Rogue River courier., March 31, 1918, DAILY EDITION, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2

FACE TWO
DAILY hOOVB HIV EH CXH lUKlt
MNIMY, MMUII ill, tUlH.
4y
V AT
fl ( WHO
in im
MACHINE
tYNOPStS.
CHAPTER I-K1rl ty tha saws of th
lnKiM of lha Lusttanla by a 0rm
nUuarln. Arthur Uuy Kmtr. an AmiH
out. Iava Ma oMca lo-Jvraay'Cliy and
fnra lo England whra ho 001101 to Uio
Brltlab army. ,
CHAPTER U-Aftor a parted of train
ing, Kmpoy Yoluntra for Immediate aarr
Iro and aoon flnds blmaflf In roat billet
Somowhcro In Franco," whoro bo Brat
snakea the acquaintance of the evar-praa-ant
"cootloa"
CHAPTER III-Empy attends Ma flret
church aenrto at tho front while a (lr
aaa kkw clrcht over th congracalloa.
CHAPTER IV Empty's command goa
Into tho front-lino trrnrhea and la under
Bra tor tho Ant time.
CHAPTER V-Emry learn to adopt
tho motto of the Brtiah Tommy. "If you
are futnf to gat It. you'll get It. ao never
worry."
CHAPTER YT-Bactt In rtt bllleta. Em-
pry tela hi nrat expnenco aa a
oraVrly-
After dinner I tried to wash oat
th dixie with cold water and a run.
and learned another maxim of the
trenches "It can't be done." I slyly
watched one of the older men from
another section, and waa horrified to
see him throw Into his dlxle four or
five double handfuls of mud. Then he
poured In some water, and with his
hands scoured the dixie inside and oat.
I thought he was taking an awful risk.
Supposing the cook should hare seen
hi ml After half an hour of unsuc
cessful efforts I returned my dlxle to
the cook shack, being careful to put on
the cover, and returned to the billet
Resting Back of the Lines.
'Pretty soon the cook poked his head
in the door and shouted: "Hey, Tank,
come out here and clean your dlxle 1"
I protested that I bad wasted a half
hour on It already, and had used up
'my only remaining shirt In the at
tempt With look of disdain he ex
claimed: "Blow me, your shirt? Why
In didn't you use mudr
Without a word In reply I got busy
with the mud, and soon my dlxle waa
bright and shining.
Host of the afternoon was spent by
the men writing letters home. I used
my spare time to chop wood for the
cook and go with the quartermaster to
draw coal. I got back Just In time to
Issue our third meal, which consisted
of hot tea. I rinsed out my dlxle and
returned It to the cookhouse, and went
back to the billet with an exhilarated
feeling that my day's labor was done.
I bad fallen asleep on the straw when
once again the cook appeared In the
door of the billet with : "Bllme me, you
Tanks are Iasy. Who in a-goln' to
draw the water for the mornln' ten?
Do yon think Tm a-goln to? Well,
I'm not," and he left I filled the dlxle
with water from an old squeaking well,
nd ouce again lay down In the straw.
CHAPTER VII,
?' - . Rations. . : . -
Just dozing off; Mr, Lnnee Corporal
butted In.
In Tommy's eyes a lunce corporal Is
one degree below a private. In the
corporal's eyes he is one degree above
a general.
lie ordered me to go with him and
help hltn draw the next day's rations,
also told me to take my waterproof.
Every evpnlng, from each plutoon or
machine-gun section, a lance corporal
and private go to the quartenmiHter
sergeant at the company stores and
draw rations for the following day.
The "quarter," as the quartermaster
sergeant Is called, receives dally from
the orderly room (captain's oflice) a
slip showing the number of men en
titled to rations, so there Is no chance
of putting anything over on him. Many
arguments tuke place between the
"quarter" and the platoon noncoin, but
rir-.
mii mi"
6r)
AMTWAXT KHT NYh
WENT.
iiuk uu i u in. 1
Gra.m'SCinUNCf '
IQir by
the former always wins out. Tommy
says the "quarter" got hla Job because
he was a burglar in civil life.
Then I spread the waterproof sheet
on the ground, while the quurtermaa
ter's batman dumped the rations on It. '
The rorimral was smoking a fag. I
carried the radons hack to the billet.
The corporal waa still smoking a fag.
