Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-05-07
NUMBER le.

I awoke with prickling sensation all
over me. As I 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. matei
It's worked through my uniform and ]
can't Sleep"
In a sleepy voice he answered,
'That amt straw, them's coolies"
From that time on my friends the
"cooties" were constantly with me.
"Cooties," or body lice, are the bane
Of Tommy's existence.
The aristocracy Of the trenches very
seldom call them "cooties," they speak
Of them as feas.
To an American flea means q small
insect armed with bayonet, who Is
wont to jab 1t into you and then hop
skip and jump to the next place to be
attacked. There Is an advantage In
having fleas on you instead Of "cooties"
in that in one of his extended jumps
said flea Is liable to land on the fel-
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 billets are
infested with them, especially so II
there Is straw on the floor.
have taken bath and put on
brand-new underwear; in fact, COM
plete change Of uniform, and then
turned in for the night. The next morn
Ing my shirt would be full Of them. It
Is q common sight to see eight or ten
soldiers sitting under tree with their
shirts over their knees engaging In q
"shirt hunt"
At night about half an hour before
sights out" you can see the Tommies
grouped around !canole, trying, In Its
dim light, to rid their underwear OF
the vermin. A popular and very quick
method is to take your shirt and draw
ers, and run the seams back and for
ward in the fame from candle and
burn them out. This practice Is dam
gerous, because you are liable to burn
holes in the garments II you are not
careful.
Recruits generally sent to Blighty
for q brand Of insect powder adver-
tised as "Good for body lice" The ad-
vertisement is quite right; the powder
is good for "cooties;" they simply
thrive on 1t.
The older men Of our battalion were
wiser and made scratchers out OF
wood. These were rubbed smooth with
q bit of stone or sand to prevent splin-
ters. They were about eighteen inches
long, and Tommy guarantees that q
scratcher Of this length will reach
any part Of the body which may be at
tackled. Some of the fellows were lazy
and only made their scratchers twelve
inches, but many night when on
guard, looking over the top from the
fire step Of the front-llne trench, they
would have given q thousand "Quid"'
for the other six inches.
Once while we were In rest billets an
Irish Hussar regiment camped In an
open field opposite our billet After
they had picketed and fed their horses,
a general shirt hunt took place. The
troopers ignored the call "Dinner up"
and kept on with their search for big
game. They had a curious method OF
procedure. They hung their shirts over
a hedge and beat them with their en-.
trenching tool handles.
I asked one Of them why they didn't
pick them of by hand, and he an
swered, 1--WE haven't had q bath for
nine weeks or a change Of clabber. II
I tried to pick the coolies on my shirt,
I would be here for duration OF war;"
After taking n close look at his shirt, I
agreed with him; 1t was alive.
The greatest shock a recruit gets
when he arrives at his battalion In
France Is to see the men engaging In
"cootie" hunt. With an air OF con-
tempt and disgust he avoids the COM
pany of the older men, until a couple
| of days later, in O torment Of itching,
he also has to resort to a shirt hunt.
or spend many q sleepless night OF
| misery. During these hunts there are
lots Of pertinent remarks banded back
and forth among the explorers. such
as, "Say, Bill, I'll swap you two little
ones for q big one," or, "Tve got q
black one here that looks like Kaiser
BILL"
One sunny day In the front-line
trench, saw three officers sitting out
side of their dugout ("cooties" are no
| respecters Of rank have even noticed
suspicious uneasiness about certain
well-known general), one Of them was
q major, two Of them were exploring
their shirts, paying no attention to the
| occasional shells which passed over
head. The major was writing letter;
every now and then he would lay aside
his writing-pad, search his shirt for
few minutes, get IN inspiration, and
| then resume writing. At last he nm
ished his letter and gave 1t to his run
ner." was curious to see whether he
was writing to an insect firm, 80 when
the runner passed me I engaged him
In conversation and got glimpse at
| the address on the envelope. 1t was
addressed to Miss Alice Somebody, In
London. The runner" informed me
that Miss Somebody was the majors
sweetheart and that lie wrote to her
every day. Just Imagine 1t, writing q
love letter during "cootie" hunt; but
such Is the creed Of the trenches.
Continued next week
How Ships Sink.
Nearly every class or design Of ves'
sci is said to sink in particular way.
- - ulv Hvy1 -