The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1918-12-12
The
Red Cross Man

BY ROY PERRiNc.

by MY p6nnsN0.
T@&x<<<<<x<<<<<<<<<<<<<<&<
'.Teashun! S'lute! Nuke her
snlppy- That-a-boy!"
"Who wuz the bird, HALF Looked
like six-cyiinder officer. but they
don't ride In no flivver."
''You are guessin' close, ireland.
Didn't you see the Red Cross on his
jitncy? That's the Red Cross Man.
He's got 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"
u didn't see none Mt Wheeler's field.
Is he what you call-not a preacher
but a."
mo, Mike, he amt no chaplain, If
that's the handle you wuz huntin' for.
The cross is big red one, an the A.
r. G. ON his jacket don't stand for
aero reserve corps. but the American
Red Cross. 1 heard him the other
morning when he tried to start his
flivver after the rain. Captain Welsch
said his language was Biblical, but it
wuzn't orthodox, whatever that means.
1t sounded like good old United Suites
to 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 u square
deal; never sent any money home,
a-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 Il paper
teliin' Uncle Sam to take strangle
hold on half his pay, an slip it to his
mother. Take it from me, Uncle Sam
an to show how happy he wuz to get
the corps message, he chucked in
twenty more plunkers to the corps fif-
teen an tie mothers gettin' thirty-fve
per. Sure she amt happy less she's
wraslin' with dashboard every day,
but the corp. tole me she wuz only
q -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 bloomin' block off with the
rest of h4s pay. The corp. gets good
| nights sleep now on pay day, cause
| what's left of his pay only lasts till
about ten thirty
"1s this here Red Cross Man real
for-sure officer, Hal?"
/ Rank Of Officer.
'Well, dino. Lie ought to be. We
call him captain, or lieutenant, and
say sir to i'm. He says he's an Off
Ger without rank. 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
i s'lute or not. He says we can s'lute
the cross if we feel like it, but he don't
s'lute him or not. We old vets know
i'm an s'lute the cross an the man
that's benin 1t. But officers and pri.
Yates are all the same to him. seen
!. i'm talkin' to the e. U. the other day
an he wuzn't actin as though he was
any scared of him. They seemed te
be real friendly-like. But he don't
seem to care whether he's talkin' tC
the G. o. or N. e. They all lOoI
alike to him. He takes chow at Oul
mess sometimes, an tin dishes dom
upset his stumik any. The boys like
to have him, cause he jOshes 'em along
and they forget they'r still in tn,
States stead in France where they III
want to be. He can deliver the mer
chandise too. Last winter when Ton
MasOn's wife and four kids come dOwI
here from Detroit an got sick, the Ret
Cross Man got Tom u leave an tool
. lin to the burg In his fifvver. Then Il,
sent Toms wife a doc, an some coal
an some eats. Reckon he must q
, helped Tom get discharge so b
, could support his family, though nc
body knows nothin' for sure. Slin
Dawson thought he did, though, an
asked the Red Cross Man to help hin
get off Uncle Sans pay roll. TIL
Red Cross Man wrote some letters VI
to Sims home town, an when the,
, come back, he tole Slim his wife an,
: kids wuz -a-drawin' forty-seven fit
per and they wuz better off with hin
workin' for Uncle Sam, an he'd bette
stick 9roun' and help make German,
safe for democracy"
Must have the spondulix an som
o pull, If he's SO free with the cash an
knows so many people everywhere"
z He Amt No "PIut."
+ mo, he amt no tplut.' They say h
4 don't draw no pay, an he polishes hi
0 own shoes, an in a pinch washes hi
e own shirt. But you see, Mike, thi
Red Cross Man business is all over tn
|, States. When soldier from Millers
vile gets word his folks is in bed, h
l. goes mopin' aroun' like dog was me
: up with skunk. He's soured on tn
Il whole show, an all the sugar this ma
HOover's saved couldn't sweeten hin
up none. His Off see he's punk al
they try to work 1t outer him, but
only makes i'm punker. They look fo
him to 60 over the hill next Then til
Red Cross Man hears about 1t. 81
e gets him in his Office, or In his jitne,
Is an, believe me, he knows how to fin
II out what's wrong. Then he writes u
r to Millersville, where they got the Re
IS Cross too. an they go see what
II askew with the doughboy's folks a,
t. they pull the fly out the lemo an
% write back that all's hunkadora al