Gunnison news-champion., 1918-04-12
CHAPTER XVIII.
Staged Under Fire.


Thr..- o.. g. after 'ar Incident Just re
lated uur 04I-ay au= relieved from
tn" from, .... anl ..rr.,t. We stayed
IN r,-rr,. l..,'s tur nb0gt TWO weeks
when ~" received the welcome new,
that our G.sI .uI would ~ burk of lhe
llue "tu r--t l...'-" We would re-
main la tho. n..s-. for nt least two
months, tI.- ll or."r Ia b.. restored 10
our full strength ly drifts Of recruits
frum Eu-afy.
Es"gunr was haray and conrrnted
at th,-r u..n-', au yuU could hear
around ,h, nu .-r- was vAIstIIng and
EiuEu. TIE. gty utrrr the receipt Of
the or,l,r $50. harI Cur n'" dnys, max
ing un us,rr-r of h!r"ut twelve kilos
per day until "r arrived at the small
town Of o..
1t lnok us nhuut three days to get
settled, and from then on our Cushy
time sinr'rd. We would parade from
S 40 In thr mnTuluE until l. noon.
Then except for gu "ccu-IuEul billet
or bFiga3, g4UFd We W,T" ca our own.
For the ur-' luur or fix" afternoons |
spen, my time Ia hr.n=lng up TO date
ny urgIrr ted y~Iuud"ucr.
TuulnE loves 600 h, amused. and be
Ing lans. in,g turned to me for
suiU"thlu- new Ia This line. | taught
them how tn pitch hors"shocs, and this
rumr made sreat hit for about ten
days Then Tommy turned to Amer
icn for 81 new diversion. WIS up In
the air until q happy thought came to
me. Why not wrirr u sketch aud break
Tommy ia us an 3rIprY
one evening nftrr lights out" when
you are NOT -uri,"-,i To- rnlk, | !mpart-
ed my sch"ru" I0 whispers to the sec
ton. They ug.r'v ucc"picd the idrn
of forming stock company and
could harI'g wuU, unrI the morning
for u-hr 1ruu-.
After wrui,. rl" uvHt afternoon
was n.rrit muhHuI Everyone in the
section Rlu'nd Or .ar' 'u nu yruru-rd
sh"trh. "uD IIrammrt ,hriu u.ut Il
would lta. af lon-0 ten days of hard
work 10 write rhr plot rhry wnrr hit
trrl3 d.>nUp"lnrrd. Immediately got
busy, mad. dr-k ont Of biscuit tins
in the corner Of the billet. and put up
n sign "IImpey & Wallace Theatrical
Co" About twenty nf the section.
upon reading this sign. Immediately
applied for the position Ol oL.cc boy.
! accepted the twenty applicants, and
sent them on scouting parties through
out the deserted French village. These
parties were TO search all the attics for
discarded civilian clothes, and any
thing thnt We could use In the props
of our proposed company.
About five that night they returned
covered with CRIME and dust, but load
ed down with miscellaneous assOrt-
ment Of everything under the sun.
They must have thought that | was
going TO start department store.
judging from the different things they
brought back from their pIllage.
After eight days constant writing l
completed two-act farce comedy
which l called ''The Diamond Palace
Saloon" Upon the suggestion of one
of the boys In the section sent proof
Of the program to a printing house in
London. Then assigned the different
Iui ~ AllA tluIAti EFHthESlue. l'hNiu
Relnsco would have thrown up his
hands In despair al the material which
] had to use. Just imagine trying to
teach n Tommy, with n strong cockney
accent, to inpcrs0uate Bowery tough
or a Southern negro.
Adjacent TO our billet was an open
field. We got busy at one end of il and
constructed stage. We secured the
lumber for the stage by demolishlng
an old wooden shack in the rear Of
our billet
The first scene was supposed to rep
resent street on the Bowery In New
York. while the scene of the second
act was the interior of the Diamond
Palace saloon, also on the Bowery.
In the play 1 took the part of Abe
Switch. farmer, who had come from
Pumpkinville Center. Tenn, to make
his first visit to New York.
In the first scene Abe Switch meets
the proprietor of the Diamond Palace
saloon, ramshackle affair which to
the owner was a financial loss.
The proprietors name was Tom
IWlstem, MS bartender being named
Fillem Up.
After meeting Abe. Tom and Fillem
Up persuaded him to buy the place.
praising it to the skies and telling
wondrous tales of the money taken
over the bar.
While they are talking, an old Jew
named key Cohenstein comes along,
IA 81,
engaging key they meet an old
Southern negro called Sambo, and
upon the suggestion of key he Is en-
gagged as porter. Then the three of
them. arm In arm. leave to take pos
session of this wonderful palace which
Abe has just paid $1,000 for. (Cur-
tain3