How I envied hlru. Hut when the Issne
commenced tny envy tiled, and I rcnl
lied that the first requisite of a non
commissioned nflleer on active service
la diplomacy. There were 1! men In
our section, and liey soon formed a
semicircle around us ufterjhe corporal
had called nut. "nations up."
The quartermaster seriteant had
given a llp to the corporal on which
was written a list of the rations. Sit
ting tin the floor, using a wooden box
as a table, the Issue commenced. On
the left of the corporal the rations
were piled. They consisted of the fol
lowing: Six loaves of freh bread, each loaf
of a different size, perhnis one out of
the aix being as flat as pancake, the
result of an army service corps niin
placing a box of bully beef on It dur
ing transportation.
Three tins of Jam, one apple and the
other two plum.
Seventeen Bermuda onions, all dif
ferent slies.
A piece of cheese In the shape of a
wedge.
Two one-pound tins of butter.
A handful of ralBlns. '
A tin of biscuits, or as Tommy calls
them "Jaw breakers."
A bottle of mustard pickles.
The "bully beef," spuds, condensed
milk, fresh meat baron and "Macono
chle rations" (a can filled with meat,
vegetables and greasy water), hud been
turned over to the company cook to
make a stew for next day's dinner, no
atao received the tea, sugar, suit pep
per and floor.
Scratching his head, the corporal
studied the slip Issued to him by the
quarter. Then In a slow, mystified
voice he read out. "No. 1 section, in
men. Bread, loaves, six." He looked
puzzled and soliloquized In a musing
voice: . .
"Six loaves, nineteen men. Let's see.
that's three In a loaf for fifteen men
well, to make It even, four of you'll
have to muck In on one loaf."
The four that got stock mnde a howl,
but to no avail. The bread waa dished
out Pretty soon from a far comer of
the billet, three lndlgnnnt Toramlea ac
costed the corporal with:
"What do you call this, loaf of
bread? Looks more like a sniping
plate,"
The corporal answered:
"Well, don't blame me, I didn't bake
It; somebody'! got to get It, so ahut
up until I dish out these bllnkln' ra
tions." . .
Then the corporal started on tho
Jam. r , : ;
"Jam, three tins apple one, plum
two. Nineteen men, three tins. Six
in a tin makea twelve men for two tins,
seven In the remaining tin."
-' Be passed around the Jam, and
there was another riot Some didn't
like apple, while others who received
plum were partial to apple. After a
while differences were adjusted and
the Issue went on,
"Bermuda onions, seventeen,"
The corporal avoided a row by say
ing that he did not want an onion, and
I said they make your breath smell, so
I guessed I would do without one too.
The corporal looked his gratitude.
"Cheese, pounds, two."
The corporal borrowed a Jackknlfe
(corporals are always borrowing), and
sliced the cheese each slicing bring
i Ing forth a pert remnrk from the on
I lookers as to the corporal's eyesight.
"Raisins, ounces, eight"
By this time the corporal's nerves
had gone west, and In despair he said
that the raisins were to be turned over
to the cook for "duff" (plum pudding).
This decision elicited a little "grous
ing." but quiet was finally restored.
"Biscuits, tins, one." .... '
With his borrowed Jackknlfe, the
corporal opened the (In of blHcnlts, and
told everyone to help themselves no
body responded to this Invitation.
Tommy Is "fed up" with biscuits.
: "Butter, tins,' two."
"Nine In one, ten In the other.".
.Another rumpus.
"Pickles, mustard, bottles, one."
Nineteen names were put In a steel
' helmet the last one out winning the
pickles. On the next Issue there were
only 18 names, as the winner is elimi
nated until every mail In the section
has won a bottle.
The raffle Is closely watche'd, because
Tommy Is suspicious when It comes to
gambling with his rations.
When the Isane la nnlafced the cor
poral alia down and write a letter
home, asking them If they cannot get
oma XI. P. (member of parliament) to
have hla transferred to the Royal Fly
ing corps where he won't have to Issue
rations.
At the different Preach eatamlnela
to the village and at the canteens Tom
my buys fresh eggs, milk, bread and
pastry. Occasionally when he Is flush,
he Invests Is a tin of peara or apri
cots. Ill pay Is only a shilling a day,
24 cents, or a cent au hour. Just Imag
ine, a cent an hour for being under
fire not much chance of getttug rich
out there.
