El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-10-12

, roadside against a bank, to drink luke
warm water out OF an aluminium car, to
eat beans out of a tub. to battle by hun
/ dreds IN one shallow brook, to mitigate
! the natural rOughuess of ones stubble
/ bed with a bit Of straw-it requires
some cultivation to raise these eXperiJ
enceS to the pitch OF ecstasy. But il Is
worth while When, in decOrous sOcietE,
one IS informed that Dinner is served,
II IS IN apologize and doubtful tones,
as though the announcement were in
truSiVe or unWelcOme- But with what
glad emotion does one spring forward.
unshamed, with mess kit extended Tor
instant use, when one hears the hearty
roar OF the Falstaffian undershirted
cook; E company, Some and git it,
Being an officer.
There is a popular belief that il is a
fine thing to be an officer, or even a
''noncom." And it is doubtless import
ant that this belief should be prOfessed
in training camps. But volumes might
be written confidentally on the luxury
Of being a private. When. in one OF
the occasional lulls between the stated
exercise of the day, some sergeant
shouts down the company street squad
leaders come and get ammunition OF
''NoncommissiOned officers report at the
first sergeants tent" then If you are
a private there steals over YOU the de-
liciOus realization that II does not mean
you It is like sick call when one is
ated person realize the full significance
of an order that does not mean you.
Your poor corporal scurries out OF his
tent you hastily take possession Of the
much coveted ramrOd which he has been
forced to leave behind. and then and
there. thanks 10 your cOrpOrals harder
lot. you enjoy a genuine sense Of leisure.
Not that YOU do nOthing-only eXhaus-
ton justifies that But you clean your
gun with a cosy feeling that you have
a lp1cT that DAYS work well
hand
Cleaning Your Gun.
Let me hasten to add that cleaning
your gun does not mean the same thing
as making your gun clean IL means an
infinite series of motions approaching
cleanness as a limit which they never
reach Each rag seems to come through
the muZzle blacker than the last The
captain calls special attention 10 screw
heads and other minute cavities, ard
you poke individual grains OF sand
about in them with the point Of
pin. but YOU never get them
all. The simple childhke faith with
which this task of Sisypus IS performed
is touching. II becomes in time a sort
Of harmless mania chronic activity
which one automatically resumes when.
ever not diverted by more urgent bust
ness
No Immunity
Corporals and sergeants enjoy no i'm
munity from rifle cleaning, pack carry
ing. or any of the thousand duties that
keep a private on a painting dog trot
from reveille TO taps, and since they
are burdened with other duties as well,
their lot is hard The worst Of it is that
they have 10 think and make decisions.
At least they have to Try, which is Just
as bad. But the last thing that is want
ed of a private is that he should have
ideas of his own Even when in doubt
as TO his orders, a private who Is fully
alive TO his prerogatives viii ask his
corporal. and wait patiently and rest
fully for him TO find out The great
thing is that a private can. by an adroit
passivity. both earn praise for his sol
dierly obedience and at the same time
ease his mind. With his body he has
to be everlastingly at ii, and there is
no escaping that pack
A Pack Animal.
But the noncommissiOned officer is
pack animal who is required also TO
think-an unparalleled cruelty. while
the commissioned officer. if he has little
on his back. has much on histmind- On.
the luxury OF the vacant mind Oh the
resthElness Of the obedient and incuri7
Gus will, Oh. the deep peace Of hooking I
the canteen under the fifth righ- hand