Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1918-03-14

Then we started our march up 90 the
line In ten-kilo tricks After the nrst
days march we arrived at our rest
billets. because while In them Tommy
works seven days a week and on the
eighth day Of the week be In given
twenty-four hours -'on his own
Our billet WIS q spacious affair, q
large barn on the left side Of the road.
which had one hundred entrances.
nineqy-nine for shells. rats. wind and
rain. and the hundredfh one for Tom
my. i was tired out, and using my
shrapnel-pnoof helmet fshrapnel proof
until piece Of shrspnel hits III, or
tin hat for q pillow. lay down In the
straw, and was soon fast asleep. i
must have slept about two hours, when
awoke with prickling sensation all
over me. As thought. the straw had
worked through my uniform. / woke
mp the fellow lying on my left. who had
been up the line before. and asked
him:
Does the straw bother you. mattel
It's worked through my uniform and I
can't Sleep"
In Q sleepy voice he answered.
That amt straw. them's cootsea."
From that time on my friends the
-cooties- were constantly with me-
Coolies" or body lice. are the bans
Of Tommy's existence.
The aristocracy Of the trenches very
seldom call them coolies" they spsak
Of them as neax
To an American nea means q small
insect armed with q bsyonef, who n
wont 10 5ab II into you and then hop
skip and jump 90 the next place 20 be
attacked There Is an advantage In
having 1eas on you instead Of .'cooties"
In that In one Of his extended Jumps
said Tea 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 Engfshman; he holds
on and consolidates or digs In until
his meal is finished
There Ia no way TO get nd Of them
permanently. No matter how often
you bsthe, and that IL not very often,
or how many times you change your
underwear. your friends the Coolies
are always in evidence. The biIlets are
infested with them. especially so IL
there Is straw ON the floor.
have taken q bath and put on
brand-nev underwear; In fact, q COM
paefe change Of uniform. and then
turned In for the night. The next morn
ing my shirt would be full Of them. II
Is q common sight TO see eight or ten
soldiers sitting under a tree with their
shirts over their knees engaging In q
shirt hunt
AT night about half an hour before
lights out you can see the Tommies
grouped around q candle. trying. In it's
dim Light. 20 nd their underwear Of
the vermin- A popular and very quick
method Ii 70 take your shirt and draw
ers. and run The seams back and for
ward In the fame from a candle and
burn them out This practice In dan
gerouk. because you are liable 10 burn
holes In de garmsnfs n you are not
careful
Recruits generally sent TO Eighty
fpr Q brand a insect powder stver-
dsed m Good for body lice- The Cd
vrtasemenf In quite right; the powder
y good for -cooc1ss;- they AmuRy
thrfve on n
Thefoader men a our battalion were
vanr and made scrxfchers out Of
wood These were rubbed smooth With
hat a atne or ssnd % prevent spin
taFA- Thy w9s ahuut eighteen inches
hong. and CummJ UWrnnfees that q
szstcAer q ols hsngth vfn reach
my part a IL body vAdch may BE- At
tacksd Some a the fellows were lazy
and only made their scrsfch9s twelve
fnehe2 but many a night when On
guard. looAdng over ths top from ths
me- 1esp OF the nssnf-lfae trench, og
would have given q thousand ~Qu6
fur the other stx inchsA
oocs whine We were In rsst bulss IN
Irish Hnnar regiment czmpod IN IN
open naad opposate our bulst An
they had packsted and fsd sh~ar hnEDA
q general shir hunt took plaza Ths
troopers ignored the can Dinner up.s
and kept on with THAR search for b1s
game They had q curious method Of
procedure They hung their shirts over
q hedge and beat them with their en-
trenching tool handles
ssked one Of them why they didn't
pick them OF by hand. and he en-
swered. We haven't had q bath for
nine weeks or q change Of clabber. II
tried to pick the coolies on my shirt.
I would be here for duration Of war
After taking q close look at his shart. I
agreed with him: Il Was alive
The greatest shock q recruit gets
when he arrives at his battalion In
France II 70 see the men engaging In q
-cootde- hunt With an air Of con
tempt and disgust he avoids the com-
pauy Of the older men. until q couple
Of days latsr. In q torment Of itching
h also has b resort % q shirt hunt
or spend many q sleepleas uighf a