When he goes Into the firs trench
(front line), Tommy's menu takea a
tumble. He carries In hla haversack .
what the government calls emergoncy
or Iron rations. eH'hey are not aupposed
to be opened until Tommy dies of star
vation. They eonnlst of one tin of
bully beef, four biscuits, a Uttle ttu
which coutalua tea, sugar ami Oxo
cubes (concentrated beef, tablets).
These are only to be used when the ,
enemy establishes, a curtain of shell
Ore on the communication trenches,
thus preventing the "carrying In" of
rations, or wheu In an attack a body
of lroo has been cut off from Its base ;
of supplies. ,
The rations are brought up at night
by the company trmixrt. This la a 1
section of the company In charge of
the quartermaster sergeant, coihikukhI ,
of men, mules snd Umbers (two- j
wheeled wagons), which supplies Tom
my's want while In the front line.
They are constantly under shell fire.
The rations are unloaded at the en
trance to the communication trepchea
and are "carried In" by men detailed
for that purpose. The quartermaster
aergeant never goes Into the front-line
trench. He doesn't have to, and I have
never heard of one volunteering to
do so.
The company sergeant major sorts
the rations and sends them In.
Tommy's trench rstlons consist of sll
the bully beef he can eat, biscuits,
cheese, tinned butter (sometimes IT
men to a tin). Jam or marmalade, and
occasionally fresh bread (ten to a
loaf). When It Is possible he gets tea
and stew. .
When things are quiet, and Frits Is
behaving like a gentleman, which sel
dom happens. Tommy has the opportu
nity of making denert. Tills Is
"trench pudding," It Is mnde from
broken biscuits, condensed milk. Jam
a tittle water added, slightly flavored
with mud put Into a canteen and
cook'ed over a little spirit stove known
is "Tommy's cooker."
(A firm In Blighty widely advertises
these cookers as a necessity for the
men In the trenches. Gullible people
buy them ship them to the Tommies,
who. Immediately upon receipt of same
throw them over the parapet. Some
times a Tommy fulls for the ad, and
uses the cooker In a dugout to the dis
gust and discomfort of the other oc
cupants.) This mess Is stirred up In a tin and
allowed to simmer over the flames
from the cooker until Tommy decides
that it bus reached sufficient (gluelike)
consistency. He takes his bayonet and
by means of the hnndle carries the
mess up In the front trench to cool.
After It has cooled off he tries to eat It.
Generally one or two Tommies In a
section have cast-Iron stomachs and
the tin Is soon emptied. Once I tasted
trench pudding, but only once.
In addition to the regular ration Is
sue Tommy uses another channel to
enlarge hla menu.
In the English papers a "Lonely
Soldier" column Is run. This Is for
tae soldiers at the front who are sup
posed to be without friends or rela
tives. They write to IIm papers and
their names are published. Girls and
women In England answer them, and
send out parcels of foodstuffs, ciga
rettes, candyetc I have known a
"lonely" soldier to receive as many as
five parcels and eleven letters In one
week.
'. CHAPTER VIII.
The Little Wooden Cross.
After remaining In rest, billets for
eight days, we received the unwelcome
tidings Hint the next morning we would
"go In" to "take over." ' At six In the
morning our march started and, after
a long march down the dusty road, we
again arrived at reserve billets.
I was No. 1 In the leading set of
fours. The man on my left was named
"Pete Walling." a cheery sort of fel
low. He laughed and Joked all the
way on the march, buoying op my
drooping spirits. I could not figure out
anything attractive In again occupying
the front line, but Pete did not seem to
mind, said it was all In a lifetime. My
left heel was blistered from the rub
bing of my heavy marching boot. Pete
noticed that I was limping and offered
to carry my rifle, but by this time I had
learned the ethics of the march In the
British army and coarteously refused
his offer.
We hnd gotten half-way through the
communication trench, Pete In my im
mediate renr. He hnd his hand on my'
shonldcr, as men In s communication
trench have to do to keep in touch with
each other. We had Just climbed over
a bashed-ln part of the trench when
In our rear a man tripped over a loose
signal wire, and let out an oath. As
usual, Pete rushed to his help. To
reach the fallen man he hnd to cross
this bashed-ln part A bullet cracked
In the air and I dueled. Then a moan
from the rear. My heart stood still.
