Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-08-21

posed to soak our clothes In It. It was
thought that the coolies would object
to the smell and quit work. Well,
a cootie that could stand our clothes
without the dope on them would not
be bothered by little thing like this
stun. Also, our clothes got SO sour
and horrible smelling that they hurt
eur noses worse than the coolies. They
certainly were game little devils, and
came right back at US.
So most Of the poilus threw the
dope at Fritz and fought the coolies
hand to hand.
There was plenty of food in the
trenches most Of the time, though once
In a while. during heavy lombard
ment. the fatigue usually corporal's
guard-would get killed in the COM
munication trenches and we would not
have time to get out to the fatigue and
rescue the grub they were bringing.
Sometimes you could not find either
the fatigue or the grub when you got
to the point where they had been hit.
But. as say, we were well fed most
of the time, and got second and third
helpings until we had to open our
belts. But as the Limeys say: "Gaw
blimey, the chuck was rough" They
served thick soup of meat and vege-
tables in bowls the size Of wash ba-
sins, black coffee with or without
sugarmostly without land plenty
Of bread.
Also, we had preserves in tins, just
like the Limeys. If you send any par
cells over, do not put any apple and
plum jam in them or the man who gets
it will let Fritz shoot him. Ask any
Limey soldier and he will tell you the
same. I never thought there was so
much jam in the world. No Mans
Land looked like city dump. Most
Of us took It, after while, just to
get the bread. Early In the war they
used the tins to make bombs of, but
that was before Mills came along with
his hand grenade. Later on they fat
tened out the tins and lined the dug
outs with them.
Each man carried an emergency "a
ton In his bag. This consisted of bully
beef, biscuits, etc. This ration was
never used except in q real emergency,
because no one could tell when 1t
might mean the difference between
life and death to him. When daylight
catches man In shell hole or at q
listening post out in No Mans Land
he does not dare to crawl back to his
trench before nightfall, and then is the
time that his emergency ration comes
In handy. Also, the stores failed to
reach US sometimes, as I have said,
and we had to use the emergency
rations.
Sometimes we received raw meat
and fried it In our dusouts. We built
regular clay ovens in the dugouts, with
iron tops for broiling. This, of course
was in the front-line trenches only.
We worked two hours on the fire.
step and knocked off for four hours
in which time we cooked and ate and
slept. This routine was kept up night
and day, seven days week. Some
times the program was changed; for
instance, when there was to be an at
tack or when Fritz tried to come over
and visit, but otherwise nothing dis
turbed our routine unless it was gas
attack.
The ambition Of most privates Is to
become sniper, as the official sharp
shooters are called. After a private
has been in the trenches for six
months or a year and has shown his
craftsmanship, he becomes the great
man he has dreamed about. We had
two snipers to each company and be-
cause they took more chances with
their lives than the ordinary privates
they were allowed more privileges.
When it was at all possible our snipers
were allowed dry quarters, the best Of
food, and they did not have to follow
the usual routine, but came and went
as they pleased.
Our snipers, as rule, went over
the parapet about dusk, just before
Fritz got his star shells going. They
would crawl out to shell craters or
tree stumps or holes that they had
spotted during the day-in other
words, places where they could see
the enemy parapets but could not be
seen themselves. Once in position,
they would make themselves comfort
able, smear their tin hats with dirt,
get good rest for their rifles and
snipe every German they saw. They
wore extra bandoleers of cartridges,
since there was no telling how many
rounds they might fire during the
night. Sometimes they had direct and
visible targets and other times they
potted Huns by guesswork. Usually