Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-12-27

/ troublc In II gun team may mean death
all round. And this is II gunners war
me young. wet officers said so, joy
ously. rs they passed to ana fro pick
ing up scandal about ast-straps and
precchinSs: examining the collars OF
ammunition wagon tcams. and listen
ing to remarks about shoes.
Local blacksmiths. assisted by the
battery itself, do the shooting. There
are master smiths and important far
riers. who ihavc chccrrully thrown up
good wages to help the game and
, thcir horses reward them by Keeping
nj. a fair proportion OF the horses are
"Sed-there was never gunner yet
satisfied with his team or It's rations
III he had left the battcry-but they
DO their work as steadrastly and whole
heartedly as tho men,
am persuaded they also like being
III society and working out their daily
problems of draught and direction. The
EhSiisi. too. and Londoners particu-
larly. are the kindest and most reason
able of folk with animals If IL were
not our business strictly to underrate
ourselves for the next few wears ono
would say that the Tcrritorials' batter
les had already done wonders. but per-
haps it Is better to let IL ali 20 VIII,
the grudSinG admission wrung out of
IL wringinE wet bombardier: well il
isn't so dam bad, considcrin'."
Missed Howitzcrs
left them taking their dinner i'm
iness-tins to their tents. with a siren
Gus afternoons clcaning-up ahead of
their. ana detail under orders to
take over some more horses from the
railway station The BIZ. park held al
ready nearly 1000 men | had seen
no more than few hundreds and
missed the howitZers batteries after
all
y COCK pheasant chapcrOncd mo down
the drive, complaining loudly that
where lac WAS uscd 10 walk with his
ladies under the beech trees some un-
sporting people had built "a miniature
landscape. with tiny villages churches
ana factories and came there daily to
point cannon ut II.
Keep away from that place" said |,
or YOU will find yourself in a field
kitchen"
Not me- he crowed Tan as sacred
as golf-courses:"
There was Il little town a couple of
miles dowo the road. where one used
70 lunch in the old days and have the
motel TO oneself Now there are six ever
thahGlhE officers III billet there, and
the aStonished houses quivcr ali day TO
Traction engines and Nigh piled lorrics
y unit OF the Army Service CORPS ana
some mechanical transport lived near
The station.
Are they easy to und?" | asked OF
~ wandering private with the hands
Oh a sweep and the head OF :. Christian
among the lions.
We'll. the y. :. e. are IN the terri
loritl driil hall Tor one thing: ana for
nrh ho,.i You're likely TO hear Is.
mere : some motors come In from
Ruiford-" He snortcd aud passed on.
smelling Of petrol
Tn" drili.sh.d WAS peace and com
fort. The a. s. G. were. getting ready
Tor pay day ana for Il concer; that
cven!ns outside. in the wind ana ,h.
.nt The Rulford motors and some
1,h"r crooks sat on sid" road be-
tween what bad been the local garage
ana newly,.r.cteh worksh OF
crchkiug scnrold poles and bel!yinE,
siAttinS riGk-cloths. where forge
effected. Beneath the motors men lag
on their backs and called their friends
to pass them spanncrs, or for pity's
sake to shove another sack under ,heir
mud -plaSt tered heads
Voices In Gcnr- RuNcs
y corporal who had been ninc vears
a htter ana seven in city garage
briefly outlined the more virulcnt dis
rolling stock q heard quite II lot about
Bulford). Hollow voices from beneath
%iEiscerated g"ar-boXcs confirmed him.
We withdrew 10 the shelter Of the
rack cloth workshop-thc corporal. the
sergeant VII" had been a carpenter
dentally. had served through the Bo.r
member OF the Master Builders .Naso-
ciation. and private who had also
heen u filter. chauffeur and a Few
other things. The sergeant. who kept
=, 'ouiirN ,iaIlil III surrey. hld som"
man al carpenters bench was
finishing u spoke for a newly paintcd
That's fHmny,' said The master
nai!der. or course, IN his own busi-
woodwork. Sut it's all funny
What ! SrudSe," sergeant struck
IN is havn, 10 pui Two and three
Loading beef. That's where a modified
conscri"tion for the men that WON'T
hcWcrs Of wood. We do
vate in n hurry. come from Gsmca,h an
him unsteady If he would tell his
vile IN the morning who he WAS with
tonight"
ne Sergeant. u was his own tool
''inntGd to the Common stock
III the unit 1 asked.
Every sort, YOU can think OF. There
isn't !; !, thng yon couldn't have made
poral who had been a filter spoke with
icrNor--''you can't expect US 10 make
biz ends, can YOU. That hvc-ton Eui-
ford ,military motor truch) out in the
wet
And she ism, the worst" said the
m NIX. Ter hn Ma r, Bu, its all part OF
to think OF II. Me painting carts. and
cer!incal ID plumbers. loading beef
w nat ihOIt the dl:clpllne! ~ ! asked.
The corporal turned filters eye on
me. The mechanism is the discipline"
ne said with most profound truth.
discipline: too. What about the disci-
plinc?' He turned to the sergeant
with the carpenters chest. There was
one sergeant of regulars. with twenty
years service behind him and Il knowI-
edge of human nature.
You ought to know. you'v" lust
been made CORPORAL" said that sergeant
OF regulars
We'll. there's so much which every
that--why, we ali urn in and do H."
uuoth the corporal.
Yes. that's Just about how the case
stands. said the sergeant OF rcGu-
lars. Come and see our stores"
They were beautifully arranged in a
Shed which felt like Il monaS tcry after
the windy. clashng world without;
ana the young private who acted as
chcrkcr--hc came from some railway
otficc-had the thin, keen face of the
cleric.
Were in hillcts in the town." said
the sergeant "ho had been Il carpenter.