I went back and Pete was lying on the
ground. By the aid of my flashlight
f saw that he had his haad prrased to
hit right breast The fingers wers cov
ered with blood. I flashed Ills light
oa hit face) and In Ita glow a grayish
blue color waa stealing over hla coun
tenance, rvle looked Up at me and
said: "Well, Tank, they've done me In.
I can feat myself going West." Ill
votes was yetting fainter ami I had to
kneel down to get his wonts. Then he
gave me a meassgs to write horns to
his mother snd hla sweetheart, and I,
Ilk a great big boob, cried Ilk a baby.
I waa losing my first friend of the
trenches.
Word ws paused Is th rear for a
atrvkhcr. He died before It arrived.
Two tif us put the body on the
stretcher and carried It to the nearest
flrat-ald post, where th doctor took
an ofllclal record of Pete's nttme. num
ber, rank and rvglment from hi Iden
tity disk, tbla to be used In the cas
ualty list and - notlitcatlou to bis
family.
We left Pet there, but It broke mir
hearta lo do so. The doctor Informed
us that we could bury him the nrxt
morning. That afternoon live of the
boy of our section, myself Included,
went to th little ruined village In the
rear and from the dccrtid garden of
ths French chateaux gathered grass
and flower. From these we made a
wreath. '
While th boys were making this
wreath, I ant under a sliot-Fi-nrred
apple tree and carved out the follow
ing verse on s little wooden shield
which we nailed tm Pete's cross.
True to hla Ood; true to Hrltaln,
Polng hla duty to tho It it.
Just one more name lo b written
On the Koll of Honor of hrroea passed
Pawed to their Ood, onihrlned In (lory,
Kniertng life of eternal real.
One more chapter In Knxland' itory
Of her Bona doing their beat
Rest, you enl'ller, male an true,
m Never forgotten by ue betnw:
Know that wo are thlnklns of you,
! Era to our rest we are bidden to go.
Next morning the whole section wtit
i over to say good-njr to IVie, sn l ln'.d
him away to rest ,
After each one had a look at the fui e
of the dead, a corporal of the U. A.
, at. C. sewed up the remains In a ntini-
ket Then placing two heavy rope
; across the stretcher (to be used In low-
erlng the body Into the grave), we lift
ed Pets onto th stretcher, and rev
erently covered him with a large union
Jack, the flag' he had died for.
The chaplain led the way. tlicn came
the offlcera of the section, followed by
two of the men carryln'g a wreath. Im
mediately after came poor Pete on the
flag-draped atretcher, carried by foua
soldiers. I was one .it the four. Hp
hind the stretcher. In column of fours,
came the remainder of the section.
To get to the cemetery, we bail to
pass through the little shell-destroy el
village, where troop were hurrying
to and fro.
Aa the funeral procession passed
these troops came to the "attention"
and smartly saluted the dead.
Poor Pete wns receiving the only sa
lute a private Is entitled to "some
where In France."
Now snd agnln a shell from the Gor
man lines would' go whistling over the
Tillage to burst In our artillery lines
In the rear.
When we reached the cemetery we
halted In front of an open grave, and j
laid the stretcher beside It Forming
a hollow square around the opening of
the irrsve. the ehanlaln read the burlui !
service.
German machine-gun bullets were
"cracking" In the air above us, but
Pete didn't -mind, and neither did we.
When the body was lowered Into the
grave the flag having been removed,
wa Clicked our heels together and
came to the salute.
1 left before the grsve wns filled In.
I could not bear to see the dirt thrown
on the blanket-covered face of my com
rade. On the western front there are
no coffins, and you are lucky to get a
blanket to protect you from the wet
and the worms. Several of the sec
tion stayed and decorated the grave
With white stones.
That night. In the light of a lonely
candle In the machine gunner's dugout
of the front-line trench I wrote twe
letters. One to Pete's mother, the
other to his sweetheart While doing
this I cursed the Prussian war god
with all my heart and I think that St.
Peter noted same. '
The machine gunners In the dugout
were laughing and Joking. ' To them
Pete was unknown. Pretty soon, In the
warmth of their merriment, my blues
disappeared. One soon forgets on the
western front
CHAPTER IX.
Suleld Annex.
I was In my first dugout and looked
around curiously. Over the door of
same was a little sign reading "Sui
cide Annex." One of the boys ' told
me tbnt this particular front trench
was called "Suicide Ditch." Later on
I learned that machine gunners and
bombers are known as the "Suicide
Club."
