The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1918-03-28
| @l9l7 BY
lAnTHus tUi [1pEYl

fore You gets back to Blighty."
Ny knees seemed to wilt, and ]
sQucakpd out a weak "Oh!"
Then we started our march up to the
line in ten-kilo tricks, After the first
days march we arrived at our rest
bilcts. In France they call them rest
billets, because while in them Tommy
works seven days week and on the
eighth day of the week he is given
twcnty-four hours "on his own"
Our billet was a spacious affair
large barn on the left side Of the road,
which had one hundred entrances,
ninety-ninc for shells, rats, wind and
rain, and the hundrcdth one for Tom.
my. I was tired out, and using my
Shrapnel-proOf helmet (Shrapnel proof
until a piece Of shrapnel hits iO, or
tin hat, for n pillow, lay dcwn In the
straw, and was soon fast asleep. ]
must have slept about two hours, when
| awoke with prickling sensation all
over me. As thought, the straw had
worked through my uniform. I woke
up the fellow lying on my left, who had
been up the line before, and asked
him:
Does the straw bother you, mate?
It's worked through my uniform and ]
can't sleep"
In a sleepy voice he answered,
THAT amt straw, them'S cooties."
From that time on my friends the
"cooties" were constantly with me.
"Cooties," or body lice, are the bane
Of Tommy's existence.
The arlstoCracy of the trenches very
seldom call them "cooties," they speak
of them as tleas.
To an American flea means small
insect armed with Il bayOnct, who Is
wont tc jab it into YOU and then hop
skip and jump to the next place to be
attacked There is an advantage in
having tlcaS on you instead Of "COOtieS"
in that in one Of his extended jumps
said flea is liable to land on the fell
low next to you; he has the typical
energy and push Of the American,
while the "cOotie" has the bulldog
tenacity of the Englishman; he holds
on and cOnsolidates or digs in until
his meal Is finished,
There is no way to get rid of them
permanently. No matter how often
you bathe, and that is not very often,
or how many times you change your
underwear, your friends the "Cooties'
are always in evidence. The billcts are
infested with them, especially so If
there is straw on the floor.
| have taken n bath and put on
| brand-new underwear; in fact, cora
plctc change of uniform, and then
turned in for the night. The next morn
ing my shirt would be full of them. 1t
Is a common sight to see eight or ten
soldiers sitting under o tree with their
shirts over their knees engaging in a
shirt hunt
At night about half an hour before
'liGhts out" you can see the TOmmles
grouped around a candle, trying, in its
| dim light, to rid their underwear OF
| the vcrmin. 4 popular and very quick
method Is TO take your shirt and draw.
ers, and run the seams back and for
/ ward In the flame from candle and
burn them out This practice is dan
gerous. because you are liable to burn
holes in the garments If you are not
/ careful.
, Recruits generally sent to Blighty
for d brand Gf insect powder adyer
I tiscd as "GOod for body lice" The ad
vertiscment is quite right; the powder
is good for "coOtles' they simply
thrive on II.
The older men of our battalion were
wiser and made scratchers out OF
wood. These were rubbed smooth will
n bit of stone or sand to prevent spin
ters. They were about eighteen inches
long, and Tommy guarantees that
scratchcr Of this length will reacf
any part Of the body which may be at
tackled. Some Of the fellows were laz!
and only made their scratchers twelve
inches, but many a night when or
guard, looking over the top from thu
fire step Of the front.Ilne trench, the!
would have given n thousand "quid'
for the other six inches.
Once while We were in rest billets Al
Irish Hussar regiment camped in III
open field opposite our billet. Afte
they had plcketed and fed their horses
q general shirt hunt took place. TIL
troopers ignored the call "Dinncr up,
and kept on with their search for BIZ
game. They had a curious method o
procedure. They hung their shirts owe
hedge and beat them with their en-
trenchlng tool handles.
asked one Of them why they dldn'
pick them off by hand, and he an