BARKER: Everything is just the same as usual at the hospital - that's the veterinary hospital at the animal embarkation¹⁷ depot¹⁸ - just as many sick horses as ever.

MCCAMMON: Those animals that did survive their time at the stables and their journey across the ocean often died of malnutrition¹⁹, exhaustion²⁰ or enemy fire, alongside the human soldiers who fought in the trenches²¹ of World War I. Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Newport News, Va.

(SOUNDBITE OF TEEN DAZE'S "BY LOVE")

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

6 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

10 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

11 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

12 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

13 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

14 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

15 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

16 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

17 embarkation   

n. 乘船, 搭机, 开船

参考例句：

• Lisbon became the great embarkation point. 里斯本成了最理想的跳板。 来自英语连读（第二部分）
• Good, go aboard please, be about very quickly embarkation. 好了，请上船吧，很快就要开船了。

18 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

19 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

20 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

21 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。