That dugout was muddy. The men
slept In mud, washed In mud, ate mud,
and dreamed mud. I had never before,
realized that so. much discomfort and
misery could be contained in those
three little letters, MUD. The floor
of the dugout was an Inch deep In
water. Outside It waa raining cuts and
dogs, and thin rivulets wjye trickling
down the stops. From the air shaft
Immediately above me came a drip,
drip, drip. Suicide Annex wult a bole
eight feet wide, ten feet long and six
feet high. It wai about twenty feet
1 "N.
-
." -
tab "wr
Taking Provision
below trie fire trench; at least there
were twenty steps Iciiillng down to It.
These step wers rut Into thr earth,
but at that time were muddy nad slip
pery. A man hud to be very careful
or else he would "shoot the chutes."
Th air wa foul, and you could rut
the smoke from Tommy's fugs with a
kalfe. It was fold. The walls and
naif were supported with heavy sipitire
cut timbers, while the t'litruiiiv was
strengthened with siindlutg. Nulls had
been driven Into these flinber. Oil
each nail hung a miscellaneous assort
ment of equipment. The lighting ar
rangements were uperu one ruiulle
In u rvllcctor mud fnxn un ammuni
tion tin. My leelh were chattering
from the cold, anil (he tlrlp from Die
nlrslmft did not help niattcis much.
While I waa sitting bemoaning mv
fate and wishing for the fireside' at
Imme, the fellow next t lue, who was
writing a letter, looked up ami liino
cently asked, "Say, VunJ:. how yoc
spell Vonllagnitlou""
I looked ut him III conie.npl i::nl fti
swered that I did not Unov, '
From the tlurkncs in w of toe c;
mrs vain a tJiln, ylping tolt.v k:i,;,,i
Ct Magnet
A magnet will attract a hook am
eye which is liable to ru.it. while t
rejects the nonllithlu ones. So a mag
net Is a handy tool for the fwlii
basket ' ,
,' ..' '-;"
V .
- -
A Billicit Dollar
Insurance Fund
Tti Federal l!racrc limiting System may U liken
ctl to a vast billion diillur niiittiul iiisuiiuit'O fuuil v-Mcli
e and T.noo stlier tanks maintain ul nil times to give
.lis (lie rucicmy itu- depositors need to it.inil l.ir',l of Us
in Mme of financial stress and to ciuihlo us to give !m tier
and safer hanking, service In many ways,
' Every one of tttir depositors, lurgn or small, with
out any aclilltloiml cost, participates In the protection
mid benefits of this great system,
e
pswsEMBran
"STROtHAL nKSESVK
avsYtTr.MxSH
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
OF SOUTHERN OREGON
J. F. BU1I
Dealer in
WILLYS KNIGHT
and
OVERLAND C ARS
AUTOMOBILE ACCESSORIES
Fully equipped inacliiiic bIioj)
Expert repairing ' Acetylene welding.
Fashion
Vn:V
to th Front
one of the popular trench dltllea en
titled I
"Pack up your Trouble In your Old KM
l)a. and Smile, Sinlla, Smile."
Kvery now aud Uicu th . slugtr
would slop to cough, cough, rough, bnt
It waa a good Illustration of Tommy's
cheerfulness under such conditions,
A iniicliliie-gun officer entered tha
dugout ami gave m a hard look. 1
sin aked iast lilm, sliding and slipping,
and reached my section of the front
line .trench, whurs I was greeted by
tno sergeant, who asked me, "Where
In 'sv you beenr
I made no gnawer, but ssl on tba
muddy fire step, shivering with tha
cold and with tha ralu beating In my
face. About half an hour later 'I
teamed up with another fellow and
went on guard with ray head sticking
over the top. At ten O'clock I was
relloved snd resumed my sitting posi
tion on the fire step. Th rain sud
denly stopped and w sll brrsthed a
sigh of relief. W prayed for th morn
ing and the rum Issue,
(To Ho Continued I
' LIUral.
"Josh Billings said he was an hon
est man because Jail life didn't an ret
with him." "That waa frank, wssnt
Itr "No, It was Josh. Never heard oi
Frank Billings." -Itostoa Trs"rrtv-t.
If you would like to hove
lli!' nntlon-vMo fond btk
'f voti, let us write or talk
with yon n'Niiit It.
TTTTTT
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