Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1918-12-12
The
RedCross Man.

BY ROY PERRINe.


"Who wuz the bird, Hal? Looked
HE six-cylinder officer, but they
don't ride in no fiivver."
'You are guessin' close, ireland.
Didn't you see the Red Cross on his
jitney? That's the Red Cross Man.
He's got a real handle but few know
what it's like. Every jack from the
G. o. TO the ducks in the guardhOuse
call him the Red Cross Man. Got 'em
in all the camps"
Il didn't see none at Wheeler's field.
Is he what you call--not preacher
but a.
'No, Mike, he amt no chaplain, if
that's the handle you wuz huntin' for.
The cross is big red one, an the A.
r. c. on his jacket don't stand for
aero reserve corps, but the American
Red Cross. l heard him the other
morning when he tried to start his
fiivver after the rain. Captain Welsch
said his language was Biblical, but it
wuzn't orthodox, whatever that means.
It sounded like good old United States
10 me. No, he amt no preacher, but /
reckon he knows how to talk turkey to
the boys all right. Corporal Murphy
hadn't been giving his folks a square
deal; never sent any money home,
s-soakin' his pay shOOtin' craps two
hours after gettin' it. The corp. tole
me the Red Cross Man talked to i'm
like Dutch uncle, an when he got
through, the corp. had signed paper
teIlin' Uncle Sam to take strangie
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
mie likes to hear them sort of orders,
an to show how happy he WIZ to get
the corps message, he chucked in
twenty more plunkers to the corps fif-
teen an the mothers gettin' thirty-fve
per. Sure she amt happy less she's
wraslin' with a washboard every day,
but the corp. toie me she WIZ only
h-takin' in five family washes now, an
the kids wuz goin' to school again.
When the Red Cross Man had toe
hold on the corp. he persuaded him to
take out insurance, same as the rest Of
us boys, an then he tole him he could
gamble his bloolnin' block OF with the
rest Of his pay. The corp. gets good
nights sleep now on pay day, cause
what's left OF his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty"
els this here Red Cross Man real
fOr-sure officer, Hal?'
Rank Of Officer.
'sWeli, j duo. He ought to be. we
call him captain, or lieutenant, aud
say sir to i'm. He says he's an olIi-
Ger without Iwnk. Says the leather
puts and green pants show that he's
part officer and the rests Irish. The
new fellers don't know whether TO
s'lute or not. He says we can slute
the cross If we feel like il, but he don't
care a tinker's hammer whether we
slute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an s'lute the cross an the man
that's benin it. But officers and pgi-
Yates are all the same TO him. / seen
i'm taIlzin' to the G. 0. the other day,
an he wuzn't actin as though he was
any scared of him. They seemed to
be real friendly-like. But he don't
seem to care whether he's talkin to
the G. o. or N. G. They all look
alike to HIM. lie takes chow at our
mess sometimes, an tin dishes don't
upset his stumik any. The boys like
to have him, cause he joshes EN- along
and they forget they'r still in the
States stead in France where they all
want to be. He can deliver the mer-
chandise too. Last winter when Tom
Aas0n's wife aud four kids come down
here from Detroit an got sick, the Red
Cross Man got Tom leavean' took
i'm to the burg in his fliYver. Then he
sent Toms wife doc, AM some coal,
an some eats. Reckon he must a.
helped Tom get a discharge so be
could support his family, though no
body knows Hothin' for sure. Slim
Dawson thought he did, though, an
asked the Red Cross Man to help him
get off Uncle Sans pay roll. The
Red Cross Man wrote some letters up
10 otIm HOIHe I0N4ls III WIeu lifSy
come back, he toIe Slim his wife and
kids wuz a-drawin' forty-seVen fifty
per and they wuz better off with him
workin' for Uncle Sam, an he'd better
stick aroun' and help make Germany
safe for demscracy."
Must have the spondulix an some
pull, if he's so free with the cash an
knows so many people everywhere"
He Aln't No "PIut.D
mo, he amt no plut.' They say he
don't draw no pay, an he polishes his
own shoes, an in pinch washes his
own shirt. But, you see, Mike, this
Red Cross Man business Is all over the
States. When a soldier from 8Iillers-
willie gets word his folks is in bed, he
goes mopin' aroun' like dog was met
up with a skunk. He's sOured on the
whole show, an all the sugar this man
Hoover's saved couldn't sweeten him
up none. His Off see he's punk an
they try to work it outer him. but it
only makes i'm punker. They look for
IL