The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-10-19
HARD PART
Of BATTLE
FOR SAMMY
Continued from Page u

Oduluy stripped OF lerOlcS n OF
bombast, Sammy homesick and hui
man, is the the trainmen see.
II Want to Go Home"
Above the rattle of wheels and the
shrek of the engine, an Alabama train
laden with soldiers shook with a bel
low like that of a bull that has nosed
his way into a beehive. Without any
trouble at all the ~ secretary fol-
lowed the noise to its source, a 200
pound Sammy possessed of the con-
Trajectory attributes of a double chin
all around, a sure-trigger hand, a
hard head, a soft heart, and the self
control Of a child of six. Ham-like
hands over his distorted face, he was
~blubbering at the top of his voice:
II want to go home! l want to go
home!"
Not Afraid of War
Down by the mass of shaken avoir-
dupois the ~ man sat, and soothed
him gradually, till he learned that
the nan came from a mountain settle
ment where he had left a wife and
three children. Never in his life had
he been out Of his own county before.
War? Dang it, he want afraid OF
that! He'd be darn glad to bust the
kaiser" in fact. Only-he wanted to
go hO-Ome.
Lots of other men in the car wanted
to go home, too, it appeared from the
murderous chances they cast at the
fat m%outaineer, who dared to ''rub it
in" like this. So the ~ man Sent them
home for a few minutes by handing
around postcards, even stamps to the
ones who hadn't any money, and urg-
ing them to write home.
go to it, fellow" he said. Send
your first messages to the home-folks. |
They'll be looking for a word from
you, you know"
Might Be Six Months
You might have thought the soldiers
had been gone from home six months
instead of a few hours. They didn't
exactly ask Have you still got the
same old cat?' like the boy in Riley's
story, but they did indicate by the
general tenor of their messages home
that it seemed to them a long, long
time since they had taken that morn
ing train. They said, too, that they
were well, and hoped the folks at
home were the same, that they were
having some ride and mean to put
up some fight and sent lots of love.
How Checkers Helps
After that the secretary passed
checker-board@,a great game,
checkers! If you don't want all your
jumped off the board, you must
)ut your whole mind on your play,
the exclusion of feeling homesick.
What with the unexpected moves
'orced upon them by the train, and the
of the game, the men be-
gan to feel better.
The ~ man won their hearts by
around hot coffee for them to
rink with the lunch the government
lad provided. They began telling him
low they felt about things.
Old Woman and the Kids
War? He'll! 1t amt war / mind,
is goin' away and leavin' the kids
nd my woman to look out for them
elves!" said one. ]
IF we could play the game on our
ONE field, with our own bunch
round to root for us, it wouldn't be
alf bad" summed up a young col
ege fellow.
On another train one of the men
ppeared to have been fighting his [
battle already. He was holding
arm stiffly, a soiled and blood {
famed handkerchief around the hand. {
A Train Bit Him +
did it leaning out of the window q
v " hy 6it Liz CAPidlACu. t
Another train came along and bit +
e." 3
1t vas really rather badly bruised, Il
the " nan helped him wash it,
bind it up in a clean covering.
ord went through the car that THAT !,
M. c. A. chap is as good as a doc {,
and two other men with all :,
ents sent for him. :,
Got anything for the toothache?" :,
ldther Sammy wanted to know. tits Z,
at darn candy the girls threw after {,
the last station back" :.
Worse Than Measles i
doesn't always break +
t the same way; it has as many sym +
as measles. Early evening on +
e train found three bruised Heads, =
veral smashed windows, several +
nts in faces, made by tin cups, and +
minor injuries. The train had !.
en- stopped twice because some 4
~ with a small how hoor+ hod ~